Yang Liwei (; born 21 June 1965) is a Chinese major general, former military pilot, and former taikonaut of the People's Liberation Army.

In October 2003, Yang became the first person sent into space by the Chinese space program. This mission, Shenzhou 5, made China the third country to independently send humans into space. He is currently a vice chief designer of China Manned Space Engineering.

Early life and education

Yang Liwei was born in Suizhong County, Huludao, Liaoning. His mother was a teacher and his father was an accountant at a state agricultural firm. Yang Liwei married Zhang Yumei with whom they had a son together. Zhang Yumei was a part of the People's Liberation Army and was a teacher in China's Space Program.

In 1983, he enlisted for the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and was admitted to the Air Force Second Flight Academy (), graduating in 1987 with a bachelor's degree. He participated in the screening process for astronauts in 1996. In the PLAAF, he logged 1,350 hours of flight time as a fighter pilot before he went to space training.

Spaceflight career

Yang was selected as a taikonaut candidate in 1998 and has trained for space flight since then. A former fighter pilot in the Aviation Military Unit of the PLA, he held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel at the time of his mission. According to the Youth Daily, the decision had been made in advance of his spaceflight without Yang being made aware of it.

Yang punctuated his journey with regular updates on his condition; variations of "I feel good", the last coming as the capsule floated to the ground after re-entry. He spoke to his wife as the Shenzhou 5 started its eighth orbit around the Earth, assuring her from space: "I feel very good, don't worry". Yang left the capsule about 15 minutes after landing, and was congratulated by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

Although the first Chinese citizen in space, Yang Liwei is not the first person of Chinese origin in space. Shanghai-born Taylor Wang flew on Space Shuttle mission STS-51-B in 1985. Wang, however, had become a United States citizen in 1975. Anders would be a part of the Apollo 8 lunar orbital mission in 1968. The visit coincided with an exhibition that featured his reentry capsule, spacesuit and leftover food from his 21-hour mission. On 5 November he travelled to Macau. The Chinese University of Hong Kong has given Yang an honorary doctorate.

After Shenzhou 5

thumb|Yang's Space Meritorious Medal awarded by the [[Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|Central Committee of the CCP, the State Council and the Central Military Commission]]

In a move similar to that taken by the Soviet Union with national space flight hero Yuri Gagarin, an official decision to no longer assign him to future spaceflight missions was made. Yang was promoted to Major General on 22 July 2008.

After the successful space flight of Shenzhou 5, Yang was given the position of vice-commander-in-chief of the astronauts system of China's crewed spaceflight project.

Yang became an alternate of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party at the 17th Party Congress in October 2007.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization awarded the UNESCO Medal on Space Science to Yang in October 2017.

Yang Liwei is the director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office.

See also

  • Wan Hu
  • List of Chinese astronauts
  • Chinese space programme

References

  • Spacefacts biography of Yang Liwei
  • United Nations: Background Information on Chinese Astronaut, Yang Liwei