The three astronauts who went on the country's first manned space-docking mission last month said on Friday that they are in good health as they recuperate from their 13-day stay in space.
In the first half of 2012, China has for the first time become the global leader in the number of space launches. China carried out ten space launches, Russia - nine, and the United States in third with eight.
Among the three-member team for the upcoming Shenzhou-9 manned space mission, Jing Haipeng is an experienced astronaut and meticulous tutor.
An eloquent speaker and a lover of cooking, Liu Yang is well-poised to be the first Chinese woman in space.
Liu Wang, used to ride a rough bicycle to his village school, is to ride China's most sophisticated vehicle to a space journey.
One of the two female astronauts, Liu Yang and Wang Yaping, from the Wuhan Flight Unit, will join Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft docking mission with Tiangong-1 spacecraft in mid-June. They are selected as members of the first batch of female astronauts in China because of their excellent flight skills and psychological quality.
China's Shenzhou-8 unmanned spacecraft re-docked successfully with the Tiangong-1, a module of the country's planned space lab, Monday evening.
The unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou-8 was launched at 5:58 a.m., Nov.1.
The Shenzhou-8 is set to return to Earth on the evening of Nov. 17.
Shenzhou-8 was docked with space lab module Tiangong-1 at 1:36 a.m., Nov.2, marking another great leap for China's space program.
Rocket
Liftoff
Procedure
Turn
Booster
Separation
Stage 1 Engine Cutoff
Stage 1&2 Separation
Fairing
Throwing
Stage 2 Engine Cutoff
Separation of Module and Rocket
Spreading Solar Cell Wings
Lunched Successfully
First artificial Earth satellite launched
1970：First artificial Earth satellite -- Dong Fang Hong-1 Satellite -- was launched at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
China becomes the fifth country to launch satellites.
Long March rocket series began to initiate commercial launch programs
1985: The Long March rocket series began to initiate commercial launch programs.
1990：Long March 3 launched the first foreign satellite -- the U.S.-built AsiaSat 1.
Shenzhou series manned aircraft launched
2003: The launch of its first manned aircraft -- Shenzhou 5 -- sent one astronaut into space.
2005: Shenzhou 6 manned aircraft was launched, sending two astronauts into space.
Chang'e series lunar orbiter launched
2007: The first unmanned lunar orbiter -- Chang'e 1-- was launched.
2011: China's second moon orbiter Chang'e-2 sent back the first batch of data from outer space.
