Nie Haisheng

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Niè Hǎishèng
Niè Hǎishèng
Astronaut
Nationality	Chinese
Born	October 13, 1964 Zaoyang, Hubei
Other occupation	Fighter pilot
Rank	Colonel, PLAAF
Space time	4 days, 19 hours, 33 min
Selection	Chinese Group 1
Missions	Shenzhou 6
Mission insignia

Colonel Niè Hǎishèng (simplified Chinese: 聂海胜; traditional Chinese: 聶海勝) (born October 13, 1964) is a Chinese military pilot and astronaut (yuhangyuan).

[edit] Military career

Nie was born in Yangdang town of Zaoyang, Hubei Province. After graduating from high school he joined the People's Liberation Army Air Force and became a fighter pilot. During his training at the PLAAF's No. 7 Flying School he was:

Commander of a flight squadron
Deputy Commander of a group
Master navigator

Nie graduated in 1987 and continued his career in the PLAAF. He has reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

On 12 June 1989 while flying at 13,000 feet (4000 meters) his plane suffered an explosion and he lost his engine. The plane began to spin to the ground and the cabin began to heat up. Trying to regain control he waited until the plane was 1300 to 1700 feet (400 to 500 meters) before choosing to eject. For his handling of the situation he was honored with third-class merit.

[edit] Astronaut career

In 1998, he was selected for the Chinese taikonaut program and was one of three taikonauts who were part of the final group to train for the Shenzhou 5 flight, China's first manned spaceflight. Yáng Lìwěi was picked for the flight, with Zhai Zhigang ranked second ahead of Niè Hǎishèng.

Nie went into orbit, along with Fèi Jùnlóng (commander), as flight engineer of the Shenzhou 6 flight on October 12, 2005. The mission lasted just under five days.

[edit] Personal

He is married to Niè Jiélín (SC: 聂捷琳) and has an 11 year old daughter as of 2005. During the Shenzhou 6 mission he celebrated his 41st birthday in space

The asteroid 9517 Niehaisheng was named after him.