Chinese female astronauts set a new record for the first time, expert: Today we have all witnessed history

"Feel good", the Chinese Shenzhou 13 astronaut crew carried out the first outgoing activity on the evening of November 7. Zhai Zhigang, China's first astronaut to carry out the capsule activity, walked out of the cabin again after a gap of 13 years, and Wang Yaping became the first female astronaut in China to carry out the capsule activity, taking the first step of the Chinese female extravehicular spacewalk. Yang Yuguang, vice chairman of the Space Transport Committee of the International Astronautical Federation, said in an interview with the Global Times reporter on the 7th that this historic moment created by Wang Yaping is of great significance. The ultimate goal of human spaceflight is to eventually help humans leave their home planet and explore or live on other planets. From this perspective, manned space exploration activities without the participation of women, who are an indispensable part of manned spaceflight engineering, are incomplete.

On the 7th, Wang Yaping, an astronaut of Shenzhou 13, was photographed at the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center.

Take the first step in the Chinese women's extravehicular spacewalk

According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, at 18:51 Beijing time on November 7, 2021, astronaut Zhai Zhigang successfully opened the exit hatch of the Tianhe core module, as of 20:28, astronaut Zhai Zhigang and astronaut Wang Yaping, dressed in China's new generation of "feitian" extravehicular spacesuit, have successfully exited the capsule from the Tianhe core capsule node module, and China's first outgoing astronaut Zhai Zhigang has carried out the capsule activities again after a gap of 13 years; Wang Yaping has become China's first female astronaut to carry out the cabin activities. It was the first step in the Chinese women's extravehicular spacewalk. The two outgoing astronauts will cooperate with the installation of the robot arm suspension device and adapter parts and the test of typical extravehicular action with the support of the robot arm. During this period, Ye Guangfu, an astronaut in the cabin, cooperated to support two outgoing astronauts to carry out extravehicular operations.

"New record", Dexin News Agency said on the 7th, two astronauts of China's Shenzhou XIII left the Tianhe core module of the Tiangong space station on Sunday night to perform the first spacewalk mission. As announced by the China Manned Space Engineering Office on the same day, astronauts Zhai Zhigang and Wang Yaping will perform all scheduled tasks during the outgoing activities. Wang Yaping also became The first female astronaut in China to go out on a spacewalk. According to the report, experts believe that female astronauts have their own advantages, such as being more delicate and thoughtful when performing missions in space.

Yang Yuguang, vice chairman of the Space Transport Committee of the International Astronautical Federation, said in an interview with the Global Times reporter that the ultimate goal of human spaceflight activities is to eventually help humans leave their home planet and go to other planets to explore or live. Stretching the time dimension to a hundred or a thousand years, human beings are bound to take this step. So from now on, all the manned space exploration activities carried out by human beings can be said to be preparing for future space migration, from this point of view, the manned space exploration activities without women's participation are incomplete, and women themselves are also the research objects of space medicine, so human space activities must have women's participation. Yang Yuguang said that today Wang Yaping successfully carried out China's first female astronaut out of the capsule mission, took the first step in China's female extravehicular spacewalk, "It should be said that this is an event of historical significance, and today we have all witnessed history." ”

"Billions of women in the world will look out the window with your eyes"

Huang Weifen, chief designer of the astronaut system of China's manned space engineering, said in an interview with the media that women's keen feelings, delicate minds, and more thorough consideration of problems, more attention to ways and methods when dealing with problems, and strong language expression and communication skills can help women better engage in space industry.

Yang Yuguang told the Global Times reporter that in the selection and training process of astronauts in China, whether it is a two-person group or a three-person group, the degree of tacit understanding between each other is a very important assessment indicator. Tacit understanding needs to be built on excellent communication skills. Previously, many astronaut outgoing activities in China have also shown that excellent communication and expression skills are very important, whether it is the cooperation between extravehicular astronauts or the cooperation between extravehicular and in-cabin astronauts. The characteristics of women who are better at communication and have stronger language skills will help female astronauts carry out extravehicular activities.

Extravehicular activity is an extremely dangerous and complex space activity. In the previously published video of Chinese astronauts' out-of-the-cabin activities, it can be seen that astronauts will have a very thick astronaut flight manual in their hands, which records the cumbersome steps of astronauts' out-of-the-cabin activities. Yang Yuguang said that because the astronauts wearing extravehicular spacesuits out of the cabin activities, it is equivalent to entering an independent small spacecraft, the technology is very complicated, not only to ensure that each step can not be wrong, but also to ensure that each step must be carried out in place, the order of execution can not be reversed, and some steps can only be performed under certain conditions. This requires astronauts to be very careful, although astronauts will undergo a lot of thoughtful and meticulous training on the ground before going to heaven, but in fact, the conditions in orbit are very different, and various unexpected situations may be encountered. In this case, the degree of detail of astronauts will play a very important role, and previous studies have found that women have a higher degree of meticulousness, which is also an advantage for women to carry out extravehicular activities.

Since the first manned spaceflight, a total of about 500 astronauts have been to space, of which more than 50 are female astronauts, and only a dozen have been out of the capsule for spacewalks. In 1963, Soviet female astronaut Tereshkova became the first female astronaut in human history to enter space. In 1984, Soviet astronaut Savitskaya became the world's first woman to walk in space. American female astronaut Shannon Lucicide is the longest female astronaut in space, spending 188 days in orbit. These female astronauts have become dazzling heroes in human history.

Andrew Jones, a well-known US aerospace reporter, reported on social media on the 7th that the Shenzhou 13 astronauts walked out of the capsule, and he praised Wang Yaping for becoming the first female astronaut in China to walk out of the capsule. Katie Coleman, a retired NASA female astronaut, recently sent a blessing to Wang Yaping: "When you look at the stars outside the window and see our earth, don't forget, billions of women in the world will also look out the window with your eyes, including me." ”

"Space competition is becoming an innovation engine"

Shenzhou 13 astronauts have been working and living in orbit for 23 days as of November 7, 2021 since they successfully entered the space station assembly on October 16, 2021, Beijing time. The three Chinese astronauts will remain in orbit for a total of 6 months, the longest manned space mission in China to date. The Russian Satellite News Agency quoted Makarov, a professor at the School of Space Technology of St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, as saying that The long-term presence of Chinese astronauts in orbit will enable scientists to obtain valuable data and enrich space medicine. "Ensuring that humans remain in outer space is a task that still has many blank spots. The longer astronauts stay in outer space, the more information about the human body as they move in space. Makarov believes that manned spaceflight will go in two directions: astronauts staying in Earth orbit, and manned flights to the moon and even Mars. He said: "China's rapid and stable development of space industry is impressive. I believe that China has the ability to make breakthroughs in the field of space exploration. ”

"China's Year of Space", the Us Space News Network recently said that China has created a new space launch record this year, and China has carried out more space launches than the United States. So far, China has surpassed 40 space launches this year, more than 38 in 2018 and 2020, and one more than the United States. Most of China's space launch missions are related to the establishment of space station infrastructure, and the most important event of China's space this year is the launch of the main block of the "Tiangong" space station into orbit, and the two sending astronauts into the space station.

Germany's "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" said on the 7th that China did not enter the ranks of manned space countries until 2003, but now it has become a space power. There is no shortage of national pride in China, but on the other hand: it positions itself as a partner and service provider for other countries in space. Ji Qiming, assistant director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office, previously said: "In the near future, after the completion of our space station, we will see Chinese and foreign astronauts flying and working together." ”

"Space competition is becoming an innovation engine," said the German "Economic Weekly", China's aerospace is attracting the world's attention, but it is also part of the global trend. In addition to China, the UAE recently successfully launched a Mars rover; India is planning to build a space station in Earth orbit and hopes to send astronauts into space for the first time in 2023; Turkey also hopes to go into space and land a probe on the moon in 2023. Now, more countries are investing in space travel than ever before. The space race is not only about power and prestige, but also about the engine of national innovation. China, the United States and Japan are all developing orbital solar power generation technology that will one day send electricity wirelessly to Earth. China also plans to build a space station at the moon's south pole by 2036. There could be a lot of ice there that could provide fuel and oxygen for astronauts. China is involved in all of the space sector: it is building its own space station in orbit, plans to assemble a "satellite fleet" of 13,000 internet satellites, and recently a rover landing on Mars. ▲

Fan Wei, Deng Xiaoci, a special correspondent of this newspaper abroad, Aoki Tao Shortfang, Chen Kang, and Liu Yupeng