China's first manned space docking successful

Photo taken on June 18， 2012 shows the screen at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center showing Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft conducting an automatic docking with the orbiting Tiangong-1 space lab module. (Xinhua/Wang Yongzhuo)

BEIJING, June 18 (Xinhua) -- The first manned space docking of China succeeded Monday afternoon with the coupling of the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft and Tiangong-1 lab module, the Beijing Aerospace Control Center said.

The procedure began with the Shenzhou-9, with three astronauts aboard, moving to a location 52 km away from the Tiangong-1 at noon Monday. The spacecraft then slowly drifted toward the Tiangong-1 before making contact with the module at 2:07 p.m.

The docking was completed in less than eight minutes.

China's first successful unmanned space docking was completed last year with the docking of the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft and the Tiangong-1.