I don't know if you have found that in recent years, when China Aerospace is performing manned missions, many astronauts who have entered space are relatively old, for example, among the thirteen astronauts who returned to the earth some time ago, Zhai Zhigang, who served as the commander of the command, is already 55 years old.
Among the Twelve astronauts who carried out the space mission last year, the commander Nie Haisheng was 57 years old, and another team member, Liu Boming, was also 55 years old, compared with the astronauts of Western countries, they were generally around 30-40 years old, it seems that the age of Chinese astronauts is relatively old, and Yang Liwei went to heaven has been nearly 20 years ago, the first batch of astronauts on the mainland are still the main team members, and they are all after 60.
Including this year's Mainland's Shenzhou 14 and Shenzhou 15 manned missions, at least 2 of the 6 astronauts who will enter the Chinese space station will be post-60s astronauts.
So, are Chinese astronauts really "green and yellow"? Where did the young man go?
Speaking of which, in the world, the overall age of astronauts is relatively old, because before the 1960s, there was no profession of astronauts, and the earliest astronauts from various countries were also selected from the air force pilots.
Because if you want to become an excellent pilot and have the opportunity to be selected as an astronaut, the requirements for professional knowledge, physical fitness and other aspects are very high, so when selecting, a preferred condition is that you must have more than 1,000 hours of flight time, and for a pilot, when you meet this requirement, the age is almost 40 years old.
And after being selected as an astronaut, it is not immediately possible to enter space, but also needs professional training, generally also need to last for several years, so after a set of training, the first flight age of astronauts is also about 40 years old.
Take the mainland astronauts, Yang Liwei, the first generation of Chinese astronauts, they are selected in the age is also more than 30 years old, as the first person in China's spaceflight, Yang Liwei was 38 years old when he entered space, this age is placed in the international community, it is also a normal age, not too big.
Looking at the United States and other Western countries, the current optimal age for their astronauts is also around 35 to 45 years old, and this age group is exactly the average age of the second generation of continental astronauts, so the continental astronauts are not "green and yellow".
So, why are the post-60s astronauts on the mainland still the main force? Speaking of which, this is because China's aerospace started relatively late and is currently in the stage of "handing over the baton".
Because the first generation of astronauts have a wealth of experience, they will adopt the "old with the new" model when currently carrying out space missions to help the second generation of continental astronauts grow rapidly, and it will not be long before the first generation of astronauts on the mainland will be retired one after another, and the second generation of astronauts on the mainland will also become the backbone and enter their golden career.
In addition, the current average age is over 40 years old, mainly the second generation of continental astronauts after 75, the future will also be responsible for training the third generation of astronauts on the mainland, and as early as many years ago, the third generation of astronauts on the mainland has begun to recruit, and currently has a group of excellent team members, mainly for training and learning.
And considering the follow-up development of China's aerospace, in the selection of the third generation of astronauts, it is no longer limited to excellent pilots, and even some excellent, physically qualified scientific researchers are also selected, and from the perspective of age, Chinese astronauts will become younger and younger.
So, what are the selection criteria for Chinese astronauts?
First of all, in terms of physical fitness, it is required to be in good health, and there can be no scars on the body, and the age is between 25 and 35 years old, and there are strict requirements for height and weight, at the same time, the psychological quality must also be excellent, and the individual's ability to resist pressure must be very strong.
After the initial screening, it will enter the elimination stage of the initial training, at this time, at least 100 training items are waiting for the test takers, and the vast majority of people will be eliminated at this stage because the project training is not passed.
After that, there is further assessment. In addition to professional practice, there are many theoretical courses, involving more than 30 disciplines, in this process, a group of people will be eliminated, the remaining talents will officially become Chinese astronauts, after an average of about 5.5 years of professional training, there is a chance to enter space.
It can be seen from here that if you want to become a Chinese astronaut, the requirements in all aspects are very demanding, and even if you are officially selected, you will not necessarily have the opportunity to realize the space dream, for example, Deng Qingming, who has backed up many times, as the first batch of post-60s astronauts in the mainland, the final outcome of more than 20 years of employment is likely to be regretful retirement.
It is said that the selection of Chinese astronauts is the most stringent in the world, so if you want to become a Chinese astronaut, you really need to be strict with yourself from all aspects.