Nanjing 2014 Torch reaches space - virtually
18 July 2014
People around the world will get the chance to be an Olympic Torchbearer this year ahead of the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games with the Virtual Torch Relay app. “It is an innovative and fun way to relay the Olympic torch,” Su Nin, director of the Nanjing municipal government publicity office told China Daily. “It is also an economical way to hold the relay.” The torch was sent virtually to the Chang’e-2 lunar probe 19 June after the suggestion of 14-year-old student Xu Guanglan and his classmates, while the torch traveled to the South Pole and Jiaolong, China’s first manned deep-sea submarine.
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China and ESA discuss prospects for joint activities in the future
17 July 2014
The Wall Street Journal reports about an interview with ESA Director-General Jean-Jacques Dordain during the current Farnborough Air Show in which he talked about ongoing conversations with his Chinese counterparts and prospects for exchange of information in light of the ambitious plans of China. Highlighting the successful partnership of the ISS, Mr. Dordain expressed ESA's willingness to also cooperate with China in the future, not exclusively but also in the area of manned spaceflight.
Could a Chinese circumlunar mission work? And if so, how?
16 July 2014
Morris Jones, Australia's leading space analyst for the Chinese space programme explains that China might be on the "fast track to a circumlunar mission" by the mid-2020. He points out that it would not require the development of major new technology rather the modification of existing space craft and not even an new launcher. Jones has some good arguments on his side to consider his proposed scenario feasible.
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What worked with the Soviet Union could work with China - Edwin Aldrin calls for U.S.-China space cooperation
13 July 2014
On the eve of the 45th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 Moon landing, second human on the Moon, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin is calling for international efforts to return to the Moon and go on to Mars. During an interview with "The Washington Times", Aldrin called for a comprehensive international effort for space exploration including China regardless of political differences the U.S. and China have. He pointed to the year 2020, the 45th anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz mission. ASTP was the moment when the U.S. and the Soviet Union went to space, docked their space crafts and overcame political hurdles in a very pragmatic way. Aldrin said that 2020 could be a symbolic time for the U.S. and China to perform a similar feat.
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