UNIS/BIO/706
28 May 2004
Background Information on Chinese Astronaut, Yang Liwei
VIENNA 28 May (UN Information Service) -- Yang Liwei, a native of Suizhong county of Liaoning Province, is Senior Colonel of the Air Force of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of the People’s Republic of China.
Mr. Yang enrolled in the PLA in June 1983, and was selected as one of the first batches of China’s astronauts in January 1998. In a five-year training, Mr. Yang managed to complete all the necessary curricula ranging from basic theory to professional technical training, including adaptation to space environment, and passed the comprehensive evaluation test of professional techniques for astronauts with flying colours. He was subsequently selected as one member of China’s astronaut echelon to fly the first manned-spacecraft. Upon completion of the historic mission of Shenzhou V on 15 October 2003, Mr. Yang became China’s first astronaut ever sent to outerspace.
Mr. Yang was born in June 1965.
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