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A woman will replace the male candidate as the first Korean in space. Yi So-yeon (30) replaces Ko San (32) on a Russian spacecraft going to the international space station on April 8 after Ko twice violated training protocol. Several foreign astronauts have been replaced for health reasons at the 11th hour, but this is the first time a candidate has been replaced for breaching regulations.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in a briefing at the Gwacheon Government Complex on Monday said the ministry decided to make the switch at the request of the Russian Space Agency. A spokesman said Seoul has told Moscow of its decision. ¡°The main reason for the change is based on two consecutive violations of training protocol by Ko,¡± he added.
According to the ministry, Russian authorities found Ko in breach in September and February. On one occasion Ko sent a mission training manual to Korea with his personal belongings. Russian authorities reportedly asked Korea to replace Ko on grounds that the slightest violation of rules in space can have disastrous consequences.
Yi already began training alongside two Russian cosmonauts on Friday. "We believe that Yi will have no difficulty fulfilling her mission, considering that Ko and Yi performed equally well in the selection and training process, and they trained side by side,¡± the ministry said.
Observers speculate that Ko, as the first Korean to get this close to a space mission, was asked by authorities back home to gather information about astronaut training. According to the ministry, Ko sent the manual home by accident.
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Korean astronaut Yi So-yeon poses during a training session in Star City near Moscow March 3, 2008. /REUTERS
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Then late last month, the Russians discovered that he had borrowed a spacecraft pilot's rulebook, which had nothing to do with his mission, from a Russian cosmonaut.
The ministry says he did it ¡°because of his personal desire to study more.¡± These ¡°minor mistakes¡± resulted in his replacement, because Russian authorities judged that similar mistakes might lead to a bigger disaster if they happened in space."
But some experts suspect the government encouraged Ko to gather information. "From the beginning, the authorities have stressed the need to secure information for their independent development of manned space flight, even though the astronaut training course is not unlike a general space tourism program in terms of the amount of money or technological details involved,¡± a space expert said. ¡°This looks like the result of a formal or informal request for as much information as possible."
This was not the first time South Korea has caused security problems in its joint space development efforts with Russia. At first, Russia agreed with South Korea to jointly develop a liquid-propellant rocket engine, a key component for KSLV-I, a South Korean-made projectile that will be launched from Naro Space Center late this year. But Russia refused to transfer the technology for reasons of security regulations in the technological protection agreement.
The projectile was to have been launched in 2005, but that was postponed until late this year. The launch of the KSLV-II has also been postponed from 2010 until 2017, depending on Korea¡¯s own development schedule. This means the Naro Space Center will be closed after the scheduled launch of the KSLV-I at the end of this year until 2017.
After their return from Russia, Yi and Ko will participate in an international joint moon probe project, which will begin its mission in 2020, serving as researchers for the Korea Aerospace Research Institute. An erstwhile participant in the project said, "Any nation that has astronauts will play a leading role in this project.¡±
Many experts said no mere space tourist can fulfill duties like the moon trip.
In a reversal of roles, Ko will now serve as backup for Yi. The Soyuz rocket is scheduled for launch on April 8. On completion of their basic training on March 18, Yi and Ko will move to Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan on March 26.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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