Koreans now down to 10 candidates, 7 men and 3 women.
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/archives/result_contents.asp?id=200611240061&query=astronautThe Ministry of Science and Technology and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute today named 10 candidates for the country's first-ever spaceman.
The 10 candidates barely made it out of 30 hopefuls in the third screening process, which included physical fitness, aptitude and situation assessments at the Republic of Korea Air Force Medical Center in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Oct. 31 - Nov. 23.
Half of them were in their 20s and another half in their 30s. Seven were males and another three females. Two were married and another eight unmarried, the ministry said.
Park Ji-young, a 23-year-old master's course student at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, was the youngest among the 10 candidates. Lee Jin-young, a 36-year-old squadron leader, was the oldest.
By occupation, there were four researchers, two master's course students, one air force combat battalion leader and one police lieutenant.
The 10 candidates are currently undergoing a three-day test at a space camp located within the SBS Ilsan-Tanhyun Studio. Camp evaluation will test candidates' abilities to control equipment, work in flight simulators and cooperate in a team.
Two hopefuls will be dropped after the camp evaluation, said the ministry, while the remaining eight will go to Russia on Dec. 3 to receive more rigorous tests at Russia's Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. Tests include performing underwater missions and riding on airplanes under the weightless condition.
The ministry and KARI will further trim the number of candidates to six on Dec. 16, and select the two finalists on Dec. 25. The Dec. 25 final screening process, which will also assess mass appeal, will be aired in real time on SBS at 18:50-20:00.
The two finalists will receive space and mission trainings at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center for a year. But only one of them will be finally chosen and ride on the Russian manned spacecraft Soyuz in April 2008. The future astronaut will travel to the International Space Station via the Soyuz capsule to conduct various tasks involving scientific experiments, residing in the Russian module of the ISS.
*10 candidates: Go San (30, unmarried, researcher at Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology), Kim Young-min (33, married, researcher at Korea Basic Science Institute), Ryu Jeong-won (33, married, chief technology officer at IT Magic Co.), Park Ji-young (23, female, master's course student at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), Yoon Seok-oh (29, unmarried, official at Hanyang University), Lee So-hyun (28, female, unmarried, researcher at the KAIST), Lee Jin-young (36, married, squadron leader at Republic of Korea Air Force), Lee Han-gyu (33, unmarried, researcher at Samsung SDI), Jang Jun-seong (25, unmarried, lieutenant at Bucheon Nambu Police Station), Choi Ah-jeong (24, female, unmarried, master's course student at Seoul National University)
