Yáng Lìwěi (simplified Chinese: 杨利伟; traditional Chinese: 楊利偉; pinyin: Yáng Lìwěi; born June 21, 1965 in Suizhong, Huludao, Liaoning) is a Chinese major general and military pilot and a CNSA astronaut. He was the first man sent into space by the space program of China, and his mission, Shenzhou 5, made the PRC the third country to independently send people into space.
Born in Suizhong County of Huludao City in the Liaoning Province, an industrial...
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Yáng Lìwěi (simplified Chinese: 杨利伟; traditional Chinese: 楊利偉; pinyin: Yáng Lìwěi; born June 21, 1965 in Suizhong, Huludao, Liaoning) is a Chinese major general and military pilot and a CNSA astronaut. He was the first man sent into space by the space program of China, and his mission, Shenzhou 5, made the PRC the third country to independently send people into space.
Born in Suizhong County of Huludao City in the Liaoning Province, an industrial area in Northeast China. Yang's mother was a teacher, his father an accountant at a state agricultural firm. Yang Liwei's wife is also a People's Liberation Army (PLA) officer, with whom he has a son.
Growing up, his grades were average but he excelled in sciences. He loved to swim and skate and shone in track and field events.
In 1983, he was admitted to the Number 2 PLAAF flight academy (空军第2飞行学院) and graduated four years later. He participated in the screening process for astronauts in 1996.
In the PLAAF, he logged 1350 hours of flight...
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