Jubilation greets manned China spacecraft’s return

China’s second manned spacecraft, Shenzhou VI, touched down in the remote steppes of northern Inner Mongolia at 4:33 am local time on M...

China’s second manned spacecraft, Shenzhou VI, touched down in the remote steppes of northern Inner Mongolia at 4:33 am local time on Monday after orbiting the Earth 76 times covering 3.25 million kms in five days.

Astronauts Fei Junlong (40) and Nie Haisheng (41) were flown to Beijing where they were given a hero’s welcome. In their hometowns, jubilant residents set off firecrackers, and performed traditional dragon and lion dances in their honour.

“The motherland is so great!” the official Xinhua news agency quoted Fei’s father as saying. Fei’s mother wept on learning of his return.

Story continues below this ad

State television showed the astronauts emerging unaided, pausing atop the charred re-entry craft to wave to the recovery team and to the cameras. A patriotic propaganda campaign, in full swing even before the spacecraft landed, went into overdrive.

“This space journey has touched 1.3 billion hearts and these 120 hours have distilled a national dream of half a century” said Tang Xianming, director of the Manned Space Engineering Office. He also said that China would aim for a spacewalk by 2007 and was also looking to send a woman in space. —Reuters

Canada, UK and Australia formally recognise a Palestinian state

World7 hr ago

The UK, Canada, and Australia have recognized Palestine as a state, going against the US and Israel's opposition. British PM Starmer aims to revive peace without Hamas and hostage release. Canada and Australia also recognize Palestine, condemning terrorism. Over 145 UN members recognize Palestine, with France likely to join soon.

View all shorts

Live Blog