NewChinaHand: Gonna Send Him to OUTER SPACE!
To fiiiiiiind another race.
Hainan Island (‘China’s Hawaii’) will be taking on a much more interstellar role than simply hosting terrestrial tourists and Miss World contests this summer when China’s newest spaceport – the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center – is completed in June.
Following such publicity successes as the crew of the Shenzhou 10 mission beaming a live class to Beijing school children and the near-cult following dedicated to the Yutu (‘Jade Rabbit’) moon rover, China is working on continuing its extra-terrestrial exploration whilst catering to interested tourists.
And they’re expecting a lot: around 30 hotels will be developed to complement the new facility, as well as a space-themed amusement park. Visitor projections are up to 20,000 per day!
The location of the centre will allow for sea-based delivery of the humongous Long March 5 rockets, in addition to being closer to the equator, for geosynchronous satellite launches, and the sea, for, er, debris.
China certainly does not lack ambition when it comes to space travel: a space station and even a manned moon landing have been touted as future possibilities from the new port. China’s involvement in the International Space Station was allegedly blocked by American objections over the links between its space and military programmes, whereas the positioning of so much expensive hardware and technology in Hainan has been connected with the ongoing sensitivities over the South China Sea, by some observers.
Nevertheless, for the ultimate out-of-this-world holiday experience, watch this space!
(No pun intended. Obviously.)
Selected Sources:
http://m.space.com/25323-china-new-spaceport-rocket-launches.html
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2014-02/14/content_17283587.htm
http://en.visithainan.gov.cn/en/newsview_1546.htm
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/20/china-astronauts-lesson-from-space
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/848582.shtml
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