Commercial astronaut Commercial astronaut A commercial astronaut is a person trained to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a privately funded spacecraft. This is distinct from an otherwise non-government astronaut, for example Charlie Walker, who flies while representing a non-government corporation but with funding and/or training coming from government sources. The definition of “astronaut” and the criteria for determining who has achieved human spaceflight vary. The FAI defines spaceflight as any flight over of altitude. In the United States, professional, military, and commercial astronauts who travel above an altitude of are eligible to be awarded astronaut wings. Until 2003,
Chinese as a foreign language also dispatched Chinese teachers abroad, and by the early 1960s had sent teachers afar as the Congo, Cambodia, Yemen and France. In 1962, with the approval of the State Council, the Higher Preparatory School for Foreign Students was set up, later renamed the Beijing Language and Culture University. The programs were disrupted for several years during the Cultural Revolution. According to the Chinese Ministry of Education, there are 330 institutions teaching Mandarin Chinese as a foreign language, receiving about 40,000 foreign students. In addition, there are almost 5,000 Chinese language teachers. Since 1992 the State Education Commission has managed a