South Korea's two astronaut candidates returned to Russia on Sunday to complete their final phase of training for next year's launch.
Ko San, a former researcher at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, and Yi So-yeon, a doctoral candidate at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science, returned to South Korea on Aug. 4 for training to conduct experiments in space.
The two candidates were taught to conduct the 18 tests that they will perform at the International Space Station (ISS), and were evaluated on proficiency.
The evaluation is part of the process that will determine which of the two will become the first South Korean national to go into space in April 2008.
The Ministry of Science and Technology said one will be picked early next month after careful assessment of scores and grades earned in the extensive training program that began earlier in the year.
The ministry said both will complete training as primary and secondary candidates. The primary candidate will go to space, while the secondary candidate will take over in case of last minute complications with the first choice.
The astronauts will go into space on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, and spend seven to eight days in orbit at the ISS.
About 36,000 South Koreans applied for the astronaut program in an open nationwide competition. Ko and Yi were picked on Dec. 25, 2006, from a short list of six people who completed rigorous testing for physical fitness, ability to perform in an emergency, general fitness for space flight and ability to interact with foreign astronauts.
South Korea will pay more than US$20 million for the training of the candidates and the flight.
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