Chinese space officials have narrowed the second round of taikonaut selection down to 45 air force pilots, seven of which may likely fly to space and include at least two Chinese females. "It is the first time women have been up for selection in China's space development cause," one of China's space experts noted in a recent interview with ChinaView.The 45 men and women now under review to become bona fide taikonauts are between the ages 27 and 34, members of the People's Liberation Army air force, and hold college degrees. The vetting process will continue to narrow the group of 45 to 7 following extensive physiological and psychological tests to undertake stays in space and at a space lab.
China selected 14 taikonauts years ago and from among them six have now flown to space including the now famous taikonaut Yang Liwei aboard the Shenzhou-5 in 2003, followed by two taikonauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng aboard the Shenzhou-6 in 2005, and more recently three taikonauts - Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng - aboard Shenzhou-7 in 2008 whereupon the first Chinese spacewalk was conducted.
A Chinese space lab is expected to be launched in late 2010 foloowed by the robot capusle of Shenzhou-8 to perform the first Chinese on-orbit docking in 2011. Shenzhou-9 is also expected to dock with the unmanned space module that year carrying taikonauts selected from the original 14 taikonauts. The first female taikonaut is not expected to fly until 2012.
China has the ambition of landing human taikonauts on the Moon by 2020.
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