Happy birthday, Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut!

Yang Liwei, born June 21, 1965 in the Liaoning province of China, is the first person sent into space by the Chinese space program. He was launched on October 15, 2003 in Shenzhou 5 spacecraft, making China the third country to send humans into space independently.

Although he was the first Chinese citizen in space, he is the second Chinese astronaut.  Taylor Wang, born in Shanghai flew on Challenger (STS-51-B) in April 1985, but had become a U.S. citizen in 1975.

He was promoted to Major General in 2008 and has not been in space since.

Shenzhou 6, China's 2nd manned mission to space, launched 2005

Shenzhou 6, China's second manned mission to space, launched October 12, 2005, just three days prior to the second anniversary of the launch of their first mission, Shenzhou 5.  Astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng spent 5 days in space, conducting science experiments. Nie Haisheng celebrated his 41st birthday in space.

First Chinese Astronaut Lt. Col. Yang Liwei, launched in Shenzhou 5 2003

China became the third nation to send a man into space on October 15, 2003.  Lieutenant Colonel Yang Liwei took off in Long March CZ-2F rocket in the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft.  Liwei completed 14 orbits in about 21 hours.