Zhai Zhigang | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Zhai in 2021 | |||||||
| Native name |
翟志刚 | ||||||
| Orders | |||||||
| Rank | Major General, PLASSF | ||||||
| Personal details | |||||||
| Born |
10 October 1966 Longjiang County, Heilongjiang, China | ||||||
| Alma mater | PLA Air Force Aviation University | ||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 翟志刚 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 翟志剛 | ||||||
| |||||||
Zhai Zhigang (Chinese: 翟志刚; pinyin: Zhái Zhìgāng; born 10 October 1966) is a Chinese major general of the People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force (PLASSF) in active service as a People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps (PLAAC) taikonaut. During the Shenzhou 7 mission in 2008, he became the first Chinese citizen to carry out a spacewalk.[2] He was a People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) fighter pilot.
Air Force career[]
Zhai was born in Longjiang County, Heilongjiang Province. He enrolled at the PLA Air Force Aviation University and studied to be a fighter pilot and then as a squadron leader. Zhai became a lieutenant colonel and pilot trainer in the PLAAF after logging 1000 hours of flying time.[3]
Astronaut Corps career[]
In 1996, Zhai was selected to trial for the taikonaut program and was selected to be the first group of fourteen in 1998. He was one of three members of the final group to train for the Shenzhou 5 flight. Yang Liwei was picked for the flight, with Zhai Zhigang ranked second ahead of Nie Haisheng. Zhai was one of the six taikonauts in the final training for Shenzhou 6. The Ta Kung Pao newspaper had reported that Zhai Zhigang and Nie Haisheng were the leading pair, after having been in the final group of three for Shenzhou 5. However, Zhai had been paired with Wu Jie during training. Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng flew the flight.
Zhai, along with Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng was selected for prime crew on Shenzhou 7, with Zhai as commander, on 17 September 2008. On 25 September 2008, at 21:10 CST, they launched into space as the first three-man crew for China, China's third human spaceflight mission.[4][5] On 27 September 2008, Zhai became the first Chinese astronaut to spacewalk, completely outside the craft. Fellow crew member Liu Boming stood by at the airlock and could be seen straddling the portal. Zhai successfully completed his spacewalk at 18:25 CST.[6] Zhai wore the Chinese developed Feitian space suit, while Liu wore the Russian derived Orlan-M space suit.
Zhai was selected as commander to fly on the Shenzhou 13 alongside Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu as his second spaceflight mission to the Tiangong space station.[7] On 7 November 2021, Zhai carried out his second spacewalk alongside Wang who became China's first woman to perform a spacewalk.[8] On 26 December 2021, Zhai carried out his third spacewalk with Ye.[9]
Personal life[]
Zhai's favourite pastimes are calligraphy, dancing and gadgets. He is married to Zhang Shujing and has one son.
See also[]
- List of Chinese taikonauts
References[]
- ↑ "Zhai Zhigang - EVA experience". http://www.spacefacts.de/eva/taikonauts/english/zhai_zhigang.htm.
- ↑ https://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080916/wl_asia_afp/chinaspace[dead link] Fighter pilot to be China's first space walker: govt
- ↑ "Error: no
|title=specified when using {{Cite web}}" (in zh). http://www.022net.com/2008/9-22/444958323049928.html. - ↑ CCTV1 live telecast
- ↑ "Shenzhou VII launched for 1st spacewalk". http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-09/26/content_7060750.htm.
- ↑ CCTV4 live telecast
- ↑ "China unveils Shenzhou-13 crew for six-month space station mission". http://www.ecns.cn/news/sci-tech/2021-10-14/detail-iharvwpk8244746.shtml.
- ↑ "China's Shenzhou 13 crew takes its first spacewalk, the country's 1st by a female astronaut". Space.com. 7 November 2021. https://www.space.com/china-shenzhou-13-first-female-spacewalk.
- ↑ "Shenzhou-13 crew conducts second spacewalk of mission". Nasaspaceflight.com. 26 December 2021. https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2021/12/shenzhou-13-second-spacewalk/.
External links[]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Category:Zhai Zhigang. |
- "We want to fly higher for China: stories of Zhai Zhigang". 2003-10-22. http://english.pladaily.com.cn/english/pladaily/2003/10/22/20031022001021_MilitaryNews.html.
- Zhai Zhigang at the Encyclopedia Astronautica. Accessed 22 July 2005.
- Spacefacts biography of Zhai Zhigang
The original article can be found at Zhai Zhigang and the edit history here.