Five years ago today — September 25, 2008 — China launched Shenzhou 7, their third manned mission,* from the Jiquan launch center on a Long March 2F rocket.
(The Shenzhou 7 capsule on display after its return to earth. Image from Wikimedia Commons.)
Shenzhou 7 carried taikonauts Jing Haipen, Zhai Zhigang, and Liu Boming on a three-day mission that featured China’s first spacewalk to test their space suit design. Interestingly, the space suit itself was named Feitian, after a Chinese goddess who could fly.
___
*Sorry, PC police, but “human spaceflight mission” doesn’t exactly trip off the tongue.
by 
