China will soon begin training foreign astronauts to visit the Tiangong station. This was reported by Chinese Public Television.
Tiangong is China’s first multi-module space station designed for long-term visitation. Its mass exceeds 60 tons, in size and general appearance it resembles the Soviet Mir station.
Chen Shangguang, the official spokesperson for China’s space program, said in an interview that many countries have asked China to bring their representatives to the station.
“Soon we will start selecting candidates from these countries for joint flights to our space station, and they will be able to work with our astronauts to perform scientific missions in space,” said Chen.
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 and to live and work on the station.
“We also hope that foreign applicants will be able to learn a little about Chinese culture as they will be on the Chinese space station,” he added.
previously in Chinese published Video of the completed Tiangong space station.