(chinadaily.com.cn) Two astronauts on China's second manned space flight landed before dawn Monday after a five-day flight.
The return module of Shenzhou VI and astronauts Fei Junlong, Nie Haisheng touched down in the main landing field in Central Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 4:33 A.M. Monday after a five-day flight.
The astronauts climbing out of their kettle-shaped capsule with the help of two technicians and clambering down a ladder in the predawn darkness. They smiled, waved to cheering members of the ground crew, accepted bouquets of flowers and sat in a pair of metal chairs beside the capsule.
The two said they were in good conditions when answering questions from journalists.
"I want to thank the people for their love and care. Thank you very much," Fei said.
After a snack of noodles, tea and chocolate, Fei and Nie set off by helicopter for a local airport. Later they were to fly from there to Beijing where a grand ceremony will be held.
The return moduel landed one kilometer away from target, and six kilometers from the Shenzhou V landing site, Xinhua said.
China's top legislator Wu Bangguo, who watched the landing from the Beijing mission control center, declared the flight a success.
"This will further improve the country's international status and national strength, and will help to mobilize its people to rally around the Communist Party and work harder for the future of the country," Wu said in a brief speech to technicians.
Jubilant residents in Nie's home town in central Hubei province set off firecrackers and performed traditional lion dances.
Fei's mother wept on learning of his safe return, and his father declared "The motherland is so great!" Xinhua said.
Both will be in isolation for observation for 14 days after the mission, but family members will be allowed to visit, the Beijing Youth Daily newspaper said Sunday.
Fei and Nie blasted off Wednesday on China's second manned space mission. It came almost exactly two years after China's first manned space flight.
China is only the third country to send humans into orbit on its own, after Russia and the United States.
State television showed scores of technicians monitoring the landing at computer screens at a Beijing control center. They showed no reaction when an announcer said the capsule had landed but broke into cheers after word came that the astronauts were safe, the Associated Press reported.
The mission had "accomplished the planned experiments and accumulated valuable technical data," Xinhua said Sunday.
"We feel good, our work is going smoothly and our life is happy," Fei was quoted as saying Sunday evening before the craft began its re-entry maneuvers. "We will do our utmost to fulfill the mission."
"We're grateful for the deep love and concern by all Chinese people, the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan compatriots," Nie said.
Shenzhou 6 orbited the Earth 76 times and traveled more than 1.9 million miles.
The mission was substantially longer and more complex than the 2003 flight, when astronaut Yang Liwei orbited for 21 1/2 hours before his capsule landed by parachute.
