Thousands Respond to Astronaut Want Ad

“Space fever” is sweeping the nation with a flood of applicants wishing to become Korea’s first astronaut.

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) said that a total of 5,514 people applied for the astronaut selection program as of April 23 at 3:00 p.m., the third day into the start of the program. There were as many as 935 female applicants.

The head of KARI’s astronaut selection business program, Choi Ki-hyuk, didn’t rule out the possibility of Korea’s first-ever female astronaut, saying, “We won’t choose candidates based on gender, as long as they meet certain requirements.”

People can apply to become the nation’s first ever astronaut online at www.woojuro.co.kr until July 14. The KARI will decide on the final two applicants through a four-step selection process at the end of this year.

The final two hopefuls will go through a 15-month training session at Gagarin Center, Star City, Russia beginning January, 2007.

One of the final two will board the Russian spacecraft Soyuz in April, 2008, conduct a mission including science experiments at the International Space Station (ISS), and return home.

China’s first astronaut Yang Liwei, who successfully finished space travel in 2003, was hailed as a “symbol of the country and people.”

The first Brazilian astronaut Marcos Pontes, who returned on April 20 after finishing a space flight, also emerged as a national hero and expressed his plan to run for federal or state legislator this October.

Korea’s first astronaut is also expected to see his or her guarantees hike with requests pouring in from the advertising industry.

Regarding the matter, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) stated, “Considering the public service of the astronaut selection business program, we are examining a measure to prevent an astronaut from appearing in commercial advertisements for individual profits.”

Meanwhile, the MOST and the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF) will discuss plans on the astronaut selection business program and measures to secure national competitiveness in the space field at the “Korea Space Forum” on April 25.

sohyung@donga.com