BY James Kon

Students from higher learning institutions spoke with Chinese astronauts at the ‘ASEAN Students’ Talk with Taikonauts’ event at the School of Aviation, Institute of Brunei Technical Education (IBTE) on Tuesday

Three Chinese astronauts Liu Yang, Chen Dong and Cai Xuzhe are staying at China’s space station ‘Tiangong’, expected to be fully operational by the end of the year. Liu Yang is China’s first female astronaut, and this is her second expedition into space after an interval of 10 years

The ASEAN Students Talk with Taikonauts (Space Astronaut) aims to provide students and inspire them with knowledge about space technology by giving them an opportunity to interact with Taikonauts – the Chinese astronauts – through a live cast from the Tiangong space station.

Student Muhammad Abdul Hanan Hussain bin Soekarddy from IBTE school of Aviation asked about the biggest challenge for astronauts in Space.

Chen Dong said, “We must possess expertise skills and knowledge to carry out research, science experiments, airspace experiment and medical knowledge. We must also be familiar with normal and emergency procedure to complete the task from launch to return to Earth.”

The guest of honour was Minister of Education Datin Seri Setia Dr Hajah Romaizah binti Haji Mohd Salleh. Permanent Secretary (Higher Education); Vice-Chancellors; Rector; Deputy Permanent Secretary (Higher Education); Director of IBTE, Acting Director of Politeknik Brunei and senior officers from the Ministry of Education were also present.

Ambassador of China to Brunei Darussalam Yu Hong said, “Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out that ‘to explore the vast cosmos, develop the space industry and build China into a space power is our eternal dream’. With the efforts of the Chinese people, it is gradually becoming a reality. The Long March carrier rocket series has successfully completed the launch missions over 100 consecutive times. The Chang’e lunar probe series has advanced the lunar exploration programme. The Tianwen-1 Mars probe has successfully completed the launch. And Mengtian was successfully launched on Tuesday to complete the construction of the space station’s basic T-shape structure in orbit.

“We welcome foreign counterparts to enter into China Space Station, and countries to participate in the science experiments in China Space Station. Also, China and ASEAN are building a China-ASEAN Satellite Information Offshore Service Platform and the Remote-Sensing Satellite Data-Sharing Service Platform.”

At the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, she said, “General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasised that China has always been committed to its foreign policy goals of upholding world peace and promoting common development. China is willing to work with Brunei and other ASEAN countries to promote world peace and development.”

-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin