中國的太空項目:女性頭一回

THE Soviets waited until their sixth crewed mission, but then did not do it again for 43. The Americans waited until their 38th, but after that it became routine. The Chinese have done it on their fourth. Launched a woman into space, that is. At 18.37 on June 16th Liu Yang (pictured) and her colleagues Liu Wang and Jing Haipeng blasted off from Jiuquan spaceport in Gansu, in a craft called Shenzhou-9, with the intention of rendezvousing with, and then docking with Tiangong-1, an unmanned module launched in 2011. Whether Major Liu's flight is mere propaganda or the beginning of equality between the sexes in the Chinese space programme will become evident from the crews of future missions.

在將女性發射到太空這件事上，蘇聯人是第6次載人太空行動時纔開始，但第43次纔再次搭載女性；而美國人雖然是從第38次太空行動時纔開始，但從那以後這便成爲一個慣例。中國人第4次太空行動時就開始搭載女性了。6月16日，劉洋（如圖）與她的同事劉旺和景海鵬乘坐“神舟”九號飛船從甘肅酒泉太空中心發射升空，他們的目的是要與2011年發射升空的無人太空艙“天宮”一號會和並實現對接。劉洋少校這次飛行是一次純粹的宣傳還是說中國太空項目正在實現男女平等，從以後執行任務的的宇航員性別來看一目瞭然。

This mission, however, is intended as a step towards building a Chinese orbiting space station. American disfavour prevented Chinese involvement in the allegedly international station currently orbiting Earth, so CNSA, China's space agency, has decided to construct its own. On June 18th, if all goes well, the two craft will dock automatically. That done, they will later undock and attempt to re-dock under manual control. Then, after 13 days in space, Shenzhou will return to Earth.

不過這次任務是計劃建立中國軌道空間站的一步。不喜歡中國搞航天的美國阻撓中國參與據稱當前圍繞地球運轉的國際太空站。於是中國國家航天局（中國太空機構）決定自己建一個。6月18日，如果一切順利，“神舟”九號與“天宮”一號將自動對接。這一步完成之後，他們還將手動操作分離與再次對接。然後，在太空飛行13天后，“神舟”將返回地球。

Tiangong-1 is not intended to be part of the eventual space station. It will be taken out of orbit next year and replaced with a larger module. Unlike the gung-ho days of the Soviet/American space race, China's manned space programme is proceeding with cautious deliberation. Four missions in four years is not exactly boldly going where no man (or woman) has gone before. This slow and steady approach might, however, win the space race's undeclared re-run, to return human beings to the moon. Russia has no contemplated system for doing so, and America's is, to put it politely, a paper spacecraft. As in most things, the Chinese government is playing its cards close to its chest. But do not be surprised if the next human to walk on the moon is Chinese. And female.

“天宮”一號並沒有被設計用作最終空間站的一部分。明年，“天宮”一號即將退出軌道運行，由一個更大的太空艙取代。與那狂熱的蘇美太空競賽歲月不同，中國的載人航天項目慎之又慎。4年完成4次任務，並非很冒險地去了一些之前沒有男人（或女人）去過的地方。不過這種穩紮穩打或許是祕而不宣地將人類送往月球的再次競賽。俄羅斯並沒有預期的體制來做這些；文雅地說，美國的宇宙飛船還在紙面上。所以，只有中國政府守口如瓶。但是，當下一個行走在月亮上的人類是中國人——中國女人時，別太吃驚了。