China has launched its second manned mission into space, its first mission with multiple crew.

The vessel, called Shenzhou 6, was launched last night at 9pm Eastern Daylight Time from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert.

The two astronauts aboard were Fei Junlong (left in the image at bottom) and Nie Haisheng.

The historic Shenzhou 6 launch is the rough equivalent of the U.S.A. Gemini 3 launch (pictured at left) in 1964, which made Virgil “Gus” Grissom and John W. Young the first American couple in space.

On October 15, 2003 China became – after the Soviet Union, then the U.S.A. – the third country ever to have launched its citizens into Earth orbit. The lucky astronaut was Lieutenant Colonel Yang Liwei, a former fighter pilot.

Space.com has respectable coverage of the Shenzhou 6 launch.