The two astronauts on China's second manned space flight landed Monday to a heroes' welcome while Beijing called the five-day mission a boost for the ruling Communist Party and announced its next ambition: a space walk by 2007. The Shenzhou 6 capsule with astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng aboard landed by parachute at 4:32 a.m. (2032 GMT Sunday) in China's northern grasslands in a flight meant to boost Beijing's global stature and domestic support for its communist rulers. Crews rushed to the site in helicopters and off-road vehicles. State television showed the astronauts climbing out of their kettle-shaped capsule with the help of two technicians in red jumpsuits and clambering down a ladder in the predawn darkness. The country's No. 2 leader, Wu Bangguo, who watched the landing from the Beijing mission control center, declared the flight a success, The Associated Press reported. Tang Xiangming, director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office, told a news conference that the next step for China's space program was to develop the ability for astronauts to work outside their capsule and to dock with other craft. "Our estimate is that around 2007 we will be able to achieve extravehicular activity by our astronauts and they will walk in space," Tang said. He said the program also might recruit women in its next group of astronaut candidates.
