China celebrates first manual docking of manned spacecraft China
has spent billions of dollars on its space program in an effort
to put the country on a par with the U.S. and Russia in space.
The New York Times BEIJING — A Chinese spacecraft with three
astronauts on board docked manually with an orbiting module
Sunday, an important step toward China's goal of building a
space station by 2020. The maneuver of the Shenzhou 9 capsule
aligning with the Taingong 1 module was shown live on national
television Sunday to huge audiences. A spokeswoman for China's
manned space program said that hand levers were used to control
the capsule as it positioned to dock with the orbiting module.
The effort was "precise and perfect," and the three astronauts,
including China's first woman in space, worked "calmly and
skillfully," said the spokeswoman, Wu Ping. "This success in
manual docking represents a major breakthrough in our space
rendezvous and docking technologies," Wu said. The female
astronaut, Liu Yang, 33, an air-fo