With a bright flash and a mighty blast, China launched its first human into space last Wednesday. Yang Liwei, 38, traveled alone inside the Shenzou (shun-joe) 5 capsule.
"I'm feeling very good," he told his wife, Zhang Yumei, and 8-year-old son as he zoomed through space. Yang returned safely, landing in the grasslands of northern China after 21 hours in orbit. "I saw our planet," he said after landing. "It's so beautiful."
Until now, only American, Russian or Soviet programs had launched a person into space. The first taikonaut (tie-ko-not) kicks off an ambitious space quest. Later, the Chinese aim to land a robot explorer on the moon, build a space station and "establish a base on the moon," said Ouyang Ziyuan of the lunar-expedition program.