Special Report: Third Manned Space Mission

    BUDAPEST, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Hungarian cosmonaut Bertalan Farkas said on Monday that China's manned Shenzhou-7 mission was wonderful.

    Farkas told Xinhua in an interview that when first Chinese astronaut was launched into space, he was in Japan, and only several years later, three Chinese astronauts were sent into space in a spacecraft.

    "A spacewalk was performed successfully, this is tremendous, and a very big step forward," Farkas said. This needed technical preparation and harmonization of scientists, he added.

    "I hope I will be able to build very close relations with Chinese astronauts, " he said.

    Farkas is the founder of Space for Earth Foundation, which was registered in Hungary but an international foundation. It has 18 members who come from 11 countries, and all of them are astronauts.

    Bertalan Farkas was born on Aug. 2, 1949. He was the first Hungarian cosmonaut in space. He, along with Soviet cosmonaut Valeri Kubasov, was launched into space on Soyuz 36 from Baikonur Cosmodrome on May 26, 1980.