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To assure your safety wear one of these.
Also offers protection from Gedde Lee's annoying high-pitched vocals.
China Launches Manned Space Mission
The Associated Press
Tuesday, October 14, 2003; 9:09 PM
GOBI DESERT, China - China launched its first manned space mission on Wednesday, sending an astronaut hurtling toward orbit and becoming the third country in history to do so on its own - four decades after the Soviet Union and the United States.
The smoky tracer was visible against a bright, azure northwest China sky. The official Xinhua News Agency immediately confirmed the launch and said the astronaut was Yang Liwei, 38.
"China's first manned spacecraft, the Shenzhou 5, blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern province of Gansu at 9 a.m. Wednesday (9 p.m. EDT)," Xinhua said. State television cut into its programming to announce the launch.
It was the culmination of a decade of efforts by China's military-linked manned space program - and a patriotism-drenched moment for a communist government more concerned than ever about its profile on the world stage.
Security was tight around the remote Gobi Desert base, some 175 miles northeast of Jiuquan.
On Wednesday morning, the only road to the launch site was crowded with traffic, including military vehicles and civilian tour buses. But private cars were turned back and phone calls to the base were blocked.
China kept details of the event secret, saying in advance only that the launch would take place between Wednesday and Friday and that the astronaut would orbit the Earth 14 times. Yang was identified as a lieutenant colonel.
The Shenzhou 5 launch came after four test launches of unmanned capsules that orbited the Earth for nearly a week before parachuting back to China's northern grasslands. State media say the manned flight is expected to last about 20 hours.