China’s first woman in space returns to earth

Liu Yang returned to earth after just after 2am this morning, when the re-entry capsule of hers and her fellow astronauts’ Shenzhou 9 craft touched down in the north west of the country. 




The mission was the first time that China had transferred astronauts between two orbiting craft and marks a huge step forward in their plans to have a space station capable of housing people for long periods of time. 



Photo: Getty.