据中国载人航天工程办公室消息，神舟十五号瞄准11月29日23时08分发射。经总指挥部研究决定，航天员乘组确定费俊龙、邓清明和张陆出征。 6park.com
The Shenzhou XV crewed spaceship will be launched at 11:08 pm Tuesday (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China, announced the China Manned Space Agency on Monday. 6park.com
不少人发现此次执行任务的航天员中出现了一个熟悉的名字——那就是首次飞行的邓清明。 6park.com
为了这一刻，他经过了24年10个月的等待、坚守与奋斗。 6park.com
After serving as a backup crew member for 24 years, Chinese taikonaut Deng Qingming's dream is finally coming true – he will perform his first space mission onboard the Shenzhou XV spaceship along with two other astronauts on Tuesday.


邓清明

1998年，并肩进入航天员大队的首批14名航天员中，8人已经圆梦太空，5人停航离队，而邓清明是唯一没有执行“飞天”任务又仍在现役的首批航天员。如今，他终于圆梦。 6park.com
Deng is the last one of the country's first group of 14 astronauts to be sent into space. The story of the veteran who relentlessly pursued his space dream despite serving as a backup for years moved many, and for which he was hailed as a "hidden hero".


中国航天员大队首批14名航天员 图源：央视新闻

2010年，邓清明被选入了强化训练队，成为神舟九号飞行任务备份航天员。 6park.com
作为一名航天员，备份和主份航天员训练的科目、时间、内容、强度以及考核标准都是一样的。要想具备独立执行载人航天飞行任务的能力，航天员需要通过8大类、上百个课目训练的严格考核。 6park.com
遗憾的是，邓清明落选了。“神九”发射升空后，邓清明在地面按照手册，跟天上的航天员一起把所有程序都走了一遍，做到哪一步就打一个勾。他说：“作为备份的任务，不是从基地回来了，任务就结束了。我的战友安全回来了，这才是做备份的结束。” 6park.com
"Being a backup doesn't mean you don't need to work. I must watch closely in the control center and offer all I know about the mission and the spacecraft in case of emergency," Deng said during a previous interview. "Only when the crew returns to Earth will my mission be complete".


图源：@我们的太空

“神九”落选，邓清明相信他下次还有机会。他把“神九”的经历当作是一次积累，觉得自己离飞天梦想又近了一步。然而神舟十号任务因为微乎其微的分差让他再次与梦想擦肩而过。 6park.com
2013年，邓清明身体里查出一个非常细小的结石。对于普通人来说，这种小结石通常是不用管的，但航天员不行。为了能够继续追寻航天梦，邓清明毅然选择接受手术。 6park.com
In 2013, Deng discovered a tiny kidney stone. While this is not a condition of immediate concern under normal circumstances, it is different for astronauts, who must maintain a rigorous standard of personal health. 6park.com
但没想到的是，第一次手术时结石没能完全取出，医生只能在他肾脏里埋了一根管子。一个多月的时间，邓清明一直带着管子，也尿血了一个多月，直到第二次手术，邓清明的结石才被成功取出。他回忆说，“我的梦想重新又点燃了”。 6park.com
Deng underwent two surgeries, the first unsuccessful. After suffering from hematuria for almost 2 months with a tube placed inside his kidney, the stone was finally removed, reigniting his dream.


图源：@我们的太空

2014年，和他同时进入航天员大队的五名队友正式停航停训。停航停训仪式后，同是“神九”、“神十”飞行任务备份的陈全对邓清明说：“不管主份、备份，都是航天员的本分。老邓，你要努力，不要放弃”。邓清明一直记得这句话，不管飞天之路多么艰难，他从未想过放弃。 6park.com
2016年的神舟十一号任务中，邓清明再次成为备份航天员。这次，是他离飞天梦想最近的一次。在备战的三年里，邓清明完成了和主份完全相同的训练。在最具挑战的33天模拟验证试验中，他住进了不到10平米的密闭舱，与外界完全隔绝。灯一直开着，机器的振动与噪声也环绕不歇。 6park.com
When training for Shenzhou XI, scheduled to be launched in 2016, Deng along with crew member Chen Dong were confined in a spacecraft simulator no bigger than 10 square meters for 33 days. They had no showers, ate space food exclusively and endured loud noise and piercing light as they tried to sleep.


图源：央视新闻

然而，在宣布的那一天，他没有被选中。邓清明说：“任务的成功先于我的个人愿望。”他仍坚信自己有机会完成任务，并一直和他的队友一样努力着。 6park.com
On the day of the announcement, however, he was not selected. "The success of the mission comes before my personal wishes," said Deng, who still firmly believes he has a chance at a mission and works as hard as any of his teammates.


2017年8月，邓清明等航天员进行海上救生训练 图源：央视新闻

此后，邓清明依旧坚持训练。终于在准备了24年10个月后，56岁的邓清明等到了神舟十五号载人飞行任务。


图源：央视新闻

在一次次与飞天失之交臂后，追梦者终于圆梦。还有更多坚守梦想的人也在整装待发。