China on June 16, 2012 sent its first woman(Liu Yang, 33-year-old mother ) into space, successfully carrying
out the much-anticipated launch of the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft, which
will perform the first manned docking mission and lay the ground work
for plans to build a space station.
The three astronauts on board Shenzhou-9,
The Shenzhou-9 spacecraft,carrying three astronauts, blasted off from the Jiuquan satellite launch
centre in north-western Gansu province at 6.37 p.m. Accompanying Ms. Liu
Yang on the mission are two fellow People's Liberation Army (PLA)
pilots, Liu Wang and Jing Haipeng, who on Saturday became China's first
astronaut to travel into space twice.
State media reported Shenzhou-9 would complete an automated docking
procedure in the next couple of days, following which the astronauts
will “enter the space lab to carry out scientific experiments, technical
tests and physical exercises”.
President Hu Jintao in a letter described the mission as a “major
breakthrough” for the manned space programme. During the 13-day mission,
the crew will conduct manual docking with the Tiangong-1 or “heavenly
palace” space laboratory module, which has been orbiting the earth since
last September.
“I am grateful to the motherland and the people. I feel honoured to fly
into space on behalf of hundreds of millions of Chinese females,” Ms.
Liu said.
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