The Long March 2-F rocket loaded with Shenzhou-10 manned spacecraft carrying Chinese astronauts Nie Haisheng, Zhang Xiaoguang and Wang Yaping lifts off from the launch pad in the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Gansu province on June 11

The Chinese manned spacecraft blasted off with the three astronauts on board on Tuesday on a 15-day mission to an experimental space lab in the latest step towards the development of a space station. Reuters/Stringer