Wang Guoping, an easy-going taxi driver in
Beijing, says
proudly that he knows what space technology is about.
"I've got one here!" he said, pointing to a global positioning
system (GPS) panel on his dashboard.
"It tells all the roads in Beijing and the position of this car.
If there is a request and I'm nearest to it, the control center
will immediately send me to the job," said Wang.
Knowledgeable though he is, as all taxi drivers in Beijing are
reputed to be, Wang is unable to paint the big picture of space
technology application in China.
That's the job of Gu Yidong, designer of China's manned space
flight application system.
"The application of space technology can be found in a great
many areas in China," he said.
"Satellite communications alone sustains more than 100 kinds of
services, including telephone calls, data transmission, TV
broadcast, distance education through satellite TV, mobile
communication and distance medical treatment."
He said satellite TV and radio broadcasts now cover more than 90
percent of the country. Tens of millions of Chinese people have
received education and training via educational programs carried by
satellite TV and radio broadcasts.
In addition, satellite has been relied upon to locate fish
shoals, assess crop yields and monitor calamities like sandstorms,
tornadoes, earthquakes, fires and pollution.
Incomplete statistics show that since 1987, more than 800
species of plant seeds have been used in space seed breeding
experiments aboard retrievable satellites. As a result, a number of
high-yield crops have been developed, with yields up by a range of
10 percent to 20 percent compared with conventional crops.
Among these improved crops, space-bred rice contains eight
percent to 12 percent more protein. So far, thousands of tens of
hectares of land in China have been planted with such rice.
Liang Sili, an academician of the Chinese
Academy of
Sciences and a space expert, has personally tasted a space-bred
500-gram green pepper.
"It contains more vitamins than conventional types. And it's
very delicious," said Liang.
Yuan Jiajun, commander-in-chief of the spacecraft system of
China's manned space flight program, said human beings are
beginning to push the frontier area into space. Over the past 50
years, more than 4,000 spacecraft have been launched.
"Our lives today are closely linked with these space activities.
And we are seeing just the beginning of it," said Yuan.
He said humankind can do a lot with resources in space,
including creating a physical world unimaginable on earth,
discovering new materials, conducting new experiments, gaining
further insight into the origins of life and the universe and
developing infinite living space and new life styles.
From land, to the sea and into the sky, every move into the new
frontier has significantly pushed forward human civilization. With
the first launch of Chinese astronauts into space, it is safe to
say China is accelerating its race toward space.
(Xinhua News Agency ?October 13, 2003)
