Tiangong-1 ready for docking and entry

JIUQUAN - Orbiter Tiangong-1 is ready and in position for the Shenzhou-10 manned spacecraft mission, Wu Ping, spokeswoman for China's manned space program, said Monday.

The Tiangong-1, a target orbiter and space module sent to space in September 2011, has entered the docking orbit. And its equipment is in normal condition and there is enough fuel to complete the new mission, Wu said.

The orbiter is ready for astronauts' admission and other missions of Shenzhou-10, she told a press conference.

According to the schedule of the upcoming mission, Shenzhou-10 will dock with Tiangong-1 with automatic and manual operations, where astronauts will conduct space science experiments and offer lessons to students on Earth.

Tiangong-1 has been in space for about 620 days and been visited by Shenzhou-8 and Shenzhou-9 spaceships, respectively in 2011 and 2012.

Experiments and tests have been carried out on Tiangong-1 since it was sent into space, Wu said, adding that China has acquired valuable data regarding land and resources survey, forestry, oceanic and urban environment monitoring.

The Shenzhou-10 spacecraft is scheduled to be launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 5:38 p.m. Beijing Time Tuesday. It will carry three astronauts including one female.