中国首位女航天员进入太空

China's launch of three astronauts Saturday, including its first woman, into space was the first step in a much-anticipated test of whether China can achieve its first manned space-docking.

上周六，中国将三名航天员送入太空，其中包括首位女性航天员。这是一项备受期待的任务，也是考验中国能否完成首次载人交会对接任务的第一步。

The mission is the latest step as China pushes ahead with its ambitions to unseat the U.S. as the world's dominant manned space power.

中国雄心勃勃地希望赶超美国、成为世界上载人航天主导力量。这次任务正是为此而做出的最新举动。

Liu Yang, a 33-year-old air force major, became the first Chinese woman to enter space after the astronauts' Shenzhou-9 spacecraft blasted off from the Jiuquan launch center in the northwestern Gobi desert on Saturday evening. Astronauts this week will attempt China's first manned space-docking, an important step as it attempts to launch a space station by around 2020.

AP中国第一位女性航天员刘洋在北京接受训练。照片拍摄于2012年4月18日。刘洋今年33岁，是一名空军中尉。上周六晚，随着神舟九号载人飞船在位于中国西北戈壁沙漠的酒泉卫星发射中心点火起飞，刘洋成为首位进入太空的中国女性。这三名航天员本周将尝试进行中国首次载人空间交会对接，这是中国试图于2020年前后发射空间站的一个重要步骤。

'I am grateful to the motherland and the people,' Ms. Liu said ahead of the mission, according to the state-run TingVoa.com news agency. 'I feel honored to fly into space on behalf of hundreds of millions of Chinese females.'

中国新华社报道称，刘洋在执行这次任务之前曾说：感谢祖国和人民的信任，让我能够有机会代表中国亿万女性出征太空，为此我感到无上的光荣。

The Shenzhou-9 mission follows an unmanned space docking last November. The latest mission is part of a 30-year plan to assemble a Chinese space station by around 2020, about the same time the International Space Station is expected to cease operations.

在发射神舟九号之前，中国于去年11月成功完成了无人交会对接任务。神舟九号载人对接任务是中国准备在约2020年之前完成空间站建设的30年计划的一部分。预计2020年差不多也是国际空间站(International Space Station)停止运作的时间。

China's manned space effort, known as Project 921, comes just as the U.S. in particular has moved to draw down manned space flight and retired its aging fleet of space shuttles. Senior U.S. defense officials in recent months have expressed concern about China's manned and unmanned space programs, which are run by the People's Liberation Army.

中国在实施载人航天项目“921工程时，美国等国正在缩小载人航天飞行计划规模且让老化航天飞机机群退役。美国高级防务官员这几个月表示出了对中国载人和无人航天计划的忧虑。中国这些航天计划由中国人民解放军负责执行。

U.S. officials and defense analysts have said a lack of transparency and apparent military applications of space technologies are among the reasons for concern. These include antisatellite capabilities that could severely disrupt U.S. communications in the event of a conflict as well as other technologies that enable it to better track and potentially strike U.S. ships in the Asia-Pacific.

美国官员和防务分析人士说，他们之所以担心，原因之一就是中国航天计划缺乏透明性，而且其航天技术明显用于军事方面。这些技术包括在发生冲突的情况下中国可严重干扰美国通讯的反卫星能力，以及可更好地追踪美国在亚太地区舰船并对其实施潜在打击等其它技术。

China has repeatedly said its aspirations in space are for civilian purposes, and says the development of its space station will be for the world's benefit. Officials have said they are open to international cooperation on space missions.

中国一再说，自己在航天领域的雄心壮志是为了民用目的，发展自己的空间站将造福全世界。中国官员也说，愿意开展航天领域的国际合作。

'China's space activities are all for peaceful purposes,' Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said at a daily press briefing on Friday.

外交部发言人刘为民在上周五的例行记者会上说，中国的空间活动都用于和平目的。

The Shenzhou-9 mission is the latest in a series of high-profile and technology-intensive projects that analysts say are at least partly designed to reinforce the Communist Party's leadership. That's particularly so as it prepares to undergo a sensitive once-a-decade leadership transition beginning late this year.

神舟九号飞船任务是中国一系列备受瞩目的高科技项目中的最新一个。分析人士说，实施这些项目在一定程度上至少是为了加强中国共产党的领导。随着中共为将于今年底开始的领导换届选举做准备，情况更是如此。

China's manned space program has achieved moderate success even as some other high-profile government projects--in particular high-speed rail--have been mired by concerns over corruption and safety. China's achievements in space are to some extent comparable to what the U.S. was achieving in the 1960s, but analysts say China is taking a patient approach to manned space development and preparing for a long-term orbital foothold.

就在中国政府一些引人注意的其它项目（特别是高速铁路项目）因腐败和安全担忧而陷入困境时，中国载人航天项目却获得了一定的成功。从某种程度上来说，中国目前取得的航天成就与美国上世纪60年代的成就差不多。不过分析人士说，中国在载人航天项目上非常有耐心，并且正在为长期在轨飞行做准备。

Sending a woman into space is important for conducting physiological tests, according to Joan Johnson-Freese, an expert on China's space program at the U.S. Naval War College. Comparative physiological data regarding how men and women cope in space are important before officials press ahead with longer duration human missions, she said.

美国海军战争学院(U.S. Naval War College)研究中国航天项目的专家约翰逊-弗里泽(Joan Johnson-Freese)表示，将女性送入太空对于进行生理测试来说非常重要。她说，有关男女适应太空生活的生理比较数据十分重要，只有在获得这类数据后，官方才会推进持续更长时间的载人航天任务。

Brian Spegele

Brian Spegele