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China's astronaut returns safely
(CNN) -- China's first manned spacecraft has successfully returned to the Earth with astronaut Yang Liwei in good health, according to Chinese news agency reports. State television said the Shenzhou V capsule landed at 6:28 a.m. Thursday (2228 GMT Wednesday). "The landing is successful," a CCTV correspondent said. After a quick check-up at the landing site, Yang, an instant hero for millions of Chinese, boarded an aircraft bound for Beijing where he is expected to receive an official welcome from China's leaders. According to the official Xinhua news agency Yang's space capsule re-entered Earth's atmosphere at 6:04 a.m. on Thursday (2204 GMT Wednesday), and the astronaut said he was feeling fine. "The spaceship operated well. I feel very good and I am proud of my motherland," Xinhua quoted Yang as saying shortly after landing. (Yang profile) Shortly after the landing Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao sent a message of congratulations to the country's first man in space welcoming his safe return. Yang touched down on the grasslands of Inner Mongolia in northern China as planned at dawn and minutes later emerged from the capsule without help and waved at rescuers, although TV footage showed him appearing slightly dazed. During his flight Yang orbited Earth 14 times before the 38-year-old former fighter pilot piloted his spacecraft into a near perfect landing just 5 kilometers (3 miles) from his target. (Map: Launch and landing sites) "The mission was a success," said Li Jinai, the head of China's manned space program, according to The Associated Press. While in orbit, Yang spoke to his family, telling them it looked "splendid" in space. He also had a conversation with China's defense minister, unfurled the flags of China and the United Nations and took a nap. 'Honor for the nation'Yang was blasted into space aboard the Shenzhou V spacecraft at 9:00 a.m. local time Wednesday (0100 GMT) from the Jiuquan launch site in China's western Gobi Desert. The flight makes China only the third country in the world to launch a manned spacecraft into orbit, some four decades after the Soviet Union and the United States first achieved the feat. During the flight the Shenzhou V spacecraft being tracked by ground stations in China, Namibia and the South Pacific island of Kiribati, with ship-based tracking stations deployed in the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Quoted by Chinese media just before he blasted off into space, China's first astronaut promised he would "gain honor for the People's Liberation Army and for the Chinese nation." China's space program has close ties to the military and is surrounded by secrecy. Few details of the mission were announced in advance with even the launch time kept a secret until the last moment. Despite that secrecy, China's leaders are hoping the successful flight will boost national pride, rally popular sentiment behind the communist party and raise the profile of Chinese technology. Applause also came from the U.S. space agency NASA, whose administrator described the launch as "an important achievement in the history of human exploration." (NASA praises launch) No outside journalists were allowed permits to cover the event, with only a few representatives of Chinese state-run media observing the launch. Earlier this week, state-run CCTV cancelled plans to broadcast live television pictures of the launch on the advice of "space experts." Observers said China's leaders considered the political risks of a launch failure too great to allow live coverage. Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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