The Proton rocket, that will launch the ExoMars 2016 spacecraft to Mars, is transfered to the launchpad at the Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, in this handout photo released by European Space Agency (ESA) on March 11, 2016. (Photo by Stephane Corvaja/Reuters/ESA)

Excited Brits beamed as they grabbed a pint outside in Leeds, United Kingdom on April 17, 2021. Pubs and restaurants with outdoor space have been allowed to reopen as lockdown restrictions are eased in the UK. (Photo by Nb press ltd)

An art installation is on display at Gentle Monster's Multi-brand Space – Haus Nowhere Shanghai on March 20, 2024 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Wang Gang/VCG via Getty Images)

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)

An Orthodox priest conducts a blessing in front of the Soyuz TMA-20M for the next International Space Station (ISS) crew, comprised of Jeff Williams of the U.S. and Oleg Skriprochka and Alexey Ovchinin of Russia, at the launchpad at the Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, March 17, 2016, ahead of its launch scheduled on March 19. (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)

A member of the Air Force's Wings of Blue Parachute Demonstration Team salutes as he jumps out of an aircraft, during the opening ceremony of Aviation Nation 2017 Nellis Air and Space Expo at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., November 10, 2017. (Photo by Senior Airman Kevin Tanenbaum/Reuters/U.S. Air Force)

The homemade Airbus A320 jet plane made by Chinese farmer Zhu Yue is being built at an open space in Kaiyuan city, northeast China's Liaoning province on February 4, 2018. (Photo by Imaginechina/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Model mum Valeria Garcia walks Marta Jakubowski's SS19 show wearing world first silent wearable breast pump: Elvie Pump at BFC Show Space on September 14, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images for Elvie)