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 7, first Chinese EVA, launched 2008

Shenzhou 7, launched September 25, 2008, was the first mission of the Chinese Space Program to include an EVA.  Just 5 years previous, China successfully sent a man into space aboard their Shenzhou 5, Yang Liwei, in October 2003, making them the third country to enter the space race.

Shenzhou 7 launched with three crew, Commander Zhai Zhigang, Orbital Module Astronaut Liu Boming, and Descent module monitor astronaut Jing Haipeng.

On September 27,  Zhai Zhigang slipped out of the orbital module and into space.  A few minutes later Liu Boming joined him.  Their total space walk lasted about 20 minutes.

The crew returned to Earth landing safely in Inner Mongolia, September 28.

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.