Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia

FSM Congress News, October 16, 2003

PALIKIR, Pohnpei (FSM Congress): October 16, 2003 –
In yesterday’s session former Speaker Jack Fritz raised
praise and congratulatory words to the government of the People’s Republic
of China for becoming the third nation to send a manned mission into space.

The mission took off Wednesday morning from mainland China at the Liuquan
launching site, 1,000 miles west of Beijing and planned to orbit around the
globe 14 times in 21 hours.

Lt. Colonel Yang Liwei, 38, is the solo astronaut manning the flight.
After completing his mission, will return to earth at 6:00 a.m. Thursday
Beijing time, or 6:00 p.m. Wednesday EDT.

China took number 3 spot in the world of space travel after Russia and the
United States blasted their astronauts into space during the early 60’s.