A girl plays with coloured chicks for sale prior to Easter celebrations in Byblos, Lebanon on March 22, 2015. (Photo by Jamal Saidi/Reuters)

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)

A female hippopotamus named “Mali”, which means Jasmine, eats fruits arranged to look like a cake during her 50th birthday celebration at Dusit Zoo in Bangkok, Thailand September 23, 2016. (Photo by Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters)

(L-R) Models Kylie Jenner and Kendall Jenner pose during the Universal, NBC, Focus Features, E! Entertainment Golden Globes After Party Sponsored by Chrysler held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 8, 2017. (Photo by Christopher Polk/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

Students from CAS Ballet Theatre School stretch on the sidewalk Saturday, February 20, 2016, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (Photo by Junfu Han/The Ann Arbor News via AP Photo)

A staff member sets up a ROBOTLEO robot at the Global Mobile Internet Conference (GMIC) 2017 in Beijing, China April 28, 2017. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

Model Kendall Jenner attends the “120 Battements Par Minutes (120 Beats Per Minute)” screening during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 20, 2017 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Eric Gaillard/Reuters)

Workers from the South Florida Science Center and Aquarium and Imagine Exhibitions put together an animatronic spinosaurus outside the science center in West Palm Beach, Fla., Tuesday, October 27, 2015. The giant spinosaurus is part of the Dinosaurs Around the World exhibit, set to open on November 1. (Photo by Maria Lorenzino/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP Photo)