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 eight tense days, a female one horned rhinoceros was found and rescued from an area in India that has recently seen four other rhinos killed by poachers.

Photo: The rhino was finally located on Sunday in a field where it had taken shelter. Forest officials guarded the female one horned rhinoceros until it could be tranquilized and transported back to the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary. (Photo by Anupam Nath/Associated Press)

A woman sits next to a Gollum figure on the “Middle-earth Shuttle” subway train November 18, 2003 in New York City. The train's cars were decorated with Middle-earth creatures, vines, moss and stones to celebrate the November 18 DVD and VHS release of the Special Extended Edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

A dancer performs as visitors take pictures at an auto show in Tianjin, China April 28, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

An Indonesian vendor fixes a headscarf on a mannequin at a market in Jakarta in this December 21, 2006 file photo. (Photo by Reuters/Beawiharta)

A videographer uses a drone as he takes a video of a model presenting a lingerie creation at the rehearsal for Eve's Temptation collection during China Fashion Week in Beijing, October 26, 2014. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

A man dressed up as a "Catrin", a Mexican character also known as "The Elegant Death", is pictured during a Catrinas parade in Mexico City October 31, 2015. (Photo by Carlos Jasso/Reuters)

Mary McHugh mourns her slain fiance Sgt. James Regan at “Section 60” of the Arlington National Cemetery May 27, 2007. Regan, a US Army Ranger, was killed by an IED explosion in Iraq. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)