Photo: CDM via Chinese Press

In the process of selecting three Taikonauts, China has announced its put two “flawless” women up for final selection in an upcoming space mission.China defence Mashup (CDM) reports the rigorous selection for the women was magnified under the “flawless” criteria. The women were required “to be married, to have given birth naturally and to neither have decayed teeth nor scars.”



The two could be the first female Chinese astronauts, and if selected will fly the Shenzhou-9 mission slated for summer 2012.

From CDM:

“Out of seven candidates, three Chinese astronauts, also known as Taikonauts, will be finalised for the space mission,” Li Wei, deputy designer for spacecraft systems with the China Aerospace and Technology Corporation said. Shenzhou-9 will manually dock with China’s experimental space station Tiangong -1, which is currently orbiting the Earth.

The two women astronauts, whose identity will be released before the launch, were selected from 15 women who were married and had given birth naturally, Space International magazine under the China Academy of Space Technology said. “They were also required to have no scars or body odour,” it added. Pang Zhihao, deputy editor-in-chief of the magazine, said the women could not have decayed teeth “as it might cause great trouble or a disaster in space.” Pang said a scar might open and start bleeding in space and the cramped conditions would intensify body odour.

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