China's Shenzhou-9 spacecraft returns to Earth

Air Force Major Liu Yang has been praised as a
 national hero 

A Chinese space capsule carrying three crew members has returned to Earth following a 13-day mission.

Images of the capsule landing in Inner Mongolia at 10:05 local time (02:05 GMT) were shown live on television.

The astronauts, including China's first woman in space, carried out a successful manual docking with the Tiangong-1 laboratory module.

The mission is a key step towards China's goal of building a space station by 2020.

Premier Wen Jiabao hailed the mission as a "complete success".

"This is another outstanding contribution by the Chinese people to humanity's efforts to explore and use space," Mr Wen said in Beijing.


"We have returned, and we feel good," the astronauts were reported by state-run Xinhua news agency as saying.

"Tiangong-1, our home in space, was comfortable and pleasant. We're very proud of our nation," Liu Yang, the first Chinese female astronaut, told national broadcaster CCTV.

Ms Liu has been hailed a national heroine. Unknown until a few days before take-off, she has returned to Earth as one of the most recognisable people in China, says the BBC's Martin Patience in Beijing. (BBC.co.uk)