China News Service, Beijing, October 1 (Guo Chaokai, Xiao Jianjun, Deng Meng) According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, the selection of the third batch of preliminary astronauts for China’s manned space project ended a few days ago. There are 18 preliminary astronauts (including 1). Female) was finally selected, including 7 space pilots, 7 space flight engineers and 4 load experts.

  In order to meet the needs of China's space station engineering missions, the third batch of reserve astronauts added two categories of space flight engineers and load specialists based on space pilots.

Among them, aerospace pilots and aerospace flight engineers are mainly responsible for directly controlling and managing the spacecraft, as well as conducting related technical tests.

Load experts are mainly responsible for the on-orbit operation of space science experimental loads.

  Aerospace pilots are selected from the active service pilots of the Air Force, aerospace flight engineers are selected from engineering and technical personnel engaged in aerospace engineering and related fields, and load experts are selected from scientific researchers in the field of manned aerospace engineering and space science research and application.

  The selection of the third batch of reserve astronauts was launched in May 2018, and went through three stages: primary selection, re-election, and final selection.

Eighteen qualified astronauts are selected from about 2500 candidates. After systematic training, they will participate in various missions during the operation phase of the space station.

  According to the news from the China Manned Space Engineering Office, through the selection of the third batch of preliminary astronauts, the Chinese astronaut team has been continuously improved, laying an important foundation for the long-term construction of the Chinese astronaut team and the follow-up development of the space station project.

With the continuous development of China's manned space industry, the selection of subsequent batches of astronauts will be carried out in due course.

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