Talk:Yi So-yeon

Previous discussions without headers
She IS the first Korean in space? Should we add a "this article refers to future events" tag? How about adding an "inshallah" to that sentence?--Eujin16 (talk) 00:53, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

Hyphenation
Hyphenation are not appropriate in anglo-korean transliterated nomenclature. --Imagemonth (talk) 16:29, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Care to explain why not? BodvarBjarki (talk) 10:58, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

YouTube videos

 * There are two fantastic YouTube videos of her. Can you provide YouTube as external link ?

First video Second video


 * Look at Seoul Glow under external links. Same videos.  DaronDierkes (talk) 01:54, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

29 years
Very young astronaut! Congratulations Yi So-yeon :) greetings from Chile

Image
The 'offical' thumbs up astronaut pose image was deleted. (Koreans always have their thumbs up?) The current one is the worst photo of her ever. How about this one: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-17/html/jsc2008e004174.html Its a NASA image so it should be copyclear as a work of the US Gov't.--Lemmey (talk) 14:55, 8 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Much better image now--Lemmey (talk) 15:30, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

ITN Candidate
This article has been nominated to be on the Main Page as an In The News link for First Korean Astronaut.--Lemmey (talk) 15:33, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

self-satisfying look
isn't there a better pic. --Leladax (talk) 01:15, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Not front page material
Bleh. Korean nationalism at it again huh? 71.135.62.243 (talk) 02:07, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * The nomination, following support and final decision to place it on the front page are built up by almost all of non-Korean editors, so please refrain yourself from spreading your false belief. Here is not a blog--Appletrees (talk) 02:13, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I am the nominator and I am French. Hektor (talk) 05:33, 9 April 2008 (UTC)


 * She became the second Asian woman in space after Chiaki Mukai from Japan and she makes South Korea the second country to have a woman as its first space traveller, after the United Kingdom. - couple of factual errors, she is actually fourth Asian woman in space after Chiaki Mukai, Anousheh Ansari and Kalpana Chawla. And as Anousheh Ansari was also the first Iranian in space, that makes South Korea the third country to have a woman as its first space traveller. --67.70.9.2 (talk) 08:01, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Anousheh Ansari and Kalpana Chawla were US citizens at the time of their flight. You can't work for NASA or be a NASA astronaut without being a US citizen. Hektor (talk) 12:19, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * So what. Even assuming for the sake of argument that that is true, it doesn't lead to a conclusion that they are not "Asian women".  Gene Nygaard (talk) 20:48, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Ansari was not on a NASA flight, furthermore, the sentence above does not deal with being a citizen of any country or working for a national space agency, it refers to the continent of origin and being in space. --198.96.36.66 (talk) 12:33, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Anasari is the first female private space explorer (and fourth overall). She is the first person of Iranian descent to travel into space. Korea is the second country to have its first astronaut to be female; Britain was the first in Helen Sharman. --Bentonia School (talk) 13:19, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

'''They may have ancestry from Asia but are clearly BOTH of U.S. American Citizenship and NOT of any Asian Citizenship. They are NOT LEGALLY Asians, in other words. They DO NOT hold passports from any Asian countries. They are Americans and U.S. Citizens. i.e. They DO NOT count as Asians.''' There are at least 10+ sources CLEARLY stating she is the 2nd Asian woman in space, the U.S. Government themself are claiming this.Youngjoon Shin (talk) 18:23, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

'Asian'
Does this refer to all women on the continent of Asia, or is she only the second East Asian woman? Black-Velvet 08:50, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I suppose it's 'Asian' in the Western view: "funny eyes/chinese people". --Leladax (talk) 11:54, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * afaik, all female astronauts from USSR were from the European part of the USSR, the only Indian astronaut was male, the astronauts from Mongolia, Malaysia, Viet Nam, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria etc were all male. So it's not just funny eyes/chinese people. You have US female astronauts of Asian origin, like Kalpana Chawla or Anousheh Ansari, or even Shannon Lucid who was born in China, but being US citizens, they can't be considered as "Asian". Asian for me means : she is the second female person with citizenship from a country located in Asia. Hektor (talk) 12:14, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * There is no such qualification offered in article. Therefore, Asian should be taken as someone from the continent of Asia, unless a source is provided to show that only citizens of countires located in Asia are considered Asians. --198.96.36.66 (talk) 12:28, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * The correct term for that specific type of Asian would probably be East Asian or Far Easterner. --C. Raleigh (talk) 06:14, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

"Yi"?
Although this is the best way to romanize the Korean surname 이, it is currently extremely uncommon and is typically unused by other world figures of Korean descent with the same surname, ie, Lee Myung-bak or Jim Lee. As 'Lee' has become the standard, why is this person identified as 'Yi'? --Bentonia School (talk) 12:54, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Maybe because this is the one used by all major news sources ? Hektor (talk) 13:36, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * You didn't provide any insight whatsoever. Why is her name 이 romanized as Yi - in all major news sources - but other Koreans with the same name are romanized - in all major news sources - as Lee? Yi hasn't been common in many decades. An intelligent response would be appropriate. --Bentonia School (talk) 17:38, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I do believe Yi So-yeon is her official English name (i.e. on her passport) chosen by her or possibly her parents when she was young. 'Lee' is far more common, but there is a trend to use 'Yi' due to its closer resemblance of 이 in terms of pronunciation. eDenE  19:25, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * The romanization was already done; there is no romanizing for Wikipedians to be doing here. She has lived, trained, and worked in an English-speaking country, and that's what she has used and been known as. That's why. It's really that simple.  Gene Nygaard (talk) 20:52, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Well, in Russia. But in a joint program, using the English language.
 * She has lived and studied only in South Korea, not anywhere in English speaking world. Where did you get a wrong information? If you think Korea is one of the English speaking world? funny.--Appletrees (talk) 21:18, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * The more important question is this: Why, after having been featured as such on the Main Page, and after this talk page discussion of her surname—why is she sorted in the categories as "So-yeon, Yi"?  Gene Nygaard (talk) 21:07, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I have in my possession material which she has autographed and to which is added, in her own hand, the legend "Soyeon Yi, Korean Astronaut Candidate", so whatever the rationale, this is what she calls herself. Incidentally, she has spent a period studying in US in 2004, which is ofcourse an English speaking country(Wilde1 (talk) 18:06, 10 April 2008 (UTC))
 * That would just mean that she prefers using the western order of her name, i.e. given name first. Of course, that's pure original research on your part. For the purposes of category sorting she needs to be listed as "Yi, So-yeon", i.e. family name first. Has now been fixed. PC78 (talk) 16:55, 11 April 2008 (UTC)


 * for further information..... Read her name tag: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Yi_So-yeon_%28NASA_-_JSC2008-E-004174%29.jpg It reads Soyeon Yi. That's the name she goes by all right. :)--Marhawkman (talk) 08:22, 12 April 2008 (UTC)
 * this one's clearer, Her name is just below the collar. --Marhawkman (talk) 07:36, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

TV Commercials?
"...She will also receive future income from TV commercials." Not only is this already marked as not having a citation, it's irrelevant and unnecessary information. Does anyone really care from where she receives her income? It should be removed. --Bentonia School (talk) 12:57, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Observing dust storms
Regarding Lee's research and experiments, this one, "...and in particular the movement of dust storms from China to Korea" sounds extremely suspect. Such experiments are effectively carried out on Earth and the ecological affects of this unfortunate annual event are observed regionally. Until a reliable source can cite this I think it should be removed from the article. --Bentonia School (talk) 13:05, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * You could have been bold and googled it. Took me two minutes to find a ref. Hektor (talk) 13:45, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * She's a nanotechnologist. Suggestions of her planned observations of dust storms seem suspect. --Bentonia School (talk) 17:43, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes and when NASA takes a medical doctor to repair a solar panel of the station that is suspect too ? or when a geologist makes a life science experiment ? 83.204.180.112 (talk) 20:14, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * The solar panal is in space, where it needs to be fixed. My questioning of her supposed research of the annual dust storms refers more to the fact that we pretty much have been following the storms for years, know their patterns, their damage, etc. What possible research can she carry out from space, other than just looking at the dust, if it is indeed visible from space, and saying 'Yep, we're right. There's a problem'? What kind of research is she actually supposedly doing? It sounds suspect. --Bentonia School (talk) 04:32, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Well she has a PhD, she has been selected as the best among 36,000. She is bright and competitive. She has been training for one year, she might have been able to learn a thing or two beyond nanotechno during that year. 193.56.37.1 (talk) 07:33, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

Women in Space
I deleted this statement because it is clearly not true: On 8 April 2008, Yi was launched into space on board Soyuz TMA-12, with two Russian cosmonauts. She became the third Asian woman in space after Chiaki Mukai from Japan and Kalpana Chawla from India and she makes South Korea the third country to have a woman as its first space traveller, after the United Kingdom and Iran. The USA has put several women in space, and I believe Russia has sent a least one woman, but I'm not sure. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.154.64.167 (talk) 16:30, April 9, 2008 (UTC
 * The section only mentions the firsts. In particular the fact that the countries first space traveler was a woman, not a listing of the countries who have had female astronauts/cosmonauts. Also, Russia has had at least three. Please leave this section, as it is factually correct. -MBK004 16:32, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Kalpana Chawla was a US citizen. Anousheh Ansari is a US citizen. And when you get citizenship, you are required to undertake an oath renouncing previous allegiances.Hektor (talk) 17:13, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * But dual citizenship is also allowed, but discouraged. I believe that Anousheh Ansari is a dual citizen and retains her Iranian citizenship. This is not unprecedented in the group of space travelers, see Michael Foale. -MBK004 17:17, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Anasari went into space as an independant space traveller; she didn't travel for any nation. Therefore, she cannot be placed on the list. --Bentonia School (talk) 18:18, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * See Timeline of space travel by nationality. Ansari is counted...-MBK004 19:01, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * That doesn't suggest nor prove anything. It just indicates that she is of Iranian descent. Look elsewhere, more appropriately her own website, and you'll see that she flew into space as a private traveller. She didn't fly under the flag of any nation. --Bentonia School (talk) 04:35, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
 * It has nothing to do with "citizenship". Period.  Gene Nygaard (talk) 20:53, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
 * This source clearly lists Ansari as " a U.S. passport holder of Iranian descent and communications head ". Hektor (talk) 09:34, 12 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Added proofs of four different sources clearly confirming she IS 100% the 2nd Asian woman in space. The U.S. government themself confirm this. This woman of Indian ancestry is clearly American, is an American citizen holder and was treated as an American before flight.
 * Nationality and ethnicity are two completely different things. Yes someone can be an American Citizen, but still be "Asian".  "four different sources clearly confirming", I don't see anything clearly confirming anything.  A case point, for example, You can find dozen of REPUTABLE news sources, eg from FOX, NBC etc that say Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the house, is third in line to become President of the United States, but its clear by definition that she's second in line of succession to become president, as the president can't be in line, he's already the president, my point being, just having news sources saying one thing doesn't make something clearly definite nor 100%.  Limitedexpresstrain (talk) 14:30, 13 April 2008 (UTC)
 * They are NOT legallly Asians, in other words, they do not count as Asians in official statistics. They are ocunted as Americans because their nationality is U.S. Full Stop.92.233.108.8 (talk) 20:03, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

According to Ansari article she is also an Iranian national. I don't know whether it's true or not, but that's what it looks like. It doesn't matter if she holds an Iranian passport or not, not all citizens hold passports, it's their choice. Furthermore, being a citizen of one country is different than having an origin in that country. One may be Asian because of their origins from a country located in Asia, but may be a citizen of another country located elsewhere. And US census rules defining Asian as a race is another complication. For these reasons, I am against including such ambigous info in the lead of the article, but if it has to be included then it needs to be further clarified than "second Asian woman in space". That's what I did. --198.96.36.66 (talk) 16:07, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Korean website reference -- delete?
Great article. But the first citation points to a Korean news article; I don't think that really belongs on an English-language website because the average en.wikipedia.org reader has no way of understanding it or judging its merits -- not even a single photograph. For all I know, it could be a discussion of tradition surrounding kimchi preparation. That citation would be a better fit on the ko.wikipedia.org site. Delete from here? I love languages as much as anyone who's travelled quite a bit internationally, but have to consider the audience and likelihood of understanding what was written. There are plenty of other suitable citations to take its place. After all, WP:CITE says:


 * Because this is the English Wikipedia, English-language sources should be given whenever possible, and should always be used in preference to other language sources of equal caliber. However, do give references in other languages where appropriate. If quoting from a different language source, an English translation should be given with the original-language quote beside it.

Cheers, 64.209.16.204 (talk) 21:16, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Use of Future Tense?
Maybe I am just being picky, but the article says things such as "Yi will carry out these experiments in space" and "she will research so-and-so after she returns to Earth." I feel that future tense should be avoided and instead say something like "After her flight, she plans work as a researcher at KARI ..." unless that type of wording would sound too akward. What do you editors think? --C. Raleigh (talk) 06:06, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

Youngest female astronaut?
While this is in the news, I thought I'd ask here (and at Talk:Astronaut): is Yi So-yeon the youngest female astronaut ever? This article reports that (actually, it reports that AP reports that NASA says that) she is, but Google and math plus Wikipedia suggest that Valentina Tereshkova would have been the youngest (26). Anyways, I just thought someone who's more familiar with this topic might want to find some definitive evidence/sources. Wikimancer (talk) 07:29, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, Tereshkova was the youngest female and Gherman Titov the youngest male astronaut. Anything under 40 is young, I suppose. You can check it up from Guinness books for lack of a better reference. Maybe Yi is claimed youngest based on an astronaut/cosmonaut/taikonaut technicality? And she's almost certainly the youngest based on current age. --Anshelm &#39;77 (talk) 14:12, 10 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Indeed. I think she's the third youngest, behind Tereshkova and Helen Sharman. -- GW_SimulationsUser Page 14:36, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

Update: as concluded on Astronaut's talk page, NASA's reporting (as reported by AP) of her being the youngest female astronaut seems to have been some kind of oversight (and retracted). Either way, for the record, "astronaut" seems to apply to anyone trained for space, not just those who have been, so at best, she could be "the currently youngest woman to have been in space." Wikimancer (talk) 20:15, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

Jeong Geum-sun
Is this her mother? The article does not say. It only gives the name of one of her parents, it does not mention which parent.--Marhawkman (talk) 09:58, 11 April 2008 (UTC)
 * She does appear to be her mother, . Hmm, I'm not quite sure how to word that so adding that she's her mother doesn't sound awkward.  Elishabet (talk) 11:03, 11 April 2008 (UTC)
 * But then there's another source which says her mother's name is Lee So-yeon.  Which would just be a different transliteration of the same Korean name as Yi, which makes me think this isn't right, but I can't find any corroborating evidence either way.  Elishabet (talk) 11:14, 11 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I can't get either page to load, but that second one doesn't sound reliable. I know some people do name their children after themselves, but it sounds unlikely for you to give your daughter the exact same name. maybe:

"Yi So-yeon was born to Jeong Geum-sun(mother) and raised in Gwangju, South Korea." --Marhawkman (talk) 14:24, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

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