As we noted briefly earlier this week, China has selected its first female astronauts, and in doing so revealed some interesting attitudes to women.

China’s selection criteria for potential female space-trippers were explained to Xinhua by Zhang Jianqi, the former deputy commander of the China National Space Administration.

“In the selection, we had almost the same requirements on women candidates as those for men, but the only difference was that they must be married, as we believe married women would be more physically and psychologically mature,” Zhang said.

Wow.

Zhang also went on to say, according to Xinhua, that women astronauts theoretically enjoy advantages over their male counterparts in terms of endurance and circumspection. That was news to me. Although, as a woman, I must admit that we are awesome.

Yet China is also concerned about how the fragile female form will cope with spaceflight [note: the first woman to go to space was Russian Valentina Tereshkova in 1963. Female American astronauts have been flying to space since 1983. Miss Piggy was first mate in Pigs in Space on the Muppet Show from the 1970s – see video for a reminder]. “Though there is little evidence on how the space experience will affect the female constitution, we have to be extra cautious. After all, it’s unprecedented in China," Xu Xianrong, a doctor with the Air Force General Hospital is reported saying by China Daily.

There are also concerns that radiation in space will affect the fertility of the women, so another criteria is that potential female astronauts must already be mothers (Guardian). Although a number of female astronauts and cosmonauts have had children since flying in space.

The identities of the two women selected remains secret for now. They are expected to undergo a further five years of training, in the meantime China is developing its rocket capabilities.

Away from China, the Guardian is running an online poll to ask for their readers’ opinions about whether women make better astronauts than men. What do you think?