Permanent station plans ride on mission

Nation awaits astronauts' arrival at the Tiangong II lab for a 30-day stay

As a Chinese spaceship rockets through the void toward a rendezvous with a new Chinese space lab, experts say a monumental step in the nation's long march in space exploration is about to occur.

On Monday morning, China's Shenzhou XI manned spacecraft was sent skyward atop a Long March 2F rocket that thundered away from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.