Exhibition tells story of taikonauts' journey

Space fans have a great opportunity to imagine themselves in a taikonaut seat, thanks to a Shanghai exhibition featuring components from the Shenzhou VII, China's third manned spacecraft and the first to support a space walk.

Visitors take pictures of real chairs in a model of the return module for Shenzhou VII spacecraft. The module and other exhibits are on display through Tuesday at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. [Shanghai Daily]

Both the hardware and the software supporting the human element are on display, including packaged food eaten by the taikonauts, the Chinese version of astronauts.

Visitors will also be able to see a 100-kilogram pumpkin that sprouted from a seed altered by mutations in space. The massive gourd is part of a program designed to improve crop quality.

The Shanghai 2008 Space Technology Exhibition opens today at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum in Pudong.

Among the displays are the propulsion module and parachute used on the Shenzhou VII when it made its historic 68-hour flight, including a 20-minute space walk, on September 27. Made in Shanghai, the 1,200-square-meter, red-and-white-striped chute hangs in the lobby of the museum.

There is also a backup orbiter module and a model of the re-entry capsule, with three chairs from the real capsule used by taikonauts Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng.

"The real orbital capsule is still in space and is flying in smaller and smaller circles," said Zhou Xudong of the Shanghai Bureau of Astronautics. "It will fall into the atmosphere one day."