Among the three astronauts chosen to board the Shenzhou-10 spacecraft, Wang Yaping is the only female. She is also the second female astronaut from China to enter space.

    WANG YAPING, the second female Chinese astronaut after Liu Yang, who was aboard the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft, taught Chinese primary and middle school students on Earth physics phenomena in a zero-gravity environment Thursday morning.

    Meeting media a week ago, she said, “We are all students in facing the vast universe. We are looking forward to joining our young friends to learn and explore the mystical and beautiful universe.”

    Wang’s lecture in orbit — China’s first — would be a pleasant surprise, said Zhang Xiaoguang, a male astronaut on the three-member crew of Shenzhou-10 spacecraft.

    “She’s eager to excel in whatever she does. Sometimes we’d like to give her a helping hand, but she just would not take a hand in help,” said Nie Haisheng, commander astronaut in the mission.

    “They take care of me as their own younger sister in life, but I wish to be their comrade-in-arms,” said Wang. “I’d like to demonstrate that my generation is willing to embrace challenges.”

    Wang is responsible for monitoring the conditions of the spacecraft, space experiments and operation of equipment, among other duties.

    Wang, 33, was born in a village in Zhanggezhuang Town, Yantai City, in East China’s cherry-producing Shandong Province. She was a transport aircraft pilot in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force with 1,600 hours of flying experience.

    Wang was recruited to the People’s Liberation Army in August 1997. She impressed recruiter Cheng Xuezhe by appearing “smart, lively and eager to excel.”

    She became a member of the Communist Party of China in May 2000. Currently, she is a major.

    In May 2010, Wang became a member of the second batch of Chinese astronauts and was selected to the crew of the Shenzhou-10 space mission in April 2013.

    Wang’s space dream traced back to a decade ago when China’s first astronaut Yang Liwei successfully fulfilled his space mission.

    At the time, 23-year-old Wang had been enrolled in China’s Air Force for two years and was an aircraft pilot. Watching the live TV broadcast of Yang’s successful mission, a question came to Wang: since China had a male astronaut, when would the first female astronaut emerge?

    Life is not smooth sailing for the young woman. She missed out on being selected as China’s first female astronaut to be sent into space on the Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft, launched in 2012.

    However, Wang devoted herself to training soon after the selection. She was so tough at the time and always remains with a peaceful mind, said Huang Weifen, deputy chief designer of the astronaut system. Recounted her hostel-mate, Zhang Jun: “Every morning at 5 a.m., while we were all sound asleep, she would go out on her own to exercise — rain or shine.”

    With a dream of going to college, she insisted on receiving a high school education after graduation from middle school, despite her parents’ wish that she be admitted to a technical secondary school.

    Graduating from high school, the young lady, so fascinated by the honor of being a pilot, stood out from fierce competition and managed to be enrolled by an air force college.

    Wang’s parents, who are involved in the planting of cherry trees, said that the budding astronaut grew up eating the fruit.

    “As a young child she was in good physical condition and had a strong sense of perseverance; she could take part in long-distance running from an early age,” said Wang Zhixing, Wang Yaping’s primary-school PE teacher. “She was a really sporty child with an unyielding spirit.”

    Cao Meina, Wang Yaping’s teacher at Yantai No. 23 Middle School, added, “Wang Yaping was an exemplary student in Chinese class, displaying comprehensive development during junior middle school.”

    “Wang was an ordinary rural child, and what she has achieved today is the result of her own diligence and effort,” said another teacher at the school.

    The experience of parachute jumping for the first time remains fresh in Wang’s mind.

    She said the first jump was done among excitement and curiosity, but fears preoccupied her when she started the second jump.

    “We girls all cried while singing an inspiring song ‘A Hero Never Dies’ on our way back after the training,” she said.

    Wang, with nine years of experience as a transport aircraft pilot, has conducted missions including disaster relief for the Wenchuan earthquake in May 2008, dispelling clouds and reducing rain for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, and combating drought in Shandong.

    The most arduous task for her was training in a hypergravity environment. She was very anxious about the intense training, which exceeded her physical capability at the very beginning.

    By asking for advice from other veteran astronauts and intensifying training, Wang easily reached the criteria a year later.

    Like many young Chinese people, Wang likes photography, music and basketball. Beyond many people’s imagination, she is an excellent forward on the basketball court.

    Wang is married but has no children.

    The world’s first teacher in space was Christa McAuliffe, a 37-year-old middle school teacher from the United States, but the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated 73 seconds into flight on Jan. 28, 1986. McAuliffe and six other crew members were killed.

    Barbara Morgan, McAuliffe’s backup in that mission who became an astronaut later, completed a teaching lesson in space in 2007, when she was sent to the International Space Station with Space Shuttle Endeavor. Via a video feed, she showed students how to exercise and drink water in space.(SD-Xinhua)