by Lu Chunhua

NEW DELHI, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- "If needed, I will accept the space flight mission again," Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut in space, has said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua recently.

"Training is still one of the most important part of my daily life," Yang said in Indian southern city of Hyderabad, where the 58th International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2007) is being held from Monday to Friday.

As a delegation member of China's manned space engineering project, Yang participated in the IAC 2007.

Yang said that through contacting with other astronauts from different countries, mutual understanding between them could be strengthened, adding that he could also know more about the latest development in the fields of space technology and space exploration.

Yang made a 21-hour orbital tour aboard the Shenzhou V spacecraft in October 2003, making China the third country after the United States and the Soviet Union to achieve the feat.

After his space-faring, Yang Liwei now becomes deputy head of the Space Medical Engineering Institute of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Therefore, helping train his fellow astronauts also became Yang's important job. But he still put much emphasis on his daily training.

Ground training could not cover all the space situation, Yang said, his personal space flight experience would give Chinese astronauts more specific understanding of space flight.

In addition to strong physical condition, a good astronaut should be a technical professional, who would participate in various experiments, as well as engineering design, Yang said.

Meanwhile, a good astronaut should have the outstanding ability to deal with different situation during space flight, Yang added.

As China's first spaceman, Yang got strong welcome at the IAC 2007. A lot of delegates would like to take photos with him. Meanwhile, Yang's image in space suits was just put on the website of International Astronautical Federation, which is the organizer of the IAC 2007.