Female Astronauts to Be Sent into Space on Shenzhou 10（在线收听）

China's first female astronauts could be sent into space on Shenzhou 10, which is scheduled to be launched in the coming two years.

CRI's Shuangfeng files this report from Jiuquan.

 
It has been 48 years since the first female astronaut in the world, Valentina Tereshkova of the then Soviet Union, was sent into space.

Now China is aiming to send its own first female taikonaut into space, who might go skyward onboard the Shenzhou 10 spacecraft.

Both the Shenzhou 9 and 10 are scheduled to blast into space in the next two years when they will perform two manned docking missions with the Tiangong-1, China's first space lab.

Wang Xianmin is the assistant chief designer of the mission's astronaut system.

"The female astronauts have been under regular training. They are expected to be sent into space on Shenzhou 10 at the earliest."

So far, 55 female astronauts in the world have been sent into space, most of them from the United States.

China recruited a second group of seven astronauts last year, including two women. Both of them are wives and mothers in their 30s.

They will have to train for at least three years before they can participate in manned space missions.

The two reserve spacewomen were selected earlier last year from a pool of 15 female fighter pilots.

Wang Xianmin says they have designed special devices for the female astronauts to use in space.

"Necessities for female astronauts, including those for their daily life and work, are different from those for men. We have designed special items for the spacewomen, but they are still in the developing process. Generally speaking, these items should be of Chinese characteristics and able to demonstrate the image of Chinese women astronauts."

Tiangong-1, which is set to launch late this week, will perform unmanned docking tests with Shenzhou 8 and later manned ones with Shenzhou 9 and 10.

The docking procedures will be an essential step toward China achieving its goal of establishing a manned space station around 2020.

For CRI, this is Shuangfeng in Jiuquan.