On board the Shenzhou-9 will be another first: the Sally Ride of China. Thank you for signing up to Live Science. After successfully launching a female astronaut into space last weekend, the micro-blogging site went on the PR offensive. China sent its first woman into space on Saturday after training to be an astronaut for the past two years. [5], On 16 June 2013, the 50th anniversary of the launch of Vostok 6, two women were in space, one of them Chinese, the second Chinese woman in space, Wang Yaping, aboard Tiangong-1 on the 3-man Shenzhou 10 mission, and Karen Nyberg on the 6-man Expedition 36 aboard the International Space Station. China appears to be on the brink of selecting female taikonaut for the up-coming Shenzhou 9 mission, likely to launch in early June. Asian-American Firsts: Science and Medicine. [3], On 16 June 2012, Major Liu Yang was the first Chinese woman launched into space aboard the Shenzhou 9 with two male counterparts to the Chinese space station Tiangong-1. No Fanfare for China’s Female Astronauts. Visit our corporate site. She graduated from People's Liberation Army Air Force Aviation College of Changchun. Asian-American Firsts: Aviation. Chinese astronauts are all People's Liberation Army pilots and officers, they have university degrees, they are Communist Party members. [8], List of Chinese women in space by mission, Learn how and when to remove this template message, https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2004/03/07/China-recruiting-women-for-space-travel/77241078703602/, "Want to be a female taikonaut in China? 1. Sally Ride - STS-7. First woman in space. June 16, 1963. But who is Liu, and how — from among half a billion Chinese women — was she chosen to be the country's first space heroine? As a child, Liu Yang once wanted to be a bus conductor and later had her sights set on becoming a lawyer, but … Ready for Mars", "Shenzhou 10 Launch: Chinese Spacecraft Blasts Off With Three Astronauts On 15-Day Mission", "The woman behind China's Chang'e-5 Moon mission", "Shenzhou-9 Launches into Space With China's First Woman Astronaut", "Chinese women astronauts set to fly by 2010", "China starts training its first group of women astronauts", "China's 1st batch of female jet fighter pilots to debut at National Day parade", "China to put first Chinese woman in space", China National Space Administration (CNSA), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chinese_women_in_space&oldid=1012204209, Space program of the People's Republic of China, Articles needing additional references from October 2009, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Also first female Chinese mission to the Chinese space station, Second Chinese women in space, and second one to Tiangong-1 space station, First Chinese woman aboard a space station, First Chinese woman to go on multiple missions, At least 1-mission (zero-missions excluded), At least 1-spacewalk (zero-spacewalks excluded), This page was last edited on 15 March 2021, at 04:27. China will launch its Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft Saturday in hopes of carrying out the country's first manual orbital docking test. She also won first place in a military speech contest. China’s historic spacecraft docking mission this month will involve a female astronaut, state-run Xinhua reported. June 18-24, 1983 4 Asian American Astronauts Are Going to the Moon in 2024. by Bryan Ke. 50 different women have flown with NASA. Stay up to date on the latest science news by signing up for our Essentials newsletter today. NAPLES, Italy - On June 16, 33-year-old Liu Yang became the first Chinese woman to reach space when she and two male crewmates blasted off aboard the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft. Liu was not drawn from the fighter pilot cadre, but instead is a veteran PLAAF transport pilot. First U.S. woman in space . Liu Yang, a 34-year-old fighter pilot, will become China's first female astronaut to travel into space. Since enlisting in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force in 1997, she has logged 1,680 hours of flight time, earning the rank of major and deputy head of a flight unit. I feel honored to fly into space on behalf of hundreds of millions of female Chinese citizens. According to the newspaper China Daily, female Chinese astronauts must be married and preferably be mothers, because of concerns that higher levels … Female aviator: Katherine Sui Fun Cheung, licensed in 1932. The following is a list of women who have traveled into space, sorted by date … Astronaut (in space): Ellison Onizuka, first spaceflight in 1985. China's female astronaut quandary. Follow Life's Little Mysteries on Twitter @llmysteries. [7], Zhou Chengyu, a 24-year-old Chinese astronaut, was a commander in the Chang'e-5 Moon exploration programme, a mission on moon, launched on 23 November 2020. Please refresh the page and try again. Her selection quickly became the most trending subject on the country's Twitter-like microblogging service Sina Weibo, with 33 million posts. ... Vice President Mike Pence revealed the nine men and nine women members of … NY 10036. ^ https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2004/03/07/China-recruiting-women-for-space-travel/77241078703602/ Live Science is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. [1], Initially, the criteria for women to be selected, included having been married, having had a child, having no bad health problems. This section is a list of astronauts of Asian ancestry who are, by birth or naturalization, American citizens. • The year 2000 saw astronaut Peggy Whitson become the first female International Space Station (ISS) Expedition Commander. Please deactivate your ad blocker in order to see our subscription offer. Aside from fulfilling the mission tasks, which include rendezvous and docking with the orbiting Tiangong 1 (Heavenly Palace) module, a prototype of a proposed Chinese space lab, Liu Yang "yearns to experience the wondrous, weightless environment of space, see the Earth and gaze upon the motherland," she told the press Friday. [6] The mission had lifted off on 11 June 2013. Human space missions without women are incomplete.". [Infographic: Female Space Explorers], Liu lives in Beijing, but hails from the central Chinese province of Henan, a relatively poor but heavily populated agricultural region. Liu Yang, a 34-year-old fighter pilot, will become China's first female astronaut to travel into space. [7 Notable American Astronauts], At Friday's press conference, Liu addressed her fans: "I am grateful to the motherland and the people. The pilot was recruited into China's second class of prospective astronauts in May 2010. No. You better smell good, and no scars", "Exclusive interview: Astronauts selection process", "June 16, 2012 7:07 AM PrintText China sends its first woman into space", "China Unveils Astronaut Crew, 1st Female Spaceflyer, for Saturday Launch", "Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova; 1st Woman in Space 50 Years Ago! 2 female astronauts or taikonauts have flown in the Chinese program . Echoing a famous Chinese proverb, Ping said, "Women hold up half the sky. One user wrote, "Liu Yang, on the eve of becoming our first woman is space, is the pride of Henan." Christina Koch is the most recent female astronaut to return to … Ellison Onizuka was the first Asian American to fly in space. Follow Natalie Wolchover on Twitter @nattyover. We're also on Facebook & Google+. Liu Yang, China's first female astronaut. After conquering a rigorous selection process and completing two years of intense astronautic training, she will join two male crewmates, Jing Haipeng and Liu Wang, on the upcoming mission. On June 16, 2012, Liu became the first Chinese woman in space. Died in the 1986 Challenger disaster. ", Wu Ping, spokeswoman for China's manned space program, said having Liu Yang on board will not only help the country's aspiring space program test equipment designed for women in preparation for the building of an orbiting space station, but it will also expand the social impact of human space missions. Michelle Wu first female Asian American Boston City Councilor and first Boston City Councilor of Chinese descent. Liu Yang (born October 6, 1978) is a Chinese pilot and astronaut who served as a crew member on the space mission Shenzhou-IX. Image Name Birth date Ancestry Birth The 18 new Chinese astronauts consist of seven pilots, seven spaceflight engineers and four payload specialists. State media once praised her courage after she safely landed her fighter jet following a collision with a bird that covered the cockpit glass with blood, Reuters reported. After conquering a rigorous selection process and completing two years of intense astronautic training, she will join two male crewmates, Jing Haipeng and Liu Wang, on the upcoming mission. Women Astronauts Set to Fly by 2010 Chinese women astronauts will soon be reaching for the stars along with their male counterparts, an official with China's space program said last night. ... Liu Yang became China’s first female astronaut with a … The phantom was further tailored according to the physical characteristics of Chinese female astronauts and the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) reference adult female. New York, HONG KONG — Nearly half a century after the Soviet Union sent the first woman into space, China appears ready to … There was a problem. Liu Yang: China's first female astronaut. Following the successful piloted flight of Shenzhou 5 in October 2003, China announced plans to send a woman into space as well. Whitson and Yi So-yeon , the first South Korean in space, were part of a re-entry crew where the women outnumbered men for the first time ever. Christina Koch, Expedition 59, 60, 61. China's space programme is preparing to make its own small piece of history by putting its first female astronaut into … Liu Yang, a 34-year-old fighter pilot, will become China's first female astronaut to travel into space. The mission took off at 6:37 p.m. (12:37 GMT) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on the edge of the Gobi Desert. Liu was born in Zhengzhou, Henan in 1978. According to Xinhua, the official state news agency, she is an eloquent speaker, an avid reader and a lover of cooking. © Astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson, who narrated NASA's livestream of the historic event, expressed hope at the possibility that all-female spacewalks become routine. You will receive a verification email shortly. In 2012, China became the third nation to send women into space with its own space program, after the Soviet Union/Russia and the United States, 49 years after the first female cosmonaut, Valentina Tereshkova. She is also married, as per the China space program's requirements. Yet, she's one of 12 Hispanic NASA astronauts, and one of two female Hispanic astronauts in the program. Gu Xiulian, president of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), told a gathering that she proposed that women, too, should be trained for space missions after China's first piloted space trip. [2] The marriage and having had children criteria were later said to have been dropped. Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, [4] She launched on the 49th anniversary of the launch of Vostok 6, the first spaceshot of a woman, Valentina Tereshkova. Valentina Tereshkova - Vostok 6. According to the newspaper China Daily, female Chinese astronauts must be married and preferably be mothers, because of concerns that higher levels of radiation in space would "harm their fertility.". (Image credit: China National Space Administration), Bizarre 'worm tornado' in New Jersey has scientists baffled, How scientists caught footage of 'the kraken' after centuries of searching, Mystery of extinct horned crocodile solved after 150 years, Octopus punches fish in the head (just because it can), Possible new type of glacier just discovered on Mars, Watch a black hole tear a star to bits in epic new animation.