03 August,2009 08:53 AM IST | | Agencies
Bad breath is enough to fail the test to enter China's manned space programme, state media said on Sunday but the final green light for blast-off is given by the hopeful astronaut's wife.
China only wants to send the best of the best into orbit, meaning unfortunate personal smell is sufficient reason to get disqualified right away.
"Bad body odour will affect the colleagues in the narrow confines of a space shuttle," said Shi Binbin, a doctor with the 454th Air Force Hospital in Nanjing.
A runny nose is also a definite obstacle to joining China's space race for much the same reason.
The hospital recently completed a rigorous first screening of candidates.
Discarded early in the process were those with scars as they may burst open in the extreme conditions in space.
But the biggest hurdle may yet lie ahead as any prospective astronaut's wife will have the final say.
If she does not like the idea of her husband going into space, he will not be allowed to enter the programme no matter how he has performed.
