Space facilities in Hainan province have forged closer collaboration with universities in Hong Kong, and seen a surge in visitors from the city in recent years in a signal that the special administrative region is playing a more proactive and comprehensive role in the national space sector, a media delegation from the SAR was told during a three-day study tour.
The study tour kicked off on Sunday under the organization of the SAR’s Working Group on Patriotic Education under the Constitution and Basic Law Promotion Steering Committee. The committee is led by Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki.
On Monday, the delegation visited the Shenzhou Aerospace Science and Technology Museum and the Wenchang Aerospace Supercomputing Center.
The museum’s chairwoman, Li Jingting, said there has been a noticeable increase in visitors from Hong Kong since the museum participated in a cultural promotion exhibition in the city earlier this year.
She said the museum has refined its guided tours to make the content more in line with the language habits of Hong Kong people, and offers virtual reality simulations, astronaut lectures, and a joint research project, in collaboration with Hainan University and a national deep-space exploration lab, to provide diversified experiences for Hong Kong tourists.
At the same time as the delegation’s visit, tourists from across the country were also visiting the museum, with many having planned their Hainan trips for the Chang’e-7 lunar mission launch, which was postponed on Sunday.
Yu, from Sichuan Province, said her fourth-grade daughter, who has dreams of becoming a space scientist and planned the trip herself, was disappointed to miss the launch but found the exhibits eye-opening and immersive, with a wide range of topics and providing substantial learning value.
Ye Shiyang, chairman of the supercomputing center’s operating company, Wenchang Aerospace Supercomputing Smart Technology Co Ltd, said the center has signed a collaboration agreement with the University of Hong Kong to develop an aerospace big-data model, with a preliminary version applied in carbon-monitoring and agricultural census work.
Speaking during Monday’s visit, Eliza Chan Ching-har, convenor of the working group, told reporters that she encourages Hong Kong’s research talent to identify opportunities in aerospace and contribute to national development, and hopes young people will embrace tech dreams, take on challenges, and leverage Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” strengths to serve the national cause.
John Tse Chun-chung, Hong Kong SAR director of information services, said Hong Kong had moved beyond being a “supporter” to becoming a “participant” and “contributor” in nation’s space program. He pointed to the selection of the city’s first payload specialist, Lai Ka-ying, and the successful use of the Multi-Spectral Imaging Carbon Observatory, a device developed by a team from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, on the Tiangong space station.
The delegation will tour the site of the First Qiongya Congress of the Communist Party of China in Qiongya on Tuesday and then return to Hong Kong.
Contact the writers at stacyshi@chinadailyhk.com
