First Chinese woman in space will be Liu Yang

(Update: The launch has been a success)

Photo courtesy of China Daily

And so it has been decided that Liu 'little flying kite' Yang will be the first Chinese woman in space. I still can't figure out if the rocket has already launched or not. It was scheduled for Saturday evening. The China Daily Live Reports page's last update was at 4:25 pm and right now it's 6:08 pm. 

Update: Some great photos of the launch preparation can be found on The Wall Street Journal. 

Update 2: The rocket has successfully launched and China now has a woman in space. 

Most Americans can name the first American woman in Space. Most Chinese don't even know Chinese women astronauts exist.

China's next space launch is scheduled for June 16th, as was just announced on Chinese television. What isn't well known are details about the two woman astronauts in the Chinese space program, one of which next Saturday may become the first Chinese woman in space.

The New York Times/International Herald Tribune has an interesting post about how little is known about these women:

In contrast to the huge celebrity enjoyed by pioneering female astronauts in the Soviet Union and the United States, the Chinese women are virtually unknown. Even now, on the brink of an historic launch, they remain sealed off rather than celebrated.

Both women began their careers as transport pilots with the People’s Liberation Army Air Force — Captain Wang Yaping, 33, was born in Shandong Province, and Major Liu Yang, who is either 33 or 34, comes from Henan. Both are reportedly married, and Captain Wang and her husband, also a pilot, are believed to have a son.

Their names were only confirmed last year when it was discovered they had autographed an envelope (along with their five male colleagues) featuring a postage stamp commemorating their astronaut class. They are rarely profiled in the Chinese media, and they make no public appearances, whether at local science fairs or international air shows.

Pretty amazing that it took an autograph on a commemorative envelope to even discover that Chinese women astronauts existed. I hope one (or both) are named to the flight crew for next Saturday's launch and that they get the recognition they deserve.

By the way, I really like the photo from the first article I linked to above:

Wish I could find a larger version of it.