China has given this year’s World Space Week a kick start with a book donation ceremony last Friday. In the ceremony held here, the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (COSTIND) entrusted the Ministry of Education with the responsibility to distribute popular aerospace books to 20,000 schools all over the nation as gifts from the Commission.

At the presentation ceremony COSTIND also announced an outline of events to celebrate the World Space Week in October. COSTIND is a sponsor of the annual celebration.

The World Space Week was one of the recommendations made at the Third United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE III), which was held in July last year in Vienna.

During the U.N. General Assembly in December 1999, resolution 54/68 declared World Space Week as a new annual event. Each year from October 4 to 10 celebrations will be held “at the international level the contributions of space science and technology to the betterment of the human condition.”

The opening of the Week marks the anniversary of the launch of the first artificial satellite Sputnik by the former Soviet Union in 1957 while the ending of the Week celebrates the signing of the Treaty on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in 1967.

The main theme this year is public education of science, particularly in the aerospace area, which is significant in “expanding the spirit and propagating the thinking of science, popularizing knowledge of science and technology, and promoting methodology of science.”

The emphasis of public science education will be on the younger generation to develop an atmosphere of affection towards science, speak the language of science and make use of it. Organizers also hope that various activities will increase aerospace knowledge among the younger population and encourage them to pursue a career in aerospace.

In addition to donating popular aerospace books to schools, World Space Week organizers have planned several activities in the Beijing area to achieve this year’s objectives. These include:

* An aerospace knowledge contest for all teachers, students and enthusiasts. Contest questions are published today (June 25) in several major newspapers and on the website of the Chinese space agency China National Space Administration (CNSA).

  • An astronaut presentation to be held in the first half of October. China will invite astronauts from several countries to present the latest news of their respective space programs. Winners of the aerospace knowledge contest will receive their awards at the presentation.
  • Free admission to school groups during the World Space Week to the aerospace museum and the remote sensing satellite ground reception station in Beijing.
  • Summer school space camps for high school students and aerospace exhibitions for the general public.