Savitskaya was born in 1948 in Moscow. She was accepted into the Soviet cosmonaut program in 1980.

In August, 1982, she became the second woman to travel in space during the Soyuz T-7 mission. Two years later, she became the first woman to walk in space.

Svetlana Savitskaya, Former Soviet cosmonaut, said, "It's not comfortable when you are under weightlessness. There is no big difference for the feelings between spacewalk and staying in the ship. People are not qualified for the job if they get too excited. At that momont, I thought I should work, nothing else. Spacewalking is, of course, a complicated job."

Savitskaya says the spacewalk plays an important role in a country's space program. She says spacewalks are used not only to examine the structure and materials of the spacecraft, but also to support spacecraft maintenance.

She hopes Chinese astronauts will achieve great success in the upcoming mission.

Former Soviet Astronaut Anatoliy Solovyov has also been paying a lot of attention to China's progress in space technology.

He holds the world record for number of spacewalks and time spent during spacewalks: at least 80 hours over 16 separate outings.

Solovyov describes his first spacewalk as a "very challenging job".

He says the spacewalk mission is a big step for the development of China's space program. He expressed his congratulations to experts and astronauts who are participating in the "Shenzhou 7" mission.

Solovyov said, "I believe everything will go smoothly and China's spacewalk will be successful."

Solovyov has written a congratulatory letter to all the staff for the upcoming mission. He says he will keep a close eye on the achievements of the Chinese space mission.

(CCTV.com September 23, 2008)