BEIJING (AP) — Chinese astronauts returned to earth and emerged triumphant from their capsule Sunday after successfully completing the country's first-ever spacewalk mission.

    State broadcaster CCTV showed their Shenzhou 7 spaceship landing under clear skies in the grasslands of China's northern Inner Mongolia region at 5:37 p.m. local time. Premier Wen Jiabao applauded at mission control in Beijing.

    "The astronauts feel very good," mission commander Zhai Zhigang said as the vessel floated down to earth on a red and white striped giant parachute.

    After landing, the three astronauts were seen sipping bottled water as they were given medical examinations inside the module. They stayed inside for about 45 minutes to adapt to the Earth's gravity before slowly crawling out of the narrow circular entrance of the capsule.

    CCTV showed the astronauts each waving as they emerged and sat on blue fold-out chairs outside the capsule. They were each presented with a bouquet of flowers.

    "It was a glorious mission, full of challenges with a successful end," Zhai said. "We feel proud of the motherland."

    Saturday's space walk, which was broadcast live and watched by crowds gathered around outdoor television screens, further stoked national pride one month after the close of the Beijing Olympics.

    The spacewalk was mainly aimed at testing China's mastery of the technology involved. Zhai's sole task was to retrieve a rack attached to the outside of the orbital module containing an experiment involving solid lubricants.

    Tethered to handles attached to the Shenzhou 7 ship's orbital module, Zhai remained outside for about 13 minutes before climbing back inside.

    A successful spacewalk paves the way for assembling a space station from two Shenzhou orbital modules, the next major goal of China's manned spaceflight program.

    China is also pursuing lunar exploration and may attempt to land a man on the moon in the next decade — possibly ahead of NASA's 2020 target date for returning to the moon. 

    北京（下午）——中國宇航員成功完成本國有史以來首次太空行走后返回地球，從太空艙成功走出。

    當地時間下午 5:37，官方電視臺CCTV對“神七”在內蒙古草原晴朗的天空下著陸進行了直播。總理溫家寶在北京的飛控中心對任務的完成進行了祝賀。

    “宇航員感覺良好。”當飛船在一個紅白相間的降落傘的幫助下成功著陸后任務指揮員翟志剛說。

    著陸后，當醫生在返回艙內對他們進行體檢時三名宇航員喝著礦泉水。他們在返回艙內呆了45分鐘以適應地球的重力，這才通過狹窄的圓門慢慢地爬出來。

    CCTV全程直播了宇航員出艙的過程，直到他們坐在飛船外面的藍色折疊椅上。有專人向三人獻了鮮花。

    “這是一個輝煌的任務，充滿了挑戰，以成功結束。”翟志剛說。“我們為祖國感到驕傲。”

    電視對周六的太空漫步進行了直播，成千上萬的人聚集在屋外電視屏幕前進行觀看，繼一個月前北京奧運會成功舉行后，這進一步增強了中國人民的自豪感。

    太空行走主要是為了驗證中國此項技術的掌握程度。翟志剛的唯一任務是取走附著在軌道艙外部模塊的一個部件，里面包含一個固體潤滑材料試驗樣品。

    通過連接“神七”軌道艙的系纜，翟志剛在飛船外部停留了大約13分鐘。

    太空行走的成功為建立對接兩個神舟軌道艙的空間站鋪平了道路，空間站是中國載人航天計劃的下一個主要目標。

    中國也在尋求月球開發計劃，想努力實現十年內中國人在月球著陸——可能比美國航天局2020年重返月球的時間提前。