China has sent its first woman into space on a mission to dock with an orbiting station, the latest step in an ambitious programme to go to the moon and on to Mars.

Photo: China's first female astronaut Liu Yang, waves during a sending off ceremony before she departs for the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft rocket launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, China, Saturday, June 16, 2012. China will send its first woman and two other astronauts into space Saturday to work on a temporary space station for about a week, in a key step toward becoming only the third nation to set up a permanent base in orbit. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

Yogis, Israeli and foreigners, participate in the Arava Yoga Annual festival at the ancient copper mines area of the Timna Valley, in the southern Arava region of Israel, north of Eilat on November 2, 2018. (Photo by Menahem Kahana/AFP Photo)

“Artist of the light”. While shooting sunrise in the Vermilion lakes area of Banff national park, Canada, I met a fellow photographer on the scene. Most of the time, we tried not to get in each other's way, however, just by accident, I snapped a picture with him in it working on his tripod settings, and it turned out to be a great photo compared to my sunrise shots. (Photo and caption by Victor Liu/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture.

Figure Skating, ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating NHK Trophy 2016/2017, Ice Dance Short Dance, Sapporo, Japan on November 26, 2016. Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker of the U.S. compete. (Photo by Issei Kato/Reuters)

A bride gets tested for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a nucleic acid testing site, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai, China on November 15, 2022. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

English actress Helen Flanagan early July 2023 has been mum-shamed by followers after sharing sеxy snaps in her bra. The mum-of-three, 32, enjoyed a cuppa in her bathroom and unbuttoned her pyjama top to reveal her cleavage. (Photo by hjgflanagan/Instagram)

A new species of monkey found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and identified as Lesula (Cercopithecus lomamiensis) is seen in this undated photograph from an article published September 12, 2012 in the science journal PLOS One. The monkey was first seen in 2007 by researchers John and Terese Hart of the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale Research Project. The finding of C. lomamiensis represents only the second new species of African monkey to be discovered in the past 28 years, according to the research article. (Photo by Hart J. A., Detwiler K. M., Gilbert C. C./Reuters)

Tarah Kayne and Daniel O'Shea of the U.S. perform during the Pairs short program at the Skate America figure skating competition in Milwaukee, Wisconsin October 23, 2015. Fifty-six Olympic and world championship athletes are competing in the event, which is the first of six stops on the International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)