By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter
Every second counts for South Korea's first astronaut during her nine-day stay at the International Space Station. Saturday and Sunday were no exception.
Yi So-yeon, who arrived at the orbital station Thursday night, spent the weekend conducting various experiments and communicating with people on the ground. The tight schedule allowed her to spare only five minutes for a conversation with President Lee Myung-bak on Saturday, and 10 minutes for reporters on Sunday.
``The Earth looks so blue, beautiful, idle and peaceful. It makes me regret the way I have lived there, always competing with others,'' she told reporters via radio transmission. ``There is no nationality in space, since we must cooperate in order to survive. I believe it is the same on Earth. I wish we can all live in peace and harmony on it, too.''
While in Space, Yi will conduct 18 experiments for scientific and educational purposes. TV and radio interviews and other promotional events are also an important part of her mission.
On Saturday night, she promoted Korean food to fellow crew members from Russia and the United States.
``Instant noodle, kimchi and gochujang (red pepper paste) were particularly popular,'' she said. ``I'm not sure whether Korean food will be staple food in space, but it did have a good reception here.''
She begins her day at 6:30 a.m., Greenwich Mean Time, which is 3:30 p.m. in Korea. Her schedule is compactly organized by the minute, and she only has about three hours of free time every day before going to bed at 9:40 p.m.
Conducting experiments is a familiar task for Yi, who just earned her Ph.D. in bio science from Korea's top technology school KAIST in February. Pictures taken by fellow crewmembers showed her wearing jeans and a red sweater while working with complicated equipment.
South Korea is spending some 30 billion won (approximately $30 million) on Yi's mission, including a 5-billion won sponsorship from SBS, which acquired exclusive broadcasting rights. About 20 billion won is being paid to the Russian space authorities for the 12-day trip as well as the training of two astronauts, while the rest was spent on domestic processes and promotion events.
In the conversation with President Lee, which was broadcast live, Yi said that her project can help raise public awareness on the importance of space science. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute is preparing for the launch of an unmanned space rocket this December, which was partly built by Korean engineers.
The space agency also has the goal of sending a moon probe by 2020, and hopes that the publicity from the astronaut project can help it win the necessary budget. Listening to Yi's explanation, President Lee said that he will try to shorten the time-span for that project.
However, not every Korean is as serious as Lee and Yi about Korea's space dream.
During Sunday's brief transmission to Seoul, a reporter from Yonhap news agency baffled Yi by asking her to name a TV star who she wants to travel the space with. ``None. But I wish I could have a buddy who can do experiments with me,'' she answered.
The reporter from Korea's dominant news agency then asked Yi to sing ``Fly to the moon,'' a jazz classic, which Yi reluctantly did.
Fortunately for the astronaut, the verbal torture ended as transmission went off right after the reporter's final question: ``How will you respond when an ET appears outside your window?''