China Joins Space Club

Diagram of Shenzhou 5 – “Divine Ship”

GOBI DESERT, China Oct. 14 China launched its first manned space mission
on Wednesday, sending an astronaut hurtling toward orbit and becoming the
third country in history to do so on its own four decades after the Soviet
Union and the United States.

The smoky tracer was visible against a bright, azure northwest China sky. The
official Xinhua News Agency immediately confirmed the launch and said the astronaut
was Yang Liwei, 38.

” China’s first manned spacecraft, the Shenzhou 5, blasted off from the
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern province of Gansu at 9 a.m.
Wednesday (9 p.m. EDT),” Xinhua said. State television cut into its programming
to announce the launch.

from
ABC News