Chinese spacewalk mission enters orbit

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BEIJING, Sept 26 (AFP): China's three-man spacecraft shifted from an oval orbit to a more stable circular orbit 213 miles above Earth on Friday in preparation for the country's first attempt at a spacewalk.
The spacewalk is scheduled to take place at about Saturday afternoon, although the exact timing depends on the readiness of equipment and personnel, said Wang Zhaoyao, deputy director of China's manned space program office. The event will be broadcast live on television, he said.
"This is China's first attempt (at a spacewalk) so there are a lot of uncertainties," Wang said.
He said the three astronauts were assembling and testing their space suits in preparation for the spacewalk, which is to last about 20 minutes.
The Shenzhou 7 mission, China's third manned space voyage, blasted into space atop a Long March 2F rocket on Thursday.
The launch was broadcast live on state television in a display of China's growing confidence in its space program. Shortly before the feed ended, one of the crew reported that they were all well and had extended the craft's solar panels.
The launch dominated front pages of the entirely state-controlled media, largely supplanting coverage of China's continuing scandal involving contaminated milk.
The Communist Party's flagship newspaper People's Daily showed President Hu Jintao waving to the astronauts before the launch and congratulating staff at mission control after liftoff.
Such coverage underscores the weighty role of politics and patriotism in the space program, officially presented as an illustration of China's rising technological might and global influence.
The official Xinhua News Agency said the astronauts executed a 64-second engine burn to shift the spaceship from an oval-shaped orbit into a round one, meaning it was circling Earth at a constant distance.