in the China [China’s,Giant,Leap,in,Space,Exploration]

　　AT 10:03 am on June 29, the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft returned to Earth to land in northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, ending the 302-hour journey in space of the operation’s three astronauts, Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and Liu Yang, China’s first woman astronaut.
　　The Shenzhou-9 spacecraft was launched on June 16, and over the next two weeks achieved a series of breakthroughs in China’s aerospace history – its first manual rendezvous and docking between a spacecraft and skylab, its first female astronaut, and a record 13 days spent in space.
　　At the news of the successful launch, President Hu Jintao, then paying a state visit to Denmark, immediately sent a message of congratulations. Ten days later Hu himself made a call to the astronauts. He asked about their physical conditions and whether their assignment was going well, adding, “We and your families are looking forward to your successful and safe return.” When the re-entry capsule landed on June 29, Premier Wen Jiabao watched the entire process at the Beijing Areospace Control Center (BACC), and gave a speech, praising it as “a new achievement in China’s effort to build an innovationdriven country,” and “an important contribution to human exploration of outer space.”
　　Rendezvous and Docking technology Mastered
　　After two days of flight, the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft automated docking with the Tiangong-1 lab module, and the three astronauts entered the skylab. On June 24, the spacecraft separated with the lab, and the astronauts conducted the mission’s most important task – the manual docking, followed by the spacecraft’s return to Earth on June 29.
　　Now that China has mastered both automated and manual methods of rendezvous and docking, one of the three basic technologies of manned space flight, the probability of successfully completing space missions has greatly increased.
　　China’s first unmanned space docking was successfully completed last year when the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft docked with the Tiangong-1. The successful automated docking on June 18 further proved the technology. The manual docking was a great achievement for Liu Wang, who conducted the task 343 km away from Earth. “The success rate of manual docking is higher than the automated one, but more challenging for the astronauts,” commented Jiao Weixin, a professor at the School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University.
　　“The manual docking was beautifully conducted. It was very accurate and swift,” said Liu Weibo, the program manager responsible for the astronaut system. The manual docking was completed in only seven minutes, three minutes faster than the automatic docking, indicating the advantages humans have over the automated system.