Chinese women in space
[2] Women's integration into the space program necessitated minor changes to the interior design of the Shenzhou spacecraft to accommodate both male and female taikonauts.
[3] This mission, Shenzhou 9, included taikonaut Liu Yang as Laboratory Assistant, making her the first Chinese woman to fly in space.
On 11 June 2013, Shenzhou 10 launched with taikonaut Wang Yaping aboard as Laboratory Assistant, making her the second Chinese woman in space.
[10] Showing exemplary academic performance in her formative schooling years, Liu’s professors signed her up in 1997 to attend the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Air Force Aviation University in Changchun to become a pilot.
[10] After returning to Earth, Liu became a representative in the 13th National People’s Congress and the vice president of the All-China Women’s Federation.
According to Jun Lu, Senior Engineer at Beijing Institute of Tracking and Telecommunications Technology and Deputy Chief Designer of BeiDou Grounded Test and Validation System, “[women’s] qualities of being meticulous, dedicated, responsible and their ability to work under high pressure for a long time” allow them to thrive in the field due to the “high risk and long development cycle” of space technology development.
[18] Due to fears that childbirth and subsequent family obligations would disrupt training for two to three years, taikonaut academies favor women who are married and already have children.
[19] Prior to the launch of Shenzhou 9, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported a former spaceflight official as claiming that marriage was a requirement for all female Chinese astronauts[20] due to concerns that spaceflight could potentially harm women's fertility[21] and also "married women would be more physically and psychologically mature.
[24] A study published in the National Science Review found that women make up a large portion of space engineers working on Chinese missions.
[25] She first began working at the Wenchang site as an operator after she graduated from university at the beginning of 2020 and, by the end of the year, had become the commander of her unit.
[25] Zhou went viral on social media for her accomplishments, with many users calling her a "frontline soldier in the field of aerospace" and a "big sister".
