Space mission makes final preparations before liftoff

JIUQUAN, Gansu: Three Shenzhou VII astronauts and their backups arrived in Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (JSLC) yesterday, marking final preparation for China's third manned space mission.

The main crew members of Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng are scheduled to meet the press in a brief session that will go live on national television on Wednesday afternoon, after the JSLC authorities' official announcement of the mission's launch date and time.

A structure consisting of a spacecraft, Long March II-F rocket and escape tower were transferred to its launch pad at 3:15 pm on Saturday.