Shenzhou 13 astronaut Wang Yaping became the first woman stationed on the Chinese space station, and also the first female astronaut in China to leave the capsule, and will give a lecture on the "second lesson in space".
| Author: Persika Yu Jianbin
| Editor: Laurenger
At 0:23 on October 16, accompanied by the gentle moonlight of the desert, the Shenzhou 13 manned spacecraft took off, broke through the clouds, and sailed to the Chinese space station.
We on the ground continue to receive good news from the vast universe: at 6:56, the manned spacecraft successfully docked with the Chinese space station; at 9:58, the astronauts successfully entered the tianhe core module... This time, the Shenzhou 13 flight crew will stay in the vast universe for 6 months and will also spend a different Spring Festival in space.
Shenzhou 13's "space group" is composed of three people, and the commander is the familiar "spacewalker" Zhai Zhigang, Ye Guangfu, the youngest of the second batch of astronauts and the first to fly into space, and Wang Yaping, a female astronaut who has taken off again after eight years.
Shenzhou 13 astronauts entered the Tianhe core module, and Wang Yaping's (right) braids in the weightless environment were erected to the sky, and netizens praised: super cute!
Most excitingly, Wang Yaping set a new record — she became the first woman to enter the Chinese space station and the first female astronaut to leave the capsule in China.
Wang Yaping's circle of friends.
Wonderful classroom for space teachers
"Hello everyone, I am Wang Yaping, and I will lead this lecture!"
This is a special appearance by Wang Yaping on the morning of June 20, 2013 from more than 340 kilometers away from the earth. The images of Tiangong-1 were simultaneously transmitted back to the earth, and the Shenzhou 10 astronauts faced 60 million primary and secondary school students on the ground, bringing them a unique "space teaching".
Wang Yaping's "Space Teaching".
The microgravity environment of space is a good time to teach the laws of physics. At the beginning of the course, the commander of the screen, Nie Haisheng, floated into the air and posed as a "hanging meditation" action, Wang Yaping used the "Hercules Gong", a light poke, it dissolved Nie Haisheng's move, she said to the camera: "Very powerful, right? In the space environment, we are all 'martial arts masters' who are as light as swallows! ”
In 40 minutes, Wang Yaping demonstrated 5 experiments such as spring mass measurement, pendulum motion, gyro motion, and making water film water balloons in a special gravity environment, and her tone was brisk and clear, which made the children in front of the screen fascinated. What's more wonderful is that this lecture is a two-way street, and Wang Yaping can also see and hear the questions of the students on the ground at the same time, and answer them humorously.
All the teachers and students of Wang Yaping's alma mater, Fukuyama No. 1 Middle School, watched the lecture together.
This "heaven and earth interaction" made the students immersed in the scene, as if they really became a member of the classroom sitting in the boundless universe, and also planted the seeds of flying to the universe in the hearts of countless people. In the years since Wang Yaping returned to the ground, he has received many letters from students who aspire to become astronauts, and eight years have passed, some children have really applied for aerospace majors, and some have even become Wang Yaping's colleagues.
This science popularization mission made China the second country after the United States to successfully complete space teaching, and barbara Morgan, the world's first "female space teacher" and astronaut of the 2007 American "Endeavour", also sent blessings to Wang Yaping, saying to her: "On behalf of teachers and students around the world, I extend my greetings of honor and love to you." We are proud of you. ”
Some children were not yet born when Shenzhou 10 "space teaching", and now they see the teaching video of that year and ask with great anticipation: "Teacher Wang, when will you be able to go to space again and give us a space lesson?" ”
The children's long-awaited moment is finally coming. It is reported that during the flight of Shenzhou 13, Wang Yaping will return to the post of "space teacher" to bring more exciting "space second lessons" to children.
From pilot to astronaut
Behind every spirited expedition is countless unknown hard work and struggles.
Wang Yaping, born in January 1980, is eight months older than Ye Guangfu, the youngest astronaut of Shenzhou 13.
Wang Yaping was born in a small village in Yantai, Shandong Province, his parents were simple farmers, and when he was a child, the family's main source of income was to grow four or five acres of cherry forests. Wang Yaping has always been a top sports student, from childhood to adulthood, he is a member of the school team, has participated in district and county long-distance running competitions many times, has amazing willpower, and is not afraid of tiredness and does not accept defeat.
At the age of 17, Wang Yaping passed the air force selection with excellent physical fitness and excellent cultural class results, entered the Changchun Flight Academy, and became one of the seventh batch of 37 female pilots in the country.
Pilot training is a difficult test that ordinary people can hardly imagine. Studying at the Flight Academy not only means that university courses cannot be left behind, but also physical training and military training can not be less, and training, swimming, and parachuting are all necessary projects.
Wang Yaping still remembers the scene when he jumped the first time: "I was the fourth jumper, the first jump passed before I had time to be afraid, and the second time I felt particularly scared." On the car back that day, the students sang "True Heart Hero" together, singing one by one with tears.
In 1999, when Wang Yaping flew up into the blue sky under the instructor's belt for the first time and overlooked the magnificent rivers and mountains at his feet, Wang Yaping felt the pride of being a pilot for the first time, and since then he has begun a deep relationship with the beautiful sky.
After graduating from university, Wang Yaping became a glorious pilot, and in the next nine years, Wang Yaping performed major tasks such as Wenchuan earthquake relief, Beijing Olympic Games cloud and rain reduction, and troop combat readiness exercises.
In 2003, Shenzhou 5 was successfully launched carrying Yang Liwei, and that magnificent moment planted the dream of flying to a more distant universe in Wang Yaping's heart. She thought that China already has male pilots and female pilots, and now that there are male astronauts, there must also be female astronauts.
In 2010, Wang Yaping finally went to her space dream and officially became the second batch of Chinese astronauts. Astronaut training is more challenging, one of which is called overweight endurance training, Wang Yaping every time in this training will deform the facial muscles, tears will unconsciously flow out, the chest will feel extremely depressed, breathing difficulties, but also must complete various actions in accordance with the regulations, each time there is a sense of seconds like years.
She said astronauts have a red button at hand, and if they can't survive training, they can ask for a pause at any time, but in so many years, no astronaut has touched this button.
When the Shenzhou 10 crew astronauts were training, they were conducting an airtightness test on Wang Yaping's pressure suit.
After nearly three years of training, Wang Yaping passed the comprehensive assessment of astronaut professional technology with excellent results, and in 2013, Wang Yaping flew to the dream space with Nie Haisheng and Zhang Xiaoguang on Shenzhou 10, becoming the first astronaut of China's "post-80s".
Wang Yaping said that he "will never forget" the feeling of the first flight in his lifetime: the moment of weightlessness, he felt that his body "rubbed" and flew up, as if soaring clouds and driving fog; visually he was also impacted, everything in the cabin floated up, as if there was life, and the earth from space could feel a shock of vitality.
The space mission is full of risks and unknowns, but when asked if he is afraid of the launch moment, Wang Yaping said that at that moment, there were only 6 words in his mind - responsibility, mission, and realization of dreams. "When you are in space, the world you see will be sublimated, and some things will become "small", such as gains and losses; many things will become "big", such as love and concern for family and motherland. ”
On June 26, 2013, the Shenzhou 10 manned spacecraft return module successfully landed at the main landing site in Inner Mongolia.
A new journey to "pick the stars"
After returning to the ground, Wang Yaping, a popular "space teacher" among teenagers, often walked into primary and secondary schools to bring space lessons on the ground to children and continue to outline the distant and mysterious universe for them.
On March 26, 2019, middle school students in Yantai, Shandong Province, gave Wang Yaping a gift they had made by hand.
Aerospace training has never slackened. Eight years later, Wang Yaping was once again selected for the Shenzhou 13 flight crew, this time shouldering more challenging space station tasks and receiving more rigorous training. For example, in order to adapt to the outgoing activities in the weightless environment, astronauts have to train in neutral buoyancy tanks for six or seven hours continuously, and even male astronauts are exhausted.
Going to space again, for Wang Yaping, there was less trepidation and more firmness. "The body is very tired, but when I finish practicing again, I grow technically again, and I am one step closer to my dream, I will have a sense of accomplishment and happiness." Speaking of this, Wang Yaping's eyes are bright and he is full of expectations for the upcoming flight.
Wang Yaping enters the Shenzhou XIII manned spacecraft.
Compared with the flight of Shenzhou 10, this time Wang Yaping also has a special concern, that is, she already has a lovely 5-year-old daughter. Every time Wang Yaping's daughter walked through the wall of astronaut photos showing that she had been in space, she would point from a distance and shout in a childish voice, "That's my mother", feeling deeply proud of her mother.
Speaking of her daughter, Wang Yaping's tone of voice showed love and tenderness, revealing that before going to heaven this time, she and her daughter also assigned tasks to each other: "I hope she can take good care of herself, take care of her grandmother and grandfather, and study well; when she asks me to fly back, I want to pick stars for her and her classmates to come back, and I have to pick a lot and share them with her classmates." ”
At the expedition ceremony a few hours before the launch of Shenzhou 13, Wang Yaping walked out of the familiar Qingtiange astronaut passage dressed in milky white space suit and waved to the boiling crowd. Her 5-year-old daughter also waved her small hand violently in the crowd on the side, shouting "Mom, mom, mom..." A reporter camera next to her filmed the "same frame" moment of the mother and daughter, but Wang Yaping did not stay, still slowly walking forward according to the established procedure. Perhaps, even if there are all kinds of children's love, which fills Wang Yaping's heart, it is even more determined to fly into space.
As Wang Yaping said: "Because of love, so perseverance; because of love, so persistent; because of love, let me have the courage to overcome many difficulties to get to the present." This is also a true portrayal of every Chinese astronaut!