Health declaration of an astronaut

Ben Kwok October 05, 2022 10:17

Who doesn’t want to be a spaceman for China?

Young Hong Kong and Macau patriots are excited to learn that the China Manned Space Agency has started its recruitment process for up to 14 astronauts, including two payload specialists.

It is unlikely Beijing could find its pilots in the two small cities not particularly known for aerospace capabilities but chances are they could get a few top brasses in engineering and payload specialists, who are responsible for scientific experiments, research and tests during the space mission.

But of course, getting into the space is even more difficult than to get into Harvard or Cambridge because one has to be really outstanding and willing to make a lot of health declarations.

To win a spot in the mission, they have to complete a 15-page form available for Macau residents to be submitted from tomorrow (6th) till 27th October, according to a local news website.

Filling a 500-word testimonial detailing their career or academic achievement is just basic but there are extra conditions to be met.

For example, they are required to declare their medical history - allergy, infectious disease, surgery, vision and colour blindness - along with their family medical history.

Among them, there are 30 diseases under the personal medical history such as hypertension, asthma, cardiovascular disease.

No mention of coronavirus but it is still a very strict set of health declarations more complicated than that of the US visa entry.

Specifically, they have to declare whether they have bad habits such as addictions to smoking, alcohol, drug, internet and gambling.

For smoking, one needs to declare whether they are occasional or regular smokers and how many cigarettes they have on a daily basis.

Moreover, they have to declare their sleep quality, including serious snoring. In addition, they need to declare if they have a harmonious relationship with each family member, so as not to affect the space mission.

Last but not least, the candidates must strictly abide by the confidentiality regulations and agreements, and shall not be allowed to disclose the selection tasks and personal information of candidates to unrelated persons, and they won’t be allowed to publish relevant information on the Internet or the media without authorization.

No selfie too, I can imagine. Who says space travel is fun?

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Ben Kwok

EJ Insight writer