China to Launch Historic Mission

Thanks to: Marc Boucher (spaceref): China will launch the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft tomorrow morning at 6:37 a.m. EDT with a crew of three taikonauts (astronauts) to the Tiangong 1 spacelab which was launched at the end of September last … Continue reading →

China Taikonauts Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and Liu Yang. Click for a picture of the space station (when it is finished.) Images: © XINHUA and China Daily via SpaceRef

Thanks to: Marc Boucher (spaceref):
China will launch the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft tomorrow morning at 6:37 a.m. EDT with a crew of three taikonauts (astronauts) to the Tiangong 1 spacelab which was launched at the end of September last year.
The crew includes Jing Haipeng, a veteran of two other spaceflights and who will command the mission, Liu Wang and Liu Yang, the first female Chinese taikonaut. It will also marks the first time a manned crew docks with the Tiangong 1, China’s small spacelab.
The launch will take place at the Jiuquan Space Launch Center in western China.
Once Shenzhou 9 reaches the proximity of the spacelab the crew will perform a manual docking, though future missions will have automated dockings. It is also believed ...