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)

Russian soldiers dressed in Red Army World War II uniforms attend a rehearsal for the Nov. 7 parade in the Red Square with Spassky Tower in the background, in Moscow, Russia, Friday, November 6, 2015. The parade marks the 74th anniversary of a November 7 parade on Red Square when soldiers went directly to the front during World War II. For decades Nov. 7 was a holiday celebrating the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. (Photo by Ivan Sekretarev/AP Photo)

German flying ace Baron Manfred von Richthofen (1892–1918) also known as The Red Baron with his dog Moritz, circa 1916.

School leavers celebrate their graduation in Moscow's Red Square in Moscow, Russia on June 20, 2019. (Photo by Artyom Geodakyan/TASS)

The NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) 21 mission began on July 21 as an international crew of aquanauts splashed down to the undersea Aquarius Reef Base, located 62 feet below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The NEEMO 21 crew will perform research both inside and outside the habitat during a 16-day simulated space mission. During simulated spacewalks carried out underwater, they will evaluate tools and mission operation techniques that could be used in future space missions, including journeys to Mars. (Photo by Karl Shreeves/NASA)

People pose on the red carpet at the premiere of “Barbie” on Sunday, July 9, 2023, at The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/AP Photo)

American rapper Lizzo in the last decade of October 2024 is painted in red as she dresses up as a “Hunny Bunny” action figure. (Photo by lizzobeeating/Instagram)

American singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo is red hot backstage at her show in Argentina in the last decade of March 2025. (Photo by oliviarodrigo/Instagram)