On This Day In Space: Sept. 25, 2008: China launches its 3rd human spaceflight

On Sept. 25, 2008, China’s space program launched its third human spaceflight mission, Shenzhou 7

Three astronauts blasted off in the Shenzhou spacecraft on a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.  

Zhai Zhigang waves the flag of the People’s Republic of China from space, as his crewmate, Liu Boming, peeks his head out of the hatch. (Image credit: CCTV/Xinhua)

Related Stories

They spent three days in orbit and conducted the first ever spacewalk for the Chinese space program. 

The Shenzhou 7 crew also deployed a mini satellite called Banxing, which was used to take photos and videos of the spacecraft

On This Day in Space Archive!  

[embedded content]

Still not enough space? Don’t forget to check out our Space Image of the Day, and on the weekends our Best Space Photos and Top Space News Stories of the week

Follow us @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. 

Related posts