China sending first woman in space to test module

Three astronaut figures, placed under a Shenzhou 9 and Tiangong 1 space module scale model, appear to salute a television screen live telecasting Wu Ping, spokesperson for China's manned flight program at the Jiuquan satellite launch center near Jiuquan in western China's Gansu province, Friday, June 15, 2012. China will launch three astronauts, including a mother of one who flies transport planes, to live and work on a space station for about a week, a major step in its goal of becoming only the third nation with a permanent base orbiting Earth. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)