Search for China's first woman astronaut

By Chen Qian  |   2009-8-10  |     ONLINE EDITION

THE selection of China's first woman astronaut, who will be part of the country's second group of taikonauts, is underway.

She will be selected from the Air Force and be 1.65 to 1.75 meters tall, Beijing Times today quoted Yang Liwei, China's first spaceman, as saying.

But no other selection criteria have been revealed, the paper said.

The Astronaut Center of China will report on the progress of selecting the second group of taikonauts at the end of the year, said the centre's director, Chen Shanguang.

The second group will rendezvous and dock with the 8.5 ton space laboratory module called Tiangong 1 with two docking ports in the mission of Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10, Yang said.

China selected its first group of taikonauts in 1995. They are still training and Yang didn't reveal when the second group of taikonauts would make their debut.