Mission Die-cast.

Book Club is impressed by China as it sends its first astronaut into space in 2003.The Shenzhou 10 spacecraft was launched on June 11 from a remote site in the Gobi desert in China's far west.
The country plan to launch the Tiangong 2 into orbit in two years, which will then be replaced by a three-module permanent station in 2020. The future station will weigh about 60 tonnes, slightly smaller than NASA's Skylab from the 1970s and about one-sixth the size of the 16-nation International Space Station. Alongside the manned program, China is developing the Long March 5 heavier-lift rocket needed to launch the Tiangong 2. 
It also plans to send a rover to the moon, possibly followed by a crewed lunar mission if officials decide to combine the human spaceflight and lunar exploration programs. Mission accomplished Chinese astronauts return from historic trip to their space station... and plan permanent base by 2020. The Shenzhou 10 capsule landed safely in Inner Mongolia after 15 days aboard the Tiangong 1 space station. The station is a prototype with China hoping to launch a permanent version by 2020. The mission is the longest a manned Chinese spacecraft has been in orbit - beating Shenzhou 9 by two days.
During the mission, the three astronauts beamed a live physics class to 60 million school children. The European Space Agency has a huge budget and still doesn't match ambition or efforts towards space . In fact book club concludes Europe wouldn't even care if Russia got struck by meteor type terror shower.

The photos of their space capsule carrying three Chinese astronauts is proof that this primitive technology has worked and landed safely in northern China after a 15-day trip to the country's prototype space station. The Shenzhou 10's descent module landed by parachute in Inner Mongolia on Wednesday with the three crew members said to be in 'good health'.It was the second manned mission to the experimental Tiangong 1 space station - launched in 2011 - with China hoping to have a permanent space presence by 2020.

Chinese astronaut Nie Haisheng waves to TV crews and workers from China's manned space program before climbing out of the re-entry capsule of China's Shenzhou-10 spacecraft Chinese astronauts Zhang Xiaoguang (left) Nie Haisheng (centre) and Wang Yaping (right) celebrate after getting out of the re-entry capsule of China's Shenzhou 10 spacecraft, pictured. 

The crew had spent 15 days on board the Tiangong 1 prototype space station. China's H-shaped Tiangong-1 space station can be seen in this image, silhouetted against the Sun. The shot was taken by Astra photographer Thierry Legault in southern France. The entire transit across the sun took less than half a second.

Book club shows the Shenzhou 10 spacecraft looks like something that was dreamt up in a small repair shop. But it is China's fifth manned space mission since 2003 and the 15-day mission was the longest time a manned Chinese spacecraft has been in orbit.  It beat Shenzou 9's mission time by two days.
China Central Television showed the re-entry of the capsule, dangling from an orange parachute, and its landing on flat grasslands shortly after 8 a.m. China time. The astronauts began emerging about 90 minutes after landing, helped out of the nose of the capsule by workers in white jumpsuits and into waiting chairs, smiling and waving to the TV camera.
The Shenzhou 10 was commanded by Nie Haisheng, with Zhang Xiaoguang and female astronaut Wang Yaping also on board. Yaping is China's second female astronaut to ever complete a space mission.While in space, the three astronauts beamed the first ever live science class from space to 60 million schoolchildren across the country. China's Shenzhou 10 spacecraft is shown landing in Siziwang Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Wednesday. The Shenzhou 10 spacecraft is China's fifth manned space mission since 2003 and was launched in 2011. Ground crew talk to Chinese astronaut Nie Haisheng before helping him out of the re-entry capsule of China's Shenzhou 10 spacecraft. The astronauts began emerging about 90 minutes after landing and are all said to be in 'good health'.