Screen image shows the Shenzhou XIII mission crew at the Tiangong space station. XINHUA
“Five, four, three, two, one, blast off!” At 0:23 on Oct 16, China launched the crewed spacecraft, Shenzhou XIII, at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu, marking the start of the country’s longest crewed spaceflight.
“五，四，三，二，一，发射!”10月16日零时23分，中国在甘肃酒泉卫星发射中心成功发射神舟十三号载人飞船，这将是我国迄今为止时间最长的一次载人飞行。
The spacecraft successfully docked with the space station core module Tianhe, embarking on a six-month journey for the crewmembers: Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu.
神舟十三号载人飞船成功与天和核心舱成功对接，航天员翟志刚、王亚平和叶光富开启为期6个月的在轨驻留。
Denis Simon, executive director of the Center for Innovation Policy at Duke Law in the US, told Xinhua that China’s success in space continues to be impressive. “It is now well on its way to being a leader in space exploration,” he said.
美国杜克大学法学院创新政策中心执行主任丹尼斯·西蒙在接受新华社采访时表示，中国在太空领域的成功一直令人瞩目。他说:“中国正逐渐成为太空探索的领导者。”
What will happen during the epic mission? The crew has a wide range of assignments, such as performing two to three spacewalks to install a small robotic arm onto a larger one, verifying key procedures and technologies like manual control of the robotic arms, and checking the performance of devices inside the station, according to Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency, in a news conference on Oct 14.
此次飞行壮举将完成哪些任务？中国载人航天工程办公室副主任林西强在10月14日的神舟十三号载人飞行任务新闻发布会上表示，航天员将实现广泛的任务目标，包括进行2-3次出舱活动，安装大小机械臂双臂组合转接件及悬挂装置；开展机械臂辅助舱段转位、手控遥操作等空间站组装建造关键技术试验；及全面考核工程各系统执行空间站任务的功能性能，以及系统间的匹配性。
The mission is a valuable opportunity for China’s science community because it allows the astronauts to carry out large in-orbit experiments requiring a long time and manual manipulation, Pang Zhihao, a former analyst at the China Academy of Space Technology, told China Daily.
中国空间技术研究院前研究员庞之浩在接受《中国日报》采访时表示，神舟十三号载人飞行任务对中国科学界来说是一个宝贵机会，因为在任务期间，航天员将进行多项耗时长、需要手动操作的大型在轨实验。
The mission will also see the first spacewalk by a Chinese woman: Wang Yaping.
在神舟十三号载人航天任务中，王亚平将成为首位太空行走的中国女性。
The mother of a 5-year-old girl, Wang is China’s second female astronaut to take part in a spaceflight. She took part in the Shenzhou X mission in June 2013.
王亚平是一个5岁女孩的母亲，也是中国第二位女航天员。2013年6月，她执行了神舟十号飞行任务。
Pang said that female astronauts have many advantages over their male peers in extended missions.
庞之浩称，在长期任务中，女性航天员比男性航天员有很多优势。
“Women are usually more sensitive, attentive and careful in many regards, and normally are better at communicating. These traits are useful assets in extended flights. The presence of a female astronaut usually brings more joy to a demanding mission,” Pang told China Daily, noting he looks forward to Wang’s success.
庞之浩在接受《中国日报》采访时表示，他期待王亚平发挥积极作用：“女航天员通常在某些方面感觉更敏锐，心思更细腻，考虑问题更全面，沟通能力更好。这些特质在长期飞行任务中弥足珍贵。执行艰巨的任务时，女航天员通常能为乘组带来活力。”
“When you look out the window, billions of women are looking out that window with you, including me,” retired NASA astronaut Catherine Coleman said as words of encouragement to Wang, CGTN reported.
据中国国际电视台报道，已退休的美国国家航空航天局宇航员凯蒂·科尔曼对王亚平致以祝福:“当你看向窗外，数十亿女性也通过你的目光看向窗外，包括我。”
