Reference News Network August 6 report: Germany's "Youth World" newspaper on August 5 published an article written by journalist Nina Hagel, titled "Building China's Space Station," the following is the translation:

14 years ago, the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" arrogantly commented that China still had to compete with emerging industrial countries like India in the field of aerospace, and in fact, China had only reached the level of the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1960s. But just 10 years later, one could read "apprenticeship completed" in the "Time" weekly.

During this time, scientists, engineers, and technical personnel in China's aerospace field have completed several ambitious projects. These include a series of manned space missions, as well as the successful Chang'e-4 mission - which in early 2019 achieved the first soft landing of a probe on the far side of the moon in space history; the Chang'e-5 mission completed China's first unmanned lunar sample return mission at the end of 2020; and in May 2021, the Tianwen-1, responsible for China's first Mars exploration mission, successfully landed on Mars.

John-Dietrich Wernera, who once served as head of the European Space Agency, said that China's long-term planning and its firm implementation of the plan left a deep impression on him.

This long-term planning also drives China's construction of a space station in low Earth orbit. In 1992, China established the "three-step" development strategy for manned spaceflight: the first step was to manufacture, test, and launch manned spacecraft; the second step was to build a space laboratory for short-term stay by astronauts; and the third step was to build a space station, realizing long-term manned space activities.

On October 15, 2003, the Shenzhou-5 manned spacecraft carried astronaut Yang Liwei into space. The Shenzhou-7, which carried three astronauts, was launched on September 25, 2008, and Chinese astronauts completed their first spacewalk during this mission. After that, the focus of China's manned spaceflight program shifted to the development and construction of an independent low-Earth-orbit space station.

On September 29, 2011, a rocket was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China, carrying the "draft" of China's first space station. Subsequently, the Tiangong-2 space laboratory entered space on September 15, 2016. Both played a role in accumulating experience for the subsequent construction and operation of a long-term manned space station. These experiences also include the docking and separation of manned and unmanned cargo spacecraft. This knowledge has supported the construction of China's space station.

The construction of China's space station began with the launch of the Tianhe core module on April 29, 2021, and the space station was later expanded with two experimental modules.

At the same time, China has vigorously promoted as extensive international cooperation as possible, and many research institutions around the world have accepted China's invitation for cooperation. For example, a list released in June 2019 listed multiple space science experiments to be conducted jointly with foreign research institutions. These countries include Germany, Russia, Japan, India, Mexico, Peru, and Kenya.

Astronauts from other countries will soon have the opportunity to carry out missions on China's space station. In February of this year, China signed an agreement with Pakistan, paving the way for the first non-Chinese astronaut to enter China's space station. (Translated by Zhang Hanwen, Wang Qing)

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7535271169293926921/

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