China to launch 3 astronauts to space lab

Mid-month flight will be country's first manned mission to orbiting module

China Manned Space Engineering Office

A Long March 2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou 9 rocket rolls out to the launch pad at China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center ahead of a planned June 2012 launch of the country's first manned space docking mission.

By Tariq Malik

updated 6/9/2012 3:00:15 PM ET

 

China will launch its first manned mission to an orbiting space laboratory in mid-June, according to state media reports and the country's human spaceflight agency.

A Long March 2F rocket will launch three astronauts aboard a Shenzhou 9 capsule for China's first manned space docking at the mini-space station Tiangong-1. The space lab module has been circling Earth unmanned since its launch last year.
The Shenzhou 9 mission will mark China's first human spaceflight to an orbiting module. Earlier this year, space program officials said the mission could also mark the first launch of China's first female astronaut, but a final decision on that is pending, Xinhua reported. 

MORE: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47749798/ns/technology_and_science-space/#.T9PZavmitk0

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