China spacecraft set to return to Earth on Friday

A Chinese spacecraft with three astronauts aboard will return to Earth on Friday after a nearly two-week mission that included the country’s first manual docking in orbit, state media said.

The Shenzhou-9 will return to Earth around 10am (10am Singapore time) on Friday, the state Xinhua news agency said on Thursday, quoting an unnamed space programme official.

China launched the spacecraft carrying three crew, including the country’s first female astronaut, from the remote Gobi desert in the nation’s north-west on June 16.

The Shenzhou-9 manually linked with the Tiangong-1 space module in orbit on Sunday, the key goal of the mission and a milestone in an ambitious programme to build a space station by the end of the decade

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/TechandScience/Story/STIStory_816007.html

 

Category: China