The First Female Astronaut of China

When China launched its Shenzhou Ⅸ manned spacecraft into space in June 2012, Liu Yang, as one of the three-member crew, became China’s first female astronaut. Born in Zhengzhou of Henan Province, Liu joined the People’s Liberation Army Air Force in 1997. She was named a hero in 2003 for calmly landing a plane after its right engine was destroyed by a bird strike. In 2009, China started recruiting its second groupof astronauts. This time, recruitment was open to women. Liu with 1,680 hours of flight experience impressed the recruiting officers with her professional skills, open character and honesty. She was readily chosen for astronaut training. After two years of astronaut training, Liu excelled in testing and was selected as an astronaut candidate. In March 2012, the final decision was made and Liu was selected for the mission of Shenzhou Ⅸ manned spacecraft. One of her tasks was to perform scientific experiments at China’s space station Tiangong-1. The difficult and intensive training has not prevented her from enjoying life’s pleasures, though. Liu loves reading, particularly novels, essays and history books. She is also a good cook. “As a pilot, I flew in the sky. Now that I am an astronaut, I will fly in space. This flight will be much higher and further away. I feel honored to fly into space on behalf of hundreds of millions of female Chinese citizens,” said Liu.