Two Chinese astronauts blast off on five-day space mission

By GEOFFREY YORK The Globe and Mail

Wednesday, October 12, 2005 Page A20

BEIJING -- In a giant leap for its space program, China launched two astronauts into a five-day space mission today, broadcasting the entire launch live to a national television audience.

The astronauts, Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng, were launched into space at 9 a.m. today (9 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time last night) in a mission that will set the stage for China's fast-rising ambitions on the moon and in outer space.

Moments after the liftoff, state television showed live pictures of the two astronauts inside their spaceship, calmly glancing through their technical manuals. Crowds at the launch site were heard cheering and applauding as the Shenzhou ("divine vessel") spaceship separated from the giant Long March booster rocket.

"I'm feeling good," Mr. Fei said in his first televised words after the liftoff.

Chinese television commentators said the liftoff was "smooth" and "very successful."China has already declared that it wants to build a permanent space station and send an unmanned spaceship to the moon within the next five years, and the latest launch is a crucial step toward its lunar dreams.

Foreign journalists were banned from the top-secret military-controlled launch site on the edge of the Gobi desert in northwestern China, where roads are sealed by military checkpoints. But despite the secrecy at the launch site itself, China is becoming more boastful of its space ambitions. State television is planning 54 hours of live coverage of the mission.The mission was launched a day after the end of an important Communist Party central-committee meeting to map out China's latest five-year plan. The timing is unlikely to be a coincidence: The Communist authorities have enjoyed basking in the glory of the space program in recent years.

China became just the third country in the world to launch a human into space when it sent astronaut Yang Liwei into orbit for 21 hours in 2003. But the new mission is a quantum leap forward from its first effort.

For the first time, its astronauts will move around the spaceship, taking off their heavy space suits to enter a separate orbital module attached to the re-entry capsule. They will also conduct scientific experiments and prepare hot meals in a food heater.

There are unconfirmed reports that pig sperm will be among the items carried on the spaceship for scientific analysis.