Airtimes:
Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Singapore and Taipei
Wednesday, Sep 30 at 2030
Thursday, Oct 1 at 1130
Saturday, Oct 3 at 1900
Monday, Oct 5 at 0730 Bangkok and Jakarta
Wednesday, Sep 30 at 1930
Thursday, Oct 1 at 1030
Saturday, Oct 3 at 1800
Monday, Oct 5 at 0630  A source of national pride, China's space program has forty year history, but its inner-workings have remained a closely-guarded secret. Now for the first time ever, TALK ASIA gets exclusive access inside the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Centre, a training facility never before shown to international media. CNN's John Vause meets with two of the country's pioneering "taikonauts" - Yang Liwei, the first Chinese citizen in space and Zhai Zhigang, China's first spacewalker. They sit down for their first international media interview to recall their history-making missions, before showing some of the advanced facilities used to train future taikonauts.
As the People's Republic celebrates sixty years of its establishment, Yang admits that a burgeoning economy has been the key to China's rapid progression into space: "To a certain degree, space technology reflects a nation's overall strength. The development of space technology also promotes the development of other fields, and therefore helps to improve economy." He defuses criticism over the huge spending that has gone into the country's space program: "There are many ways to utilize space technology - weather satellites, remote sensing, disaster forecasting. These benefit the Chinese people. With the success of China's manned-space program, it unites the Chinese people and give them confidence with China's development. It's made a huge contribution in this regard." Forty years since Neil Armstrong took a step on the moon, space exploration is no longer the domain of Russia and the U.S. Other countries such as Israel, Iran and India have all successfully launched satellites into orbit. Yang believes that international co-operation is more important than competition: "The fact that people are paying attention to our space program shows the progress our country has made in technology and economically as well. I think for the space program, it's more about seeking cooperation...I don't think we're challenging anyone." He also discusses why, compared to the U.S., China's space program is so exciting: "When China develops its space technology, we did draw on the advanced technological experience of other countries. So our starting point should be higher than that of the U.S. and Russia. This starting point can hardly be compared to that of forty years ago. So if you look at it that way, the forty-year gap doesn't exist." Yet, he humbly admits: "Of course, we are still in a primary stage and there is a large gap between us and the big space nations, the U.S. and Russia." Yang also discusses whether China is ready to go to the moon: "I think this has been the aspiration of the Chinese people. I think people are familiar with the story of Chang'e flying to the moon. Our moon probe and soon to be Mars probe are all part of our plan." And when asked whether the rumour of Chinese wanting to start a branch of the Communist Party in outer space is true, he says: "I think every country every nationality has their own belief." And when Vause follows up: "So is that a yes?" Yang replied: "Yes." Yang and Zhai also shows TALK ASIA some of their advanced training facilities, including a neutral balancing environment where taikonauts are trained for zero gravity, a human centrifuge to re-create the g-force of take off and landing, and a spinning chair to stimulate motion and space sickness. The interview with TALK ASIA will be available online at www.cnn.com/talkasia after the first airing. Airtimes are subject to change. - End- For more information, please visit http://www.cnnpressroomasia.com/. |
