China's fourth manned space flight ended with a jarring touchdown in Inner Mongolia after a successful flight to test docking procedures and techniques needed for building a Mir-class space station later this decade.

China's Shenzhou 9 spacecraft, carrying two men and the first Chinese woman to fly in space, returned to Earth on Friday after an ambitious flight to a prototype space station module, plunging back into the atmosphere and descending under a large parachute to a jarring touchdown in Inner Mongolia.

The re-entry was carried live on Chinese television, with commentary, shots of the crew in the cramped decent module and views of the spacecraft's fiery re-entry plume as it streaked across the sky on a steep northeasterly descent toward the landing zone.

The Shenzhou 9 spacecraft descends under a large parachute, on target for a landing in Inner Mongolia.

The 12-day 15-hour mission ended with a jarring rocket-assisted landing in Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, around 10:04 a.m. local time (GMT+8; 10:04 p.m. EDT Thursday). The spacecraft appeared to slide along on its base for an instant before rolling end over end, coming to rest on its side.

Within minutes, recovery crews stationed nearby reached the landing site, opened the vehicle's hatch and carried out initial medical checks. The crew was said to be in good health and all three smiled and waved to well wishers when they left the vehicle more than an hour after touchdown.

"I feel very happy and very proud of my country," Liu Yang, China's first female "taikonaut," told an interviewer.

All three crew members were to be flown by helicopter to Beijing for more extensive medical exams, debriefing and reunions with friends and family.

Recovery crews work to help the Shenzhou 9 crew members out of their cramped spacecraft after landing.

Launched June 16 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in north central China, commander Jing Haipeng, the first Chinese astronaut to make a second spaceflight, monitored an automated docking with the Tiangong 1 space station module on June 18. Jing, Liu Yang and Liu Wang then floated into the space station module for more than a week of tests and experiments.

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Chinese crew returns to Earth after ambitious test flight