China plans to launch in 2012 spaceships named Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10, which are expected to dock with China's first space lab module. Tiangong 1 is expected to be joined soon by three separate unmanned Chinese spacecraft — Shenzhou 8, Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10 — that will spot China's first attempt at docking maneuvers in space.
Shenzhou 8 is expected to be launched on a 12-day mission in November, while Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10 are scheduled to lift off during 2012. One or both of these latter missions may carry the first astronauts to Tiangong 1.
The International Space Station orbits Earth in a 51.6-degree inclined orbit, 233 miles by 248 miles (376 by 399 kilometers) high and is visible from 95 percent of the inhabited land on Earth.
But Tiangong 1 orbits Earth at a somewhat lower inclination of 42.8 degrees and at a lower 122-by-214- mile (197 by 345 kilometer) altitude. As such, it is visible from about 80 percent of inhabited land areas. Tiangong 1 can occasionally appear to arc high across the sky, even passing directly overhead at times.
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