We want
to fly higher for China: stories of Zhai Zhigang
Zhai Zhigang in training
Photo by Zhu Jiutong
Zhai Zhigang, one of China's
first 3-man team of taikonauts intended to
fly space trips, were moved to tears when
he saw his teammate rocketed into space.
Mom saw me off when
I went to fly
Zhai Zhigang was born into
a poor family in a small village in Longjiang
County, Qiqiha'er City, Heilongjiang Province.
His father was confined to bed because of
illness and the whole family was solely supported
by his mother.
Though his family lived
a very difficult life when he was young, his
illiterate mother gave her children full support
for their schooling. She said: "Even if I
have to sell off all we have, I will sent
my kids to school."
PLA Airforce Aviation Institute
was enrolling pilots! Zhai Zhigang happily
submitted his application. When his friends
and relatives rushed to tell him and his family
he was accepted, his mother was more excited
than he was. On the eve of leaving, his mother
took out a meager five-yuan bill and trusted
it into his hands. Zhai Zhigang could no longer
held back his emotions and cried with his
gray-haired mother.
In the great love of his
mother, Zhai Zhigang gradually grew from a
flying squadron leader to be a pilot trainer.
In May 1995, he met a strong sand storm when
piloting his plane. He could not see clearly
the ground swept by strong wind. However,
just by watching the panels he successfully
landed.
From a pilot to a taikonaut
In the early summer of 1996,
he received a notice to take part in medical
examinations for preliminary taikonaut selection.
He passed the first examinations and then
was asked to receive clinical examinations
at Beijing Airforce General Hospital. Then
he participate in special checkups for taikonaut.
Clinical examinations included
dozens of human organs and the special checks
bordered on the unreasonable. After several
months, few of the more than 1 000 pilots
left.
He passed all those examinations
whose results were all classified as Class
A. From a pilot to a taikonaut, he had to
learn from scratch. Only basic theoretical
training consisted of more than a dozen courses.
Conditioning drills for
space flight was very hard. However, we noticed
an interesting point in his training videos:
he always wears a smile on his face.
He became one of the
first 3-man team of taikonauts
He has a lot of hobbies
in his daily life and his colleagues commented
that he likes both peaceful and active activities.
He pratices calligraphy, likes to dance and
is a good hand at repairing broken items and
installing gadgets, which comes naturally
to him.
His wife Zhang Shujing said:
"Zhai Zhigang is a gentle husband, a lovable
father and a filial son."
When he took physical examinations
for taikonauts, his family member were also
checked. She told him that if she failed those
tests she would be willing to get divorced
from him to help him realize his dream.
In the preparation of Shenzhou
V for China's first manned space flight, he
was selected as one of the first 3-man team
of taikonauts.
Now his teammate has been
sent to space. Zhai Zhigang said: "We will
fly higher for China."
By Xi Qixin, Liu Cheng,
Wu Chuansheng, Yang Yongzhen and Fan Juwei
(October 22, PLA Daily)
