Manned Chinese spacecraft lands in Northern China

JIUQUAN, China -- The craft that carried China's first astronaut into space touched down on northern grasslands at dawn today, government television said. The man inside, Lt. Col. Yang Liwei, was reported safe and in good condition.\nChina's mission control declared the mission "a success," and Premier Wen Jiabao spoke with Yang and congratulated him, state television said.\nState television said Shenzhou 5 landed at 6:28 a.m. (6:28 p.m. Wednesday EDT) and that rescue helicopters had found the capsule. The station released an image of the capsule.\nThe landing came after a 21-hour mission in which Shenzhou 5 orbited the Earth 14 times. Though the government has been very secretive about its space program, it offered frequent glimpses of Yang throughout the trip and repeatedly said everything was going fine.\nThe completion of the mission was the crowning achievement of an 11-year, military-linked manned space program promoted as a symbol of national prestige both at home and abroad.\nHelicopters and trucks rushed to retrieve Yang. Earlier reports said the astronaut would be armed with knives and possibly a gun to protect himself against wild animals and other threats in the Inner Mongolian grasslands where the ship was to touch down.\nXinhua said the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center sent a message at about 5:35 a.m. today (5:35 p.m. Wednesday EDT) to Shenzhou 5 instructing it to return as planned. Shenzhou 5, shown on a three-dimensional screen in the mission control center, made a gentle turnaround upon receiving the order, Xinhua said.\nWhile in orbit, Yang spoke to his family, telling them it looked "splendid" in space. He also had a conversation with the country's defense minister, unfurled the flags of China and the United Nations and took a nap.\nYang, an astronaut since 1998, was picked for the flight from three finalists.\nThe budget for the program is secret, but foreign experts say it totals at least $1 billion.