China Manned Space Exhibition piques great curiosity of Hong Kong residents

HONG KONG -- The exhibition hall of "China Manned Space Exhibition" at the Hong Kong Science Museum is packed with people, who are eager to see some 30 groups of exhibits on display.

Visitors can not only enjoy the Shenzhou spacecraft return capsule, a model of the space station, models of different types of carrier rockets, but also an intravehicular space suit and so on.

The exhibition is divided into two exhibition areas, located in the Hong Kong Science Museum and the Hong Kong Museum of History.

The exhibition area at the Hong Kong Museum of History centers around the history of China's manned space development, while the exhibition at the Hong Kong Science Museum displays remarkable engineering achievements and exciting prospects for future development.

In Hong Kong Science Museum's exhibition hall, visitors gathered in front of the Shenzhou XIII return capsule. "This is a real object, incredible," they stopped, took pictures and communicated with people around them.

On the other side of the exhibition hall, there is a long line in front of the interactive exhibit "Space station rendezvous and docking" project, where visitors can use a joystick to simulate astronauts to control the Shenzhou manned spacecraft to rendezvous and dock with the space station.

A student surnamed Wong from Tsing Yi Trade Association Primary School, and her friends finally completed the docking after three attempts. "It looks very simple, but after the actual operation, it is really not easy, and every step must be very precise to complete the docking," she said.

"This exhibition not only shows large installations, but also astronauts' daily necessities in space, which greatly satisfies curiosity," a man surnamed Keung said. "I hope that such exhibitions will be held more often in the future so that citizens can experience the nation's space power up close."

The exhibition is open to all people in Hong Kong and Macao, free of charge until Feb. 18 next year, and is expected to attract 260,000 visitors.