Zoom and Zoosh! (or Nice Girls Don' t Like Big Space Rockets)

Today China sent her second manned rocket into orbit.

The Shenzhou VI, sitting on top of a Long March Rocket, blasted off from the Jiuquan Space Centre in the desert at 9am local time - about 2 in the morning where I am.

( On the last time the rocket went up, and why caring about spaceflight is a suitable occupation for a young lady. )

So, Godspeed Fei Junlong and Nie Shenghai. A safe journey to you, and a happy return.

______

Finally, a couple of recs for the few of my f-list who might possibly like this sort of thing.

If anyone wants a really good, non-idealised warts-and-all story of space travel that somehow makes these people seem even more heroic, I would recommend Voyage by Stephen Baxter (an engineer who nearly became an astronaut so he knows what's what) - the story of how the voyage to Mars would have been if we'd made it there in the 80s. All the more poignant because it never actually happened.

And finally, a link to some pretty pictures of the launch, courtesy of the BBC.