China has sent marine research and rescue teams to targeted sea areas for the return of three astronauts returning Earth Friday morning after completing a 13-day manned space docking mission.
The marine teams include three vessels and a number of offshore helicopters to search and rescue the three astronauts -- veteran astronaut Jing Haipeng, crewmate Liu Wang and China's first woman astronaut Liu Yang, according the Beijing Aerospace Control Center.
The main landing area for the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft carrying the astronauts is in Siziwang Banner of northern China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, where all the previous eight Shenzhou spaceships landed.
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