spacetoday.net: Shenzhou-9 lands safely

Posted: Fri, Jun 29, 2012, 7:03 AM ET (1103 GMT)
Shenzhou-9 landing (Xinhua)

The Shenzhou-9 spacecraft landed safely in China early Friday, completing a 13-day mission that saw the crewed spacecraft dock with an orbiting lab module for the first time. The Shenzhou-9 spacecraft, with three people aboard, landed in China's Inner Mongolia region at approximately 10 pm EDT Thursday (0200 GMT, 10 am Beijing time Friday). Chinese officials said the three-person crew, including China's first female astronaut, were all in good health. The spacecraft launched on June 16 and docked with the Tiangong-1 module two days later. The crew also undocked and redocked with the module in manual mode a week later. Shenzhou-9 was China's fourth human spaceflight and the first in nearly four years. China has not announced specific plans for its next crewed mission but said the success of Shenzhou-9 keeps its long-term plans of a permanent space station by the end of this decade on track.