中国第一位"神女":中国首名女航天员刘洋大纲

China is getting ready to send a woman into space for the first time in a mission that will also represent the country's first manned docking mission with its Tiangong-1 space station.

中国正在为将首名女航天员送入太空做准备，这次飞行也是中国的宇宙飞船与天宫一号目标飞行器进行的首次载人交会对接任务。

The mission, announced just a few days ago, is moving forward rapidly: The Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft to be used in the mission has already been strapped to its carrier rocket and the rocket already moved to the launch pad at a satellite launch center in northwest China.

Associated Press去年11月，神舟八号无人飞船发射升空。本月中国称，将发射神舟九号飞船，这次使用与发射神舟八号同系列的运载火箭，但将把三名航天员送入太空，其中包括一名女航天员。这个几天前刚刚宣布的任务正在迅速推进：在中国西北部的一个卫星发射中心，执行任务的神舟九号载人飞船与运载火箭的组合体已经垂直转运至发射区。

All that remains is to choose the woman who will be on board when spacecraft shoots skyward.
剩下的工作就是选择最后与飞船一同升空的女航天员了。

On Tuesday, in what may or may not be a sign that the decision has been made, the state-run China Daily published a profile of 34-year-old fighter pilot Liu Yang, one of the two candidates tipped as the most likely to go where no Chinese woman has gone before.
周二，国有媒体《中国日报》（China Daily）刊登了34岁的应急机动作战部队女飞行员刘洋的个人简介。不知道这是否代表最后的决定已经做出。刘洋是最有可能成为中国首名女航天员的两名候选人之一。

Based on the story, it sounds like Ms. Liu will make a reliable and pleasant, if not particularly entertaining, travel partner.
从报道中看，刘洋似乎将是一名可靠、容易相处，甚至非常有趣的旅伴。

Liu's uncle Niu Zhenxi told China Daily on Tuesday that she has long set the example for children in her relatives' families since she was very devoted and obedient to her parents.
刘洋的舅舅牛先生周二告诉《中国日报》，刘洋是个听话的孩子，一直都是家里孩子的榜样。

"We all believe that she could make a difference because she is good at overcoming various difficulties," he said.
他说，我们都认为这孩子错不了，她特别能吃苦。

Wang Xufeng, one of Liu's high school classmates, said she was not talkative in high school but very friendly to the other classmates.
刘洋的一名高中同学王旭峰说，她在高中不太爱说话，但是对同学很友善。

"I remember that she was a quiet girl who was shy to talk in public," Wang told China Daily. "She always smiled while talking with her friends, and I can still remember her sweet smile."
王旭峰告诉《中国日报》，她挺文静，见人总是乐呵呵的。他说，刘洋脸上常常有淡淡的浅笑。

She was very diligent in her studies and always ranked in the top 10 of the class in exams, Wang said.
王旭峰说，她性格很执着，成绩总在全班前十名。

Lest anyone assume that having a sweet smile and obeying her parents as a child means Ms. Liu is soft, the story makes sure to point out that she flies with ice in her veins, citing as evidence an incident in 2003 when a plane she was flying collided in mid-air with a flock of pigeons.
为了避免人们认为刘洋作为“一个面带微笑而且听话的孩子”会很柔弱，这篇报道还指出刘洋在执行飞行任务时的镇静，并提到了她在2003年处理信鸽撞机事件的例子。

According to China Daily, the plane tore through 18 of the unfortunate birds, destroying one of its engines and splattering blood on the windshield. Despite the carnage, the report says, Ms. Liu managed to keep the plane steady, safely executing an emergency landing minutes later.
《中国日报》报道说，刘洋驾驶的飞机当时撞上了18只不幸的信鸽，飞机的一个引擎受损，血喷到了挡风玻璃上。报道中说，尽管撞上了信鸽，刘洋仍保持了飞机平稳飞行，在几分钟之后成功实施了紧急迫降。

The newspaper didn't mention the woman widely believed to be Ms. Liu's chief rival for a seat on the Shenzhou-9, Wang Yaping, a fighter pilot said to have flown relief flights during the Sichuan earthquake.
《中国日报》对刘洋参与此次飞行任务的最大竞争对手王亚平只字未提。据说，王亚平曾经驾驶飞机参与汶川地震的救援任务。

The Guardian has photos of both women here.
《卫报》(The Guardian)刊登了两名女飞行员的照片。

It's unlikely, though by no means impossible, that propaganda authorities would choose to profile Ms. Liu in the country's main state-run English-language newspaper if she weren't considered the front-runner.
尽管并不是完全不可能，但如果刘洋不被视为头号人选，宣传机构是不大可能选择在国有主要英文报纸上刊登刘洋简介的。

In any case, we won't know for sure who won until just before the Shenzhou-9 lifts off, an event authorities have said will happen"in mid-June."
不管怎样，在神舟九号飞船升空之前，我们无法确定到底谁会获胜。中国官方说，此次发射将在6月中旬进行。