\tThree Chinese astronauts floated into the cabin of an orbiting module Monday afternoon, becoming the first group of Chinese to enter an orbiter in space.<\/p>\n
\tJing Haipeng, followed by Liu Wang and Liu Yang, went into the space lab module Tiangong-1 from spacecraft Shenzhou-9 about three hours after a successful automatic docking procedure which was completed at 2:07 p.m.<\/p>\n
\t"Shenzhou-9 crew members feel great!" reported astronaut Liu Wang to the Beijing Aerospace Control Center.<\/p>\n
\tLive television broadcast showed the three astronauts in blue uniform waved to the camera inside the Tiangong-1 cabin against the backdrop of a five-starred national flag and a big red Chinese knot.<\/p>\n
\tThey are the first tenants in the 15-cubic-meter cabin of Tiangong-1, known as "Heavenly Palace."<\/p>\n
\tThe 8.5-tonne space lab module has been traveling around Earth for 262 days since it was launched in September 2011.<\/p>\n
\t"The real test will be the manual docking attempt six days later," said Zhou Jianping, chief engineer of China's manned space program.<\/p>\n
\t"A manual docking, if successful, will demonstrate the country's grasp of essential space rendezvous and docking know-how," he said. "It will mean China is fully capable of transferring human and cargo to an orbiter in space."<\/p>\n
\tA manual docking is considered as a major step forward in China's manned space program to build a space station around 2020, in time for the likely retirement of the International Space Station.<\/p>\n
\tBesides manual docking, the astronauts will conduct medical experiments and other space tests during the current mission.<\/p>\n
\tChina succeeded in an automated space docking between unmanned spaceship Shenzhou-8 and Tiangong-1 late last year.<\/p>\n
\tThe three astronauts, including the country's first female astronaut Liu Yang, were sent into space by an upgraded Long March-2F carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gobi dessert at 6:37 p.m. Saturday.<\/p>\n
\t"China looks forward to more international cooperation in future space explorations," said Lu Xinguang, a leading designer of the control system of China's carrier rocket.<\/p>\n
\tNew words\uff1a
\t\u8f68\u9053\u8231gu\u01d0 dào c\u0101ng:orbiting module
\t\u5929\u5bab\u4e00\u53f7ti\u0101n g\u014dng y\u012b hào:Tiangong-1, known as "Heavenly Palace."
\t\u5bf9\u63a5duì ji\u0113:docking
\t\u7a7a\u95f4k\u014dng ji\u0101n:space<\/p><\/p>\n