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Astronauts must be 'super human'

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-08-03 13:34

Future Chinese astronauts must be close to perfection to meet the standards set for the men and women who will lead China into outer space.

They have to be scar-free from head to toe, have no history of serious illnesses and don’t have bad breath or dental cavities.

Officials from the No 454 Hospital of the People's Liberation Army in Nanjing, said over the weekend they had already completed opening tests for such candidates to carry out the country's future space missions.

The hospital is one of five medical institutions across the country conducting the second round of tests.

An employee of the No 454 Hospital who did not want to be named told China Daily yesterday about 100 hopefuls from the Nanjing Military Area, all of whom are fighter plane pilots with college degrees, are competing to become China’s future astronauts.

These 100 candidates will also be put through about 100 tests that push them to their mental and physical limits before they can go to the next round.

The requirements help ensure they will be able to deal with the tough, zero-gravity environment of space, said Shi Binbin, director of the department of air logistics at the No 454 Hospital.

"Scars on the body, for example, might burst and bleed when spaceships are accelerating," he said.

"The candidates who go through all the tests and meet all the requirements can really be called super-human beings," Shi said.

About the broadcaster:

Siberian-born Kristina Koveshnikova is a freelance journalist from New Zealand who has worked in print, television and film. After completing a BCS degree majoring in journalism, she won an Asia NZ Foundation/Pacific Media Centre award to work for China Daily website. Kristina previously did internships at ABC 7 News in Washington DC and TVNZ in New Zealand and has written for a number of publications, including The New Zealand Herald and East & Bays Courier.