China's First Space Walk Set For Saturday

BEIJING, Sept 26 (Benama) -- China's first space walk attempt is set for Saturday to last 20 minutes and astronauts onboard the Shenzhou VII spacecraft have begun assembling the bulky spacesuits, a task that will take several hours.

Since the liftoff on Thursday night, the expedition has proceeded smoothly and the three astronauts have had their first meal and nap, mission spokesman Wang Zhaoyao told a news conference in Beijing.

Third manned flight took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern Gansu province and has entered its destined orbit of 343km from earth."Our astronaut will stay in space for 20 minutes, that is our plan," he said.

The space walk, widely reported to be attempted by flight commander Zhai Zhigang, will be telecast 'live'.

Wang said the Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) is scheduled for 4.30pm Saturday subject to the conditions of the spacesuit and the astronaut.

During the EVA, he said it was important to ensure that communication between earth and space will not be disrupted.State media had reported that 42-year-old Zhai would don a 120kg China-made "Feitian" (fly to the sky) spacesuit with the assistance of fellow crew, Liu Boming, who will be standing by in a Russian developed "Haiying" (sea eagle) suit.

The third astronaut, Jing Haipeng, will be inside the re-entry module of the space craft which will make a return landing in Inner Mongolia on Sunday after a 68-hour voyage according to the schedule.

The success of the EVA is crucial to China's ambition of building its own space station in the next decade.

The chief designer of spacecraft who provided the name Shenzhou meaning "divine vessel", told the Xinhua News Agency on Friday that China would mass produce the model to shuttle astronauts to China's space station.

-- BERNAMA