China Goes for the Stars.

Shenzhou 10 launches in Gobi Desert.

China is reaching for the stars as the nation sends Shenzhou 10 to space with three astronauts. Their destination is an experimental space laboratory. The mission will last 15 days and is in pursuit of developing a space station. 

The Chinese astronauts are: Mission Commander Nie Haisheng, female astronaut Wang Yaping, and Zhang Xiaoguang. The rocket was launched in the Gobi Desert and when it gets into orbit, it will dock with the China's trial space laboratory module Tiangong 1 (Heavenly Palace 1) The astronauts will test the module's systems and prepare for future trials.

Once upon a time, China's founder of the Communist Party of The Peoples Republic of China, Mao Zedong retorted disappointingly; that China could not launch a potato into space. They have come a long way since then and the world's emerging super power may one day lead the space age, who knows?

China's three Astronauts