Chronicle of China's progress on manned space missions

Following a successful docking mission between an orbiter and spacecraft, China is moving closer toward the goal of operating a permanent space station. The government held a rally on Friday to celebrate the success of the country's docking mission between the target orbiter Tiangong-1 and the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft. President Hu Jintao described the success of the space docking mission as a milestone in China's manned space program and a remarkable contribution to humanity's exploration of space. The following is a chronicle of the country's manned space missions. Feb. 19, 1960: China's first liquid-propellant rocket was launched from a paddy field near Shanghai. April 24, 1970: First artificial Earth satellite, Dong Fang Hong-1 Satellite, was launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center as China joined the former Soviet Union, America, France and Japan as the fifth country to launch satellites. Nov. 26, 1975: The launch and recovery of the first recoverable satellite makes China the third country to master this technology. October 1986: Chinese top leadership approved the "Program 863," a national hi-tech initiative under which scientists began researching manned spaceships. 1992: the Chinese manned space program was officially adopted. From 1990 to 2002: China launched four unmanned spaceships (Shenzhou-1 to Shenzhou-4), laying a solid foundation for future manned spacecrafts. Oct. 15, 2003: The launch of its first manned spacecraft, Shenzhou-5, sent one astronaut into space. The 21-hour flight allowed China to become the third country to independently conduct manned space flights, following the Soviet Union and the United States. Oct. 12, 2005: Shenzhou-6 manned spacecraft was launched, sending two astronauts into space. Sept. 28, 2008: China launched Shenzhou-7 spacecraft with three astronauts on board. One of them carried out a historic first spacewalk, and China became the third country in the world able to conduct extravehicular activity in space. Sept. 29, 2011: China launched its first space lab module Tiangong-1, which has been unmanned. Nov. 3, 2011: Unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou-8 successfully docked with Tiangong-1 space lab module, after it was launched on Nov. 1, 2011.