GOBI DESERT, China — China launched its first manned spacemission on Wednesday, becoming the third country in history to senda person into orbit -- four decades after the former Soviet Unionand the United States.
With a column of smoke, the Shenzhou 5 craft cut across abright, azure northwest China sky at exactly 9 a.m. Wednesday (9p.m. EDT Tuesday) and went into orbit 10 minutes later. Theofficial Xinhua News Agency immediately confirmed the launch andsaid the astronaut was air force Lt. Col. Yang Liwei, 38.
''China's first manned spacecraft, the Shenzhou 5, blastedoff,'' Xinhua said. China Central Television's Channel One, thegovernment's flagship station, cut into its programming to announcethe launch. The station later showed Shenzhou streaking into thesky and disappearing, its tracer billowing behind it.
Minutes after the launch, a CCTV announcer said that Shenzhou 5and Yang had ''entered orbit at 9:10.'' Xinhua said Yang was''reading a flight manual in the capsule of the Shenzhou-5spacecraft and looked composed and at ease.''
''I feel good,'' Yang radioed back from space after a half-hourin flight, according to Xinhua.
Li Jinai, chief commander of the country's manned space program,was quoted by Xinhua as saying the spacecraft was operatingnormally in orbit.
It was the culmination of a decade of efforts by China'smilitary-linked manned space program -- and a patriotism-drenchedmoment for a communist government more concerned than ever aboutits profile on the world stage.
The launch makes China the third country to put a human intospace on its own. The former Soviet Union sent Yuri Gagarin up inApril 1961; the United States launched Alan B. Shepard Jr. lessthan a month later. John Glenn became the first American in orbitin 1962.
Chinese President Hu Jintao hailed the manned space mission as''the glory of our great motherland.''
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration applauded thelaunch and wished China continued success.
''This launch is an important achievement in the history ofhuman exploration,'' NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said in astatement. ''The Chinese people have a long and distinguishedhistory of exploration. NASA wishes China a continued safe humanspace flight program.''
In Washington, Pentagon spokeswoman Cheryl Irwin said, ''We wishthem success and for their astronaut's safe return.''
Referring to China's earlier unmanned space launches, anannouncer on the English-language government channel CCTV-9 invokedAmerican astronaut Neil Armstrong's words upon first walking on themoon. ''If these were small steps,'' the announcer said, ''then nowwe are taking a giant leap into space.''
Security was tight around the remote Gobi Desert base, some 175miles northeast of Jiuquan.
On Wednesday morning, the only road to the launch site wascrowded with traffic, including military vehicles and civilian tourbuses. But private cars were turned back and phone calls to thebase were blocked.
China kept details of the event secret, saying in advance onlythat the launch would take place between Wednesday and Friday andthat the astronaut would orbit the Earth 14 times.
The Shenzhou 5 launch came after four test launches of unmannedcapsules that orbited the Earth for nearly a week beforeparachuting back to China's northern grasslands. State media saythe manned flight is expected to last about 20 hours.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said earlier that theflight was a key step in the ''peaceful development of space'' -- areflection of China's effort to reassure the world that itsmilitary-linked program is benign.
The Shenzhou, or ''Divine Vessel,'' is based on the three-seatRussian Soyuz capsule, though with extensive modifications. Chinaalso paid Moscow to train at least two astronauts.
But Beijing insists everything sent into space will be developedand made in China. State media, trying to dispel suggestions thatits triumph depends on foreign know-how, refer to Shenzhou as''China's self-designed manned spaceship.''
Xinhua released a picture of Yang, 38, a pilot since 1987 and anastronaut since 1998, boarding Shenzhou 5 about 8 a.m.Wednesday.
''I will not disappoint the motherland. I will complete eachmovement with total concentration. And I will gain honor for thePeople's Liberation Army and for the Chinese nation,'' the popularChinese Web site Sina.com quoted Yang as saying before takingoff.
Sohu said Yang was selected Tuesday from a pool of threefinalists. The astronauts have been training for years, and thefield of candidates was narrowed from 14 in recent days.
Yang, who is 5 feet 6 inches tall, was born in 1965 in YouzhongCounty in Liaoning province, an industrial area in China'snortheast.
Sina quoted his older sister as saying he was an athletic childwho enjoyed swimming and ice skating. He works for the AviationMilitary Unit of China's People's Liberation Army, Chinese mediasaid.
State television had scrapped plans for a live broadcast of thelaunch. A Hong Kong newspaper said the cancellation was prompted byfears of the ''political risks'' of something going wrong.
Xinhua quoted space officials Tuesday assuring the public thatthe astronauts' space suits were safe and the Long March CZ-2 Fbooster was China's ''best rocket.''
After months of official silence, the government showed growingconfidence over the past week, announcing that the flight wouldblast off some time between Wednesday and Friday and splashingpictures of the once-secret launch base across newspapers.
But the decision to cancel a live broadcast suggested leadersmight be unnerved by the thought of the propaganda disaster that anaccident could produce.
China used to broadcast satellite launches live, but stopped in1995 after a rocket blew up moments after liftoff, reportedlykilling six people on the ground.
Dozens of messages left on Chinese Web sites had tauntedofficials for their decision and demanded that the government showits people the historic launch as it happens.
Such sites are monitored by censors who enforce official ruleson content and sometimes erase postings, which suggested thenegative postings were genuine.
The Gansu Daily, published in the provincial capital, Lanzhou,welcomed the imminent launch.
''Finally,'' it said, ''the time has come to realize the1,000-year dream of flying dreamed by the sons and daughters ofChina.''
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