Budding Space Program Wants Female Astronauts

It took the combined efforts of the world's most populace country to put a Chinese man into space last year, but it took a proposal by the Chinese All-Women's Federation to get a woman into the program.

China joined the space race last October when Taikonaut (that's what China calls its astronauts) Yang Liwei spent 21.5 hours in Earth orbit. China has since announced it will step up its space efforts to include 10 satellite launches this year and the eventual launch of a manned space station.

But as for women in space, there's no indication beyond acceptance of the All-Women's Federation proposal that Chinese women will travel into the Great Beyond anytime soon. In fact, Chinese officials say they'll have to modify their spacecraft design to accommodate women. There's no indication what that means in terms of spacecraft changes or time to completion.

China's state news agency, Xinhua, says 14 candidates are training for the country's next space mission, which could happen early next year.

FMI: www.cnsa.gov.cn