Chinese military officials have declared the Shenzhou 10 mission a success.

The Shenzhou 10 crew appears healthy and happy, smiling in chairs as they receive flowers and congratulatory gifts.

Zhang Xiaoguang, a 47-year-old colonel in the People's Liberation Army, is the last crew member to leave the Shenzhou 10 re-entry capsule.

Wang Yaping, a 33-year-old transport pilot in the People's Liberation Army, has exited the Shenzhou 10 spacecraft. Wang is China's second female astronaut.

Shenzhou 10 commander Nie Haisheng, a 48-year-old veteran of two spaceflights, has crawled out of the capsule. He is smiling and waving to the recovery team welcoming the crew home.

Chinese state television ended live coverage of the Shenzhou 10 landing before the three astronauts left the vehicle.

Officials report all three astronauts are in good shape after landing. Technicians and medical personnel are preparing to extract the crew soon.

The hatch on the Shenzhou 10 re-entry module has been opened.

Recovery crews are arriving at the landing site on helicopters and ground vehicles to begin the process of retrieving the three astronauts.

TOUCHDOWN. The Shenzhou 10 spacecraft has returned to Earth after almost 15 days in space.

The spacecraft's main parachute has deployed to slow Shenzhou 10's descent over Inner Mongolia.

Live views from an infrared camera shows the Shenzhou 10 re-entry module streaking through the atmosphere toward landing, trailed by the craft's habitation module, which is burning up as designed.

The re-entry module of the Shenzhou 10 spacecraft, which contains the mission's three astronauts, has now separated from the vehicle's habitation module, beginning the return sequence.

A live video on Shenzhou 10's orbital module showed the separation event.

Chinese officials expect there to be a communications blackout during the most intense phase of re-entry due to the high temperatures surrounding the spacecraft.

The Shenzhou 10 astronauts are in their spacesuits and strapped into their seats inside the re-entry module.

The craft's deorbit burn has been completed, setting Shenzhou 10 on a course toward a parachute-assisted landing in northern China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region shortly after 8 p.m. EDT (midnight GMT).

The specific region for landing is known as Siziwang Banner, the same point of return used for China's three previous human space missions.

After a 15-day mission in which astronauts taught physics lessons to students and completed rendezvous and docking trials, three astronauts aboard China's Shenzhou 10 spacecraft are due to return to Earth on Tuesday night.

Commander Nie Haisheng and astronauts Zhang Xiaoguang and Wang Yaping will plunge back to Earth inside the re-entry module of Shenzhou 10, beefed up with a heat shield as protection against the fiery descent.

The state-run Xinhua news agency reports the capsule will land at about midnight GMT (8 p.m. EDT) in northern China's Inner Mongolia province.

The mission was conducted largely out of the public eye, with Chinese state media offering only occasional updates on the progress of the flight outside of visible events such as Wang Yaping's education session with Chinese students on June 20.

After Shenzhou 10's successful launch June 11, the astronauts made an automatic docking with China's Tiangong 1 space lab two days later. The crew replaced the interior walls of the Tiangong 1 module's main cabin to permit easier movement inside.

The astronauts also accomplished a manual docking with Tiangong 1 on at 0207 GMT Sunday (10:07 p.m. EDT Saturday), before a final departure Monday.

Monday's departure included a "flyaround" demonstration - a first-of-a-kind maneuver for a Shenzhou mission - to test new rendezvous techniques and approach trajectories, such as flying toward the Tiangong 1 space lab from underneath instead of from behind.

China's future ambition to construct a space station in orbit may require such advanced rendezvous methods, which are regularly employed by Russian and U.S. spacecraft visiting the International Space Station.

Astronauts Nie Haisheng, Zhang Xiaoguang and Wang Yaping opened the hatch leading to Tiangong 1 and entered the space module at 0817 GMT (4:17 a.m. EDT), beginning work to outfit the lab for 12 days of experiments, an education broadcast and other activities.

The Shenzhou 10 crew is the second Chinese astronaut crew to enter Tiangong 1, following the Shenzhou 9 mission in June 2012.

China's Shenzhou 10 spacecraft flew an automated rendezvous with the Tiangong 1 space lab Thursday, docking with the prototype space station and delivering three astronauts for nearly two weeks of experiments.

The manned space capsule docked with Tiangong 1 at 0511 GMT (1:11 a.m. EDT; 1:11 p.m. Beijing time) and mechanisms pulled the two spacecraft together for tight seal seven minutes later, according to a report by China's state-run Xinhua news agency.

Shenzhou 10's three astronauts - commander Nie Haisheng, Zhang Xiaoguang and Wang Yaping - were expected to enter Tiangong 1 through a 31-inch-diameter passageway later Thursday.

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Three Chinese astronauts, led by a veteran of a previous space mission, soared into orbit Tuesday to begin a 15-day voyage to China's Tiangong 1 space lab, a flight officials say will further prove the capabilities of the country's manned space program.

The 191-foot-tall Long March 2F rocket, powered by 1.4 million pounds of thrust, lifted off at 0938 GMT (5:38 a.m. EDT; 5:38 p.m. Beijing time) from the Jiuquan space base in northwest China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Less than 10 minutes later, after a dazzling launch broadcast on Chinese state television, the 8.5-ton Shenzhou 10 capsule arrived in orbit. A few moments later, the spacecraft extended its two solar array wings to generate electricity.

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And check out images of the launch, including views recorded by on-board rocketcams.

Shenzhou 10 was launched into an elliptical parking orbit, and the spacecraft will fire thrusters more than 7 hours into the flight to circularize its orbit, a crucial step in its rendezvous with the Tiangong 1 lab module in about two days.

"The Shenzhou 10 spacecraft has entered its orbit," said Zhang Youxia, chief commander of the China Manned Space Engineering Office. "The crew are in a fine state. I announce the launch of the Shenzhou 10 spacecraft [as] successful."

Shenzhou 10 has deployed its solar panels to generate electricity, now flying off the east coast of mainland China.

The Shenzhou 10 spacecraft has separated from the Long March rocket in orbit. The astronauts are smiling and waving on a live camera view inside the capsule.

T+plus 8 minutes, 15 seconds. The main engine second stage of the Long March rocket has shut down.

Radar trackers indicate the rocket is traveling down the expected flight path.

T+plus 3 minutes, 45 seconds. The protective aerodynamic fairing covering the Shenzhou 10 spacecraft has jettisoned now that the rocket is out of the lower atmosphere.

T+plus 2 minutes, 50 seconds. The Long March rocket's first stage and four liquid-fueled boosters have jettisoned and the second stage is now firing.

T+plus 2 minutes. The escape tower has jettisoned as planned.

LIFTOFF of the Long March 2F rocket with the Shenzhou 10 mission.

T-minus 2 minutes. This is China's fifth human spaceflight and the second space mission with a Chinese woman. It follows previous crewed Shenzhou flights in 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2012.

T-minus 4 minutes. The astronauts are configuring their spacesuits for launch, closing their visors, and ensuring they have a good pressure seal.

T-minus 5 minutes. All systems are reported to working well at this stage in the countdown.

T-minus 8 minutes. The official launch time will be 0938:07 GMT (5:38:07 a.m. EDT) in order for Shenzhou 10 to reach the Tiangong 1 target module in orbit 210 miles above Earth.

T-minus 15 minutes. Workers will soon evacuate the launch pad and fall back to a safe position for liftoff.

The rotating gantry at the launch pad is opening to reveal the lower portion of the Long March 2F rocket, which includes the first stage and four liquid-fueled boosters.

The launch site is at the Jiuquan satellite launching center in China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region in the northwest section of the country. The Jiuquan base is located in the Gobi desert.

Fully loaded with propellant, the Long March 2F rocket stands 191 feet tall and weighs about 1.1 million pounds. The rocket generates more than 1.4 million pounds of thrust at liftoff.

All three crew members are now strapped in their seats inside the Shenzhou 10 spacecraft.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is attending today's launch at Jiuquan, China's secretive manned space base in the northwest of the country. He spoke with the crew before they departed for the launch pad.

"Full of confidence and well-spirited, before you embark on this journey on behalf of the CPC Central Committee, the State Council and the Central Military Commission, and on behalf of the Chinese people of all ethnic groups, I hereby send you off," Xi said. "You will be embarking on the fifth manned space mission of China. This carries the space dream of the Chinese nation.

"It will also show the Chinese passion to reach for the stars and reach into space. You have made all of us very proud. Your task is glorious and sacred. To ensure the success of this task, you have undergone serious and careful training and have been well prepared. I am fully confident that you will succeed in this mission. I hereby wish you every success and look forward to your successful return."

Shenzhou 10 commander Nie Haisheng, wearing his launch spacesuit, replied: "Thank you, President Xi. Thank you to the party and to the people who will take the orders and calmly deal with all situations, carefully operate and successful fulfill this mission. Rest assured, our dear leaders and our nation."

Nie Haisheng, Zhang Xiaoguang and Wang Yaping have departed their crew quarters en route to the launch pad to board the Shenzhou 10 spacecraft.

Nie, a 48-year-old general in the People's Liberation Army, is a veteran astronaut who flew on China's Shenzhou 6 mission in 2006. Zhang and Wang are rookie astronauts.

Three Chinese astronauts will board the Shenzhou 10 space capsule Tuesday for a 15-day orbital mission to the Tiangong 1 science lab, duplicating docking demonstrations completed last year while expanding the country's growing capabilities in space.

The Chinese government officially unveiled the mission Monday, announcing the identities of three crew members and revealing the target launch time.

Liftoff of the 8.5-ton Shenzhou 10 spaceship is scheduled for 0938 GMT (5:38 a.m. EDT; 5:38 p.m. Beijing time) from the Jiuquan space center in northwest China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

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Chinese engineers transferred a 191-foot-tall Long March rocket to the launch pad Monday as officials gear up for liftoff of China's next human spaceflight in mid-June, state media reported.

The Long March 2F rocket rolled about one mile from an assembly building to the launch pad at the Jiuquan space center, a military-run base in northwest China's Gobi desert.

It took an hour to complete the rollout, according to China's state-run CCTV television network. Sitting atop a mobile launch platform, the Long March 2F was towed along dual rail tracks amid throngs of employees and guests at the remote launch base.

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