China launches 2nd manned spacecraft

cctv.com 10-12-2005 11:10

After 2 years of preparations, China has successfully launched its second manned spacecraft. On Wednesday morning, Shenzhou 6 blasted off from Northwest China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

Two years ago, China launched its first manned spacecraft from right here--the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. This time, the country's space program is taking another bold step--putting two men into space. Early on Wednesday morning, the two-man crew, Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng, bade farewell to their commander as they boarded the Shenzhou 6 spacecraft.

Two hours and forty minutes later, they were on their way into space.

The Shenzhou 5 put one astronaut in space3 for just one day. The Shenzhou 6 mission will send two astronauts in space for a number of days. It will also be the first time that Chinese astronauts will conduct scientific experiments on board. If everything goes smoothly, the Shenzhou 6 mission will go a long way to realizing China's ambition of having space walks and space stations some time in the future.

With the countdown at 9 a.m., the Shenzhou 6 lifted off on a Long March 2F rocket. Ten minutes later, it separated from the rocket and entered the earth's orbit at an altitude of over 300 kilometers.

The head of China's General Armaments Department and director of the nation's manned space program, Chen Bingde, declared the launch a success.

The Shenzhou 6 is being tracked and directed from 10 land monitoring centers and 4 monitoring vessels deployed in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. During their voyage, the two astronauts will be able to take off their 10-kilogram space-suits and travel between the re-entry capsule and the orbital capsule.

The astronauts have sleeping bags for greater comfort, and will be able to heat up their food and take rests.

The craft is designed for the astronauts to stay in space for up to 7days. The re-entry module is expected to touch down in Inner Mongolia, and a standby landing spot at Jiuquan is also ready for use in the event of an emergency.

Editor:Wang Ping  Source:CCTV.com