China to recruit more astronauts
China Manned Space Agency announced last week that 12 to 14 reserve astronauts will be selected, including pilots, space flight engineers and payload experts. The announcement comes as the construction of the Tiangong space station is nearing completion, with the third and final module expected to be launched in October. “In order to meet the needs of the follow-up missions of the manned space project, the selection of the fourth batch of reserve astronauts in the country has been started recently,” the space agency said. Astronauts Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuhe are already on board the station.