China’s First Female Astronaut Goes into Space.docVIP

China’s First Female Astronaut Goes into Space China launched its first space lab module Tiangong-1 on the evening of September 29，2011，at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China. The Tiangong-1 is a new spacecraft made by China. Its bigger and heavier than the Shenzhou spaceships，weighing about 8 tons. It is 10.4 meters tall，as high as a 3-story building. Tiangong-1，which is scheduled to dock（与……对接） with the Shenzhou-8，Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10 spacecrafts ，will pave（铺设，安排）the way for building China’s first space station. The Shenzhou-9 mission follows an unmanned space docking last November. The Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft （载人飞船），carrying Chinas first female astronaut Liu Yang and two male ones Jing Haipeng and Liu Wang，blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 6∶37 p.m. on June，16，2012. It will be Chinas first manned space docking mission （对接任务） with Tiangong-1 space lab module. Liu Yang，a 33-year-old air force major，is the first Chinese woman to enter space. Ms. Liu said，“I am grateful to the motherland and the people，I feel honored to fly into space on behalf of hundreds of millions of female Chinese citizens，” according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. China is only the third nation to launch humans into space，which is a very impressive achievement. To date，more than 50 women have traveled into space. Former Soviet Union astronaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space on June 16，1963. However，space exploration，though bringing significant benefits to mankind，is highly risky as well. Accidents have killed 21 astronauts，including four women. There is the myth of ancient China named the Chang’s fly to the moon. Ling Chen，a female Chinese scientific fiction writer，seemed to have more imaginative thinking. She said to Xinhua that she wished a Chinese woman can be the first female from Earth to set foot on the moon and the first human being born in space can be a Chinese as well. 中国“天