U.S. space agency NASA has added its voice to congratulations
being sent to Chinese mission controllers following the launch
Wednesday of China's first astronaut, according to a CNN
report.
Applauding the successful launch, NASA Administrator Sean
O'Keefe said in a statement that 38-year-old Yang Liwei's flight
into space was "an important achievement in the history of human
exploration."
"The Chinese people have a long and distinguished history of
exploration," O'Keefe said.
"NASA wishes China a continued safe human space flight program,"
he added.
Although Wednesday's launch makes China only the third nation
after Russia and the United States to have put a man into space,
the Chinese achievement comes at a difficult time for NASA.
Following the loss of the shuttle Columbia in February, the U.S.
manned space program is grounded with no clear indication yet as to
when it will resume.
Officials have said they expect to resume flights next year, but
the earliest date thought likely for a return to flight is not
until September 2004.
Without its remaining three shuttles in operation, NASA is
having to rely on Russian space launches to ferry crew replacements
and supplies to the orbiting International Space Station.
It has no other operational vehicle capable of carrying humans
into orbit and the success of the Chinese launch is likely to spur
efforts to develop a shuttle successor.
(Xinhua News Agency October 16, 2003)