Chinese astronauts to visit Namibia

Chinese astronauts to visit Namibia

Thursday, August 15, 2019 5:53 pm


Liu Yang, Chinese first female astronaut in space

 

Liu Yang, Chinese first ever female astronaut in space, and Chen Dong plan to visit Namibia from Aug. 19 to Aug. 23, according to the Chinese Embassy in Namibia.

The embassy said in a statement on Thursday that the visit would be in response to the kind invitation by Namibian President Hage Geingob.

It added that the visit would help enhance communication and cooperation on astronautics between China and Namibia.

President Hage Geingob visited the China Space Centre in 2018 and  interacted with 3 Chinese astronauts, after which he invited them to visit Namibia.

During the visit, the delegation will be expected to pay a courtesy call on Geingob and meet local middle school learners at Space TT&C Station and  Namibia University of Science and Technology.

In 2010, the first Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei visited Namibia.

According to the embassy, this will be the second time Chinese astronauts visit Namibia, a development that will highlight the special relationship between the two countries.

“China and Namibia keep good cooperation in the fields of aerospace on the basis of equality and mutual benefits.

“China’s aerospace development cannot be separated from the support of Namibia,’’ the embassy said.

On June 16, 2012, Liu Yang, as one of the crew of Shenzhou-9, went to the Chinese space station Tiangong-1, becoming the first female Chinese astronaut to go into space.

On Oct. 17, 2016, Chen Dong lifted off with Shenzhou-11 for a 33-day space mission to the Tiangong-2 space station as his first spaceflight.

The crew landed successfully on Nov. 18, 2016, marking China’s longest manned space flight to date.


Join The Conversation

What do you think?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.