Domestic media coverage about Wang Yaping, the Chinese space station’s first female astronaut, includes talk of cosmetics and sanitary pads
At 12:23 a.m. Beijing Time on October 16, the Shenzhou-13 spacecraft blasted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China’s Gansu province, and successfully docked with China’s Tiangong Space Station six hours later.
Despite achieving several historic milestones for China’s space program—for example, the 183 days the crew will spend in space represents the longest duration in orbit for Chinese astronauts; twice that of the Shenzhou-12 mission completed last month—the mission has attracted the most attention for sending a female “taikonaut” (Chinese astronaut) to work on the space station and take a spacewalk for the first time.
Ever since the crew was first announced and made their public debut in Jiuquan on October 14, 41-year-old Wang Yaping has attracted far more media coverage than her male colleagues: 55-year-old Zhai Zhigang, the commander of this mission and the first Chinese to perform a spacewalk 13 years ago; and 41-year-old Ye Guangfu, a newcomer to space. CNN hailed the launch “a landmark moment for female astronauts and the country’s rapidly expanding space program,” while retired American astronaut Cady Coleman, who made a six-month stay on the International Space Station in 2010 and 2011, extended her well-wishes to Wang in a video, “When you look out the window and you see the stars and the Earth, billions of women will be looking out that window with you.”
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