First Chinese Woman Set For Space Voyage

6/15/2012 11:09 PM ET

China is getting ready to send its first female astronaut to space in its fourth manned space mission.

The Shenzhou-9 space capsule is set to lift off from the Jiuquan spaceport on the edge of the Gobi desert on Saturday evening. A crew of three, including 33-year-old fighter pilot Liu Yang, will be send to the orbiting Tiangong space lab.

A Long March 2F rocket will put them on a path to dock with Tiangong, which was launched last September. They will attempt a manned docking for the first time and will spend over a week. Jing Haipeng, who is making his second spaceflight, will command the mission.

by RTT Staff Writer

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