Students of Young Astronaut Training Camp 2024 share impactful learning experiences (with photos)

     Students of the Young Astronaut Training Camp 2024 have just completed their nine-day training camp in Beijing, Wenchang of Hainan Province and Jiuquan. They were presented with certificates at a sharing session held at the Hong Kong Space Museum today (August 20). Among them, three students who were honoured with the Best Camper Performance awards for their outstanding efforts shared their feelings and valuable experiences gained from the training camp.
          
     The training camp ran from July 26 to August 3. Students visited various key astronomy and aerospace facilities, such as the Headquarters of the National Astronomical Observatories and the China Astronaut Research and Training Center. In addition to experiencing astronaut training, students also met with the country's first female astronaut, Ms Liu Yang. Then they visited the launch site of manned spaceflights at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and learned about the history and astounding development of China's manned spaceflight programme.
          
     This year, students of the camp visited the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Hainan Province for the very first time. As 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. Students then visited the Wenchang Aerospace Science Center and the Wenchang Aerospace Supercomputing Center to learn about data analysis and computation regarding satellite launches, commercial aerospace operations and space informatics.
          
     Launched in 2009, the Young Astronaut Training Camp has been held on 13 occasions, attracting nearly 400 students to join. Recruitment for this year's training camp started in May and received an overwhelming response. After three rounds of selection – a quiz on astronomy and space science, a three-day pre-camp training and an interview, participants were selected as Young Astronauts out of more than 200 applicants from around 130 local secondary schools.
          
     The training camp is jointly presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (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.