14 DAY TRIAL // According to the United Press International, the reentry module of China's Shenzhou-6 spacecraft returned to earth safely Monday morning, with state-run media calling the mission a "complete success."
Chinese astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng, known as taikonauts, were declared to be in "fine condition" after their 5-day spaceflight which ended at 4:33 a.m. Monday, Beijing time. The mission, lasting 115 hours and 32 minutes, was more than five times longer than China's maiden manned mission in 2003.
"We feel fine," Fei told a crowd of well-wishers. Nie expressed thanks to the Chinese people for their "concern and support."
Wu Bangguo, No. 2 in the Communist party hierarchy and head of the country's national legislature, was quoted by Xinhua as saying the second manned space mission was a "complete success," and a "milestone" in China's space technology development.
Fei and Nie lifted off Wednesday morning on China's second manned space mission. Shenzhou-6 flew a total of 3.25 million kilometers (2.019 million miles), orbiting the planet once every 90 minutes at an altitude of 343 km (213 miles) above Earth at a speed of 7.9 km (4.9 miles) per second.
Photo credit: AP/Xinhua, Zhao Jianwei