Liu Yang (pictured), a member of the Shenzhou 9 crew, became the first Chinese woman in space.

Liu Yang is a Chinese military transport pilot and taikonaut. On June 16, 2012, Yang became the first Chinese woman in space, as a crew member of Shenzhou 9.

Shenzhou 9 was the fourth crewed spacecraft flight of China's Shenzhou program, launched at 18:37:24 CST, 16 June 2012. Shenzhou 9 was the second spacecraft and first crewed mission and expedition to dock with the Tiangong-1 space station, which took place on 18 June. The Shenzhou 9 spacecraft landed at 10:01:16 CST on 29 June in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The mission's crew included the first Chinese female astronaut, Liu Yang. The next mission was Shenzhou 10, which launched on 11 June 2013.