30 secondary students to depart for Beijing and Hainan to join Young Astronaut Training Camp (with photos)

     Thirty secondary students who have been selected to participate in the Young Astronaut Training Camp 2024, jointly organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) and the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, will visit Beijing, Wenchang of Hainan Province and Jiuquan to receive a nine-day training camp from July 16 to August 3. A send-off ceremony of the training camp was held at the Hong Kong Space Museum today (July 16).
          
     Addressing the send-off ceremony, the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, said that upon the country’s plan to expedite its development to become the world’s leading space-faring nation, Hong Kong shoulders the responsibility as an international innovation and technology hub to contribute its own power to the country's aerospace endeavours. He encouraged students of the training camp to grasp the opportunity to learn in earnest, broaden their horizons and gear up themselves. He also encouraged them to learn from the country’s aerospace heroes as their role model and make greater contributions to the betterment of the country and Hong Kong in future.
      
     Other officiating guests included the Director-General of the Department of Educational, Scientific and Technological Affairs of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Dr Wang Weiming; the Chairman of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Dr Jonathan Choi; the Under Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Raistlin Lau; member of the Working Group on Patriotic Education of the Constitution and Basic Law Promotion Steering Committee Ms Melissa Kaye Pang; the Chairman of the Museum Advisory Committee, Professor Douglas So; the Acting Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Miss Eve Tam; Deputy Manager of the Science Technology and Innovation Division, Beijing-Hong Kong Academic Exchange Centre Mr Franky Chan; and Vice-Chairman of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce Mr Charles Cheung.
           
     Launched in 2009, the Young Astronaut Training Camp has entered its 13th year. A total of 360 students have participated in the programme so far. The recruitment of this year's training camp started in May and received an overwhelming response. After three rounds of the selection, which included a quiz on astronomy and space science, a three-day training camp and an interview, 30 students from Secondary Two to Secondary Six were selected as Young Astronauts out of around 200 applicants from more than 130 secondary schools.
          
     The students participating in the nine-day training camp will visit various key astronomy and aerospace facilities. They will also have a chance to meet with aerospace experts and astronauts to learn more about the development of the country's aerospace programmes and distinguished achievements. This year's students will be among the first participants of the long-running programme to visit the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site. Being China's most-advanced rocket launch facility, the site is primarily responsible for launching missions of the Tiangong space station modules and the Tianzhou cargo craft. After visiting the launch site, they will visit the Wenchang Aerospace Science Center, the Wenchang Aerospace Supercomputing Center, and more. The students will then travel to Beijing to visit the National Astronomical Observatories. At the China Astronaut Research and Training Center, they will experience astronaut training activities, including the donning and doffing of spacesuits, wilderness survival training and savouring space food. Their final stop will be the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, which is responsible for launching manned spaceflights, and the National Time Service Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Xian.
      
     The training camp is jointly presented by the LCSD and the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, in association with the Beijing-Hong Kong Academic Exchange Centre. It is co-ordinated by the Hong Kong Space Museum and sponsored by the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce. For details of the training camp, please visit the website of the Hong Kong Space Museum at hk.space.museum/en/web/spm/activities/yatc.html or call 2734 2765.
      
     The training camp is one of the activities in the Chinese Culture Promotion Series. The LCSD has long been promoting Chinese history and culture through organising an array of programmes and activities to enable the public to learn more about the broad and profound Chinese culture. For more information, please visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/ccpo/index.html.