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SHANGHAI－The Chinese Shenzhou Ⅶ spacecraft lifted off at 9∶07 p.m.Thursday, carrying three Chinese astronauts into space on this country's third manned space mission in five years．
The Chinese government has spent billions of dollars in recent years building up a space program, hoping to help China establish a space station by 2020 and eventually put a man onto the moon, and the accomplishments would certainly promote the country's international status．
China sent into space three experienced fighter pilots, all of them 42-year-old men．One is expected to walk in space for 30 minutes on Friday or Saturday, according to the state media．The three astronauts are carrying traditional Chinese medicine on board, in case of sickness, and their diet includes pork and beef made in a certain way．
The suit is the most complex, advanced and expensive in the world, a ＄4.4 million space suit designed and produced in China．The spacecraft was launched by the Long March II-F carrier rocket, which took the spacecraft into a low orbit, about 210 miles above Earth．The mission, which is being reported widely in the Chinese media, is another milestone for a country that got a late start in space exploration but is now actively launching commercial satellites, putting humans in space and even shooting down aging satellites．
"It's a great start, even though it's nowhere near what the Russians and the U．S．have accomplished with space flight," said Roger D．Launius, referring generally to China's space program．
Russia and the United States conducted their first spacewalks in 1965, and in 1969 the United States became the first country to put a person on the moon．But Michael D．Griffin, the administrator of NASA, has repeatedly warned that despite the head start by other nations, the Chinese program is moving swiftly and could overtake American efforts to return to the moon by 2020．Mr．Griffin said, "It was likely that China will be able to put people on the Moon before we will be able to get back．"He added, "I admire what they have done．but I am concerned that it will leave the United States in the wake of China．"
The Chinese government also hopes the national space program will aid the nation economically by helping to create technological breakthroughs that may someday be applied to computers or other digital equipment．
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