30 student high-fliers off for astronaut training in mainland

Thirty secondary students will head to a young astronaut camp in the mainland on Saturday for eight days of training after having gone through a series of tests.

The group will go to Beijing and visit key space facilities in several cities including Dunhuang and Jiuquan in Gansu Province and Lenghu in Qinghai Province.

The youngsters from 26 schools were selected from 161 students to participate in the Young Astronaut Training Camp 2023 organized by the Hong Kong Space Museum, jointly presented by Leisure and Cultural Services Department and sponsored by the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce.

The selected students demonstrated sufficient knowledge in astronomy and physical fitness, leadership and communication skills.

"China's astronomy has been developing rapidly," said Ho Man-hung, curator of Hong Kong Space Museum.

Ho, who is in charge of the training camp, said they may be the first ones to visit the new Mars Camp in Lenghu.

Ho thanked the chamber for having sponsored the training camp for 12 years.

"I would like to let our teenagers keep pace with the times," chamber chairman Jonathan Choi Koon-shum said, adding that such training used to take place only in the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

"I have so much confidence in you all and I wish that some of you will be real astronauts in the future," Choi told the 30 trainees in the send-off ceremony at the Hong Kong Space Museum yesterday.

Ngai Yiu-tung, an 18-year-old student from Christian Alliance Cheng Wing Gee College in Tai Wai, said he has dreamed of being an astronaut since childhood and wants to be at the edge of the world.

"Neil Armstrong inspired me so much when he said, 'That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.'"

Ngai will begin studying space engineering at the University of Liverpool in Britain after the summer holiday.

Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki said: "I wish that you all can take this precious opportunity and help promote our nation's aerospace endeavors as it is one of the goals mentioned in the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China report."