China's Shenzhou 9 docks with orbiting module

Beijing: A Chinese spacecraft carrying three astronauts has docked with an orbiting module where they will live and work for several days as part of preparations for crewing a permanent space station. The Shenzhou 9 capsule completed the maneuver as scheduled shortly after 2:00 pm (0600 GMT) as the Tiangong 1 module orbited 343 kilometres (213 miles) above Earth. The capsule’s crew includes 33-year-old Liu Yang, an air force pilot and China’s first female space traveler. [caption id=“attachment_347458” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, the Long March-2F carrier rocket carrying China’s manned Shenzhou-9 spacecraft blasts off from the launch pad. Reuters”]  [/caption] Monday’s docking was completed by remote control from a ground base in China. A manual docking carried out by one of the crew members is scheduled for later. Two crew members plan to conduct medical tests and experiments inside the module, while the third will remain in the spacecraft. AP