International Law

My Application to the China Space Program Does Not Look Promising

By Stan

I had such high hopes for blasting into space as a Taikonaut, but it looks like it ain’t gonna happen.

No scars, no history of serious illness in the last three generations of your family, and no tooth cavities.

These are amongst the 100 health requirements for would-be astronauts vying to be part of China’s next space team, the Yangtse Evening Paper reported on Saturday.

The selection process, which the paper said is for the second batch of Chinese astronauts, will disqualify those who have runny noses, ringworm, drug allergies or bad breath.

“The bad smell would affect their fellow colleagues in a narrow space,” said Shi Bing Bing, an official with the 454th hospital of People’s Liberation Army air force based in Nanjing, one of the six astronaut health screening hospitals.

Aside from the physical requirements of the job, the candidate must also possess a pleasant and adaptable disposition, the paper said. [Reuters]

I haven’t gone through the entire list, but based on the factors listed above, well, damn. Just going by serious illnesses in my family over the past three generations, I and probably everyone in a five-block radius from my apartment just on the basis of geographical proximity are disqualified right at the outset.

At least I don’t have ringworm (that I know of). Other than that, it’s pretty grim all the way around.

You have to admit, though, that it’s a difficult set of requirements. Just based on bad breath alone, every single taxi driver in Beijing is out of the running. And requiring a pleasant disposition? That narrows the field considerably.

I’d like to see where these kind, nice smelling, healthy specimens actually come from. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before. That being said, I do tend to hang out with a lot of cranky, stinky lawyers.

© Stan for China Hearsay, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us

Full post as published by China Hearsay on August 03, 2009 (boomark / email).