Yang looks forward to next space mission By Zhao Huanxin (China Daily) Updated: 2004-10-15 00:57
Yang Liwei, the fighter pilot who made China's first trip into space exactly
one year ago, was all smiles when he visited the satellite launch centre that
sent him past the stratosphere.
The Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Northwest China's Gansu Province was
immersed in a festive mood yesterday, as Yang, now a national hero, visited the
facility and told anecdotes to his colleagues.
Yang returned to the Earth on October 16, 2003, after a 21-hour flight in
space.
The historic odyssey secured China a niche as the third nation in the world
to send a man into outer space, following the former Soviet Union and the United
States.
The astronaut said a few hours before he entered the Shenzhou-V capsule, he
had a diner with two colleagues. They proposed a toast. The two drank red wine,
while Yang just took mineral water with several drips of red wine.
President Hu Jintao was at the site to see Yang off on October 15, 2003.
Yang said that before he left a departure hall, he looked back and saw Hu
step forward and wave, his eyes full of trust and care.
Before Shenzhou-V's door closed, Yang said a worker told him that when Russia
staged its manned space missions, there had always been two experienced
engineers who shut the spacecraft doors. One of the engineers later became
curator of Russia's space museum.
Yang said the worker was speaking to ease the tension at the launch pad.
"Then at 6:15 am when I entered the spacecraft and the door was about to
close, I waved to that worker, and said: 'See you tomorrow, curator'."
Yang did more than recall the past, he eagerly spoke about the challenges
that lay ahead.
"Space flights are the duty of our astronauts," he said when asked if he
would participate in China's next manned space mission, scheduled for 2005, and
the subsequent missions such as space docking and building a space laboratory.
"I will conduct space flights again if the motherland needs me to do so," he
said. "My colleagues and I are undergoing strict training as usual, and are
anticipating the next mission."
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