China to recruit more astronauts

China will hold a third round of astronaut selection this year for 10 to 12 astronauts, including at least two women, as the country steps into a new era of space exploration, according to Yang Liwei, China’s first astronaut in space in 2003 and deputy director of China’s Manned Space Engineering Office ( CMSEO).

“The new round of the astronaut selection process will focus more on space engineering, recruiting flight engineers, payload specialists and research personnel, ” Yang said last month, the China Youth Daily reported.

He also revealed that China will conduct such a selection process every four years starting this year. He added that by 2022, China will have launched two “space station experimental capsules” where Chinese astronauts will be able to live for extended periods of time and carry out scientific experiments.

Compared to the first two rounds of selection, less emphasis will be placed on the candidates’ physical fitness and more on their mental capability, as the candidates will be required to work for long stretches in tiny spaces, which requires tenacity and patience.

China’s Tianzhou- 1 cargo spacecraft and Tiangong- 2 space lab completed their first in- orbit refueling on April 27, marking another success for the Tianzhou-1 mission.

Mastering the technique of refueling in space will help the country build a permanent space station.

China is the third country, following the US and the former Soviet Union, to master refueling in space.