China astronauts unpack $4 million suit for spacewalk

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's third manned space mission on Friday reached its final orbit where astronauts preparing for the country's first spacewalk enjoyed spicy food and the convenience of an onboard toilet.

The Shenzhou VII blasted off from a remote desert site on Thursday on a trip designed to showcase China's technological mastery and crown the success of the Beijing Olympics.

The launch, part of a space program that could eventually lead to a landing on the moon, was watched by millions of Chinese and the event has dominated state media.

The craft is circling at 213 miles above the Earth, orbiting every 90 minutes, preparing for what a senior engineer said would be the most challenging part of the mission.

"For the space walk the demands are higher, and the challenge is more difficult," he told state television.

Zhai Zhigang, who dreamt of flying into space as an impoverished teenager, is expected to make China's first "footprint in space" on Saturday at about 4:30 pm (4:30 a.m. EDT) and which will last up to half-an-hour.

"As this is the first time we've done a space walk, there are a lot of uncertainties, and so the time may be changed depending on the situation," program spokesman Wang Zhaoyao told a news conference. "One of the main features of this mission is that it involves great risk ... (namely) the execution of the space walk."

The son of a snack vendor, Zhai will wear a Chinese-designed space suit, named after a flying Buddhist goddess and with a price tag of 30 million yuan ($4.40 million), the official Xinhua agency said.

"Astronauts began to unpack and assemble the indigenous 'Feitian' extra-vehicular activity suit in preparation for the first spacewalk," Xinhua said.

Feitian, which means "flying the sky," has 10 layers and weighs about 120 kg. It takes up to 15 hours for an astronaut to assemble and put on.

"The worst-case scenario for me is becoming a real spaceman -- that is, never coming back again once I get out of the spacecraft," the China Daily quoted Zhai as saying before take-off, but he added that there was no chance his equipment would fail.

The 42-year-old from the frigid northeastern Heilongjiang province, who has spent a decade training to fly into space, will also be able to have a private phone chat with his family.

A colleague will wait in the orbital module in a Russian suit for backup. The men will assemble and test the suits on Friday, a task which takes nearly 15 hours, Xinhua said.

SPACE: THE FINAL COMMUNIST PARTY FRONTIER

As they ready for the space walk the trio are testing the country's first ever space toilet. Astronauts aboard China's previous two manned missions had to wear diapers, Xinhua said.

They are also enjoying a better diet after chefs worked to improve dishes, putting vinegar and sauces on the packing list.

But some products are still off the menu.

"As the astronauts will stay in an environment with low pressure, they should not eat foods that produce gas after being digested, such as milk and soy bean," Xinhua quoted Chen Bin, the mission food manager, saying.

China aims to set up a permanent space station, possibly in the next decade, but will first build a smaller orbiting lab. A space station would be a badge of China's status as a high-tech power and serve as a platform for winning a share of space-based resources and innovations, the country's scientists have said.

With a name meaning "sacred vessel," the Shenzhou program is secretively run through military and government agencies and its budget is unclear. In 2003, officials said it had cost 18 billion yuan ($2.6 billion) up to then.

The People's Daily, the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party, celebrated the launch as an affirmation of its policies. A commentary said that following the Beijing Olympics "the eyes of the world are once again on China."

"Manned space travel is a distilled demonstration of the world's current level of high-tech development, and it is an important indicator of a country's overall strength."

China's first manned spaceflight was in 2003, and a second, two-manned flight followed in 2005.

The country's first astronaut, Yang Liwei, said last year that the Communist Party might start a branch in space. Under Party rules only three members need to be present to establish a meeting and all the astronauts are signed up.

"We may not pray in the way our foreign counterparts do, but the common belief has made us more united in space, where there is no national boundary," he said at a Party meeting.

(For related factbox see CHINA-SPACE/FUTURE)

(Additional reporting by Chris Buckley and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Nick Macfie and Valerie Lee)