Chen Dong (taikonaut)

In this Chinese name, the family name is Chen.
Chen Dong
Born (1978-12-12) 12 December 1978 (age 46)
Luoyang, Henan, China
StatusActive
NationalityChinese
Space career
CNSA astronaut
Current occupation
Astronaut
Previous occupation
Fighter pilot
RankSenior Colonel, People's Liberation Army Aerospace Force
Time in space
214 days, 15 hours and 54 minutes[1]
SelectionChinese Group 2
Total EVAs
3
Total EVA time
15 hours, 53 minutes
MissionsShenzhou 11, Shenzhou 14
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese陈冬
Traditional Chinese陳冬
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinChén Dōng

Chen Dong (simplified Chinese: 陈冬; traditional Chinese: 陳冬; pinyin: Chén Dōng; born 12 December 1978) is a Chinese fighter pilot and taikonaut selected as part of the Shenzhou program. A fighter pilot in the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), he was selected to be a CNSA taikonaut in 2010.[2]

In December 2022, he set a new record for longest stay in space by a Chinese astronaut with a cumulative 214 days in space.

Early life and education

Chen was born in Luoyang, Henan, on 12 December 1978 from a working-class family.[3] Both his father Chen Shulin (陈树林) and mother Huang Yan (黄焱) were workers at Luoyang Copper Processing Group Material Adjustment Co., Ltd. (formerly Luoyang Copper Processing Factory), and he has an elder brother named Chen Bo (陈波).[3] He secondary studied at Luoyang Copper Processing Factory High School (now Jinghua Campus of Luoyang Second High School).[3]

He was a graduate of the PLAAF Changchun Flight Academy (now PLAAF Aviation University),[4] and holds a master's degree in engineering from Xi'an Jiaotong University.[5]

Military career

He joined the PLAAF in August 1997, eventually achieving the rank of Colonel.[6] He was promoted to Senior Colonel in 2022.[7]

Astronaut career

Chen was selected for the second batch for Chinese astronauts in 2009 when he was a combat aircraft pilot. He was interviewed by Yang Liwei.

Shenzhou 11

He was selected to fly on the Shenzhou 11 mission in October 2016 with astronaut Jing Haipeng.[8] The two underwent more than 3,000 hours of training before the launch of the spacecraft. On 17 October 2016 at 07:30 local time (23:30 GMT on 16 October), Chen lifted off with Shenzhou 11 for a 33-day space mission to the Tiangong-2 space station as his first spaceflight, launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center using a Long March 2F launch rocket.[9] The crew landed successfully after the 33 day mission on 18 November 2016, marking China's longest manned space flight to date.[10] The reentry module of the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft landed in Inner Mongolia around 2.15 p.m (China time) after detaching from the space lab on 17 November.[11]

Shenzhou 14

On June 5, 2022, Chen launched about aboard Shenzhou 14 to the Tiangong space station for a mission and stay to last about 6 months.[12] He has completed three spacewalks during the mission.

Awards

For his achievements on the Shenzhou 11 mission, Chen was awarded the Spaceflight Merit Medal (Third Class) along with the honorary title of "hero astronaut" on 26 December 2016 by the Central Military Commission.[13]

Personal life

Chen married Wang Xiaoyan (汪晓燕) in 2005 and has twin sons.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Biographies of Taikonauts (yuhangyuans)". spacefacts. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  2. ^ 王建芬. "Astronaut Chen Dong: From naughty boy to inspiration". Chinadaily.
  3. ^ a b c d Zhan Kang (占康) (2002). 陈冬：第二批航天员中的首位指令长 [Chen Dong: the First Commander in the Second Batch of Astronauts]. Celebrities' Biographies (in Chinese). 602. Zhengzhou, Henan: Henan Literature and Art Publishing House: 6–11. ISSN 1002-6282.
  4. ^ "航天旅程丨神舟十四号出征在即！44岁的陈冬成"最年轻乘组"指令长" (in Simplified Chinese). Xinhua News Agency. 2022-06-05. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  5. ^ "【治国理政新实践•陕西篇】陕西骄傲："神舟十一号"两航天员均为西安交大学子". CN West News. Archived from the original on 2017-11-13. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
  6. ^ "陈冬：六年磨砺 一朝飞天-新华网". Retrieved 2017-11-13.
  7. ^ "陈冬同志简历" (in Simplified Chinese). Xinhua News Agency. 2022-06-04. Archived from the original on 2022-06-08. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  8. ^ 李江雪. ""神十一"航天员公布：景海鹏 陈冬_央广网". news.cnr.cn (in Chinese (China)). Retrieved 2017-11-13.
  9. ^ "China's Shenzhou 11 blasts off on space station mission". BBC News. 16 October 2016. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
  10. ^ "太空征戰33天 太空人景海鵬、陳冬凱旋 - 香港文匯網". news.wenweipo.com (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 2017-11-13.
  11. ^ James Griffiths (18 November 2016). "Shenzhou-11 astronauts return home after China's longest-ever space mission". CNN. Retrieved 2016-11-18.
  12. ^ Helen Regan and Yong Xiong (June 5, 2022). "China launches third crewed mission to new space station". CNN. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
  13. ^ "中共中央 国务院 中央军委 关于给景海鹏颁发"一级航天功勋奖章"授予陈冬"英雄航天员"荣誉称号并颁发"三级航天功勋奖章"的决定-新华网". news.xinhuanet.com. Archived from the original on November 14, 2017. Retrieved 2017-11-13.



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