China in Orbit.

Welcome to the club! That's the congratulations the U.S. sent China last month after it successfully launched an astronaut into space. China joins Russia (formerly part of the Soviet Union) and the U.S. as the only countries whose astronauts have orbited Earth.

"It feels good to be in space." Lieutenant Colonel Yang Liwei (LEE-WAY) said from his capsule. Shenzhou 5, or "Divine Vessel." The Chinese "taikonaut" (TY-koh-nawt) orbited Earth 14 times during his 21-hour flight.

Liwei, who called his view from the space capsule "extremely splendid," received a hero's welcome when he landed in China's Inner Mongolia province. The former fighter pilot also commented on a popular myth that China's Great Wall is visible from the moon. "I did not see the Great Wall from space," he said.

Liwei's flight is the most significant achievement thus far in China's highly secretive space program. The Communist nation, which is known for its repressive (harsh and controlling) government, plans to launch another manned space capsule within two years, build a space lab, and establish a base on the moon.

China's success comes at a time when NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) has suspended piloted flights in the U.S. The decision was made after the Columbia space shuttle broke up during reentry into the atmosphere last February. All seven astronauts aboard were killed.

"NASA wishes China a continued safe human spaceflight program." said NASA administrator Scan O'Keefe. U.S. officials hope to resume space missions sometime around September 2004.