China will launch its Shenzhou 9 crewed spacecraft at 6:37 a.m. EDT (1037 GMT) on Saturday (June 16), sending the country's first female astronaut into space, officials announced on Friday.
Three astronauts, two men and one woman, will fly on the spacecraft to complete the country's first crewed space docking test, Wu Ping, spokeswoman for China's manned space program, said at a press conference at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
The astronauts are Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and Liu Yang, the latter set to become China's first woman in space.
[b]Shenzhou 9 crew[/b]
Credit: Xinhua News Agency
Jing, 46, was one of the three crew members on board China's third manned spaceflight, the Shenzhou 7 mission, in 2008. He will serve as commander of the Shenzhou 9 crew and become the first Chinese astronaut to travel into space twice.
Liu Wang, 43, a former pilot, was selected as an astronaut in January 1998.
Liu Yang, 33, is a major in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force. A veteran pilot with 1,680 hours of flying experience, she was the deputy head of an Air Force flight unit before being recruited as an astronaut candidate in May 2010.
"I am grateful to the motherland and the people. I feel honored to fly into the space on behalf of hundreds of millions of female Chinese citizens," Liu Yang said at a press conference held the day before her planned launch.
[b]Shenzhou 9 mission[/b]
The main objective of the mission is the manual docking between the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft and the orbiting Tiangong-1 module.
A manual docking will demonstrate essential rendezvous and docking techniques, and be a significant step forward in the current stage of the nation's three-phase manned space program, helping to establish a solid foundation for the future of the program, Wu said.
The mission will also mark China's first attempt to ship supplies and personnel from Earth to the orbiting module.
Credit: Xinhua News Agency
According to Wu, the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft will separate from its carrier Long March 2F rocket 9 minutes and 45 seconds after launch and keep on an "oval-shaped orbit" before attempting an automatic docking procedure with the Tiangong-1 lab.
With the completion of the automatic docking, astronauts will live and work in the Tiangong-1.
The manual docking attempt will take place several days after the automatic docking, Wu added.
The mission is part of China's preparations for the construction of a space station by 2020. Several components will be sent into space separately before being assembled into a station through a variety of docking procedures.