On November 17, 2011 at 11:32 UTC the "Shenzhou-8” capsule landed in north China, after completing the country's first-ever space docking mission.
photo by news.cn website
The re-entry module of the spacecraft parachuted down at a landing site in Siziwang Banner (county) in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, marking the end of the 49-day space docking mission.
Launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Nov. 1, the Shenzhou-8 first rendezvoused and docked with the space lab module Tiangong-1 two days later. The two joint vessels orbited Earth for 12 days and conducted another docking after a brief disengagement on Nov. 14.
The Tiangong-1, which blasted off from the Jiuquan launch center on Sept. 29, will remain in orbit to await future docking attempts with the Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 spacecraft in 2012. Attachments: | 
