Expert: Chance slim for Shenzhou 7 to land on foreign territory

Source: Xinhua | 09-28-2008 16:36

BEIJING, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's Shenzhou 7 spacecraft has a slim chance to land out of China, an expert with the space project said on Sunday.

The video grab taken at the Beijing Space Command and  Control Center on Sept. 27, 2008 shows Chinese taikonauts  (L-R) Jing Haipeng, Zhai Zhigang and Liu Boming talk on  the spacecraft Shenzhou-7 with Chinese President Hu Jintao  who is in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 27, 2008. (Xinhua Photo/Chen Jianli)

Except for the major and the standby landing sites, China has a large territory where set many emergency sites, said An Zhenhua, main designer of the landing system of China's manned space projects.

China has the possibility to chose foreign counties for landing in extreme conditions, which should be decided by the headquarter, An said.

The option counties, who had signed agreements with China, have the responsibilities to help searching for the spacecraft and return it to China, he said.

If it goes on successfully, the re-entry module will be found within half an hour to one hour, said An, whose team had attended the space projects ever since Shenzhou 1.

"We are confident to find the re-entry module before dark," he said.