BEIJING - China on Saturday launched its most
ambitious space mission to date, sending its first female astronaut
to the final frontier and bidding to achieve the country's first
manual space docking.
Shenzhou-9 -- China's fourth manned space mission --
launched at 6:37 pm (1037 GMT) from the remote Gobi desert in the
nation's northwest, state television pictures
showed.
The crew was headed by Jing Haipeng, a veteran
astronaut who had gone to space twice already. Liu Wang, who has
been in the space programme for 14 years, will be in charge of
manual docking manoeuvres.
Meanwhile Liu Yang, 33, who has created a stir in the media and
online for becoming China's first woman to travel to space, will
conduct aerospace medical experiments and other space tests.
At a pre-departure ceremony broadcast on state TV Wu Bangguo,
chairman of the National People's Congress, told the crew: "The
country and the people are looking forward to your successful
return."
The mission will last 13 days, during which the crew will perform
experiments and the manual space docking -- a highly technical
procedure that brings two vessels together in high speed
orbit.
Successful completion of the rendezvous between the Shenzhou-9
("Divine Vessel") and the Tiangong-1 ("Heavenly Palace") module
already in orbit will take China a step closer to setting up its
own space station in 2020.
The Asian powerhouse achieved a similar docking in November last
year, but that mission was unmanned and the procedure was conducted
remotely from Earth.
"The manual space rendezvous... is a huge test for astronauts'
ability to judge spatial position, eye-hand coordination and
psychological abilities," Jing told reporters ahead of the
launch.
He added that the trio would work well together after months of
intense training that saw them rehearse the mission some 16 hours a
day.
"One glance, one facial expression, one movement... we understand
each other thoroughly," he said.
The team have rehearsed the procedure more than 1,500 times in
simulations, Wu Ping, spokeswoman for China's manned space
programme, told reporters.
But more than the upcoming challenge, it is the inclusion in the
crew of Liu Yang -- a trained pilot and major in the People's
Liberation Army who began astronaut training two years ago -- that
has captivated China's people.
China sent its first person into space in 2003 and has since
conducted several manned missions, the latest in 2008, but had
never yet included a woman.
Liu's mission made China the third country after the Soviet Union
and United States to send a woman into space using its own
technology.
China sees its space programme as a symbol of its global stature,
growing technical expertise, and the Communist Party's success in
turning around the fortunes of the once poverty-stricken
nation.
An editorial in the state-run Global Times newspaper on Saturday
said that China needed to "cement its strategic gains made during
the years," which called for "a stronger presence in outer
space".
"The three astronauts aboard Shenzhou-9 personify China's long-term
space aspirations," it added.
A white paper released last December outlined China's long-term
ambitions to "conduct studies on the preliminary plan for a human
lunar landing".
The current programme aims to provide China with a space station in
which a crew can live independently for several months, as at the
old Russian Mir facility or the International Space Station.
- AFP/ck