Taikonaut Zhai Zhigang to be Honored at 25th National Space Symposium

Chinese Taikonaut Zhai Zhigang will be among the China Shenzhou 7 Manned Space Flight Mission Team to be honored at the 25th National Space Symposium to be held at The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs Monday.

Zhai Zhigang, who performed China's first space walk during the Shenzhou 7 mission, will be making his first public appearance in the West with the Chinese delegation being led by Chief Manned Space Flight Mission Designer Dr. Zhou Jianping. The Chinese spacewalk caputred the attention of President Barack Obama when it occured.

The Chinese government has placed special emphasis on the development of space hardware and space science in recent years leaping into human orbital missions and robotic space missions to the moon in the past few years. A small Chinese space station and joint Mars operations with the Russians are planned.