Happy birthday, taikonaut Fei Junlong!

Chinese astronaut Fei Junlong, born May 5, 1965, has been in space twice.  

His first mission was aboard Shenzhou 6 as commander in October 2005.  The spaceflight lasted almost 5 days before he returned to Earth.

His second mission was aboard Shenzhou 15 as commander launched in November 2022 to the Tiangong space station.  Fei Junlong performed 4 EVAs during the mission.  He spent about 6 months in space before returning to Earth in June 2023.

Shenzhou 15 launched today!

Shenzhou 15 crew (L-R): Fei Junlong, Deng Quingming, Zhang Lu

China successfully launched Shenzhou 15 earlier today, its tenth manned mission of the Shenzhou program, and the fifteenth flight overall, to the Tiangong Space Station.  Its crew consists of Commander Fei Junlong, Deng Quingming, and Zhang Lu.  

They will meet with the crew of Shenzhou 14, who launched in June 2022 and plan to return in December.  The Shenzhou 15 crew is planned to conduct 3-4 EVAs, in addition to their scientific experiments and payload work.  They are scheduled to return in May 2023.