China will soon begin training foreign astronauts to visit the Tiangong station. This is reported by the State Television of China.
Tiangong is China’s first multi-module space station designed for long-term visitation. Its mass exceeds 60 tons, and in size and general appearance it resembles the Soviet Mir station.
Chen Shangguang, official spokesman for China’s space program, said in an interview that several countries have asked China to bring their representatives to the station.
“Soon, we will begin to select candidates from these countries for joint flights to our space station, and they will be able to work with our astronauts to perform scientific tasks in space,” Chen continued.
According to the speaker, candidates will go through an initial selection process, after which they will be taken to China to learn how to operate China’s Shenzhou spacecraft, as well as life and work aboard the station.
“We also hope that foreign applicants will be able to gain some knowledge of Chinese culture because they will be on board the Chinese space station,” he added.
Earlier, the Chinese published a video of the finished Tiangong space station.
