'Universe is beautiful', China's first astronaut tells his wife

BEIJING (AFP) Oct 15, 2003
China's first astronaut, 38-year-old Yang Liwei, made an unusually long-distance call to his wife and son Wednesday, telling them from his space craft that the universe is beautiful, state media reported.

"It feels good to be in the universe," Yang told his wife, Zhang Yumei, who is also employed at China's space program, according to the Xinhua news agency. "The view of the universe is beautiful."

Yang made the call at 7:58 pm (1158 GMT), nearly 11 hours after his craft, Shenzhou V, blasted into orbit, making China the third country after the United States and Russia to put a man in space.

He also talked to his eight-year-old son, telling him he had seen their home from space. "I've recorded what I've seen," he promised.

Yang is scheduled to land in the Inner Mongolia region about 7:00 am Thursday (2300 GMT Wednesday) after orbiting the Earth 14 times.

SPACE.WIRE