Yang Liwei

Yang Liwei is a famous pilot from China. He became a hero when he went into space. He was the first person sent up by the Chinese space program. This mission was called Shenzhou 5. It happened in October 2003. Because of this trip, China became the third country to send people into space on its own.

His journey started at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. This center is in the Gobi Desert. He sat inside a spacecraft on top of a Long March 2F rocket. The rocket launched at 09:00 CST on October 15, 2003. Two minutes after the launch, Yang felt the craft shaking. He said the vibrations felt very uncomfortable. These shakes came from the rocket itself.

Yang grew up in Suizhong County in Liaoning. His mother was a teacher and his father was an accountant. He joined the military in 1983. He went to a flight academy and graduated in 1987. Before going to space, he was a fighter pilot. He flew for 1,350 hours. He was chosen as a candidate for space flight in 1998.

During his flight, Yang did many things. He orbited the Earth 14 times. He traveled more than 600,000 km. He ate special food like Kung Pao chicken and eight treasure rice. He even slept twice for three hours each. He waved small flags for China and the United Nations. His craft landed in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia on October 16, 2003. He was in space for a total of 21 hours.

Many people and groups honored Yang for his work. He received the title of "Space Hero." Russia gave him the Gagarin medal. Even the United Nations gave him a medal for space science. People have even named things after him in space and in history. There is an asteroid called 21064 Yangliwei. There is also a fossil bird named Dalingheornis liweii.