China sends its first female to space

 JIUQUAN, June 16 (Xinhua) -- She is a wife. She belongs to China's one-child generation. On Saturday, 33-year-old Liu Yang becomes the country's first woman entering space.

The home-grown Shenzhou-9 spacecraft, atop an upgraded Long March-2F carrier rocket, blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 6:37 p.m. Saturday, carrying Liu and her two crew mates.

China is the third country in the world to use its own technologies to send a female into space.

Shenzhou-9 will dock with the orbiting Tiangong-1 space lab module¹. China's first manual space docking procedure is expected to be completed during the 13-day mission.

President Hu Jintao on Saturday congratulated the successful launch of the Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft.

"I feel very glad to hear the success of launching the Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft and I would like to extend warm congratulations and sincere regards to all those participating in the research and tests (of the country's space program)," Hu said in a congratulatory letter sent from Copenhagen, Denmark, where he is paying a state visit.

Born in Henan Province, a birthplace of mainstream² Chinese civilizations, Liu is now a People's Liberation Army (PLA) major as well as a member of the Communist Party of China.

Once a PLA Air Force pilot, she dreamed of watching Earth from space. Liu said, "After being trained as an astronaut, I have found there is still a very long distance from sky to space. A human being is so minute in space."

Women had long occupied a low social status in China's feudal³ past. As late as more than 100 years ago, women in Liu's hometown traditionally had to bind⁴ their feet to please men and share their polygamous husbands with other women.

Since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, women have "held up half the sky."

"I feel honored to fly into space on behalf of hundreds of millions of Chinese females," Liu told the press Friday afternoon.

She is mandated⁵ to conduct medical experiments and other space tests during the mission.

Liu has been described by her two crew mates as being "outgoing, sincere, well-versed and sensitive."

Like most Chinese of her generation, Liu is the only child of her family. In her colleagues' eyes, she is "diligent⁶ and hardworking."

She spent about two years on a space flight training program that usually takes three to five years to complete.

"Despite a late start for training as an astronaut, she is now on the same page with us, which exceeds our expectations," Jing Haipeng, commanding officer of the Shenzhou-9 mission, said.

Jing was also impressed by swiftness and decisiveness Liu displayed during training sessions, citing her calm manner in responding to simulated emergencies.

However, the difficulty and intensity⁷ of her training did not deprive her of life pleasures. Liu loves reading novels, essays and history books. She is a proficient⁸ cook and a good homemaker. Each lamp at her home was meticulously⁹ selected by Liu and her husband.

Liu's husband serves the PLA Air Force. Liu shed tears while mentioning his all-out support for her astronautic career.

She and her husband longed for having a child, but "it has to be planned after the manned space docking mission," she said.

"Space exploration activities would be incomplete without participation¹⁰ of female astronauts," Chen Shanguang, director of the Astronaut Research and Training Center of China, said.

To date, more than 50 women have traveled into space. Soviet¹¹ astronaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space on June 16, 1963.

Space accidents, however, killed 21 astronauts, including four women.

Australian space analyst¹² Morris Jones told Xinhua that the Shenzhou-9 mission was another big step for China and the world. "We need to see more women in space across the entire world's space programs. It also boosts public interest in spaceflight."

Science fiction writer Ling Chen said to Xinhua that she wished a Chinese woman be the first female to set foot on the moon and the first to give birth in space.

1 module   

n.组件，模块，模件；(航天器的)舱

参考例句：

• The centre module displays traffic guidance information.中央模块显示交通引导信息。
• Two large tanks in the service module held liquid oxygen.服务舱的两个大气瓶中装有液态氧。

2 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

3 feudal   

adj.封建的，封地的，领地的

参考例句：

• Feudal rulers ruled over the country several thousand years.封建统治者统治这个国家几千年。
• The feudal system lasted for two thousand years in China.封建制度在中国延续了两千年之久。

4 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。

5 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。

6 diligent   

adj.勤勉的，勤奋的

参考例句：

• He is the more diligent of the two boys.他是这两个男孩中较用功的一个。
• She is diligent and keeps herself busy all the time.她真勤快，一会儿也不闲着。

7 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

8 proficient   

adj.熟练的，精通的；n.能手，专家

参考例句：

• She is proficient at swimming.她精通游泳。
• I think I'm quite proficient in both written and spoken English.我认为我在英语读写方面相当熟练。

9 meticulously   

adv.过细地，异常细致地；无微不至；精心

参考例句：

• The hammer's silvery head was etched with holy runs and its haft was meticulously wrapped in blue leather. 锤子头是纯银制成的，雕刻着神圣符文，而握柄则被精心地包裹在蓝色的皮革中。 来自辞典例句
• She is always meticulously accurate in punctuation and spelling. 她的标点和拼写总是非常精确。 来自辞典例句

10 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

11 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

12 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。