Take A Peek At China's First Female Taikonot Showing Off Photos While On Duty In Space

JAKARTA - After a few weeks of arriving at China's Tiangong Space Station, female taikonaut Wang Yaping showed off several photos while she was on duty and an appearance of Earth taken from the Tianhe core module.

A total of four photos, two of which were taken by commander Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu, Yaping's partner in the Tianhe core module, in which Yaping appears to be floating in microgravity and holding an apple.

Then, the last two show stunning photos of the Earth's surface taken by Yaping herself on 18 November. The photo shows the Qinghai lake and mountain ranges that lead east towards the East China Sea.

Qinghai Lake is described by the UNESCO World Heritage Center as an internationally important inland salt wetland.

As reported by Space, Monday, November 29, Yaping is a veteran of the Shenzhou 10 mission which was sent to the smaller Tiangong 1 space lab in 2013. During the two-week mission, Yaping delivered a live lecture on space physics to a class of children on Earth, with millions of Chinese schoolchildren also watching the live broadcast.

Yaping and her two colleagues Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu were launched into space on the Shenzhou 13 spacecraft on October 15. Yaping became the first female Chinese taikonaut to start an extravehicular activity or spacewalk on November 7.

They were all tasked with testing and preparing the Tianhe module to receive the new module next year, as well as conducting experiments and conducting science outreach.

The mission follows the three-month Shenzhou 12 mission launched in June, sending the first three astronauts to Tianhe. Including Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo also captured stunning images from Earth using the smartphone she brought from Earth.