The first Chinese woman to live in space for 100 days

During the record-long mission aboard the Tiangong space station, astronaut Wang Yaping and her colleagues achieved numerous remarkable milestones.

Astronaut Wang Yaping, 41, made history once again by becoming the first Chinese woman to live in orbit for over 100 days. Wang, along with her male colleagues Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu, launched to the new Tiangong space station aboard the Shenzhou 13 spacecraft on October 16, 2021, with a mission expected to last six months – a record duration for Chinese astronauts.

Wang Yaping working in the Tiangong space station to assist her two colleagues during a spacewalk on December 26, 2021. (Photo: Beijing Aerospace Control Center).

As of January 16, they had been living in space for three months. This is Wang’s second orbital flight. Her first flight took place from June 11 to June 26, 2013, during the Shenzhou 10 mission.

The Shenzhou 13 crew has accomplished many achievements over the past three months. They completed a series of tasks, including two extravehicular activities (EVAs), also known as spacewalks, a live science lecture from space, a manual adjustment and docking test for the Tianzhou 2 cargo spacecraft.

The first spacewalk of the Shenzhou 13 crew occurred on November 7, 2021, during which Zhai and Wang exited the space station while Ye remained inside to provide support. The spacewalk lasted 6.5 hours and helped test the functions of Feitian – a new spacesuit developed by China, the coordination between astronauts and the robotic arm, and the safety and reliability of EVA-related support equipment on the space station.

This activity helped Wang, the first woman to fly to China’s new space station, to become the first woman from the country to conduct a spacewalk.

During the second spacewalk on December 26, 2021, Wang served as a support astronaut while the two male astronauts stepped outside to carry out their mission. This task contributed to a more thorough examination of the functionality and effectiveness of the airtight cabin in the core module, the spacesuit, and the robotic arm, while also assessing the coordination between the astronauts and the space station, as well as the coordination between the space station and the ground control center.

On December 9, 2021, Wang and her two colleagues held the first science lecture from the space station, inspiring tens of millions of viewers through live broadcasts. The lecture involved 1,420 students from five classrooms across China with support from relay satellites.

In addition to these activities, the Shenzhou 13 crew also conducted numerous space experiments and medical tests, performed daily checks and maintenance of the space station, and trained for scenarios such as emergency evacuations or medical rescues.