Posted: Wed, Oct 15, 2003, 11:00 AM ET (1500 GMT)
China became the third country to launch a human into space on Wednesday when the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft successfully entered orbit. The launch of Shenzhou 5 atop a Long March 2F rocket took place at approximately 9 pm EDT Tuesday (0100 GMT, 9 am Beijing time Wednesday) from the Jiuquan launch center in northwestern China. Aborad the spacecraft was a single yuhangyuan, or astronaut, a 38-year-old former air force pilot named Yang Liwei. Yang said “I feel good” when ground controllers asked how he felt. Shenzhou 5 is expected to remain in orbit for 14 orbits, or just under one day, with a landing scheduled for approximately 7 pm EDT Wednesday (2300 GMT Wednesday, 7 am Thursday Beijing time) in Inner Mongolia. The launch was not broadcast live in China in a last-minute change of plans, but was broadcast about a half-hour after liftoff.

Related Links:

•  New York Times article
•  CNN article
•  SPACE.com article
•  Spaceflight Now article
•  Xinhua article