Profile
Profession: Pilot
Sex: Male
Marital Status: Married
Children: One son
Birth Date: June 21, 1965
Birth City:Suizhong, Liaoning, China
Degree: Bachelor
Affiliation: PLA Air Force
Yang Liwei, China's 38-year-old first man in space, has touched down1 on Oct 16, 2003 in Inner Mongolia2 successfully after covering more than 600,000 kilometers. This expedition into orbit3 aboard Shenzhou-5 marked the entry of China into an elite4 group, consisting only of Russia and the United States, who had the capability5 to launch6 human beings off the planet. Yang's name therefore was placed in history next to those of Yuri Gagarin and Alan Shepard.
Shenzhou-5 was launched at 9 a.m., Oct 15. When it entered orbit on schedule, the ground command center received a message sent by Yang from outer space, saying that “everything goes smoothly”. After that, Yang punctuated7 his journey with regular updates8 on his condition—variations of “I feel good”. He spoke to his wife as the Shenzhou-5 started its eighth circuit9 around the Earth, assuring her from space: “I feel very good. Don't worry.” In Shenzhou-5 a rich variety of Chinese food was supplied. Yang ate specially designed packets of shredded10 pork with garlic11 and “eight treasure” rice. Life conditions in Shenzhou-5 just are “about the same as on the earth”.
“I feel proud of my motherland,” Yang said right before boarding a helicopter12 on his way to Beijing. They are his first words after successfully landing in Inner Mongolia Thursday following a 21-hour space flight. “The spacecraft13 operated normally. I felt very good,” Yang added. And Yang also said in an interview on the China Central Television Thursday evening that “I did not see the Great Wall from space.” However, he said the Earth looked “very beautiful”.
Yang was born in June 1965 in Suizhong County of northeast China's Liaoning Province. Friends in his hometown recalled that Yang had dreamed of flying when still a child. He joined the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) in September 1983 and entered the No. 8 Aviation14 College of the PLA Air Force. Yang graduated in 1987 with the equivalent of15 a bachelor's degree. He became a fighter pilot, accumulating16 1,350 flight-hours by the time of his first spaceflight in 2003.
In January 1998, Yang was selected as a member of the group of Chinese astronauts17 set to train to fly the Project 921 (later Shenzhou spacecrafts). He was one of 14 chosen from among 1,500 pilot candidates18. The team underwent five years of rigid19 physical, psychological20 and technical training at the Astronaut Training Base in Beijing. The astronauts received lessons in aviation dynamics21, air dynamics, geophysics, meteorology, astronomy22, space navigation23, and the design principles and structure of rockets and spacecrafts. They also received systematic24 training in space flight simulators.
Yang noted the study was much more difficult than that in college. The astronauts also had to learn survival skills under extreme conditions in case their capsule25 landed anywhere on the earth, on land or sea.
On September 20, 2003 the 14 astronauts started exercising in the real Shenzhou-5 spacecraft at the Jiuquan Launch Centre. Yang was finally selected in October as one of three finalists to be the country's first astronaut.
Yang, 168 cm tall, was a lieutenant26 colonel at the time of his first spaceflight. He had an eight-year-old son. His wife, Zhang Yumei, also served in China's space program.
Yang was first identified as an astronaut in the May 2003 issue of Fliegerrevue. His was one of 12 new names listed as those of Chinese astronauts in training. The day before the scheduled launch of Shenzhou-5, China's first manned flight, he was named in the Hong Kong press as the prime crew member for the flight.
FYI (For Your Information)
Yang was preceded into space by the following astronauts either born in China or with Chinese heritage27:
William Anders (one flight, total time: 6.13 days, Apollo 8), born in Hong Kong on October 17, 1933. Certainly the first person born in China to have orbited the moon!
Shannon Lucid (five flights, total time: 223.12 days, STS-51-G, STS-34, STS-43, STS-58, STS-79), born in Shanghai on January 14, 1943. She holds the record for the most flight hours in orbit by any woman in the world.
Taylor Wang (one flight, total time: 7.01 days, STS-51-B), born in Shanghai on June 16, 1940, an American citizen since 1975.
Franklin Chang－Diaz (six flights, total time: 52.91 days, STS-61-C, STS-34, STS-46, STS-60, STS-75, STS-91) born in Costa Rica 1950, with some Chinese ancestors28.
Edward Lu (two flights, total time: 21.02 days, STS-84, STS-106), born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1963.
职业：飞行员
性别：男
婚姻状况：已婚
儿女：育有一子
出生日期：1965年6月21日
出生地：中国辽宁省绥中县
学位：学士
所属单位：中国人民解放军空军
2003年10月16日中国太空第一人、38岁的杨利伟在遨游太空60多万公里后在内蒙古中部成功着陆。此次神舟5号载人飞船进入太空轨道标志着中国加入了“精英集团”——之前具有载人航天能力的国家只有俄罗斯和美国。杨利伟的名字也因此继尤里·加加林和阿兰·谢泼德之后载入史册。
神舟5号于10月15日上午9时发射升空。当飞船按计划进入预定轨道时，地面指挥中心收到了杨利伟发自太空的信息，称“一切顺利”。此后，杨利伟不断发回有关他的最新情况诸如“感觉良好”之类的话。神舟5号环绕地球飞行第八圈时，杨利伟与妻子通了电话。他从太空宽慰妻子，“我感觉很好，别担心。”神舟5号飞船备有品种多样的中国食品。杨利伟吃的是特别包装的鱼香肉丝和八宝饭。神舟5号舱内生活与“地球上差不多”。
“我为祖国感到骄傲!”杨利伟在登上飞往北京的直升飞机前说道。这也是他经过21小时太空飞行，于星期四成功降落在内蒙古后说的第一句话。杨利伟还说：“飞船运行正常,我感觉很好。”杨利伟星期四晚上接受中国中央电视台采访时说，“我在太空没有看到长城。”不过，他说地球看上去“非常美丽”。
1965年6月，杨利伟出生于中国东北辽宁省绥中县。朋友们回忆说，杨利伟从小就梦想当飞行员。他于1983年9月参军，就读于中国人民解放军空军第八飞行学院。1987年毕业，获得学士学位。之后，他成为一名战斗机飞行员，2003年第一次太空飞行前已累计飞行1，350小时。
1998年1月，杨利伟被选拔为中国首批航天员中的一员，受训飞行921项目（即后来的神舟号系列飞船）。他是从1，500名飞行员候选人中选拔出的14人之一。这批航天员在位于北京的航天员训练中心接受了极为严格的身体、心理及技术训练。他们学习了航空力学、空气力学、地球物理学、气象学、天文学、太空航行等课程，还学习了火箭和飞船的设计原理与结构，并在模拟飞船中接受了系统的训练。
杨利伟指出，这些学习内容比大学课程难得多。航天员还必须学习在极端条件下的逃生技巧，以防密封舱返回地球时，着陆于地面或海洋之类的任何地方。
2003年9月20日，14名宇航员在酒泉发射中心实实在在的神舟5号上开始训练。杨利伟于10月最终被选拔为首批飞行的三名宇航员之一。
杨利伟身高168厘米，执行首次太空飞行时为中校军衔。他有一个八岁的儿子。妻子张玉梅也在为中国太空计划效力。
杨利伟首次被认定为宇航员是在2003年5月号的德语《飞行》杂志上，为12名受训的新宇航员之一。中国首次载人飞行的神舟5号发射前一天，香港媒体称杨利伟是此次飞行的主要人选。
资料
在杨利伟之前，已有以下出生在中国或有中国血统的宇航员进入太空：
威廉·安德斯（一次飞行，总时间：6.13天，乘坐阿波罗8号飞船），1933年10月17日出生于香港。当属中国出生、做环月飞行的第一人！
香侬·露西德（五次飞行， 总时间：223.12天，分别乘坐STS-51-G，STS-34，STS-43，STS-58，STS-79飞船），1943年1月14日出生于上海。迄今为止仍然保持着女性在太空轨道逗留时间最长的记录。
泰勒·王，即王赣骏（一次飞行，总时间：7.01天，乘坐STS-51-B飞船），1940年6月16日出生于上海，1975年加入美国籍。
富兰克林·张·迪亚兹，即张福林（六次飞行，总时间：52.91天，分别乘坐STS-61-C，STS-34，STS-46，STS-60，STS-75，STS-91飞船），1950年出生于哥斯达黎加，祖辈有中国血统。
爱德华·卢，即卢杰（两次飞行，总时间：21.02天，分别乘坐STS-84, STS-106飞船），1963年出生于马萨诸塞州的斯普林菲尔德。
1． touch down 着陆
2． Mongolia n． 蒙古
3． orbit n． 轨道
4． elite n． 精英
5． capability n． 能力；能做某事的素质
6． launch v． 发射
7． punctuate v． 不时打断
8． update n． 最新消息
9． circuit n． 圈
10． shred v． 切碎
11． garlic n． 大蒜
12． helicopter n． 直升机
13． spacecraft n． 太空船
14． aviation n． 航空；航空学
15． equivalent n． 相等的事物
16． accumulate v． 累积
17． astronaut n． 宇航员；太空人
18． candidate n． 候选人
19． rigid adj． 严格的
20． psychological adj． 心理（上）的
21． dynamics n． 力学
22． geophysics n． 地球物理学 meteorology n．气象学 astronomy [?藜?謖str?蘅n?藜mi] n． 天文学
23． navigation n． 航海，航行
24． systematic adj． 系统的
25． capsule n． 太空舱
26． lieutenant colonel （空军）中校
27． heritage n． 文化遗产
28． ancestor n． 祖先