China Launches Second Manned Spacecraft

China launched its second manned space mission Wednesday, sending two astronauts into orbit.

The Long March rocket’s blastoff from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China’s northwest desert was shown live to hundreds of millions of viewers on state television.

Astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng, inside a Shenzhou VI capsule, are scheduled to orbit the Earth for up to five days and perform a number of experiments before landing in the grasslands of China’s Inner Mongolia region, Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service reported.

China’s first astronaut, Yang Liwei, who became a national hero after his October 2003 spaceflight, was among the audience at the launch center, along with Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, China’s Xinhua news agency reported.

Wen said he believed the astronauts would accomplish the glorious and sacred mission.

Shortly after takeoff, the astronauts told a doctor on the ground that they were feeling well and that their physical condition was good.