China prepares for launch, names female astronaut

(CNN) -- China will launch its historic space docking mission Saturday along with its first female astronaut in space.

Liu Yang has been selected to join two male astronauts, Jing Haipeng and Liu Wang, as part of a three-person crew aboard the Shenzhou-9, according to China's manned space docking program, which says the mission will last 10 days.

A launch time is set for 6:37 p.m. local time (6:37 a.m. ET) at a satellite center in northwestern Gansu province.

The carrier rocket, the Long March-2F, was scheduled to start fueling Friday afternoon, and the launch ground and control systems are ready, state media reported.

Echoing a famous Chinese proverb, Wu Ping, a spokeswoman for China's manned space program said, "Women hold up half the sky. Human space missions without women are incomplete."

China Sends First Female Astronaut To Space bit.ly/KKuJZ8