Yang Liwei, << yahng lee way >> (1965-…), was the first astronaut launched into space by the Chinese space program. Astronauts in the Chinese space program are identified by several names. One name often used is taikonauts. Yang’s flight aboard the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft took place in October 2003. During his 21 hours and 23 minutes in space, he orbited (circled) Earth 14 times. He landed safely in Mongolia. With Yang’s flight, China joined Russia and the United States as the only countries to have launched people into space.
Yang was born in Suizhong in the Liaoning Province on June 21, 1965. He joined China’s armed forces in 1983. Yang was selected to the astronaut program in 1998. After his pioneering flight, Yang became deputy director of the China Astronaut Research and Training Center and also deputy director general of China’s human spaceflight program.
