October 12, 2005 was a special day for 11-year-old Nie Tianxiang. That day she went to the Beijing Aeronautics Control Center (北京航天飞行控制中心)with her mum to celebrate her father‟s 41st birthday.
Her father , ShenZhou VI astronaut, Nie Haisheng, was in the earth‟s orbit.
At nine o‟clock that morning, in Jiuquan, Gansu , Nie Haisheng and his partner
Fei Junlong were launched aboard China‟ second manned space ship.
In 2003, China sent its first space hero, Ynag Liwei, into the sky aboard Shebnzhou V. This turned a new leaf in history as China became the third country to mount manned space missions, after the US and Russia.
But this time China took another big step forward by launching two astronauts instead of one. The two stayed in space no longer, about four to five days, compared with Yang‟s 21 hours. In Shehzhou VI , Nie and Fei could move freely in two capsules, while Yang had only one capsule.
The tow astronauts also had new tasks. They kept records of any problems to tell scientists how to do even better the next time.
They also made scientific experiments in space.
This is only the second step of China‟s space performance. The country plans to build its first space station in the future. The further plans include a landing on the moon .
When Nie Tianxing talked to her father by telephone and sang “ Happy birthday”. TV viewers on the earth saw the space hero slightly wiping his eyes.
