First Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei waves when boarding China's first manned spacecraft Shenzhou 5 before its blasting off at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2003. China launched its first manned space mission on Wednesday, sending an astronaut hurtling toward orbit and becoming the third country in Earth's history to do so, four decades after the Soviet Union and the United Sates. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Li Gang)
