Hong Kong's future generation set to fulfil space dreams

HONG KONG, June 27 (Xinhua) -- The opening ceremony of a lunar soil exhibition in Hong Kong on Saturday wrapped up the trip of mainland top space scientists in the financial hub, during which they visited universities and schools, igniting young people's flying dreams.

"Seeing the scientist in person was totally different from watching the news," student Cheng Wai Shing told the reporter on Friday after attending a lecture given by Hu Hao, the chief designer of the third stage of the national lunar exploration program, at his school Heep Woh College.

At the end of his speech, Hu said each generation has its own dream and he encouraged students to realize the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation and make contributions to the country.

Cheng, in his first year of junior high school, was moved by Hu's remarks. Although he has yet to decide what to do in the future, he said space research was definitely in his consideration.

Students from Pui Kiu College, a primary and secondary school in Hong Kong, were overjoyed to learn that space scientists were to visit them. They showed their enthusiasm towards aerospace in different forms, painting, observing the moon with a telescope, searching for information on rocket propulsions. Eleven-year-old Cynthia Chiang was one of them.

Chiang has always been fascinated by the universe and recently read again her favorite book about China's manned space flight. "China's road to space exploration has not been easy. We started late, but we make progress quickly," she said with pride.

National aerospace scientists and astronauts have made multiple visits to Hong Kong since 2003, the year when China's first astronaut Yang Liwei flew into space aboard the Shenzhou-5 spacecraft.

Yang has become a hero to many young aerospace mania in Hong Kong, including Alam Tam, who was not even born when Shenzhou-5 was launched. The 10-year-old was thrilled seeing the scene on TV when Shenzhou-12 lifted off.

"I'm going to be an astronauts for sure when I grow up," Tam said, adding that he spends almost every weekend attending classes offered by the Hong Kong Aerospace Society to learn about aircraft, solar system, shuttle and related knowledge over the past five years.

Also members of the society, Myron To and Hayden Wong were looking forward to visiting the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province and Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

"I want to be the first person in Hong Kong to fly to the moon!" Wong said excitedly.

"I hope to join the national aerospace team and win glory for the motherland," To said he would be happy to be an engineer in the command and control center.

Established in 1992, the Hong Kong Aerospace Society holds lectures, competitions, training, and exchange activities all the year round, inspiring thousands of young people who love aviation and aerospace. Now, several of their members have obtained pilot licenses, some participated in the national moon project, and some studied aerospace in the university.

"In recent years, our country has made continuous progress in space science and technology, marking a new milestone in world space history," Peter Lui, founder of the society, said they were more than willing to cultivate young people's interest in aerospace and help them to build their space dreams.

"A small step today is a big step tomorrow," Lui said, adding that maybe one day Hong Kong young people can also become national space heroes.