President Choummaly Sayasone and Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh on September 26 sent a message to Chinese leaders and the Chinese people to congratulate China on its successful space mission after the spacecraft Shenzhou VII was launched on September 25. The message read: “On behalf of the government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic and the Lao people, we would like to express our sincere congratulations to the government and fraternal Chinese people.” According to Xinhua news agency, Zhai Zhigang and two other astronauts aboard the Shenzhou VII craft were scheduled to land about 5pm yesterday in northern Inner Mongolia . This was China 's third manned space mission. Its first manned space flight was in 2003, followed by a two-man flight in 2005. The only other countries that have sent people into space are Russia and the United States .
