Korean authorities have selected the two finalists to become the nation’s first astronaut. Yi So-yeon, a doctoral candidate at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and Ko San, a researcher at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology.
They were picked from a shortlist of six in a one hour evaluation session on Monday evening. They were selected out of 36,206 people.
Ko and Yi will undergo a year’s training at Russia’s Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. Only one of them will then be chosen as Korea’s first astronaut to board the Russian spacecraft Soyuz in April 2008.
She or he will travel for two days to the International Space Center circling the Earth at an altitude of 350-450 km and conduct 18 scientific experiments proposed by domestic institutes and young people.
Sharing her experience, Yi said,
‘I am so grateful for those who have supported female candidates. I want to boost the self-confidence of women. I am vying to be Korea’s first astronaut. I want to offer hope to many engineers and researchers.’
Life history:
She was born in 1978 in Kwangju, studied at Kwangju Science High School, and majored in mechanics at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.
She obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Taejon-based University and presently working as a doctorate researcher in biotech systems.
She is also an advanced practitioner of taekwondo.
Choi Gi-hyuck, a senior researcher at the state-sponsored Korea Aerospace Research Institute, said,
‘Nobody knows the final results but I can say this for sure that Yi has an edge considering her outstanding performance in various tests. In particular, she was almost perfect during many trials including the zero-gravity test at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia this month.’
Personally, I would like to wish luck to Yi for her new endeavor.
