Liu Yang (taikonaut) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Liu Yang
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Liu in 2013
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| Born | October 6, 1978 Zhengzhou, Henan, China
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| Status | Active |
| Space career | |
| PLAAC Taikonaut | |
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Previous occupation
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Military transport pilot, PLAAF |
| Rank | Senior Colonel, PLASSF |
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Time in space
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195 days, 0 hours and 50 minutes |
| Selection | Chinese Group 2 |
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Total EVAs
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1 |
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Total EVA time
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6 hours, 7 minutes |
| Missions | Shenzhou 9, Shenzhou 14 |
| Liu Yang | |||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 劉洋 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 刘洋 | ||||||||
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Liu Yang (Chinese: 刘洋; pinyin: Liú Yáng) was born on October 6, 1978. She is a Chinese military pilot and a taikonaut, which is what Chinese astronauts are called.
Liu Yang made history on June 16, 2012. On this day, she became the very first Chinese woman to travel into space. She was a crew member on the Shenzhou 9 space mission.
Contents
Early Life and Training
Liu Yang was born in Zhengzhou, a city in the Henan province of China. She was born in 1978. As a child, she dreamed of becoming a lawyer or even a bus conductor.
In 1997, Liu Yang joined the PLA Air Force, which is China's air force. She trained hard and became a skilled pilot. She flew for 1,680 hours, which is a lot of flying experience! She also became a deputy head of a flight unit.
After her time as a pilot, Liu Yang went through two years of special training to become an astronaut. She did very well in all her tests. She was chosen along with another woman, Wang Yaping, to join China's astronaut team.
Space Missions
Shenzhou 9 Mission
Liu Yang was chosen for the crew of the Shenzhou 9 mission. This was a very important flight. It was the first time people flew to China's experimental space station, Tiangong 1. Her crewmates were Jing Haipeng and Liu Wang. Jing Haipeng was the first Chinese astronaut to fly to space more than once.
The Shenzhou 9 mission launched on June 16, 2012. This date was special because it was exactly 49 years after the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova, made her flight. During her time on Shenzhou 9, Liu Yang carried out important experiments related to space medicine.
Shenzhou 14 Mission
On June 5, 2022, Liu Yang went back to space aboard the Shenzhou 14 spacecraft. This mission was to the Tiangong space station, which is China's permanent space home. She stayed there for about six months.
During this mission, Liu Yang helped to build and expand the space station. On September 1, 2022, she made history again. She became the second Chinese woman to perform a spacewalk. A spacewalk is when an astronaut leaves the spacecraft to work in outer space.
Personal Life
Liu Yang is married to Zhang Hua. They have two children, a son and a daughter. Her first child was born in 2015.
People describe Liu Yang as a good speaker. She also loves to read books and enjoys cooking.
See also
