This screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Jan 20, 2025 shows Shenzhou XIX astronaut Wang Haoze working inside China's orbiting space station. - Photo: Xinhua
BEIJING: Wang Haoze, China's first female space engineer to work in the country's space station, sent her greetings to women and girls in a video released by the China Manned Space Agency on the occasion of International Women's Day on Saturday (March 8).
"I hope that you can become the bright moon, as well as the twinkling stars.
"Become your own little sunshine, and grow up in the radiant and enchanting spring," Wang said in a video recorded aboard the orbiting Tiangong space station.
Wang is the third Chinese woman to participate in a crewed spaceflight mission.
Together with other two Shenzhou XIX astronauts, Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong, Wang embarked on a six-month crewed spaceflight mission on Oct 30, 2024.
They are now halfway through their space journey, and their life in orbit is "busy and fulfilling," according to Wang.
In the video, she said, "In my spare time, I stare at Earth through the porthole. The blue planet and the vast universe are indescribably beautiful."
"Whenever I do this, I always think of an unyielding girl on Earth who believes that reading can change her destiny.
"She never bows her head and never gives up in the face of difficulty. She fearlessly embarks on a space journey toward an ocean of stars," Wang said.
"She is who I used to be, and she is also every woman who has dreams in her heart and pursues them persistently."
Born in 1990 in Luanping county, North China's Hebei province, Wang enrolled at Southeast University to major in thermal energy and power engineering, following her completion of the national college entrance examination.
After graduating with a master's degree, Wang joined the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation's Academy of Aerospace Propulsion Technology and began her career in rocket engine research.
She later signed up for the selection process for the country's third group of astronauts. She was the only woman selected in that group and became China's first female space engineer.
She attributes the success of her space flight journey to her spiritual drive to "work harder than others."
To date, the Shenzhou XIX astronaut crew has carried out a significant number of scientific experiments and technological tests in orbit, and cooperated closely on two rounds of extravehicular activities in space, according to the China Manned Space Agency. - Xinhua
