(Question from East and West) Yang Yuguang: How does the path of aerospace with Chinese characteristics interact with the world?
China News Service, Beijing, September 14th. Title: Yang Yuguang: How does the Chinese characteristic space road interact with the world?
Author Guo Chaokai Ma Shuaisha
The Shenzhou 12 astronaut crew plans to return to the Dongfeng landing site in mid-September.
Since the "space business trip", from work and scientific research to exercise and leisure, the space travel of the three astronauts Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo has received continuous attention and aroused great public interest.
Some foreign astronauts are also learning Chinese, hoping to join the "space house" built by the Chinese in the future.
Over the years, from "Chang'e" to the moon, "Beidou" to guide the way, to "Tianwen" Mars, "Tiangong" Range Rover... China Aerospace has embarked on a unique path.
How do you view China's spaceflight entering the "space station era"?
Where is the "special" of the Chinese characteristic space road?
How will China Aerospace interact better with the world in the future?
Yang Yuguang, vice chairman of the International Astronautical Federation’s Space Transportation Committee, recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Service on “Questions of East and West” and gave an authoritative interpretation.
The picture shows the launch of the Long March 2 F-Yao-12 carrier rocket.
Photo by Wang Jiangbo issued by China News Agency
The transcript of the interview is as follows:
China News Agency reporter: During the three astronauts staying in space, we noticed that the operation interface of the Chinese space station was in Chinese. People seem to be accustomed to seeing space station scenes with English and Russian interfaces in science fiction film and television dramas and documentaries. The Chinese interface makes people feel quite interesting. Why does the China Space Station use Chinese as its first language?
Yang Yuguang:
From a historical perspective, if countries build space stations independently, the operation interface generally prefers to use their own language.
Up to now, the human space station has developed a total of four generations. The first three generations were independently constructed by the United States and the former Soviet Union, including the US Sky Lab, the former Soviet Union’s "Salute" and "Mir" space stations. The logos in these space stations are respectively In English and Russian.
The International Space Station is the first multi-national space station built by mankind. The English interface is more convenient for astronauts from all countries.
In addition to conducting various scientific experiments on the space station, astronauts also need to manage the space station.
From the perspective of the life cycle of the space station, whether astronauts can handle failures and emergencies in a timely manner is an important factor affecting the operation of the entire space station and the safety of the crew.
The operation interface uses the native language of the astronauts, which is more conducive to the emergency judgment and operation of the astronauts. Therefore, the Chinese space station uses Chinese as the first language.
The use of a Chinese interface does not mean that we exclude astronauts from other countries from participating in or visiting the Chinese space station.
Since the U.S. space shuttle was retired in 2011, the ISS crew can only enter space on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, so the astronaut crew must learn Russian.
There are also many astronauts abroad who can speak Chinese or are willing to learn Chinese for participating in the Chinese space station.
Therefore, from an international perspective, the use of the Chinese interface does not affect the international crew's participation in the Chinese space station.
The picture shows the Tianhe core cabin.
Image source: The Fifth Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group
Reporter from China News Service: From the perspective of China's aerospace development, where do you think is the “speciality” of the aerospace path with Chinese characteristics? What are the similarities and differences with the aerospace path taken by major western developed countries?
Yang Yuguang:
Compared with the major developed countries in the West, the core point of the path of aerospace with Chinese characteristics is to always develop the aerospace industry based on comprehensive national strength and actual needs.
China’s annual launch times are in line with its national strength, and the selected development areas are also “doing” and “not doing”. For example, as of now, China’s officially announced Mars exploration plan only includes the Tianwen-1 mission and the Mars sampling return mission. In line with our characteristics as a developing country.
The remarkable achievements of China Aerospace over the past 65 years are that China has always viewed success and failure in a pragmatic manner, that it has been hardworking, dedicated and dedicated to the cause, and that it has adhered to the correct development path and avoided waste of resources.
From an international point of view, some major aerospace countries have advanced technology and brilliant achievements, but in terms of organizational arrangements, they can be described as "lack of main lines, swinging back and forth, stop-and-go, and costly".
For example, during the Cold War period, major powers promoted manned spaceflight and deep space exploration "at no cost", and kept high-density lunar probe launches in order to get ahead of their competitors in the moon landing race. Although the results are fruitful, the cost is quite high.
As a developing country, although China has made brilliant achievements in aerospace technology, after all, it started late and has a weak foundation. It cannot withstand the "torsions". It should also make long-term planning so that it can achieve steady and sustainable development.
The characteristics of China's aerospace industry are that it is both self-reliant and open to cooperation.
The Chinese master the core technologies needed for the development of aerospace industry, but they also actively embrace international cooperation.
In the past, China carried out extensive cooperation with other countries in many space missions. Today, the China Space Station is also an important platform for China to carry out international cooperation.
Data map: China Space Station "Tiangong" core module (craft verification module).
Photo by China News Agency reporter Chen Jimin
China News Agency reporter: From "Chang'e" to the moon, "Beidou" to guide the way to "Tianwen" Mars, the naming of many important exploration missions of China's aerospace are deeply influenced by Chinese traditional culture. Why does China Aerospace derive "nutrients" from Chinese traditional culture?
Yang Yuguang:
From "Chang'e Flying to the Moon" to "Ten Thousand Households Flying to the Sky", the Chinese have always been full of infinite reveries about space. These ancient myths and classic stories have inspired the Chinese nation's infinite aerospace imagination and promoted generations of astronauts to explore the vast universe.
China Aerospace has drawn a lot of "nutrients" from Chinese traditional culture. One of the notable manifestations is the naming of major aerospace projects.
Counting these space names, "Chang'e" is equivalent to the Chinese goddess of the moon, expressing the Chinese people's determination to "fly to the moon"; "Question of Heaven" originated from Qu Yuan's long poem "Question of Heaven", and the journey of exploring the truth is long; The window stands to teach you the Zhongtian Big Dipper. The "Bei Dipper" has been the guiding light of the Chinese nation since ancient times; the "Shenzhou" has entrusted our dream of flying to the sky.
The names of these great powers are full of poetry, combining the heritage of Chinese traditional culture with the romance of exploring the unknown of the universe.
In fact, it is an international practice to draw inspiration from ancient myths to name space missions.
Many detectors in the United States are named after Greek mythology or Roman mythology. For example, the names of the Apollo Project, Artemis Project, and Titan series rockets all come from ancient Greek and Roman mythology.
Whether it is Europe, the United States and other countries that draw inspiration from mythology, or China derives “nutrients” from traditional culture, it all represents the beautiful sustenance of mankind to space.
On the other hand, China Aerospace is committed to promoting Chinese culture to the world.
After the successful launch of the Shenzhou XII manned spacecraft in June this year, the use of the word "taikonaut" in the letter of congratulations from ESA to the China National Space Administration caused heated discussions.
Internationally, astronauts are called "astronaut". "taikonaut" is an English word for Chinese astronauts. The root "taiko" comes from the pinyin of "space" and means "Chinese astronaut".
As early as 1998, the word "taikonaut" was officially included in the Oxford Dictionary, which was regarded as a manifestation of Chinese culture going to the world through Chinese aerospace.
With the development of world aerospace, space in the future will become a space where different cultures and beliefs exchange and collide with each other.
To deal with cultural differences, the concept of "harmonious but different, seeking common ground while reserving differences" in traditional Chinese culture may be of great benefit.
"Flying Hero" Yang Liwei once said that different beliefs will not hinder the friendly cooperation and harmonious coexistence of astronauts of various countries.
The concept of "harmony without difference" will promote the cooperation of all countries in the aerospace field, learn from each other's strengths, and compete virtuously, and encourage all countries to give play to their unique "aerospace culture". This is of great significance today in the era of globalization.
The picture shows the panoramic camera of the Chang'e-5 lander and ascender combination. The five-star red flag was successfully deployed on the lunar surface.
Photo courtesy of China National Space Administration
China News Agency reporter: China's space exploration is moving from near-Earth to moon and deep space exploration. What new plans or arrangements does China have in this regard in the future? How will the Chinese-style space road better interact with the world so that all mankind can benefit from it?
Yang Yuguang:
As the closest natural celestial body to the earth, the moon has an irreplaceable important position for mankind to recognize the evolution of the earth, the origin of life, and the future development.
In terms of lunar exploration, China and Russia plan to build an international lunar scientific research station, and have jointly issued the "Roadmap of International Lunar Scientific Research Station (V1.0)", taking the already implemented Chang'e-4 mission as the pilot mission of the international lunar scientific research station.
In the future, China will also launch Chang'e-6, Chang'e-7, and Chang'e-8 probes to carry out missions such as environmental and resource surveys in the lunar polar regions, and sampling and return of the lunar polar regions.
In addition, China's missions for asteroid exploration, Mars sampling and return, and Jupiter exploration will also be implemented as planned.
Looking to the future, mankind is faced with huge challenges such as establishing a permanent base on the moon and exploring celestial bodies outside the system, and requires the cooperation of all countries.
China Aerospace will actively seek to develop good interactions with other countries.
In the Chang'e-6 and asteroid exploration missions, China has provided international partners with the opportunity to carry payloads. China has also announced to the international community the management measures for the cooperation of Chang'e-5 lunar samples.
The vast universe is the common wealth of mankind, and the exploration, development, and peaceful use of outer space is the common pursuit of mankind.
International cooperation in aerospace will promote the advancement of human civilization on a deeper level.
China Aerospace will always adhere to the principles of equality and mutual benefit, peaceful use, and inclusive development, strengthen extensive cooperation with the international community, and strive for more new discoveries and achievements, so that the results of space exploration will contribute more to the creation of a better future for mankind.
(over)
About the interviewee:
Yang Yuguang is a researcher at the Second Academy of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, Vice Chairman of the International Astronautical Federation Space Transportation Committee, editorial board member of Astronaut and Space Exploration magazines, and China Aerospace Science Ambassador. The research results have won one National Science and Technology Progress Award and two provincial and ministerial science and technology advancement awards. More than 750 times have cooperated with provincial and ministerial media to conduct aerospace science popularization and publicity, and have maintained long-term contacts with more than 800 international friends in the aerospace field. communicate with.