Launched on Shenzhou 7 just two days before, Zhai Zhigang stepped outside the spacecraft and conducted the first spacewalk by a Chinese astronaut on September 27, 2008. It only lasted about twenty minutes and was limited in scope. Liu Boming waited in the airlock of the orbital module, in a Russian spacesuit, ready to provide help to Zhigang if necessary.
Jing Haipeng, the third astronaut, stayed in the re-entry module and monitored the situation of the spacecraft.
Shenzhou 7, launched September 25, 2008, was the third manned spaceflight for the China National Space Administration. Its crew consisted of Commander Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng. It was the first flight for all three crew members.
Zhigang and Boming conducted the first EVA by Chinese astronauts. During the mission, China launched its first ever data relay satellite, Tianlian I. On a controversial note, Shenzhou 7 passed within 45 km (27 miles) of the International Space Station. Despite inquiries from the international community, China never did offer an explanation for why it flew so close to the ISS.
Chen Dong, born December 12, 1978 in Luoyang, Henan (a province of China), flew into space November 2016 aboard Shenzhou 11 with veteran astronaut Jing Haipeng. They logged 33 days in space, the longest flight to date of the China National Space Administration.
Tiangong 1, the Chinese Space Station launched in 2011, is scheduled to come tumbling back to Earth sometime before April 2018. The Chinese have known about this since last year, when they announced they had lost the telemetry signal from the station.
After a series of successful internal tests in March 2012, Shenzhou 9 blasted off June 16 with three astronauts, Commander Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang, and Liu Yang (first Chinese woman in space) and docked with the space station. They returned June 29.
The following June, Shenzhou 10 docked with the space station with another crew of three: Commander Nie Haisheng, Zhang Xiaoguang and Wang Yaping (second Chinese woman in space). It was the second and final trip to Tiangong 1. After they left, the space station was put into 'sleep mode'.
Tiangong 1 has gone past its useful life and the Chinese had predicted they would be able to control its re-entry, but with the telemetry link lost, it will re-enter Earth's atmosphere uncontrolled. Nobody knows where it will land. Most of Earth's surface is uninhabited, but there is exists the remote possibility that some of the station's parts may reach ground and hit an inhabited area.
Shenzhou-11, the fifth space mission from the China National Space Administration, took off October 16, 2016 (UTC) with Commander (and veteran astronaut) Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong, who was on his first spaceflight.
Two days after takeoff, Shenzhou-11 docked with Tiangong-2, the Chinese space laboratory, which was launched just a month prior. For 30 days, the astronauts conducted scientific and technical experiments. They returned safely to Earth November 18.
Since then, the unmanned cargo ship, Tianzhou-1 has successfully docked with Tiangong-2 three times, demonstrating docking and refueling.
Shenzhou 7, launched September 25, 2008, was the first mission of the Chinese Space Program to include an EVA. Just 5 years previous, China successfully sent a man into space aboard their Shenzhou 5, Yang Liwei, in October 2003, making them the third country to enter the space race.
Shenzhou 7 launched with three crew, Commander Zhai Zhigang, Orbital Module Astronaut Liu Boming, and Descent module monitor astronaut Jing Haipeng.
On September 27, Zhai Zhigang slipped out of the orbital module and into space. A few minutes later Liu Boming joined him. Their total space walk lasted about 20 minutes.
The crew returned to Earth landing safely in Inner Mongolia, September 28.
