China's Tiangong-1 (Heavenly Palace) module was successfully lofted into orbit by a Long March-2FT1 rocket Thursday evening.
The Tiangong-1 is slated to orbit the Earth for approximately one month until the unmanned Shenzhou-8 spacecraft docks. Subsequent flights to Tiangong-1 will include the Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10, with at least one classified as a manned mission.Zhang Shancong, deputy chief designer of the Tiangong-1, told Xinhua that the module is equipped with advanced cameras which will snap hyperspectral images of...