Every year on 24 April, it's Space Day of China. It's a day to celebrate the country's growth in space exploration. The manned space missions (载人航天任务) are a big part of it.
What problems do astronauts face?
In space, astronauts face many problems. There is little gravity (重力) there, which affects their bodies. What's more, if something goes wrong during their mission all of a sudden, they have to work out how to fix it under huge pressure. That's why astronauts have to be smart, strong, and ready for any challenge before they can go to space.
"To make sure that Chinese astronauts complete their missions and return to the Earth safely, over 200 kinds of training are set," said Huang Weifen, the chief designer of the project. These include not only physical training but also some basic science training. So before astronauts can go to space, they train like this for at least three and a half years.
This helps them get ready for the weightless environment in space. Huang explained that astronauts wear diving suits (潜水服) that weigh more than 100 kilograms and stay underwater for six hours at a time. She said that it was quite hard. For example, Nie Haisheng even lost 2 kilograms after one underwater training exercise.
A. How are astronauts trained?
B. What is the weightless feeling?
C. Being an astronaut is cool but difficult.
D. Also, being in a tiny spaceship can make them feel stressed out.
E. One of the hardest parts of the training is the underwater training.
