2012-06-16 10:55:19 GMT 2012-06-16 18:55:19(Beijing Time) Xinhua English
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The Long March 2F rocket carrying the manned spacecraft Shenzhou IX
blasts off from the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
in Northwest China's Gansu Province on June 16, 2012.[Photo by Su Dong
/ For Chinadaily.com.cn]
JIUQUAN, June 16 (Xinhua) -- China launched SaturdayShenzhou-9
spacecraft with the country's first female astronaut aboard.
Shenzhou-9, atop an upgraded Long March-2F carrier rocket, blast off
from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China at 6:37
p.m. Saturday.
A see-off ceremony was held at the center hours before the launch. Wu
Bangguo, the country's top legislator, attended the ceremony and
extended wishes to the three astronauts.
"The country and the people are looking forward to your successful
return," he said.
The first Chinese woman in space Liu Yang, 33, is joined by commanding
officer Jing Haipeng and Liu Wang, who has been selected as an
astronaut trainee since January 1998.
Main tasks of the Shenzhou-9 mission include the manual docking
procedure conducted between the Shenzhou-9 and the orbiting space lab
module Tiangong-1.
China succeeded in the automated rendezvous and docking between
unmanned Shenzhou-8 spacecraft and Tiangong-1last year.
A successful manual docking will demonstrate a grasp of essential
space rendezvous and docking know-how, a big step in the country's
manned space program to build a space station around 2020.
Liu, a People's Liberation Army (PLA) major, was a PLA Air Force pilot
with 1,680 hours of flying experience and deputy head of a military
flight unit before being recruitedas an astronaut candidate in May
2010.
After two years of training, which shored up her astronautic skills
and adaptability to space environment, Liu excelled in testing and was
selected in March this year as a candidate for the Shenzhou-9 manned
spacemission.
"Female astronauts generally have better durability, psychological
stability and ability to dealwith loneliness," Wu Ping, spokeswoman
for China's manned space program, said.
More than 50 female astronauts from seven countries have gone into
space to date. The longest space flight by female astronauts lasted
188 days.
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