China has new spacecraft orbiting the Earth

China launched its second manned space mission, sending two astronauts into orbit as it opened a new chapter in its ambitious drive to become a golbal space power.


China's second manned spacecraft Shenzhou VI blasts off into the sky Wednesday morning October 12, 2005. The craft, carrying astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng, is expected to orbit the Earth for five days.

China's latest space mission comes two years after a successful inaugural manned mission in 2003 and 48 years after then leader Mao Zedong lamented that his country was incapable of putting a potato into space.