April 24 is China Space Day. In the morning of the same day, at the press conference on the Shenzhou 18 manned mission held by Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, the press spokesman of China's manned space program and the relevant responsible comrades of the China Manned Space Program Office said that they would speed up research to promote foreign astronauts and space tourists to participate in space station flights.
Promoting the participation of foreign astronauts in space station flight is an established plan for the development of China's manned space industry, as well as an inevitable trend of international cooperation in scientific research in the space field, which was also mentioned at the previous press conference. Research to promote space tourists to participate in space station flight is new to China's space station. Space tourists, as the name implies, let ordinary people go to the space station by spacecraft after necessary training. The historical Mir space station and the two international space stations currently in orbit have received many visits from space tourists. China's proposal to promote space tourists to participate in space station flight shows that China's space station has been fully completed, entered the normal operation stage, and is capable of receiving visits from ordinary people, which further reflects China's inclusiveness and openness in the development of space industry.
Human beings always yearn for the universe. In the past decades, in addition to scientific research purposes, many countries in the world have carried out sub orbital and earth orbit space commercial tourism projects to meet the needs of ordinary people entering space. China Science Aerospace, a private commercial aerospace company, has also said that it will start to provide sub orbital manned tourism services when the technology is mature. Human's current understanding of the universe is simple, so the exploration of space is endless, which means that the exploration of the universe will cost a lot of human, material and financial resources. The space tourists visiting the International Space Station have spent huge amounts of money, which can be used as a useful supplement to enrich space research and the operation and maintenance of the space station. Therefore, to carry out reasonable commercial activities step by step, such as space tourists participating in space station flights, is in line with the law of development from the perspective of long-term sustainable development of space industry.
Of course, it is conceivable that there are not many ordinary people who study to promote space tourists to participate in space station flight and finally successfully visit China's space station, but it is also a positive signal for the whole society. Ordinary people have the opportunity to enter space and enter the Chinese space station, which is a process of sowing the seeds of space dreams. It is an achievable goal for ordinary people to participate in space station flight as tourists. Gui Haichao, a member of the Shenzhou 16 crew, is a professor and doctoral advisor, not a professional astronaut. His successful entry into the space station caused a sensation and had a positive impact. If ordinary people can also get the opportunity to travel in space, it will attract a large number of people who have dreams of space exploration to fight for it, and supply fresh blood for China's manned space industry.
From a longer-term space development plan, China will also continue to promote a number of space exploration projects, such as the manned lunar exploration project. Human society will obviously leave more footprints in the universe. Perhaps in the near future, humans will be able to try to extend the width or length of life beyond the earth, which also requires more ordinary people to participate.
