China counts down to space walk mission

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- A Chinese Shenzhou-7 spaceship is scheduled to lift off Thursday evening on the nation's third manned space mission.

The mission will include China's first space walk if all goes according to plan.

The three-man crew has an 80-minute window for the launch -- from 9:07 p.m. to 10:27 p.m. (9:07 a.m. to 10:27 a.m. ET), according to Wang Zhaoyao, the spokesman for China's space program. The craft is scheduled to take off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northern China's Inner Mongolia.

After a three-day mission, the Shenzhou-7 is scheduled to land in the Gobi Desert of Inner Mongolia in northern China.

China became the third country to send people into space in 2003, when military pilot Yang Liwei circled the earth for 21 hours.

Its second mission -- in 2005 -- had two crew members and lasted five days. See a timeline of China's space program »

All About Manned Space Flight • China