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)

Egyptian bootblacks cleaning a European's shoes in Cairo. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). Circa 1870

West German police arrest a young man, one of the angry crowd throwing stones at a bus full of Soviet guards making their way to the Soviet War Memorial, 20th August 1962. The crowd were incensed by the death of 18-year-old Peter Fechter, who was shot while trying to cross the Berlin Wall a few days earlier. (Photo by Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Judy, a black collie whose owner was killed by a train when trying to retrieve her after she slipped her lead. (Photo by Evening Standard/Getty Images). 17th December 1976

People look at a loaded truck that got stuck in a sinkhole on a road in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, January 7, 2015. No injury was reported, according to local media. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Cadets from the National Cadet Corps (NCC) celebrate after being awarded the first position in the best marching trophy competition during the Republic Day celebrations in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh January 26, 2015. (Photo by Ajay Verma/Reuters)

Heidi Klum attends the Heidi Klum's 16th Annual Halloween Party sponsored by GSN's Hellevator And SVEDKA Vodka At LAVO New York on October 31, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Heidi Klum)

Policemen look at a wax figure of Rowan Atkinson, dressed as his popular television character Mr. Bean, on display outside a wax figure museum in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, August 24, 2014. (Photo by Alex Lee/Reuters)