posted 09-17-2009 08:28 AM               

China finishes preliminary selection of new astronauts, one third women

The preliminary selection for candidates of China's second-batch of astronauts has finished, with candidates including 30 men and 15 women who are all air force pilots, authorities said Thursday.

Among them, five men and two women would be final candidates to join the space program.

It was the first time women had been up for selection in China's space development cause, authorities said.

The 45 candidates, with an average age of 30, would undergo another round of tests, including physiological and psychological checks, an air force official said.

He said the male candidates were fighter plane pilots and the female candidates were aero-transport pilots. All serve in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force and at least held college degrees.

Many of them had conducted important flight missions such as rescue tasks for the massive Wenchuan earthquake on May 12, 2008 in southwestern Sichuan Province, and various military drills.

The authorities said they "all master excellent flight skills and boast great psychological quality."

posted 03-17-2010 05:02 PM               

China's first two women astronauts selected

China has selected its second batch of astronauts, including five men and two women, the first time women have joined the country's space mission.

The two women astronauts, both aero-transport pilots from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force, might take part in manned docking of China's future space lab, said Zhang Jianqi, former deputy commander of the country's manned space program.

"In the selection, we had almost the same requirements on women candidates as those for men, but the only difference was that they must be married, as we believe married women would be more physically and psychologically mature," Zhang said on the sidelines of the annual parliamentary session.

He said women astronauts theoretically enjoy advantages over their male counterparts in terms of endurance and circumspection.

China selected its first batch of 14 astronauts in the middle 1990s. It has sent six astronauts into space since 2003, including astronaut Zhai Zhigang who carried out China's first outer space walk in September 2008.

China plans to launch an unmanned space module in 2011, which is regarded as an essential step toward building a space station.

posted 12-07-2011 12:53 PM               

Names of China's secret spacemen – and women – 'uncovered' by collectible

Could a collectible have just outed the names of China's second group of astronauts?

That is the conclusion reached by two international space observers, who found an offer for a postmarked envelope – or "philatelic cover," as collectors refer to it – signed by seven Chinese pilots. The group included two women, one of whom may soon become China's first female astronaut, or "taikonaut," to reach space.

posted 12-07-2011 04:22 PM               

I have already published a similar cover, including a transcript of the names, in my newsletter "Eilinformationsdienst Weltraum Philatelie" as early as 31 October 2011.

The names were equally included in the 5 October 2011 print of my Taikonaut address lists.

The cover had been provided by German space dealer Florian Noller, and it already included a transcript of the names which are listed as follows:

• Cai Xu Zhe
  
• Chen Dong
  
• Liu Yang
  
• Tang Hong Bo
  
• Wang Ya Ping
  
• Yi Guang Fu
  
• Zhang Lu

posted 12-07-2011 04:34 PM               

As such, the covers' existence alone could be seen as an error on the part of the Chinese space program (i.e. if they intended to keep the names a secret, they did not do a very good job at it).

posted 12-07-2011 05:32 PM               

In this case, Tony did so and as a result, the larger space community (outside of philatelic and autograph collectors) has a chance to read about it (the article does not only appear on collectSPACE, but also Space.com, Yahoo! News and on other news sites).

posted 12-08-2011 05:23 AM               

You now know that your phrase "as uncovered via the envelope by researchers Tony Quine and Igor Lissov." is factually wrong. Just correct your message, and mention the first published source you are now aware of.

posted 12-08-2011 10:55 AM               

I found the copy of the postal cover on Spaceflori.com on 5th December, through a routine Google search, using search parameters I had used many times before. This was the first time the item had appeared.

I instantly recognised, as a keen observer of the Chinese programme, that this was a very significant find. I shared it with Igor Lissov by e-mail as I knew he had access to Chinese speakers, and I also contacted Florian at Spaceflori to make him aware of my interest (whilst making it clear I did not wish to buy the item).

Igor was equally enthusiastic and we decided to put together a media release, in both English and Russian, explaining the significance of the item, adding a few photographs from our own collections and something of the back story to our wider research over several years. This is the basis of the story which Robert published yesterday.

We did not know, until our release was complete and ready to publish, that there was a different version of the same cover in Jürgen's newsletter, where the text merely transcribes the names but does not reflect any degree of recognition of the significance of the item. As Robert has already said, it appears that none of the recipients of the newsletter over the last two months had recognised this either.

I do not see any reason why Robert should change the way the matter was reported yesterday, or change the credit given to the various parties involved.

posted 12-10-2011 04:06 AM               

Of course it doesn't: in China as in Russia, cosmonaut/taikonaut candidates are not considered newsworthy. They become cosmonauts, newsworthy and celebrities the moment they - guess what - undertake a spaceflight. Not a minute earlier. Half of them wash out of the programme in due course anyway, never to be heard again except by some space geeks. If you fly, you are news. If you don't, forget about it.

Florian's Chinese sources even typewrote the names straight under the autographs on the cover. I assume your contacts in China equally co-operated willingly. Which immediately leads to the conclusion that there is no big secret to be uncovered, and certainly no military secret where the breach of secrecy might entail sanctions. It is just a type of information that Chinese do not care much about.

posted 12-20-2011 09:24 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by eurospace:
I have already published a similar cover, including a transcript of the names, in my newsletter "Eilinformationsdienst Weltraum Philatelie" as early as 31 October 2011.

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