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Beijing: China's three astronauts landed safely back on Earth on Sunday after a challenging voyage, including a space walk, that showcased the country's technological mastery and put it one step closer to the Moon.
Spacewalker Zhai Zhigang and two other astronauts on board the Shenzhou VII landed around 5.40pm (0940 GMT) on the steppes of northern Inner Mongolia region, where helicopters with crews trained in search and rescue were on stand-by.
The men, who told mission control that they were safe and well, can expect a heroes' welcome from the whole country when they have recovered from the journey and are allowed out of quarantine, which the Xinhua agency said will last around half a month.
Previous space pioneers, now national icons, have been showered with tributes and gifts ranging from luxury housing to traditional operas performed in their honour.
Zhai's successful space walk in a $4.4 million, domestically designed, suit caps an eventful year for China in which it has both coped with the tragedy of the devastating Sichuan earthquake and revelled in the Beijing Olympics.
It was China's third manned space mission. The ability to space walk is key to a longer-term goal of assembling a space lab and then a larger space station, and maybe one day making a landing on the moon.
The fast-growing Asian power wants to be sure of a say in the use of space and its resources, and its space programme has come a long way since late leader Mao Zedong lamented that China could not even launch a potato into space.
On Saturday, during his 20 minutes outside the craft - but tethered to it to prevent him floating off - Zhai unveiled a small Chinese flag.
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