…To become China’s first woman in space
Two fighter pilots are going head to head in hopes of becoming China’s first woman into space. Major Liu Yang, from Henan and Captain Wang Yaping, from Shandong, were short-listed for a place in a three-strong team, who will be blasting off in the Shenxhou-9 spacecraft. Major Yang has been described by Chinese media as a “hero pilot” who carried out a successful emergency landing after a bird caught in the windshield of her plane and splattered it with blood. Her rival has flown rescue missions during the Sichuan earthquake, as well as flying a cloud-seeing plane to help clear the skies of rain in time for the Beijing Olympics 2008. News agency Xinhua said, “They are selected as members of the first batch of female astronauts in China because of their excellent flight skills and psychological quality.” Zhou Jianping, chief designer of the programme told the media that the mission is considered an important phase in China’s ambitious project. “The Shenzhou-9 will perform our country’s first manned space docking mission with the orbiting Tiangong-1 space lab module.” “It means China’s spacecraft will become a genuine manned shuttle tool between space and Earth. It can send human beings to space stations or space labs. This will be a significant step in China’s manned space flight history.” The Soviet Union’s Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to go into space in 1963. Both women, said to be in their thirties, have also been chosen because they have a child each. Chinese authorities have declared that only mothers can go into space as spaceflight can cause damage to a woman’s fertility.
