Excitement marks China's first manned space mission
AFP, Beijing
Passers-by stopped in their tracks, commuters brought their bicycles to a halt and those on lunch breaks postponed meals as people learning of China's first manned space flight glued their eyes to television screens. Few knew that the launch was scheduled yesterday morning as China's state-controlled media had downplayed coverage in the run-up to the 9am (local time) lift-off. But soon after the official China Central Television began a delayed broadcast of the launch from northern Inner Mongolia with astronaut Yang Liwei on board, small crowds began gathering near giant television screens outside shopping malls. One man could not keep his eyes off a screen outside the Wonderful supermarket in central Beijing and nearly ran his cycle into a car. "I feel very proud," said He Wei, a Beijing man, watching the Shenzhou V blast off on the supermarket's screen. "This shows our country's scientific capabilities are rising. I want our country to be as strong as possible because then we can stand up a little straighter." Russia, which sent the first man into space more than 40 years ago, congratulated China for accomplishing the same feat yesterday and joining the elite space club alongside itself and the United States. "We welcome this development and congratulate China for joining the club of space powers that have their own manned space programs," ITAR-TASS quoted the first deputy of the Russian space agency Nikolai Moiseyev as saying. Pakistan yesterday hailed long-time ally China's launch of its first manned flight into space, saying it brought pride to Asia. "This is no doubt a very important milestone in the progress and advancement made by China in space technology," General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's President, wrote to his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao. The launch "brings pride to China as to the Asian continent," he said in the letter which was distributed to media organisations. China's first astronaut, Yang Liwei, 38, who blasted into space yesterday, has spent 10 years training for the mission that made his country the third in history to send a man into orbit. Speaking to mission control the lieutenant colonel in the People's Liberation Army said he was feeling good and the flight was going well, the official Xinhua news agency said. "I feel good, see you tomorrow," Yang was quoted as saying. Yang's words at 9:34am (0134 GMT) came some 34 minutes into the historic mission and as Chinese space administrators declared the launch "a complete success," state press said.
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