Yi Plays Prelude to Korea’s Rocket Projects

By Cho Jin-seo

Staff Reporter

When the Soyuz rocket zoomed into the cobalt-blue Kazakhstan sky and seemed to dissolve into a shiny spot, Jung Kum-soon, mother of Korean passenger Yi So-youn, almost fainted 1.1 kilometers away from the launching pad. At least no one dared to denounce Yi as a ``space tourist'' at the dramatic and perilous moment

But cynical responses from citizens and the media arose shortly after the spaceship safely docked at the International Space Station last Thursday, denouncing the astronaut project merely as a promotional event. Complaints dominated the Internet that the government is spending taxpayers' money buying an expensive ride from the Russians, and that all the scientific experiments Yi is conducting at the space station are meaningless, as other countries conducted them decades ago.

Nevertheless, neither Yi nor the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) seemed to be offended. Actually, such cynical reactions were exactly what they had expected in persuading people it was time to build Korea's own rocket.

``The president of KARI said that the prime objective of this mission was the promotion of science to the people of Korea,'' Yi said in an Internet video clip, which was recorded by a friend last year when she was still one of 30 candidates for the astronaut mission.

``In foreign countries, people do not have grudges in investing in science and technology. But Koreans tend to think that such investment is unnecessary, that we can always buy basic technologies and designs from Japan or Europe. We need to change that attitude. Our main objective is to show that it is worthwhile to spend money in science and in creating technology.''

Money Talks in Space Race

Though KARI's expenditure of 26 billion won in sending Yi to space may seem like a large amount, it is actually a fraction of Korea's national budget. The government has been spending more than 300 billion won (approximately $300 million) in space projects yearly, which is about 3 percent of the national R& D budget and pales compared to the $38 billion space budget of the United States and $2 billion each of Japan and France.

This year alone, South Korea allotted 200 billion won to manufacture five satellites. Some 60 billion won is being spent on building its first space rocket, KSLV-I. It is injecting another 50 billion won in finishing construction of the Naro national space center on the southwestern island of Oinarudo by this summer, where the KSLV-I will be launched in December ― the first time Korea will send its own rocket into space.

Seoul's space budget is bound to increase in coming years, according to KARI's roadmap of space exploration projects. Then, a large-size rocket is to be developed by 2017 in partnership with private companies.

KARI's ultimate goal is to send an unmanned probe to orbit the moon in 2020 and to land another on its surface in 2025, which will undoubtedly cost hundred of times the amount paid to Russia for Yi's space visit. President Lee Myung-bak pledged his support for the plan last week, saying he would shorten the time span for the moon probe project.

The ambition comes at a time when all of Asia is caught up with a number of achievements in space.

Japan launched its first lunar probe, Kaguya, last October, and China soon followed suit with its successful launching of the Chang'e 1 moon orbiter earlier this month. India is also working on a lunar satellite that will be launched this year, while Malaysians cheered when its first astronaut came home from the International Space Station late last year.

But examples from foreign countries have showed that public support is essential for space exploration projects because of their astronomical costs. Japan canceled its spaceship project, HOPE-X, in 2003, due to budget constraints and delays. The United States' contribution to the construction of the International Space Station also diminished after the explosion of Columbia space shuttle raised a negative perception of space projects among its people.

Yi, a 29-year-old female, is suitable for the job of space ambassador, said Ko San, her backup. Ko was forced to give away the honor of being the first Korean in space to Yi, after he took training materials out of the Russian facility into Korea.

``In that sense, she is the right person for the job, more than I am,'' Ko told reporters at a celebration dinner in Russia last Wednesday. ``Becoming a celebrity can be an unpleasant thing, but it seems that she is taking it very well. She will do well.''

indizio@koreatimes.co.kr