ChiComs Return To Space

[Zhukov]

http://www.nature.com/news/2005/051010/full/051010-10.html

China makes second manned space shot
Successful launch puts Asian giant into the space race.
Mark Peplow

Lift off: China makes tracks for space.

© Xinhua / Chinese National Space Administration

China has launched its second manned space mission, securing its position as the world's third space power.

Astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gansu province of northwest China at 1:00 GMT on 12 October, and entered orbit around the Earth some 21 minutes later.

"It's very significant," says space scientist André Balogh of Imperial College London. "The Chinese have got big ambitions in space, and they obviously have the technology and motivation to achieve them."

The Shenzhou VI mission follows China's first manned spaceflight in October 2003, which saw astronaut Yang Liwei orbit the Earth 14 times in 21 hours.