The Shenzhou VI launch dominated mainland online chat rooms, with most contributors supporting the space programme as a source of national pride. Bulletin boards and internet sites were flooded with messages of praise and wishes of good luck for the two astronauts. 'It is a great feat which enhances Chinese self-esteem and and positions the country as a giant in the world,' one respondent said. But the space programme was not without its critics, and a range of negative opinions about the mission also appeared. Some suggested money should not be spent on a space programme when the country could not afford to clothe and feed hundreds of thousands of people in poverty-stricken areas. They said the money would be better spent on things that had a direct impact on people's everyday lives. 'Why should we be so excited? Can the liftoff make a tiny change to the daily life of us poor workers managing to live on a matter of hundreds of yuan a month?' one message on the 163.com portal read. But these criticisms were dismissed by others who said the opposition was shortsighted and did not recognise the space project's remarkable contribution to China's scientific and technological progress. A message on the popular sina.com portal said: 'Though the liftoff cannot make much change to our everyday lives, it will enhance China's national-defence strength in space, earn us a favourable position in the global military arena, and ensure a safe environment for China's economic development. 'If China is a top-level military space power and has scientific and technological strength, Japan and the US will not dare to show any sabre-rattling towards China. That's great!' Local media reports that the two astronauts - Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng - were both born into poor village families elicited calls for greater respect for the huge rural population. 'Stop criticising farmers as ignorant. They are great parents to national heroes,' a respondent said. Some people said the government should monitor spending on space projects in order to make sure there was no corruption involved. One suggested: 'Reliable organisations should be despatched to supervise the investment.' This is an edited version of the article which appeared in the South China Morning Post on October 13, 2005. Factbox: * Cost of the latest mission: 20 billion yuan (according to a designer with the Chinese Lunar Orbiting Exploration Programme) * China is the third country to launch a human into orbit on its own, after Russia and the US. * Chinese officials say they want to land an unmanned probe on the moon by 2010, and also build a space station. * Hong Kong-registered space travel agency Hong Kong Space Tour Corporation, which arranges packages offered by US-based Space Adventures, said it was hoping to send the first Chinese civilian into space by the end of 2007. More than 100 mainlanders have contacted the company since it was set up last year. * A Shenzhen-based businessman has sealed a deal worth more than 1 million yuan to take a suborbital flight. The package is the cheapest of the options offered by Space Adventures. For 20 million yuan, joyriders can sign up to orbit the Earth and, for 100 million yuan, they will be able to dock at the International Space Station. Viewpoint: 'The glorious and sacred mission will demonstrate China's national confidence and ability' - Premier Wen Jiabao 'This demonstrates to the world that China is more than just about producing cheap sneakers. China is pursuing a manned space programme even though its cost is 10-fold [that of an unmanned programme] for the same reason that the US pursued Apollo: prestige' - Joan Johnson-Freese, a Chinese space programme expert at the US Naval War College on Rhode Island 'China, once again, demonstrated that it is among the elite number of countries capable of human space flight. We wish them well on their mission, and we look forward to the safe return of their astronauts' - Nasa administrator Michael Grifin 'Space tourism may not be very popular in the next three to five years. But we are confident that a lot more people in China would want to holiday in space in five to 10 years' - Jiang Fang, president of the Hong Kong Space Tour Corporation COUNTDOWN The first Shenzhou, an unmanned test flight, was launched on November 19, 1999, and orbited the Earth 14 times before landing under parachute Shenzhou II, carrying live test animals, was launched on January 9, 2001. Shenzhou III and Shenzhou IV, which both carried test dummies, were launched on March 25 and December 29, 2002. China?s first manned space mission, Shenzhou V, was launched on October 15, 2003. Astronaut Yang Liwei, a former fighter pilot from Liaoning, orbited Earth 14 times. Shenzhou means ??Divine Ship? and is said to have been named by former president Jiang Zemin. The capsules are built by the state-run China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. Discussion Point: Last week's space mission cost China billions of dollars - was it worth the money? Enquiry: What is the point of exploring space? What do you think about US concerns that China could exploit space for military purposes? Would you like to go into space? Web links: www.cnsa.gov.cn/main_e.asp - China's National Space Administration website http://english.people.com.cn - details of mission from People's Daily www.astronautix.com/articles/sheu6faq.htm - pictures and details of the shuttle www.space.com/missionlaunches - coverage of worldwide launch operations and mission archives