BBC Focus Magazine

[M Paul Lloyd]

Chinese spacecraft dock in orbit
By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News

China has joined two space vehicles together in orbit for the first time.
The unmanned Shenzhou 8 craft, launched earlier this week, made contact with the Tiangong-1 space lab at 1729 GMT. The union occurred over China itself.
Being able to dock two space vehicles together is a necessary capability for China if it wants to start building a space station towards the decade's end.
Although no astronauts were in the Shenzhou craft this time, future missions will carry people.
Tuesday's procedure (Beijing time 0029, Thursday) took place at an altitude of about 340km. It was automated but overseen on the ground at the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Centre.
The vehicles used radar and optical sensors to compute their proximity to each other and guide their final approach and contact. A video feed from orbit showed the final moments of the vehicles coming together.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15562928