Chinese space program

Colonel Wang Yaping (born 27 January 1980) is a Chinese military pilot and astronaut. Wang was the second female astronaut selected to the People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps, and the second Chinese woman in space.

Chen Dong (simplified Chinese: 陈冬; traditional Chinese: 陳冬; pinyin: Chén Dōng; born 12 December 1978) is a Chinese pilot and astronaut selected as part of the Shenzhou program. A fighter pilot in the People's Liberation Army Air Force, he was selected to be a CNSA astronaut in 2010.

Qian Xuesen, or Hsue-Shen Tsien (Chinese: 钱学森; 11 December 1911 – 31 October 2009), was a Chinese mathematician, cyberneticist, aerospace engineer, and physicist who made significant contributions to the field of aerodynamics and established engineering cybernetics. Recruited from MIT, he joined Theodore von Kármán's group at Caltech. During WWII, he was involved in the Manhattan Project, which ultimately led to the successful development of the first atomic bomb in America. Later on, he would eventually return to China, where he would make important contributions to China's missile and space program.

Liu Yang (Chinese: 刘洋; pinyin: Liú Yáng; born October 6, 1978) is a Chinese military transport pilot and taikonaut. On June 16, 2012, Yang became the first Chinese woman in space, as a crew member of Shenzhou 9.

Jing Haipeng (simplified Chinese: 景海鹏; traditional Chinese: 景海鵬; pinyin: Jǐng Hǎipéng; born October 24, 1966) is a Chinese pilot and astronaut selected as part of the Shenzhou program. A fighter pilot in the People's Liberation Army Air Force, he was selected to be a CNSA astronaut in 1998. He is the first and currently only Chinese astronaut to have flown on three missions: Shenzhou 7, Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 11.

Zhai Zhigang (born October 10, 1966) is a major general in the People's Liberation Army Air Force and a CNSA astronaut. During the Shenzhou 7 mission in 2008, he became the first Chinese citizen to carry out a spacewalk.

Taylor Gun-Jin Wang (simplified Chinese: 王赣骏; traditional Chinese: 王贛駿; pinyin: Wáng Gànjùn; born June 16, 1940) is a Chinese American scientist and in 1985, became the first Chinese person to go into space. While an employee of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Wang was a payload specialist on the Space Shuttle Challenger mission STS-51-B.

Major general Fei Junlong (simplified Chinese: 费俊龙; traditional Chinese: 費俊龍; pinyin: Fèi Jùnlóng; born 1965) is a Chinese military pilot and an astronaut. He flew on the second manned spaceflight of the Shenzhou program.

Ye Peijian (simplified Chinese: 叶培建; traditional Chinese: 葉培建; born January 1945) is a Chinese aerospace engineer. He is the Chief Commander and Chief Designer of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program.

‹See TfM›