In ancient times, there was the legend of “Chang’e flying to the moon”. In the Ming Dynasty, the first solid (固体的) rocket was tested. Chinese people have always dreamed of flying into the sky for thousands of years. Here’s how things have developed.

On April 24, 1970, China’s first man-made satellite (卫星) was sent up into space. In memory of this success, that day was made Space Day of China. Since then, the country has been on a challenging but hopeful space journey.

The manned spacecraft (载人航天器) took more than 30 years. The Shenzhou-5 spacecraft was launched (发射) in 2003. Yang Liwei became China’s first astronaut to go into space.

In 2007, Chang’e-1, which travelled around the moon, was launched. It took photos of the moon. Information collected by Chang’e-I was used to create a 3D map of the moon’s surface. In January 2019, Chang’e-4 lander (着陆器) successfully put its Yutu 2 rover (月球车) on the far side of the moon, which is very different from the near side that we can see from the earth. In November 2020, China launched the Chang’e-5 spacecraft. It carried a special rover onto the moon to collect samples (样本) from the surface of the moon.

In 2011, the first space lab Tiangong-I was sent into orbit (轨道). And Liu Yang became the first Chinese woman in space in 2012. In 2016, China launched its second space lab, Tiangong-2 into orbit. In June 2021, the Shenzhou-12 spaceship lifted off at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, which was the first time that Chinese people had entered our own space station.

The history of Chinese space exploration

No pains, no gains. These achievements were hard-won. Over the years, Chinese scientists have created a tradition of non-stopping hard work under very difficult conditions to solve very important problems and achieve success. That is also called the China Space Spirit. So many people agree that if dreams have color, it must be space blue.

Wukong. Tiangong. Tianwen. Do you know where the names of Chinese space programs come from?

Wukong, the Dark Matter Particle Explorer satellite （暗物质粒子探测卫星）, is named after Chinese superhero Monkey King. According to Journey to the west, Monkey King has a pair of sharp eyes which can tell the difference between good and evil. The Wukong satellite is just as sharp-eyed as Monkey King to help scientists search for dark matter in space.

The name of the space station, Tiangong, means “Heavenly Palace”. In Chinese myths（神话）, this is the home of Tian Di. Now Tiangong Space Station is a home for Chinese astronauts in space. And China welcomes foreign astronauts to Tiangong in order that they can work together.

Tianwen, China’s Mars missions（任务）, gets its name from the poem Tianwen by Qu Yuan. Qu Yuan is a well-known poet from ancient China. In Tiamwen, he had the questions about the sky, stars, nature, myths and the real world, showing his hunger for truth. Perhaps the Tianwen missions will end up answering some of Qu Yuan’s questions.

If you look into more names of Chinese space programs, you will find that they all have beautiful meanings. We, the Chinese people, have a long-cherished （珍藏已久的） space dream. So it is serious to take the naming of Chinese space programs.

Ever since humans appeared we have never stopped paying our attention to the stars far above us. Chinese seemed to be especially interested in stars since the ancient times. And they came up with wonderful names such as Shenxiu and Nanhe for different stars in the sky. In one of the poems by Su Shi, Sirious, the brightest star in the sky, was mentioned as he wrote “looking northwest and shooting down Sirius”.

In China, the book Zhou Bi, appeared as early as 1 BC(公元前). It not only covers certain topics in math, but also talks about the moving patterns of the stars in the sky. Also, things like the changes of seasons and the geography are included. While in the west, the first similar work is Almagest, appearing in around 140 AD(公元). And after them, many other books appeared.

Nowadays, more creative books and movies on stars appeared. In China, the movies Wandering Earth I & II have won much popularity among us, encouraging us to care for the earth and look up at the stars. The book The Three Body Problem is also liked by people around the world. In the west, movies like 2001 Space Odyssey and Interstellar also interest many star lovers.

Stars are useful to animals, too. For example, some insects and birds can find their way by watching the moving patterns of some bright stars in the sky. Interestingly, dung beetles(屎壳郎) can move straight in the direction of the Milky Way(银河)!

However, it’s getting harder to see the stars at night, especially in the city areas. This is partly because of the serious light pollution. Many people think the city looks beautiful when lights are turned on everywhere on the street. However, too much light may hurt our eyes, influence our feelings, and cause a higher risk of traffic accidents.