Zhai Zhigang

Name: Zhai Zhigang
Sex: Male
Birth date: October,1966
Nationality: Han
Native place: Longjiang County, Heilongjiang Province
Political background: CPC member
Educational background: Dual Bachelor’s Degree
Family members: wife Zhang Shujing, and son Zhai Tianxiong
Education: University of Culture
Resume:
Senior colonel of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and one of China’s first group of astronauts. He joined the army in June 1985 and graduated from the No.3 Flight Academy of Air Force in 1989. He served as a fighter pilot in an Aviation Corps in the PLA Air Force, and flied various kinds of flighters including J7 and J8. With his safe flight time reaching 950 hours, he was appraised as a first-grade pilot of the PLA Air Force. Now, he is a first-grade astronaut of the PLA Astronaut Corps. In the Shenzhou VII flight task carried out on September, 2008, he acted as the spaceship commander and became the first Chinese who conducted the extravehicular activity. He was awarded the title “Spaceflight Hero”.