South Korea's first astronaut, Yi So-yeon, is set to Spat between two Koreas escalates ...
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China dust storm hits East Asia ... blast off for a mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
Ms Yi and two Russian cosmonauts will take off at 1116GMT from Kazakhstan's Baikonur centre.
The 29-year-old engineer will spend about 10 days in space and conduct a series of scientific tests.
The launch will make South Korea the sixth Asian country to put an astronaut in space.
The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) said final preparations were going well.
"Yi is in good health and we expect a successful launch of the rocket," President Paik Hong-yul said.
'Wow'
Ms Yi was chosen from about 36,000 applicants for the mission, which is costing South Korea about $20m (Ј10m).
Initially the back-up astronaut, she was moved up after Russian officials said the first-choice, 31-year-old Ko San, had broken space centre rules.
She will fly on a Russian Soyuz TMA-12 rocket alongside flight engineer Oleg Kononenko, 43, and Sergei Volkov, 34, the son of a famous Soviet cosmonaut.
At a news conference on Monday, journalists asked Ms Yi what she would do when she arrived at the ISS.
"I guess first of all I am going to shout: 'Wow!'," she replied.
She hoped that her space flight would help ease ties between the two Koreas.
"I hope someday they will be one, and I hope the North Korean people will be happy with my flight," she said.
Ms Yi is scheduled to return to Earth on 19 April with the outgoing crew of the ISS.
(BBC)
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