China's manned spacecraft docks with space module

Beijing, June 18 (IANS) China's first manned spacecraft Shenzhou-9, carrying the first Chinese woman astronaut, Monday successfully docked with the Tiangong-1 space module, officials said.

The Beijing Aerospace Control Center said the procedure began with the Shenzhou-9 moving to a location 52 km away from the Tiangong-1. The spacecraft then slowly drifted toward the Tiangong-1 before making contact with the module at 2.07 p.m. China time.

The docking was completed in less than eight minutes, Xinhua reported.

Shenzhou-9, atop the Long March-2F carrier rocket, blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre June 16.

The first Chinese woman in space, 33-year-old Liu Yang, is joined by commanding officer Jing Haipeng and Liu Wang.

Last year, China succeeded in the automated rendezvous and docking between the unmanned Shenzhou-8 spacecraft and Tiangong-1.