BEIJING — When the countdown started, the world appeared to fall silent, and everybody held their breath. The solely sound that echoed by means of the air was Zhang Runhong”s steady voice: “Ten, 9, eight… three, two, one, ignition!”
Zhang is an “01” commander on the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest China’s Sichuan province. She is chargeable for coordinating all phases and methods concerned in a rocket launch mission and in the end issuing the ultimate countdown and ignition instructions.
She is the primary Chinese girl to carry this significant place.
“The ’01’ commander is so cool!” These phrases resonated with Zhang when she first participated in a satellite tv for pc launch as a junior workers member in 2006. From that second on, she set her sights on changing into the one on the console — and he or she by no means hesitated to share her ambition to turn into an “01” commander.
Even in entrance of President Xi Jinping, she voiced her dream with confidence. In early 2018, when Xi, additionally normal secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visited the army base the place Zhang labored and met with workers members, she mentioned to him: “Chairman, I have a goal — to become our country’s first female ’01’ commander.”
Xi responded with delight. “The ’01’ commander shoulders a vital scientific mission. If you succeed, it would be a milestone for women in our country,” he mentioned. “I hope you will achieve your goal soon.”
But the trail was removed from simple. A commander should grasp technical data throughout greater than 20 subsystems and practically 200 positions on the launch web site, together with in depth hands-on expertise. Every command have to be issued with absolute precision in timing, as any delay might miss the slender launch window.
Determined to show herself, Zhang minimize her hair quick, carried 100-pound fueling hoses identical to her male colleagues, climbed the practically 90-meter-tall launch gantry, and inspected swing arms suspended excessive above the bottom.
She systematically studied completely different methods and positions in her spare time, overlaying her room’s partitions with pneumatic and electrical diagrams. Night after night time, she stayed up late poring over technical manuals, protocols and contingency plans.
After taking part in 80 launch missions, her alternative lastly got here with the 81st. At midnight of Nov 1, 2018, on the age of 36, Zhang made historical past as China’s first feminine “01” commander, directing the launch of a Long March 3B rocket that efficiently carried the forty first BeiDou navigation satellite tv for pc into orbit.
Zhang is just not alone in her exploration of the universe. In June 2012, Liu Yang grew to become China’s first feminine taikonaut, finishing a 13-day area mission.
“You are truly a heroine, an example of how women hold up half the sky,” Xi praised Liu when he met her months afterward the sidelines of the annual session of the nationwide legislature, calling her an “ambassador” representing Chinese women.
In June 2022, Liu launched into her second area mission aboard Shenzhou XIV.
“As the Chinese people pursue a happy life, every Chinese woman has the opportunity to excel in life and make their dream come true,” President Xi mentioned when he addressed the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment on the UN headquarters in New York a decade in the past.
Under Xi’s management, the reason for women in China has flourished since 2012, reaching historic breakthroughs and complete progress. Efforts to advertise gender equality and women’s all-around improvement have been integrated into key coverage paperwork and nationwide improvement plans.
In explicit, China now has about 2.8 million women working within the analysis and improvement sector, greater than double the quantity in 2012. Women account for 45.8 p.c of the nation’s science and expertise workforce.
Wang Yaping, China’s second feminine taikonaut, famous that Chinese women are contributing considerably to sci-tech innovation, due to institutional and coverage assist from the nation.
China will do extra to boost gender equality as its primary state coverage, give play to women’s essential function as “half the sky” and assist them in realizing their personal dreams and aspirations in each profession and life, Xi mentioned within the 2015 UN speech.
Xi has repeatedly cited the Chinese proverb “women hold up half the sky” to emphasise women’s equal participation in society and encourage them to interrupt boundaries in each their careers and mindsets.
Inspired by this name, women throughout China — Zhang, Liu, Wang and numerous others, are taking daring strides towards their dreams, reaching for the celebrities.