China sends astronaut into orbit

GOBI DESERT, China — China launched its first manned space mission on Wednesday, becoming the third country in history to send a person into orbit — four decades after the former Soviet Union and the United States.

With a column of smoke, the Shenzhou 5 craft cut across a bright, azure northwest China sky at exactly 9 a.m. Wednesday (7 p.m. Tuesday MDT) and went into orbit 10 minutes later. The official Xinhua News Agency immediately confirmed the launch and said the astronaut was air force Lt. Col. Yang Liwei, 38.

"China's first manned spacecraft, the Shenzhou 5, blasted off," Xinhua said. China Central Television's Channel One, the government's flagship station, cut into its programming to announce the launch. The station later showed Shenzhou streaking into the sky and disappearing, its tracer billowing behind it.

Minutes after the launch, a CCTV announcer said that Shenzhou 5 and Yang had "entered orbit at 9:10." Xinhua said Yang was "reading a flight manual in the capsule of the Shenzhou-5 spacecraft and looked composed and at ease."

"I feel good," Yang radioed back from space after a half-hour in flight, according to Xinhua.

Li Jinai, chief commander of the country's manned space program, was quoted by Xinhua as saying the spacecraft was operating normally in orbit.

It was the culmination of a decade of efforts by China's military-linked manned space program — and a patriotism-drenched moment for a communist government more concerned than ever about its profile on the world stage.

The launch makes China the third country to put a human into space. The former Soviet Union sent Yuri Gagarin up in 1961; the United States launched Alan B. Shepard Jr. less than a month later. John Glenn became the first American in orbit in 1962.

In Washington, Pentagon spokeswoman Cheryl Irwin said, "We wish them success and for their astronaut's safe return."

Referring to China's earlier unmanned space launches, an announcer on the English-language government channel CCTV-9 invoked American astronaut Neil Armstrong's words upon first walking on the moon. "If these were small steps," the announcer said, "then now we are taking a giant leap into space."

Security was tight around the remote Gobi Desert base, some 175 miles northeast of Jiuquan.

On Wednesday morning, the only road to the launch site was crowded with traffic, including military vehicles and civilian tour buses. But private cars were turned back and phone calls to the base were blocked.

China kept details of the event secret, saying in advance only that the launch would take place between Wednesday and Friday and that the astronaut would orbit the Earth 14 times. Yang was identified as a lieutenant colonel.