China’s ideology made them natural allies of Russia, but the two countries found themselves competing more often than cooperation. China turned to the West for support, and was received cordially, if not warmly. Feeling threatened on both sides, China began working on its own ballistic missile program, that eventually formed the foundation of their spaceflight one. On the 50th anniversary of PRC’s founding, China launched the Shenzhou 1, an unmanned spacecraft, in preparation for their manned flight in the Shenzhou 5 four years later.

On this day, September 27, in 2008, on board the Shenzhou 7, China’s third manned flight, Zhai Zhigang made first ever spacewalk by a taikonaut. Broadcast live by several cameras, he moved in space for 22 minutes and waved the Chinese flag.

Not willing to take chances with something going wrong, the Chinese official Xinhua new agency published a story dated two days in advance to describe the scene and dialogue taking place on a flight that had not happened yet. The article vividly described the exchanges between the Shenzhou crew and Mission control, and ended with a poetic line: ‘Warm clapping and excited cheering breaks the night sky, echoing across the silent Pacific Ocean.’