Spending on scientific leadership and building international research partnerships and collaborations is the lifeblood of science and innovation. It’s not pouring money into a figurative black hole but oiling the engine room of scientific discovery. It’s the harbinger of productive joint endeavors for mutual advancement in understanding on multiple levels, not just science. It has produced spectacular results and China is playing a key role. In terms of international visibility and national prowess this is no more so than in space.
Things are moving at pace in space with new, exciting achievements and announcements coming thick and fast over recent months. The mind-blowing images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have captured the imagination of millions all over the world. It’s a stunning scientific achievement. By its very nature the $10 billion JWST is predicated on international cooperation of hundreds of scientists across many nations.
On Nov 16, I also saw live the launch of Artemis I, the most powerful rocket ever constructed as it blasted off with thunderous intent carrying the Orion capsule aloft as NASA goes back to the moon. I confess my eyes welled up as the huge rocket rose like a fiery dragon — the emotion was intense as I remembered the Apollo missions that seemed to hold so much promise 50 years ago. It was also great to hear the sincere best wishes and support from many Chinese space scientists — this aiming for the stars is for all mankind.
However, NASA is not alone. China’s own space science and exploration program is firing on all cylinders. On Oct 31, the second Mengtian science module was launched to the Chinese space station Tiangong on a Long March 5B rocket, completing the initial configuration of the station. This was followed on Nov 12 by the Tianzhou 5 cargo craft to resupply the station prior to the Nov 30 arrival of the crew of a six-month manned mission that was also the first ever in-orbit taikonaut crew handover. All this activity is set against ambitious Chinese plans for manned moon missions and a moon base by 2028. Based on the successful Chang’e robotic exploration missions it will be followed two years later by actual taikonauts. In all this, China is open to space exchanges and international cooperation under the United Nations’ framework. President Xi Jinping emphasized this in a letter read out at the second Global Partnership Workshop on Space Exploration and Innovation in Haikou, Hainan province from Nov 21-24.
As a space scientist there is much to look forward to but the impact of these space activities by the United States, China, Europe, India, Japan and others reaches way beyond science and exploration. These missions will inspire millions of young minds to dream and hope for a better future. The impact on new generations of students, encouraging them to follow STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) at university and participate in the trillion-dollar New Space economy, should not be underestimated.
But space science and understanding the universe can also be pursued down here on Earth.
With not much fanfare just as the Artemis I rocket blasted into the Florida night sky in a blaze of world attention the Chinese were putting the finishing touches to the world’s largest solar telescope array of more than 300 dish antennas in the green verges of the Tibetan plateau. The impressive 100 million yuan ($14.34 million) Daocheng Solar Radio Telescope is but one in a suite of instruments China has recently constructed to study our local and distant universe following the world’s largest single dish radio telescope FAST in Guizhou, declared fully operational in January 2020. Many more ground-based astrophysics and space science facilities are planned. International collaboration can make a huge difference.
This is partially encapsulated by the East Asian Observatory (EAO) that has the Chinese mainland, South Korea, Japan, Thailand and the region of Taiwan as members with nations like India with observer status. The University of Hong Kong (effectively representing the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) via the Laboratory for Space Research became an associate member of the EAO in November 2020 on behalf of all HKSAR universities and makes its share of time on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) available to all HKSAR-based astronomers for no charge. The EAO controls the JCMT, the largest single-dish submillimetre radio telescope in the world. However, the EAO needs to grow its suite of facilities if it is to survive.
The EAO, formed in 2014, was the brainchild of Japanese astronomer Norio Kaifu with a vision to develop an international Asian-focused observatory to rival the great European Southern Observatory (ESO) established in 1962. ESO has been a stunning international success with the most powerful, productive and impactful optical telescopes in the world, producing over 1,000 research papers in 2021 alone. ESO has 16 member states and an annual budget of HK$1.1 billion ($141 million). The EAO on the other hand, though born of a truly lofty ambition, has not progressed beyond a timid infancy. It has a modest budget, a single telescope and shrinking finances. So, is Kaifu’s vision gone?
I hope not. Perhaps the bold vision was ahead of its time and that time may finally be dawning. A reimagined, reinvigorated EAO is possible if the opportunity is grasped across the partnership and strong leadership shown. China, emerging as a major science power over the last 10 years in particular, has the capacity, financial clout and promise to deliver great things on the global stage (as shown in their bold space program) and can play this leadership role. A true EAO needs national engagement and serious funding but with perhaps one bold move to show the way. The FAST radio telescope shows what China is capable of and what it can offer for ground-based astronomy. There is talk of building several FASTs — I would say China should consider building the EAO instead.
The EAO board has also recently considered establishing an international EAO headquarters in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area following a proposal from HKU-Laboratory for Space Research submitted to the EAO Advisory board meeting from Nov 16-17, 2022, in Chiang Mai, Thailand. With local government support, this could be the catalyst needed for positive change for a site well-centered for partner countries.
Could Hong Kong and the whole Greater Bay Area step up to the plate?
The author is a professor in the Faculty of Science at the University of Hong Kong, the director of its Laboratory for Space Research, and vice-chairman of the Orion Astropreneur Space Academy.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.