China prepares for return of space capsule

China today prepared for the return of the Shenzhou 6 mission, saying that the capsule was operating smoothly and its two astronauts were doing well after five days in space.

The vessel was tracked over the grasslands of China’s Inner Mongolia early today, the official Xinhua News Agency said. It did not give any details on when the mission was expected to touch down, but news reports have said it might be tonight or early tomorrow.