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Shenzhou 7 commander Zhai Zhigang is touted as most likely to carry
out the spacewalk. All three astronauts are 42-year-old fighter
pilots with more than 1,000 hours of flying time. China's last manned mission, Shenzhou 6, came in 2005, two years after
the country first put a person into orbit. The chief designer of the Shenzhou spacecraft said Friday that China's
space program would speed up production of the next generation of Shenzhou
craft, indicating that the country's 16-year-old manned spaceflight program
was gathering pace. Zhang Bainan offered no numbers, but said the spacecraft would be used to
transport astronauts and cargo to a future Chinese space station. Zhang said
other countries might be offered space on the craft. Ramped-up production of the three-module Shenzhou, based loosely on
Russia's Soyuz capsule, also points to a need for more astronauts beyond the
14-member corps now trained. To meet the demand, a new round of astronaut selection will be held using
revised standards following completion of this year's mission, Chen
Shanguang, director of the China Astronaut Research and Training Center, was
quoted as saying by the Communist Party's China Youth Daily newspaper.
Officials are drafting specific criteria for female astronauts, although
no schedule for recruitment has been set, China's first astronaut, Yang
Liwei, now Chen's deputy, was quoted as saying. "Many standards have already been set and there has been strong support
from society as a whole," Yang said.
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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