Liu Yang (astronaut)
Liu was selected for the crew of Shenzhou 9, the first manned mission to the Chinese space station Tiangong 1, along with Jing Haipeng, the first repeat Chinese space traveller, and Liu Wang. Liu became the first female Chinese astronaut to go into space. The mission was launched on June 16, 2012, 49 years to the day after the first female space traveller, cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova was launched. During this manned space mission, Liu performed experiments in space medicine.
List of female spacefarers
A span of 19 years separated the first and second women in space. They were cosmonauts on the Vostok 6 and Soyuz T-7 missions. Though the Soviet Union sent the first two women into space, only four of the women in space have been Russian or Soviet citizens. However, British, French, Italian, Iranian, and South Korean women have all flown as part of the Soviet and Russian space programs. Similarly, women from Canada, India, Japan, and America have all flown under the US space program. A span of one year separated the first and second American women in space. While the first American man in space was separated from the first woman in space by 20 years, a span of one year separated the first and second Chinese women in space, taking place on consecutive missions, Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10.