Korean Astronaut Program
| Korean Astronaut Program | |
| Hangul | 한국 우주인 배출 사업 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 韓國宇宙人輩出事業 |
| RR | Hanguk ujuin baechul saeop |
| MR | Han'guk ujuin paech'ul saŏp |
The Korean Astronaut Program (Korean: 한국 우주인 배출 사업) was an initiative by the South Korean government to send the first Korean into space via the Russian space program. A ten day flight to the International Space Station (ISS) with astronaut Yi So-yeon occurred in 2008.
First astronaut class
On December 25, 2006, two candidates—one woman and one man—were selected by South Korea during a ceremony held at SBS television center in Dungchon-dong, Seoul. This choice was the result of a comprehensive selection process which started with the screening of 36,000 applications.[1]
- Ko San (36, male, unmarried, researcher at Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology)[2]
- Yi So-yeon (34, female, unmarried, researcher at the KAIST)[3]
Other finalists
The eight other finalists were:
- Park Ji-young (23, female, master's course student at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) [4]
- Yun Seok-oh (29, male, unmarried, official at Hanyang University) [5]
- Lee Jin-young (36, male, married, squadron leader at Republic of Korea Air Force) [6]
- Jang Joon-sung (25, male, unmarried, lieutenant at Bucheon Nambu Police Station) [7]
- Ryu Jeong-won (33, male, married, chief technology officer at IT Magic Co.) [8]
- Lee Han-gyu (33, male, unmarried, researcher at Samsung SDI) [9]
- Choi Ah-jeong (24, female, unmarried, master's course student at Seoul National University) [10]
- Kim Young-min (33, male, married, researcher at Korea Basic Science Institute) [11]
First space mission
The winning pair was sent to Russia in early 2007 to undergo a 15-month training course at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center near Moscow.
On September 5, 2007, Ko San was named as the prime candidate, whilst Yi So-yeon served as his backup.[12] However, on March 10, 2008 it was announced that the prime candidate would be changed to Yi So-yeon due to several violations of training protocol by Ko San. Ko San served as backup.[13]
On April 8, 2008 Yi So-yeon took off from the Baikonur[14] space center in Kazakhstan at 11:16 GMT aboard Soyuz TMA-12. She spent ten days conducting scientific experiments aboard the International Space Station.[15]
It cost South Korea approximately 26 billion won (US$28 million) to pay for the training and spaceflight.[16]
Post-first mission
In 2014, Yi So-yeon resigned from the program to pursue an MBA, which was incompatible with continuing as an astronaut.[17]
References
- ^ "lpage/tech/200612/kt2006122521203411810". Times.hankooki.com. Archived from the original on 2007-01-12. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
- ^ Joachim Becker. "Cosmonaut Biography: Ko San". spacefacts.de. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
- ^ Joachim Becker. "Cosmonaut Biography: Yi Soyeon". spacefacts.de. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
- ^ Joachim Becker. "Biographies of Astronaut and Cosmonaut Candidates: Ji-young Park". spacefacts.de. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
- ^ Joachim Becker. "Biographies of Astronaut and Cosmonaut Candidates: Seok-oh Yoon". spacefacts.de. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
- ^ Joachim Becker. "Biographies of Astronaut and Cosmonaut Candidates: Jin-young Lee". spacefacts.de. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
- ^ Joachim Becker. "Biographies of Astronaut and Cosmonaut Candidates: Jun-seong Jang". spacefacts.de. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
- ^ Joachim Becker. "Biographies of Astronaut and Cosmonaut Candidates: Jeong-won Ryu". spacefacts.de. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
- ^ Joachim Becker. "Biographies of Astronaut and Cosmonaut Candidates: Han-gyu Lee". spacefacts.de. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
- ^ Joachim Becker. "Biographies of Astronaut and Cosmonaut Candidates: Ah-jeong Choi". spacefacts.de. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
- ^ Joachim Becker. "Biographies of Astronaut and Cosmonaut Candidates: Young-min Kim". spacefacts.de. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
- ^ "YONHAP NEWS". english.yonhapnews.co.kr. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
- ^ "YONHAP NEWS". english.yonhapnews.co.kr. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
- ^ "BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | First S Korean astronaut launches". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
- ^ David Nowak (April 21, 2008). "Yi describes bone-jarring return to Earth". NBC News. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
- ^ Irene Klotz (January 15, 2008). "First Korean astronaut to take soil into space". Reuters. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
- ^ Brooks Hays (14 August 2014). "Yi So-yeon, Korea's first and only astronaut, resigns". UPI. SpaceDaily.