BEIJING : China's second manned space mission returned safely to
Earth on Monday after a successful five-day flight, in the latest
chapter in China's ambitious drive to become a global space
power.
Astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng were given a clean bill of
health after the re-entry capsule of their Shenzhou VI spacecraft
glided to Earth on a parachute, ending up in Inner Mongolia, Xinhua
news agency said.
"Our journey in space was very smooth, the living and working
conditions inside the cabin were very good, our health is okay,
thanks," Fei said on state television, with a radiant smile.
Emerging from the module, television pictures showed the two take a
few seconds to adjust to the Earth's gravity, before being
presented with bouquets of flowers and waving to assembled recovery
teams and ground control staff.
Mission control declared the 115-hour space flight a success,
Xinhua reported.
China's top legislator Wu Bangguo, who watched the return of
Shenzhou VI from the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Centre,
called the completed mission a "milestone," according to the
People's Daily website.
"It is of great significance in elevating China's prestige in the
world and promoting China's economic, scientific and national
defence capabilities, and its national cohesiveness," Wu was quoted
as saying.
A member of one of the recovery teams reported that the capsule
landed upright after touching down at 4:32 am (2032 GMT Sunday),
just one kilometre from the intended landing site, it added.
Fei and Nie were taken by helicopter from their remote landing site
and given chocolate and herbal tea.
"I can feel that lots of people are thinking about us, we're very
grateful for all the love and concern from our motherland and its
people," Nie said on television.
In Nie's home town, in Zaoyang county of northern Hebei province,
hundreds of proud residents hit the streets from before sunrise to
mark the return of Shenzhou VI.
State television showed footage of the town celebrating its most
famous native with firecrackers and dragon dances.
The flight was China's second-ever manned space mission following
the historic Shenzhou V, which in October 2003 made China the third
nation after the former Soviet Union and the United States to put a
man into space.
Shenzhou VI had been carrying enough food, water and oxygen for a
seven-day mission, although planners had expected it to spend just
five days in orbit.
The spacecraft blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre
on Inner Mongolia's border with Gansu province on Wednesday.
During his 21-hour maiden flight in 2003, lone astronaut Yang Liwei
never left his seat in the re-entry capsule nor take off his space
suit.
In contrast, Fei and Nie's flight saw them leave the re-entry
capsule and enter the orbital capsule, shedding their bulky suits
and donning ordinary work clothes so they could move around
easily.
During their time in space, the astronauts successfully fired
rockets to adjust the craft's altitude, ensuring it remained in its
pre-planned orbit - which was crucial for its return to Earth, a
mission control spokesman said.
Premier Wen Jiabao hailed the historic second mission as a success
after watching from the launch pad on Wednesday.
The launch captivated the nation, with millions of Chinese watching
it on television.
Dispelling concerns that China could use space for military
purposes, Wen said the purpose of the mission was to conduct
experiments "entirely for peaceful purposes."
The Chinese government also hopes to use the manned space program
to invigorate patriotism and instil a curiosity in science and
technology amongst China's largely agrarian population.
Spending on the Shenzhou series of launches has reached roughly 19
billion yuan (US$2.3 billion), less than 10 percent of the US
annual spending on space programmes, Xinhua quoted a space science
researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences saying last week. -
AFP/dt/de