Read France 24 correspondent Sebastien Le Belzic's report from Beijing

China's three astronauts prepared Saturday for the nation's first ever space walk as the country waited with bated breath to see if the manoeuvre, deemed highly risky, would be successful.
   
Mission leader Zhai Zhigang was chosen to leave the Shenzhou VII spacecraft for the historic 20-minute space walk scheduled to occur at 4:30 pm (0830 GMT) and broadcast live on television, Xinhua news agency said.
   
Although 41-year-old Zhai had been picked, he could still be switched at the last minute for one of the other astronauts, said Li Yongzhi, director of the medical department of the China Astronaut Research and Training Center.
   
"We are closely observing their physical conditions, because at this moment, anyone of them could suffer space motion sickness and thus not be able to perform the task," she told Xinhua.
   
"Even when the spacewalker is confirmed, we still need him to do a brief check before he opens the hatch and leaves the orbiter," she said.
   
An "intensive psychological shock" would be unavoidable once the astronaut left the capsule 343 kilometres (215 miles) over the Earth, Xinhua said, citing Yang Liwei, who piloted China's maiden space flight in 2003.
   
Performing a successful spacewalk is seen as essential for the Asian giant's next ambition in coming years, establishing a space station.
   
The Chinese Internet offered a forum for local enthusiasts to express their pride over the fledgling space power's achievements.
   
"Go China! Go Zhigang! We wish you good luck!" said a typical posting on popular web portal Sina.com.
   
China's first space walker will be tethered to the craft with two safety wires and is scheduled to walk along the exterior of part of the Shenzhou.
   
He will take a test sample of solid lubricant from the surface of the spacecraft, in a bid to replicate the type of task that future space walkers will have to do.
   
"Actually, it's not like walking, but floating," Wu Bin, an expert at the China Astronaut Research and Training Centre, told Xinhua.
   
The astronauts, who took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the desert of northwest China late Thursday, passed most of their first day in space preparing for the walk.
   
On Friday, Zhai and his colleague Liu Boming spent 12 hours unpacking and assembling the special China-made space suit that must be used during the walk outside the Shenzhou craft.
   
"A job that people can finish in one hour on Earth usually needs two to three hours in space," said Li Xiqiang, a scientist attached to the space programme, according to the China Daily newspaper.
   
It was the first time the two tried to assemble the suit in conditions of perfect weightlessness as it is impossible to create a real zero-gravity environment on Earth, the paper said.
   
As part of China's space programme, two more unmanned craft will be launched by 2010, as well as another manned spaceship with a crew of three to start work on the lab or space station, according to the China Daily.
   
After China sent its first man into space in 2003, it followed up with a two-man mission in 2005.
   
The astronauts also had time Friday to enjoy the view, witnessing 16 sunrises during their first 24 hours in orbit, and to sample the 80-dish menu they brought with them on their 68-hour mission.
   
Sleep was necessarily limited, but the spacecraft has sleeping bags hooked to the wall of the craft. However, the astronauts were told to keep their hands inside the bags in order to avoid them accidentally pushing a button or flipping a contact while asleep, Xinhua said.
   
The Shenzhou VII is scheduled to land in the northern Inner Mongolia region after the mission is completed.