What the two Chinese astronauts aboard Shenzhou VI spacecraft report to their ground doctors in their ongoing space travel will be kept secret so as to protect their privacy.

Special codes will be used for the communication between the astronauts in space and the doctors on ground, said Li Yongzhi, chief doctor in charge of the medical monitoring and guarantee for the astronauts.

 

Before Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng stepped into China's second piloted spacecraft Shenzhou VI, Li had pasted a special sheet of paper onto their personal diaries, which was a questionnaire on their physical conditions.

 

For example, the questionnaire includes a question "Did you sleep well?" The astronauts only have to choose from the three answers "well, so-so, not well." Of course, the answers have been coded.

 

"Astronauts have their own privacy. We are responsible for keeping it secret for them," said Li.

 

When they return to the Earth, the two astronauts will have their space diaries packed as personal things and sent to the "Aerospace Town" in the northwestern suburbs of Beijing, Li added.

 

Li serves at the research office of medical monitoring and guarantee for astronauts, which was founded in 1994. Female experts like Li make up about half of the office's staff.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 13, 2005)