Training process for China's female astronaut candidates

It becomes concerned topics for the whole nation and various countries in the world that when China's woman astronaut will fly to outer space after Yang Liwei flies to the outer space successfully which has made the whole nation rouse. NASA and the European Space program have had female astronauts flying to outer space as soon as male astronauts have made the journey successfully.

Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova, the first female astronaut in the Soviet Union, blasted into outer space on June 16th, 1963.

The Chinese Air Force has trained 300 female astronauts since 1951 and women from the fifth, sixth and seventh training groups are still flying. The most recent group trained has an average age of 27. So the responsibility will fall on the shoulders of those being trained in the eighth group.

Trainees in the eighth group entered the Chinese People's Liberty Army Air Force Aviation University to study and receive training on July 15th, 2005.

The process of selection for China's female astronauts in continuous, and the 35 female pilot trainees of the eighth group will be the focus.

Training begins in cold weather

The training starts in during a cold winter in Changchun, the capital city of Jilin Province in the north-east.

The daily three kilometer run is extremely difficult for the trainees, who have only just entered the military academy. However, in order to become a female pilot, these girls must complete the required training.

Not all people are up to the three kilometer run, perhaps least of all these girls who have just graduated from middle school.

Zhang Bo, the monitor of the female trainee pilot team, makes little of boring actions such as standing to attention and standing at ease. She focuses on the fact that she has "come to be trained as a pilot or an astronaut".

The trainees each have their own strengths. Tao Jiali is a second-grade athlete from Sichuan Province. Gong Lu was a member of the Little Swan Dance Art Group of Xianyang, a city in Shaanxi Province, at the age of eight. Liu Xin, Wang Lu and Pan Jiesi are respectively the fellow student in charge of learning affairs, the fellow student in charge of publicity affairs and the fellow student in charge of literature affairs in their senior middle schools. Zhou Jing scored 120 in the English section of the National College Entrance Examination. Li Xiaonan, Wang Xin and Yu Xu can talk with anybody in a relaxed and unhurried manner.

These girls must motivate themselves to perform at the standard of an astronaut every day, in every class and every time they train.

Elementary education and training

The trainees must finish complete their tertiary studies, their physical and parachuting training at this stage.

To broaden trainees' knowledge, the school has six additional subjects including English and Micro-computing.

Physical training takes place behind closed doors for the first six weeks, and in this time they practice formations and train on gymnastic apparatus. On average, each person wears out three pairs of sports shoes during this period.

In parachute training, the trainees must jump from a two-meter high diving platform several hundred times a day.

Who will be eliminated in the selection process?

Trainees who pass the first stage can begin substantive flight training.

Anyone who is learns slowly, behaves badly, fails to pay attention, who is nervous and timid in a fight or who shows signs of physical weakness will be eliminated.

The examination committee of the college will test trainees on political theory, aviation theory and their knowledge of flight technology. They will also consider their physical abilities, attitude and discipline. A trainee who passes inspection and delivers a sound thesis is awarded a bachelor's degree.

By People's Daily Online