Ceremony marks return of capsule
In a symbolic event on National Day, Beijing held a grand ceremony to mark the return of the Shenzhou VII re-entry capsule.
The blackened capsule was opened yesterday at the China Space Technology Research Institute, and technicians showed objects taken from the capsule to a group of guests.
The objects - most of little scientific value - included the national flag waved by astronaut Zhai Zhigang during his historic spacewalk on Saturday.
Also included were the gloves worn by Colonel Zhai and fellow astronaut Liu Boming . The astronauts left other parts of their spacesuits in space because of their weight and lack of room in the capsule.
More scientifically valuable was the sample of solid lubricant taken by Colonel Zhai from the outside of the orbital module. The chemical has been sent to the Chinese Academy of Science for research.
In addition, the capsule included seeds of 25 different types of endangered plant. Biologists will now examine the samples to study their reactions to the weightless environment.
Other 'passengers' were mostly for propaganda purposes. They included a silk map of China, a flag representing the peasant revolutionary forces before 1949 and an audio recording highlighting national unity between Taiwan and the mainland.
The capsule landed in Inner Mongolia on Sunday after its three astronauts - Jing Haipeng being the third - had spent 68 hours in orbit.
Yesterday, China News Service reported that space engineers in Shanghai had begun work on the Shenzhou VIII spacecraft.
Mainland scientists have said China is aiming to send up an 8-tonne space lab in 2010 or 2011 before Shenzhou VIII, IX and X are launched to dock with the lab.
