Shenzhou X and three astronauts(宇航员) were sent up from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu province, into a clear blue sky on Tuesday, bringing the nation one step closer to building its own space(太空) station in 2020.
Two men, mission commander(指挥官) Nie Haisheng and Zhang Xiaoguang, and China’s second female astronaut, Wang Yaping, are expected to stay in space for 15 days.
They will teach young people about science and do two space dockings, between Shenzhou X and the unmanned Tiangong-1 space module, a technically difficult procedure that brings two spaceship together in high-speed orbit(轨道).
The trip is our country's fifth manned space mission, 10 years after the country’s first astronaut, Yang Liwei, went into space in 2003.
