Chinese manned spaceflight program is young… but China has huge ambitions ! Space stations, journey to the Moon and to Mars… You want to be part of the chinese space adventure ? First, make sure you fulfill the CNSA requirements.
Nationality, gender and age requirements to become a taikonaut
- You must be a chinese citizen to become a taikonaut.
- You can be either a man or a woman. But if you’re a woman, you have to be married because China “believe married women would be more physically and psychologically mature”, according to the deputy commander of China’s human spaceflight.
- During the two previous taikonaut selections, age range was between 25 to 35.
Physical and medical requirements to become a taikonaut
China is developing ambitious space programs, and also seeks for international cooperation. That’s why you must be able to spend long periods in space.
- In the previous selections, candidates had to size between 1,60m and 1,72m.
- Also, China searched for taikonaut candidates between 55 kg and 70 kg.
- China doesn’t communicate about other requirements, but of course there are advanced medical tests of all of the body. Like other space agencies, your visual acuity must be perfect and your blood pressure has to be normal.
Education to become a taikonaut
- A bachelor’s degree from college is required, but CNSA’s officials said they look for master degree in engineering or a PhD.
- Nevertheless, since the beginning of the Chinese manned spaceflight program, the best way to become a taikonaut is to be an experienced pilot of the Air Force with a University high degree.
Professional experience to become a taikonaut
- The best way to become a taikonaut is to be an experienced pilot of the Air Force (for men), or a military transport pilot (for women)
- But the taikonaut applications are now opened to people with a scientific or engineering work experience in the space industry, search entities or university
Other skills and requirements
- Spoken languages : CNSA doesn’t communicate about it, but it’s likely that you must speak chinese and english, and that speaking russian is an asset givent that China wants to increase international cooperation.
- Flying experience : during the previous selections, taikonaut candidates had to have at least 600 flight-hours experience. But it’s likely that the chinese space agency expects more, given that the taikonauts recruited in 2009 had an average of 1270 flight-hours experience.
- China doesn’t communicate about psychological requirements but patience, a positive attitude and an ability to react quickly are probably sought.
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Pictures by CNSA