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Yang Liwei (; born 21 June 1965) is a major general, former military pilot, and former
taikonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally ...
at 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, ...
. In October 2003, Yang became the first person sent into space by the Chinese space program. This mission,
Shenzhou 5 Shenzhou 5 (, see § Etymology) was the first human spaceflight mission of the Chinese space program, launched on 15 October 2003. The Shenzhou spacecraft was launched on a Long March 2F launch vehicle. There had been four previous flights ...
, made China the third country to independently send humans into space. He is currently a vice chief designer of
China Manned Space Engineering China Manned Space Agency or CMSA () is an agency of the People's Republic of China responsible for the administration of China Manned Space Program, the Chinese human spaceflight program. Name The native name of the organization (') was i ...
.


Background

Yang Liwei was born in
Suizhong County Suizhong County () is a county of southwestern Liaoning, People's Republic of China. It is located on the northern coast of the Bohai Sea and is the southernmost county of Huludao City (as well as non-peninsular Liaoning), bordering Hebei to the s ...
, Huludao,
Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...
. 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 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) 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. Yang entered Tsinghua University in Beijing for
doctoral studies A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...
in 2004 and received a Doctor of Philosophy in Management in 2009.


Spaceflight career

Yang was selected as a taikonaut candidate in 1998 and has trained for space flight since then. He was chosen from the final pool of 14 candidates to fly on China's first
manned space mission Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be ...
. A former fighter pilot in the Aviation Military Unit of the PLA, he held the rank of
Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
at the time of his mission. He was promoted to full Colonel on 20 October 2003. According to the ''
Youth Daily The ''Youth Daily'' () is a daily newspaper published in Shanghai, and the official newspaper of the China Youth League Shanghai Committee. It is the first newspaper aimed to youth in P.R. China, and its establishment was approved by Deng Xiaoping ...
'', the decision had been made in advance of his spaceflight without Yang being made aware of it. The launch window of
Shenzhou 5 Shenzhou 5 (, see § Etymology) was the first human spaceflight mission of the Chinese space program, launched on 15 October 2003. The Shenzhou spacecraft was launched on a Long March 2F launch vehicle. There had been four previous flights ...
, was chosen to be 15 October 2003 because it would coincide with the conclusion of a Communist Party conference in Beijing and a day before President Hu Jintao's visit to Thailand for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used ...
.
President Hu Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese politician who served as the 16–17th general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the 6th president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 2003 to 2013, and ...
was present at the launch site to supervise the launch of
Shenzhou 5 Shenzhou 5 (, see § Etymology) was the first human spaceflight mission of the Chinese space program, launched on 15 October 2003. The Shenzhou spacecraft was launched on a Long March 2F launch vehicle. There had been four previous flights ...
. The launch was not broadcast on live television to prevent negative publicity in the event of a disaster. He was launched into space aboard his
Shenzhou 5 Shenzhou 5 (, see § Etymology) was the first human spaceflight mission of the Chinese space program, launched on 15 October 2003. The Shenzhou spacecraft was launched on a Long March 2F launch vehicle. There had been four previous flights ...
spacecraft atop a Long March 2F rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the
Gobi Desert The Gobi Desert (Chinese: 戈壁 (沙漠), Mongolian: Говь (ᠭᠣᠪᠢ)) () is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia, and is the sixth largest desert in the world. Geography The Gobi measures from southwest to northeast an ...
at 09:00 CST (01:00 UTC) on 15 October 2003. Prior to his launch almost nothing was made public about the Chinese taikonaut candidates; his selection for the Shenzhou 5 launch was only leaked to the media one day before the launch. The other two potential candidates for the space mission were Nie Haisheng and Zhai Zhigang who were also on standby as backup crews on the day of the launch. Yang Liwei has reported the occurrence of abnormal vibrations two minutes after launch which he described as "very uncomfortable". The vibration were later discovered to have come from the launcher rocket. As a consequence, corrective measures were swiftly taken to the design of the following
CZ-2F The Long March 2F ( ''Changzheng 2F''), also known as the CZ-2F, LM-2F and Shenjian (, "Divine Arrow"), is a Chinese orbital carrier rocket, part of the Long March 2 rocket family. Designed to launch crewed Shenzhou spacecraft, the Long March ...
carrier rocket for the
Shenzhou-6 Shenzhou 6 () was the second human spaceflight of the Chinese space program, launched on October 12, 2005 on a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The Shenzhou spacecraft carried a crew of Fèi Jùnlóng (费俊龙) a ...
. 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 circuit around the Earth, assuring her from space: "I feel very good, don't worry". He ate specially designed packets of shredded pork with garlic,
Kung Pao chicken Kung Pao chicken (), also transcribed Gong Bao or Kung Po, is a spicy, stir-fried Chinese dish made with cubes of chicken, peanuts, vegetables (traditionally Welsh onion only ), and chili peppers. The classic dish in Sichuan cuisine originat ...
and
eight treasure Glutinous rice (''Oryza sativa var. glutinosa''; also called sticky rice, sweet rice or waxy rice) is a type of rice grown mainly in Southeast Asia, Southeast and East Asia, and the northeastern regions of South Asia, which has opaque grains, ...
rice, along with Chinese herbal tea. During the flight, Yang slept 2 times in 3 hour intervals. In the middle of the journey, state television broadcast footage of Yang waving a small flag of the People's Republic of China and that of the United Nations inside his capsule. State media said Yang's capsule was supplied with a gun, a knife and tent in case he landed in the wrong place. Yang's craft landed in the grasslands of the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia at around 06:30 CST on 16 October 2003 (22:00 UTC), having completed 14 orbits and travelled more than 600,000 km. Yang was in space for a total of 21 hours, Yang left the capsule about 15 minutes after landing, and was congratulated by
Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
Wen Jiabao Wen Jiabao (born 15 September 1942) is a retired Chinese politician who served as the Premier of the State Council from 2003 to 2013. In his capacity as head of government, Wen was regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic policy ...
. But the astronaut's bleeding lips seen in the official images broadcast sparked rumors of a hard landing confirmed by accounts of personnel present at the landing site. Although the first Chinese citizen in space, Yang Liwei is not the first person of Chinese origin in space. Shanghai-born
Taylor Wang Taylor Gun-Jin Wang (; born June 16, 1940) is a Chinese-born American scientist and in 1985, became the first person of Chinese origin to go into space. While an employee of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Wang was a payload specialist on the Sp ...
flew on Space Shuttle mission
STS-51-B STS-51-B was the 17th flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the seventh flight of Space Shuttle ''Challenger''. The launch of ''Challenger'' on April 29, 1985, was delayed by 2 minutes and 18 seconds, due to a launch processing failure ...
in 1985. Wang, however, had become a United States citizen in 1975. Taylor Wang was not the first person born from China to go to orbit. William Anders was born in Hong Kong on 17 October 1933. Anders would be a part of the
Apollo 8 Apollo 8 (December 21–27, 1968) was the first crewed spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit and the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times without landing, and then departed safely back to Earth. These ...
lunar orbital mission in 1968. Yang visited Hong Kong on 31 October 2003, holding talks and sharing his experiences during a six-day stay in the territory. 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. On 7 November, Yang received the title of "Space Hero" from Jiang Zemin, the Chairman of the PRC Central Military Commission (CMC). He also received a badge of honour during a ceremony at the
Great Hall of the People The Great Hall of the People is a state building located at the western edge of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. It is used for legislative and ceremonial activities by the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the ruling Chinese Co ...
. Russia awarded him the
Gagarin medal Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human to journey into outer space. Tr ...
. The Chinese University of Hong Kong has given Yang an honorary doctorate. The
asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...
21064 Yangliwei 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length  ...
and the fossil bird '' Dalingheornis liweii'' are named after him.Zhang, Z., Hou, L., Hasegawa, Y., O'Connor, J., Martin, L.D. and Chiappe, L.M. (2006). "The first Mesozoic heterodactyl bird from China." ''Acta Geologica Sinica'', 80(5): 631-635.


After Shenzhou 5

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 as vice- commander- in- chief of the astronauts system of China's crewed spaceflight project. Yang became the alternate member of the
Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is a political body that comprises the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is currently composed of 205 fu ...
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 Wan Hu (万户 or 万虎) is a legendary Chinese official – supposedly having lived from as early as 2000 BCE to as late as the middle Ming dynasty (16th century) who was described in 20th century sources as the world's first "astronaut" by h ...
*
Taylor Wang Taylor Gun-Jin Wang (; born June 16, 1940) is a Chinese-born American scientist and in 1985, became the first person of Chinese origin to go into space. While an employee of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Wang was a payload specialist on the Sp ...
* Nie Haisheng * Zhai Zhigang *
Space program of China The space program of the People's Republic of China is directed by the China National Space Administration (CNSA). China's space program has overseen the development and launch of ballistic missiles, thousands of artificial satellites, manne ...
*
List of Chinese taikonauts This is a list of Chinese astronauts, sometimes called taikonauts. The list includes people trained by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft. As the Chinese space program dev ...


References


External links


Spacefacts biography of Yang Liwei
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Liwei 1965 births Living people People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps People from Huludao Shenzhou program astronauts People's Liberation Army Air Force generals People's Liberation Army generals from Liaoning Alternate members of the 17th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the 13th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference