Three and a half hours before liftoff, Lieutenant Colonel Yang Liwei, in shiny space suit, asked Li Jinai, commander of China's manned space program, for permission to start the scheduled space travel.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Yang said he was fully confident of the nation's first-ever spacefaring.

Yang, 38, was born to a teacher's family in Suizhong County in the northeastern Liaoning Province. He has an 8-year-old son. He is 1.68 meters tall.

While a fighter pilot, Yang had at least 1,350 hours of flight experience. His comrades describe him as a "miraculously dedicated " man.

Yang has two backups, Zhai Zhigang and Nie Haisheng. They were chosen from among airforce fighter pilots like Yang.

Yang entered the re-entry module of Shenzhou-5 at 6:15 and started his final preparations for the liftoff. Shenzhou-5, China 's first manned spaceship, consists of propulsion, re-entry and orbit modules as well as an attached section.

The spacecraft, 8.86 meters tall and 7,790 kilograms in weight, is scheduled to orbit the earth 14 times.

Officers in the command and control center told Xinhua that all life data indicate that Yang's conditions are good.

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