Zhai Zhigang
Zhai Zhigang (; born 11 October 1966) is a Chinese major general of the People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force (PLASSF) in active service as a People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps (PLAAC) taikonaut. During the Shenzhou 7 mission in 2008, he became the first Chinese citizen to carry out a spacewalk. He was a People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) fighter pilot. Early life and education Zhai was born in a rural village on 11 October 1966. He is the youngest of six children. He attended Longjiang County No. 2 High School. He enrolled at the PLA Air Force Aviation University and studied to be a fighter pilot and then as a squadron leader. Air Force career Zhai became a lieutenant colonel and pilot trainer in the PLAAF after logging 1000 hours of flying time. Astronaut Corps career In 1996, Zhai was selected as a candidate for the taikonaut program and was selected to be the first group of fourteen in 1998. He was one of three members of the final group ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Zhai
Zhai is the Standard Chinese, Mandarin pinyin romanization of the Chinese surname written in Chinese character. It is romanized Chai in Wade–Giles, and Chak in Cantonese. It is listed 292nd in the Song dynasty Chinese classics, classic text ''Hundred Family Surnames''. As of 2008, it is the 120th most common surname in China, shared by 1.4 million people. Notable people * Zhai Huang (:zh:翟璜, 翟璜; fl. 4th century BC), Prime Minister of Marquess Wen of Wei * Zhai Fangjin (:zh:翟方進, 翟方進; died 7 AD), Prime Minister of the Han dynasty * Zhai Liao (died 391), founder of the Zhai Wei state * Zhai Zhao (died 393), son of Zhai Liao, the second and final ruler of Zhai Wei * Zhai Rang (died 617), Sui dynasty rebel leader * Zhai Wang (:zh:翟汪, 翟汪; 1877–1941), Republic of China politician, Governor of Guangdong province * Zhai Wenxuan (:zh:翟文選, 翟文選; 1878–1950), Republic of China politician, Governor of Liaoning province * Zhai Yiwo (:zh:翟一我, � ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Yang Liwei
Yang Liwei (; born 21 June 1965) is a Chinese major general, former military pilot, and former taikonaut of the People's Liberation Army. 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. Early life and education Yang Liwei was born in Suizhong County, Huludao, Liaoning. 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 (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, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Tiangong Space Station
Tiangong (), officially the ''Tiangong'' space station (), is a permanently crewed space station constructed by China and operated by China Manned Space Agency. Tiangong is a modular design, with modules docked together while in low Earth orbit, between above the surface. It is China's first long-term space station, part of the Tiangong program and the core of the "Third Step" of the China Manned Space Program; it has a pressurised volume of 340 m3 (12,000 cu ft), slightly over one third the size of the International Space Station. The space station aims to provide opportunities for space-based experiments and a platform for building capacity for scientific and technological innovation. The construction of the station is based on the experience gained from its precursors, Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2. The first module, the ''Tianhe core module, Tianhe'' ("Harmony of the Heavens") core module, was launched on 29 April 2021. This was followed by multiple crewed and uncrewed miss ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Ye Guangfu
Ye Guangfu ( zh, s=叶光富, p=Yè Guāngfù; born September 1980) is a Chinese fighter pilot and People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps (PLAAC) taikonaut selected as part of the Shenzhou program. A veteran of the Shenzhou 13 and Shenzhou 18 missions, he is the current Chinese record holder for longest spaceflight duration and the first taikonaut to spend over a year in space. Biography Ye was born in a rural village Shuangliu County, Sichuan to an ordinary family of farmers in September 1980. He has an elder sister. His father died when Ye was 8, and he helped with farm work from childhood. Ye's elementary education was at Wan'an Middle School ( zh, s=万安中学, labels=no) and secondary education at Taiping High School ( zh, s=太平中学, labels=no). Career As a People's Liberation Army Air Force pilot, Ye spent four years as an instructor and four years as a jet fighter pilot and amassed a total of 1,100 hours of flight time. He was selected to join the second b ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Wang Yaping
Wang Yaping (; born January 1980) is a Chinese military transport pilot and taikonaut. Wang was the second female taikonaut selected to the People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps, the second Chinese woman in space, and the first Chinese woman to perform a spacewalk. In April 2022, she set a new record for longest stay in space by a female Chinese astronaut with a cumulative 197 days in space. Early life Wang was born in the prefecture of Yantai, in Shandong province. Her mother and father are farmers, and she was reported to have two sisters. In September 1991, she entered junior high school in Yantai, and in 1994 entered Yantai Yizhong High School, graduating in 1997. She was admitted to the Changchun Flight College of the People's Liberation Army Air Force. Air Force career Wang joined the air force in August 1997. Wang was from the seventh batch of female military pilots in China, one of 37 members, and graduated from Aviation University and flight school in 2001 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Orlan Space Suit
270px, Cosmonaut Maksim Surayev next to two Orlan-MK models on the International Space Station image:Sharipov one.jpg, 270px, Cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov, next to the Orlan-M spacesuit The Orlan space suit () is a series of semi-rigid one-piece space suit models designed and built by NPP Zvezda. They have been used for spacewalks (EVAs) in the Russian space program, the successor to the Soviet space program, and by space programs of other countries, including NASA. History The first spacewalk using an Orlan suit took place on December 20, 1977, on the Soviet space station Salyut 6, during the Soyuz 26 mission. Yuri Romanenko and Georgi Grechko tested the Orlan-D space suit. The Orlan-DM was used for the first time on August 2, 1985, by the cosmonauts Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh of Salyut 7. The Orlan space suits were used for spacewalks on the Salyut stations, but for Mir they were replaced by the Orlan-DMA and Orlan-M suits: The Orlan-DMA was used for the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Feitian Space Suit
The Feitian space suit () is an extravehicular space suit design developed and used by the China Manned Space Program. It provides life support, environmental protection, and communications for taikonauts during extravehicular activity (EVA). The earliest Feitian space suit was used on Shenzhou 7, worn by taikonaut Zhai Zhigang during China's first-ever spacewalk on 27 September 2008. An improved version of the Feitian space suit is used aboard the Tiangong space station, with the first EVA using the updated version being on Shenzhou 12's first EVA, on 4 July 2021. As of July 2023, 13 Chinese taikonauts have completed 13 EVAs wearing Feitian space suits. Name The name ''fēi tiān'' literally and separately means "flying" and "sky" in Mandarin. It is a reference to the flying gods and goddesses ''feitian'', sometimes translated as flying apsara, in Chinese, and most famously depicted in Chinese art in the grottoes of Dunhuang. Images of the ''feitian'' from Dunhuang appear ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Human Spaceflight
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 telerobotic, remotely operated from ground stations on Earth, or Autonomous robot, autonomously, without any direct human involvement. People trained for spaceflight are called astronauts (American or other), ''cosmonauts'' (Russian), or ''taikonauts'' (Chinese); and non-professionals are referred to as spaceflight participants or ''spacefarers''. The first human in space was Soviet Union, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who launched as part of the Soviet Union's Vostok program on Cosmonautics Day, 12 April 1961 at the beginning of the Space Race. On 5 May 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space, as part of Project Mercury. Humans traveled to the Moon nine times between 1968 and 1972 as part of the United States' Apollo progr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Jing Haipeng
Jing Haipeng (; born 24 October 1966) is a major general of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF) in active service as a vice-commander of the 82nd Group Army. A fighter pilot in the PLA Air Force (PLAAF), he was selected to be a PLA Astronaut Corps (PLAAC) astronaut in 1998. He was the first Chinese astronaut to have flown on more than one mission and remains the only one to have flown on four (Shenzhou 7, Shenzhou 9, Shenzhou 11, Shenzhou 16). He also held the Chinese record for longest time spent in space from 2016 to 2021 (47 days) and again from 2023 (201 days), until his record was overtaken by Tang Hongbo in February 2024. Career Jing was one of the six trainees for the Shenzhou 6 mission. Shenzhou 7 Jing, along with Liu Boming and Zhai Zhigang were selected for the prime crew on Shenzhou 7 on 17 September 2008. On 25 September 2008, at 21:10 CST, they launched into space as the first three-man crew for China aboard China's third human spacef ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Liu Boming (astronaut)
Liu Boming (; born 17 September 1966) is a major general in the Chinese People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force (PLASSF). A fighter pilot in the People's Liberation Army Air Force, PLA Air Force (PLAAF), he was selected into the People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps, PLA Astronaut Corps (PLAAC) in 1998. A Shenzhou 7 veteran, he also worked on the Tiangong space station during the Shenzhou 12 mission from June to September 2021. With a combined total of three EVA's performed, he spent some 13 hours walking in space which is currently the record by a Chinese astronaut. Astronaut Corps career Liu, along with Zhai Zhigang and Jing Haipeng, was chosen to be the main crew of Shenzhou 7, with Zhai as commander, on 17 September 2008. On 25 September, at 21:10 CST, they launched into space as China's third human spaceflight mission, and the first Chinese mission ever to have a three-man crew. Liu and Zhai participated in China's first-ever Extra-vehicular activity, space w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Fei Junlong
Major general Fei Junlong (; born 5 May 1965) is a Chinese military pilot and taikonaut. He was the commander of Shenzhou 6, the second crewed spaceflight of China's space program, and was selected as commander for the Shenzhou 15 mission to the Tiangong space station. Early life He was born in a rural village in Kunshan, Jiangsu province of China to a family of farmers and was recruited from high school by the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) in 1982 at the age of 17. He graduated with excellent marks from the PLAAF's No. 9 Aviation School, the Changchun No.1 Flight College of the PLA Air Force and Flight Training School of the Air Force. In the PLAAF, he was a pilot, flight trainer and flight technology inspector. Spaceflight career Fei was selected for the CNSA astronaut program in 1998. He was in the final five selected for China's first crewed space flight, Shenzhou 5. He was the commander on the Shenzhou 6 flight that launched October 12, 2005, with Nie H ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Wu Jie
Wu Jie () is a Chinese military pilot and taikonaut selected as part of the Shenzhou program. Biography Wu Jie was born in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China. In 1987 he graduated from the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Engineering College and later the PLAAF Flight College. A fighter pilot in the PLAAF, he had accumulated 1100 flight-hours. In November 1996, Li Qinglong and Wu Jie started training at the Russian Yuri Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center. Along with the 12 candidates selected in 1998, they formed Group 1 of the People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps. Before the flight of Shenzhou 5 it was thought that he or Li Qinglong would fly the mission, that was eventually flown by Yang Liwei. Wu was then one of the six astronauts in the final training for Shenzhou 6. Wu Jie retired from the Astronaut Corps in 2014. References External links Wu Jieat the Encyclopedia Astronautica The ''Encyclopedia Astronautica'' is a reference web site on Spac ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |