China sends first woman into space

China’s first female astronaut, Liu Yang, was sent to space as the Shenzhou IX spacecraft successfully blast off at 6:47 p.m. on June 16, state media reported. Liu and male astronauts Jing Haipeng and Liu Wang will stay in space for more than 10 days with the aim of conducting scientific experiments and China’s first manual space docking, a highly technical procedure that brings two vessels together in high-speed orbit. If the mission of space rendezvous and docking is successfully completed, Shenzhou IX will attach itself to the Tiangong-1 module currently orbiting Earth, taking China one step closer to setting up its own space station in 2020. “Generally speaking, female astronauts have better durability, psychological stability and ability to deal with loneliness,” said Wu Ping, a spokeswoman for China’s manned space program.