The woman behind China’s Chang’e-5 Moon mission

A 24-year-old female space commander has become a viral sensation on Chinese social media for her work on the Chang’e-5 moon exploration program.

Although he is the youngest commander of the Wenchang spacecraft launch site, Zhou Chengyu is known at work as “Big Sister” out of respect.

The Chang’e-5 mission is China’s third successful moon landing in seven years.

Ms. Zhou was in charge of the rocket connector system – described as a central role.

The young astronaut has been a hot topic on Weibo since Chinese state media named her as one of the women involved in the successful launch of the Chang’e-5 lunar probe on November 23.

His story in particular resonated with audiences given his young age. Social media users celebrated its “brilliance” and called it “a source of pride” for the country.

Several people jokingly reflected on their own accomplishments, commenting on how far behind in life they were in comparison.

The enormous interest in the native of Guizhou province, however, does not seem to have had much effect on her. According to the Duocai Guizhou Net news site, Ms. Zhou has refused repeated requests for an interview because she does not want to let the celebrity get in the way of her work.

The purpose of the Chang’e-5 – named after the Chinese moon goddess – is to collect moon rocks and soil to help scientists learn more about lunar formations.

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If successful, it would be the first in more than 40 years to bring lunar samples back to Earth, and make China the third country to do so after the United States and the Soviet Union.

The mission is part of Beijing’s drive to become a space superpower, with Chinese state media presenting the “space dream” – as President Xi Jinping calls it – as a step on the path to “national rejuvenation”.

For China, space exploration is seen as a way to flaunt its growing technological power, as well as to show itself as a force to be reckoned with on the world stage.

Professor Ouyang Ziyuan, one of the country’s leading scientists, told China’s official People’s Daily newspaper in 2006, “Lunar exploration is a reflection of a country’s overall national power.”

Last year, China became the first country to successfully land a robotic spacecraft on the other side of the moon. Over the next few decades, he plans to build a research station on the moon and send people to Mars.

Kerry Allen, Chinese media analyst

Most Chinese know the story of the mythological Chang’e, the Chinese goddess of the moon. It’s a story no different from Romeo and Juliet – about a woman who drinks an immortality potion, accidentally leaving none for her husband and, weightless, soaring to the moon. so that she could stay with him until his death.

It is narrated every year during the Chinese Mid-Autumn / Moon Festival, so people cannot hear the word “Chang’e” without conjuring up romantic images of a moon goddess.

For this reason, China’s mission to the moon called for a strong female figure. And so, photos of 24-year-old Zhou Chengyu were all over the state media, with comments that she is a “frontline soldier in the aerospace field” and a “tall man. sister “that young Chinese can admire.

China increasingly tries to showcase strong female figures in the country. The country’s top leaders are hugely male-dominated, but in November, the national newspaper Global Times invited netizens to comment on the year’s achievements by women like medical scientist Chen Wei, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hua Chunying and UFC fighter Zhang Weili.

But many in China believe that the role of women in the country is still underestimated, in many sectors. It was a big topic of discussion in September, when a TV series highlighting the role of women in the fight against Covid-19 in China was widely viewed as sexist.