万花筒 2008-09-27&09-28 神七升空！（在线收听）

Reuters.

Live on Chinese State Television, a Chinese countdown.

“6,5,4,3,2,1, 点火”

And the Long March Rockets carrying a Shenzhou 7 spacecraft with three astronauts launches from a remote site in northwest China. The astronauts plan to make a space walk which will be a first for China, one of only three countries to put humans into space.

The ability to do what's also called extravehicular activity is essential for China’s long-term goal for assembling an orbiting station in the next decade and possibly making a visit to the Moon.

Chinese media has given the mission a fanfare of coverage, from astronaut-training to new ways to serve food in a spacecraft. Like other space-faring nations, China is aware of the military advantages of a foothold in space.

Beijing's space program has raised hackles in Tokyo and beyond, although officials are quick to stress that the program is for purely peaceful purposes. China has a fleet of ships and helicopters ready to meet the vehicle when it returns to earth after its three-day mission.

Benet Allen, Reuters.