- China's first manned spacecraft has entered orbit, making
it the third country to send a human into space.
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- A Long March 2F rocket blasted off from the Gobi desert
launch pad at 0900 (0100GMT), and the Shenzhou V spacecraft was orbiting
Earth 10 minutes later.
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- The craft, carrying a single astronaut Yang Liwei, is
expected to orbit 14 times, returning in about 21 hours' time.
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- President Hu Jintao was present for the launch, and said
it was "the glory of our great motherland and a mark for the initial
victory of the country's first manned space flight".
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- "The launch of Shenzhou V, China's first manned
spacecraft, is successful and the craft is already in orbit," mission
control announced.
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- Only the United States and the former Soviet Union had
previously sent humans into space.
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- "I feel good, see you tomorrow," Yang Liwei
told mission control from space.
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- The launch was to have been shown live on national television,
but Chinese state television decided it would only show it later.
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- However, programmes were interrupted to announce the
successful launch.
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- The English-language channel CCTV-9 echoed the words
of American Neil Armstrong when he became the first man to walk on the
moon.
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- "If these were small steps, then now we are taking
a giant leap into space," the announcer said.
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- National prestige
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- Yang Liwei, a 38-year-old lieutenant in the People's
Liberation Army, was only confirmed as the astronaut as the flight began.
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- He was said to be "reading a flight manual in the
capsule of the Shenzhou V spacecraft and looked composed and at ease".
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- The design is based on the Russian Soyuz three-person
space capsule, although the Chinese space programme has made wide-ranging
changes.
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- The project has become a matter of national prestige,
with Shenzhou described in the official media as "China's self-designed
manned spaceship".
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- "I will not disappoint the motherland," astronaut
Yang Liwei said before boarding the capsule.
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- "I will complete each movement with total concentration.
And I will gain honour for the People's Liberation Army and for the Chinese
nation."
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- The area around the Jiuquan launch site had been sealed
off, with soldiers stopping all vehicles 35km (20 miles) from the Jiuquan
launch centre.
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- From early on Wednesday morning, people were reported
to be driving out of Jiuquan city, over 200km (125 miles) to the south,
to try to catch sight of the launch.
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- © BBC MMIII
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- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3192330.stm
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