China poised for most ambitious space mission yet
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China will launch three astronauts including a mother of one who flies transport planes to work on a space station for about a week, a major step in its goal of becoming only the third nation with a permanent base orbiting Earth.
Liu Yang and two male colleagues are expected to be launched Saturday in the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft that will dock with the bus-sized Tiangong 1 space module, 322 kilometers above the Earth. State media say the mission will last about 10 days. (AP)
