Yang Liwei

• Shenzhou 5 (2003)

Yang Liwei (Chinese杨利伟/杨利伟, Pinyin Yang Liwei, born June 21, 1965 in the greater community Suizhou of the circle Suizhong ( Huludao ) in the Chinese province of Liaoning ) is the first Chinese astronaut.

Yang was born in the northeastern province of Liaoning, the son of an economist and a teacher. After leaving school, he joined the Chinese People's Liberation Army in September 1983. He was admitted as a pilot in the Air Force, attended the Aviation High School No. 8 and earned a bachelor's degree in 1987. Then he provided his service as a fighter pilot in the People's Liberation Army.

China began in 1996 for the first time to seek spaceman among the fighter planes of his country. The competition was held under the strictest secrecy. Yang was one of 60 candidates who came out of the approximately 1,500 applicants shortlisted. In January 1998, he was selected along with 13 other pilots and graduated in 1999 a training program for taikonauts.

Yang launched on 15 October 2003 with the spacecraft Shenzhou 5 for China's first manned space flight. The flight lasted 21 hours and ended with a landing at sunrise in the province of Inner Mongolia.

After his return to Yang Liwei commented on Chinese television on the question whether the Great Wall is visible to the naked eye from space: " The view was beautiful. But I could not see the Great Wall. "

Yang Liwei is married and has a son.

In March 2005, the asteroid ( 21064 ) Yangliwei was named after him.

On July 22, 2008 Yang Liwei was promoted to Air Force Major General of the People's Liberation Army, and was appointed in May 2010 as Deputy Director of the Chinese spaceman center.