China puts its first man in space<br /><br />China's first manned spacecraft has entered orbit, making it the third country to send a human into space.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />The craft, carrying a single astronaut Yang Liwei, is expected to orbit 14 times, returning to Earth in about 21 hours' time.<br /><br />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".<br /><br />Only the United States and the former Soviet Union had previously sent humans into space.<br /><br />I will not disappoint the motherland<br />Astronaut Yang Liwei<br /><br />"I feel good, see you tomorrow," Yang Liwei told mission control from space.<br /><br />The launch was to have been shown live on national television, but Chinese state television decided it would only show it later.<br /><br />However, programmes were interrupted to announce the successful launch.<br /><br />The English-language channel CCTV-9 echoed the words of American Neil Armstrong when he became the first man to walk on the moon.<br /><br />"If these were small steps, then now we are taking a giant leap into space," the announcer said.<br /><br />National prestige<br /><br />Yang Liwei, a 38-year-old lieutenant in the People's Liberation Army, was only publicly confirmed as the astronaut as the flight began.<br /><br />He was boarded the capsule almost three hours before blast-off, cheered by a group of balloon-waving children.<br /><br />Once aloft, he was said to be "reading a flight manual in the capsule of the Shenzhou V spacecraft and looked composed and at ease".<br /><br />State television said he would be eating freeze-dried shredded pork with garlic sauce and fried rice during his flight, and drinking tea.<br /><br />The Shenzhou design is based on the Russian Soyuz three-person space capsule, although the Chinese space programme has made wide-ranging changes.<br /><br />The project has become a matter of national prestige, with Shenzhou described in the official media as "China's self-designed manned spaceship".<br /><br />"I will not disappoint the motherland," Yang Liwei said before boarding the capsule.<br /><br />"I will complete each movement with total concentration. And I will gain honour for the People's Liberation Army and for the Chinese nation."<br /><br />The area around the Jiuquan launch site had been sealed off, with soldiers stopping all vehicles 35km (20 miles) from the Jiuquan launch centre.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />Story from BBC NEWS:<br />http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3192330.stm<br /><br />Published: 2003/10/15 04:01:14 GMT<br /><br />© BBC MMIII