Yang Liwei

Yang Liwei (Chinese: 杨利伟; born 21 June 1965) is a Chinese major general, former military pilot, and former taikonaut at the People's Liberation Army.

For the women's basketball player, see Yang Liwei (basketball).
In this Chinese name, the family name is Yang.
Yang Liwei
杨利伟
Yang in September 2011
Born (1965-06-21) 21 June 1965
Suizhong, Huludao, Liaoning, China
StatusRetired
Alma materAir Force Aviation University (BEng)
Tsinghua University (PhD)
Space career
PLAAC astronaut
Current occupation
Vice Chief Designer, China Manned Space Engineering
Previous occupation
 PLAAF fighter pilot
RankMajor general
Time in space
21 hours, 22 minutes, 45 seconds
SelectionChinese Group 1
MissionsShenzhou 5

In October 2003, Yang became the first person sent into space by the Chinese space program. This mission, Shenzhou 5, made China the third country to independently send humans into space. He is currently a vice chief designer of China Manned Space Engineering.

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