Zhang Lu (; born November 1976) is a Chinese pilot selected as part of the

Shenzhou program The China Manned Space Program (CMS; ), also known as Project 921 () is a space program developed by the People's Republic of China and run by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), designed to develop and enhance human spaceflight capabilities fo ...

. He enlisted in the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

(PLA) in August 1999, and joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

(CCP) in April 1999. Zhang launched on the

Shenzhou 15 Shenzhou 15 () is a Chinese spaceflight that launched on 29 November 2022 at 15:08 UTC. The flight marked the tenth crewed Chinese spaceflight and the fifteenth flight of the Shenzhou program. The spacecraft carried three People's Liberation Army ...

mission to the Tiangong space station.

Biography

Zhang was born in

Hanshou County Hanshou County () is a county in Hunan Province, China, it is under the administration of Changde prefecture-city. The County is located on the north in Hunan Province and the southeast in Changde City, it borders to the north and the west by D ...

, Hunan, in November 1976. He attended Chengguan No. 4 Primary School (), Zhanlepin Middle School () and Hanshou County No. 1 High School (). In 1981, at the age of 5, his family relocated to downtown Hanshou County, where they engaged in freshwater aquaculture. Due to hard work and thrift, his family became a 10,000-Yuan-Household () in the early days of the

Chinese economic reform The Chinese economic reform or reform and opening-up (), known in the West as the opening of China, is the program of economic reforms termed " Socialism with Chinese characteristics" and "socialist market economy" in the People's Republic of C ...

. In his early teens, he developed taste for singing. After graduating from the current

PLA Air Force Aviation University The People's Liberation Army Air Force Aviation University () is a military university in Changchun, Jilin, China. As of fall 2014, the university has 7 campuses, consists of 7 departments, covers a total area of 36,000 mu, with more than 19 ...

in 2000, he became a fighter pilot in the

People's Liberation Army Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; ), also known as the Chinese Air Force (中国空军) or the People's Air Force (人民空军), is an aerial service branch of the People's Liberation Army, the regular armed forces of the Peo ...

, and was selected to be an astronaut in May 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Lu 1976 births Living people People from Hanshou County PLA Air Force Aviation University alumni Shenzhou program astronauts People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps People's Liberation Army Air Force personnel