Space Hero: China\'s First Man In Space

China’s manned space programme was launched in 1992. Only two countries, the Soviet Union and the United States, had successfully launched a man into space, and China was determined to be the third. The space programme was conducted in secrecy. So great was the secrecy that the name of the first astronaut wasn’t made public until after he was in orbit. Yang Liwei stepped into the capsule as an unknown pilot. When he came back to Earth 14 orbits later he had become China’s first space hero.