China sets its sights on space station:

China sets its sights on space station

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING -- A triumphant China celebrated its first space traveler's safe return Thursday by announcing ambitious new goals: another flight within two years and a space station.

The announcement came as state television repeatedly broadcast scenes of Lt. Col. Yang Liwei climbing from his Shenzhou 5 capsule and waving after landing at dawn following a 21 1/2-hour flight. on China's northern grasslands. The landing clinched China's bragging rights as the third member of the elite club of spacefaring nations.

Emboldened by success, program officials talked openly for the first time about China's future plans in space, confirming suggestions that Beijing wants a long-term presence there.