The Shenzhou-5 manned spacecraft, wholly designed and developed by China, is expected to blast into the space sometime this week, launching China as the third nation to send man into space after the former Soviet Union and the United States. Gu Yidong, director-general and chief designer of the space application system under China’s manned spaceflight program, told Xinhua that the manned space program’s ultimate goal for China was to explore outer space and make a good use of the rich resources of space.