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)

After 12 years photographing models, musicians, and celebrities, Brad Wilson decided that he wanted to photograph something a little more unpredictable: wild animals. Photo: Serval. (Photo by Brad Wilson)

A group of youngsters dressed as ghouls and zombies for Halloween parade in downtown Lisbon, Portugal, Friday, October 31, 2014. (Photo by Francisco Seco/AP Photo)

Miss Nord-Pas-de-Calais Camille Cerf (C) is congratulated by Miss Ile de France 2014 Margaux Savary (L) and Miss Auvergne 2014 Morgane Laporte after Cerf won the Miss France 2015 beauty contest on December 6, 2014 in Orleans. (Photo by Guillaume Souvant/AFP Photo)

UK “Ex On The Beach” star Chloe Goodman had a huge fashion disaster at a London Fashion Week event in Chelsea last night September 21, 2016, when her Christian Louboutin heel got caught in a metal grate. The former Celebrity Big Brother housemate looked embarrassed whilst trying to get her heel back after the disaster as well as cupping her top to avoid a second wardrobe malfunction. (Photo by XposurePhotos.com)

Hospitality staff members laugh as they stand on Tiananmen Square before the closing ceremony of China's 19th Party Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Tuesday, October 24, 2017. The ruling Communist Party on Tuesday formally lifted Xi Jinping's status to China's most powerful ruler in decades, setting the stage for the authoritarian leader to tighten his grip over the country while pursuing an increasingly muscular foreign policy and military expansion. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)

A model presents a creation from the Tom Ford Spring/Summer 2015 collection during London Fashion Week September 15, 2014. (Photo by Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters)

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge speaks to soldiers as she arrives at Calgary Airport on July 7, 2011 in Calgary, Canada. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)