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| East Asia |
| Craft Carrying China's First Astronaut Lands |
| 2003-10-16 |
| Associated Press. EFL China's first astronaut returned safely to Earth on Thursday when his craft touched down on time and as planned after 21 hours in orbit. Beijing's mission control declared the country's landmark debut flight "a success." The craft carrying Lt. Col. Yang Liwei landed by parachute on the grasslands of Inner Mongolia in northern China at dawn Thursday, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Minutes later, he grabbed the capsule hatch with his hand, pulled himself out and waved at rescuers. Shenzhou 5 landed at 6:23 a.m., the government said. Less than two hours later, he was in a helicopter en route to Beijing, the state broadcaster China Central Television reported. Welcome back. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #4 YUP--next thing you know--them damn Chinee black helicopters is gonna be flying over my house confiscatin' my gunz |
| Posted by: RonnieRaygun 2003-10-16 11:00:35 PM |
| #3 Actually, we probably shouldn't discount China's new space initiative or take it too lightly no matter how backward they may seem to be right now. China is, has been, and will continue to be, a force in the world and they fervently believe they are going to war with the United States in the near future. He who holds the high ground holds all the advantages. China has ambitious plans for their space race. They intend to land a man on the moon and put people on Mars within 20 years. With our own space program languishing in bureacratic hell and the safety problems of the virtually shut-down shuttle program (we can't have a replacement shuttle in place for at least 5-10 years and good authorities report we could not return to the moon today if we wanted to, let alone Mars!), it would not take long for China to outdistance us - especially if they "play the game" of demilitarizing their space program on the one hand (the public one), while fully militarizing it on the other (the non-public one). We discount China and its ambitions at our own risk. Thanks, Greg (recently frocked LC of the great VRWC) |
| Posted by: LC FOTSGreg 2003-10-16 10:07:28 PM |
| #2 En route to Beijing? " Uh-oh, I don't feel to well. Did someone forget too pressurize the capsule again? " |
| Posted by: Charles 2003-10-16 12:14:56 PM |
| #1 "Minutes later, he grabbed the capsule hatch with his hand, pulled himself out and waved at rescuers." ...and said "Who order Pupu platter?" |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-10-16 11:14:10 AM |