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SCMP Reporter

Small steps outside craft  will be  a giant leap for space programme
Mainland space officials say the planned Shenzhou VII space walk is a milestone in the nation's rapidly  developing space programme.
But with the plaudits came the  acknowledgement that the crew would face unprecedented risk and challenges.
Mission spokesman Wang Zhaoyao  said yesterday  that the Shenzhou VII's main aim was a breakthrough in extravehicular activities (EVA) with the space walk and the tasks that go with it.
'It is something totally different from  ... before,' he said. 'We have sent our men up there only twice. Now we are doing an EVA, something that will challenge our hardware and mission management.'
Mr Wang said the technology for a space walk presented challenges.
'The EVA spacesuit is more complex than the one used inside the vehicle, with an independent life support system, microelectronic motors and a pressured air assembly, among other things.
'So the threat comes not just at the launch and the re-entry phases. The EVA will be just as dangerous. We can't fully simulate on the ground what it will be like out there, and much of the hardware and technology are new.'
The spacecraft will also carry three crew members, more than on previous missions.
Mr Wang said that in preparation for the space walk, scientists made more than 200 changes to the spacecraft and more than 30 to the Long March rocket, a model launched for the first time more than a decade ago.
He also said this would be China's biggest space mission so far. The mainland programme expanded the global network tracking the Shenzhou VII by increasing the number of observation vessels and ground stations, and for the first time included a telecoms satellite to relay the signals.
But the biggest change will be in the work of the astronauts.
In the past, they just carried out the tasks in their flight manuals and had few opportunities to make independent or spontaneous decisions.
But this time, they will have to depend largely on their judgment and one another.
'They must make a lot of the go or no-go decisions once the hatch is open,' Mr Wang said. 'We will not be able to give them precise instructions because the situation will change each second.
'The quality of their operation determines the success or failure of the mission.'
In an interview with China Central Television, astronaut Jing  Haipeng   admitted that if anything went wrong, the crew could end up as three 'human satellites'.
But scientists and engineers said they had done their best to ensure a safe flight.
Launch centre director Cui Jijun   told The Beijing News  that the astronauts would be able to evacuate if anything went wrong during the launch.



Shenzhou VII  poses unparalleled   risk to astronauts