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01/20/2025 08:27:39 pm

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Wang Yaping: the first post-80s astronaut to orbit Earth

June 10th, the directors of Tiangong-1 space module and Shenzhou-X manned spacecraft program held a press conference in Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The spacecraft will take three astronauts, two male and one female, into the space, Nie will command the Shenzhou-X spacecraft, said Wu Ping, the program's spokeswoman.

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Born in 1980, Wang Yaping is from a rural family in Yantai, Shandong province. Her military rank is major. She was recruited into the People's Liberation Army when she was seventeen years old, and became a member of the second group of Chinese astronauts in May 2009. She was selected to be one of the three astronauts of Shenzhou-X mission in April 2013. Wang Yaping, the only woman of the three-astronaut crew, become the second Chinese woman to go to space. The first Chinese female astronaut is Liu Yang who participated in Shenzhou- IX mission.

It is reported that Wang was an excellent student in school; she learned to fly at Changchun Air Force Academy in Jilin province since August 1997. She was known for being capable of piloting four types of airplanes after graduated. Later Wang served in the air force in Wuhan, Hubei province, became a mainstay among the young pilots.

Reports quoted the principal of her primary school as saying that she was good at sports, especially long-distance running, she always took an active part in many activities. Villagers from Wang Yaping's home village said: "Both her parents are peasants, she doesn't have any background, working hard is the only key to her success."

She participated in the rescue and relief mission for the Sichuan earthquake in 2008 and did weather monitoring work during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Wang joined the astronaut trainee team in 2010.

The Shenzhou-X spacecraft will be launched at 5:38 pm on Tuesday, sending three people into space. This mission aims to further test technologies of docking and supporting astronauts' stay in space and try new technologies related to the construction of space station. According to spokeswoman Wu, all three astronauts in this mission are capable of conducting manual docking between the Shenzhou-X spacecraft and the Tiangong-1 space module.

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