Shenzhou IX

People's Republic of China

Launch, orbit and landing data

Launch date:	16.06.2012
Launch time:	10:37:24.558 UTC
Launch site:	Jiuquan Satellite Launching Center
Launch pad:	1
Altitude:	200 - 330 km
Inclination:	42.836°
Docking Tiangong-1:	18.06.2012, 06:07:04 UTC
Undocking Tiangong-1:	28.06.2012, 01:22 UTC
Landing date:	29.06.2012
Landing time:	02:02:49 UTC
Landing site:	42°15'47.98" N, 111°16'43.93" E

Crew

No.	Surname	Given names	Position	Flight No.	Duration	Orbits
1	Jing	Haipeng	Commander	2	12d 15h 25m 24s	198
2	Liu	Wang	Operator	1	12d 15h 25m 24s	198
3	Liu	Yang	Operator	1	12d 15h 25m 24s	198

Crew seating arrangement

Launch
1	Jing
2	Liu
3	Liu

Landing
1	Jing
2	Liu
3	Liu

Backup Crew

No.	Surname	Given names	Position
1	Nie	Haisheng	Commander
2	Zhang	Xiaoguang	Operator
3	Wang	Yaping	Operator

hi res version (383 KB)

Flight

Launch from Jiuquan Satellite Launching Center; landing in Inner Mongolia; fourth Chinese manned spaceflight.

Following a two days solo flight Shenzhou IX docked automatic with the Chinese space station Tiangong-1. Two hours later the crew entered the station for the first time.

On June 24, 2012 the astronauts temporarily departed their quarters inside the orbiting Tiangong-1 space lab, backing away inside a Shenzhou spacecraft before pilot Liu Wang took control of the capsule to complete the first manual docking in China's burgeoning space program. Docking occurred at 04:48 UTC.