Leanna Arcila, 7, is licked by Watson, a therapy dog with the Pawtucket police department, as she receives her COVID-19 vaccination from Dr. Eugenio Fernandez at Nathanael Greene Elementary School in Pawtucket, R.I., Tuesday, December 7, 2021. Even as the U.S. reaches a COVID-19 milestone of roughly 200 million fully-vaccinated people, infections and hospitalizations are spiking, including in highly-vaccinated pockets of the country like New England. (Photo by David Goldman/AP Photo)

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)

In this August 21, 2017 photo released by the U.S. Defense Department, Qatari special operations personnel conduct a military free-fall Friendship Jump over Qatar. The U.S. military has halted some exercises with its Gulf Arab allies over the ongoing diplomatic crisis targeting Qatar, trying to use its influence to end the monthslong dispute, authorities told The Associated Press on Friday, October 6, 2017. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Trevor T. McBride/ U.S. Air Force via AP Photo)

A student from the union territory of Pondicherry prepares to take part in the inaugural session of the national Balrang Festival 2017 in Bhopal, India, 20 December 2017. More than 500 participants from 26 states across the country take part in the three-day long cultural event to showcase their performances. The festival organised by Madhya Pradesh School Education Department and Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangralaya. (Photo by Sanjeev Gupta/EPA/EFE)

Mia Sanford, graduating from Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School, takes a selfie picture with friends before participating in a parade of vehicles celebrating the graduating 2020 High School seniors on May 14, 2020 in Aventura, Florida. The graduating seniors were cheered on as they drove through the city escorted by the Aventura Police Department, students and parents. The unorthodox graduation ceremony was created as a way to safely celebrate during the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

In this photo released by the Alaska National Guard, Alaska Army National Guard soldiers use a CH-47 Chinook helicopter to removed an abandoned bus, popularized by the book and movie “Into the Wild”, out of its location in the Alaska backcountry Thursday, June 18, 2020, as part of a training mission. Alaska Natural Resources Commissioner Corri Feige, in a release, said the bus will be kept in a secure location while her department weighs various options for what to do with it. (Photo by Sgt. Seth LaCount/Alaska National Guard via AP Photo)

Members of the Edo Firemanship Preservation Association balance on top of bamboo ladders during a demonstration at the New Year's fire review held by the Tokyo Fire Department in Tokyo, Japan, 06 January 2016. Some 2,800 firefighters perform various emergency rescue and firefighting demonstrations in an effort to promote the prevention of fire and disaster in the annual event. (Photo by Kiyoshi Ota/EPA)