China Grooms 14 Fighter Pilots for Space

May 21, 2002
— SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China is in the final stages of grooming 14 fighter pilots for their debuts as the country's first astronauts, state media said Tuesday.

The 14 undergoing a final series of physical and technical exercises at the Beijing Space City were picked from among China's finest pilots, the Wenhui Daily quoted Shanghai Academy of Space Flight Technology researcher Liu Zongying as saying.

The first of them could be sent into space by 2005.

The 14 are on average about 30 years old and, contrary to "popular perception that they ought to be tall and strapping," all stand about 1.7 meters (5.6 ft) high and weigh in at about 50 kg (110 lb), Liu was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

That's because the spacecraft they would use, relying almost entirely on Chinese technology, might not be able to bear the weight of larger men or provide enough room inside, newspapers said.

"Unlike those in the International Space Station, Chinese astronauts won't be able to take a shower or get a haircut on the relatively small modules," Liu was quoted by the Shanghai Daily as saying.

China is doggedly pursuing an ambitious space program, hoping to realize its expensive dream of becoming the third nation to put people into space by 2005, and is determined to complete a mission to the moon by 2010, state media have said.

The country is also determined to use as much homegrown technology as possible -- from 36 square meters (387.5 sq ft) Chinese-designed solar panels to more than 20 types of food stuffed in "compressed bricks and toothpaste tubes," the Wenhui Daily said.

Each spacesuit cost more than 10 million yuan ($1.2 million) to make, the newspaper quoted Liu as saying.

Beijing spent more than two years selecting and preparing its first batch of 14 astronauts, two of whom have even been to Russia for training, the newspapers said Tuesday.

Last month, China's Shenzhou III spacecraft successfully completed the country's third unmanned space flight. It landed in Mongolia after orbiting the globe 108 times, state media said.

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