Chinese astronaut to spacewalk on Sep. 27

An astronaut will spacewalk outside the capsule on the afternoon of September 27, Gu Yidong, the commander-in-chief and chief designer of the spacecraft application system of China’s manned space program, explained to the media on September 23.

Earlier on September 23, several news portal websites reported that a Shenzhou VII astronaut would spacewalk at 16:30 – the day after launch. They said if Shenzhou VII 
was launched at 21:10 on September 25, the astronaut would leave the capsule at 16:30 on September 26. However, Gu corrected the reports, explaining that the spacewalk would begin on the day after orbit is achieved. If the launch was on September 25, the spacecraft would enter orbit on 26, and the astronaut would spacewalk on the afternoon of 27.

Experts said the spacecraft would climb to an altitude of 300 km and then into outer space. Though the astronaut would be protected by the special seat and garment, hewould need a certain period of time to adjust to the environment. He might experience nausea, vomiting or other discomfort if he left the capsule too early.