A Chinese spacecraft has successfully completed the country's first manual docking in orbit, a milestone in an ambitious programme to build a space station by the end of the decade.
The Shenzhou-9 spacecraft linked with the Tiangong-1 module in a space mission which includes China's first female astronaut, following an automatic docking on Monday.
Veteran astronaut Liu Wang used a joystick-like device to carry out the manoeuvre.
The move was the main goal of the 13-day Shenzhou (Divine Vessel) mission, testing the docking technique essential to building a space station - which China aims to do by 2020.
China sees its space programme as a symbol of its global stature.
On the same day a manned Chinese submersible set a national record for a deep-sea dive.
The submersible dropped by more than 7,000 metres into the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean.
The two spacecraft first came together in an automatic docking on 18 June.
