1、Fellow Astronauts Say Hello to Shenzhou5The NASA Administrator has offered his congratulations on Chinas historic first manned spaceflight in a written statement issued by the space agency from its Washington D.C. Headquarters: This launch is an important achievement in the history of human explorat
2、ion. China, after Russia and the United States, is only the third nation to successfully launch humans into space. The Chinese people have a long and distinguished history of exploration. NASA wishes China a continued safe human space flight program. Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and U.S. astro
3、naut Ed Lu were informed about the successful launch of Chinas Shenzhou-5 earlier today, soon after they woke to begin their 172nd day aboard the International Space Station. I want to congratulate them. Personally, I think it is a great thing, the more people that go into space, the better we all a
4、re. It is a great achievement and I think it will be good for everyone in the long run, said Lu, the Expedition 7 flight engineer and NASA science officer. I would also like to say I like to have somebody else in space instead of me and Ed. Also, I know it is great work of thousands and thousands of
5、 people from China. I congratulate all of them. And good luck for landing today, added Malenchenko, Expedition 7 commander. Speaking in chinese, Lu also gave messages of Welcome to space and Have a safe journey and I wish you success. Back on Earth, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued
6、 the following statement through his official spokesman: The Secretary-General extends his warm congratulations to the Peoples Republic of China on its first mission into space, and hopes for the safe and successful completion of this maiden voyage. He notes that as the exploration of space knows no
7、 national borders, the mission of the Shenzhou V is a step forward for all humankind. In Kazakhstan, NASA astronaut Michael Foale is making final preparations to launch to the International Space Station this weekend. He offered his congratulations to the Chinese on todays successful liftoff. I thin
8、k its a tremendous indication that human history is moving forward. I do believe other nations will take note of what China has started to accomplish today, the British-born astronaut said. Do I see China as a potential rival? Yes, not only in space, but already commercially, economically. I think militarily its also a possibility.
