Talking the language of harmony in space
European astronauts turn to Chinese to expand horizons and friendships
As China broadens its exploration of space at an ever faster pace, many in Europe are hoping for expanded cooperation with China in this new frontier.
With their career paths in mind, many European astronauts have begun learning Chinese, and they are also showing a great interest in Chinese culture.
“Looking up, I see the immensity of the cosmos. Bowing my head, I look at the multitude of the world. The gaze flies, the heart expands, the joy of the senses can reach its peak, and indeed, this is true happiness,” Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti tweeted in mid-October during a stay on the International Space Station, or ISS. She was quoting from Lantingji Xu, a classic of Chinese literature from the 4th century, to describe her feelings in space.
Cristoforetti is a member of the European Space Agency, or ESA, working group, who speaks Chinese very well. She is responsible for liaising with her Chinese counterparts.
Cristoforetti tweeted the verses from Lantingji Xu in Chinese with translations in Italian and English, as well as three photos taken in space of China’s Bohai Bay and the view of China’s capital Beijing. The post quickly went viral.
In fact, her connections with China go beyond space. In 2019, she came to China and gave a lecture at the Beijing Institute of Technology. As the first Italian female astronaut in space, she was looked up to as a role model by the students, especially female ones, who are all future engineers.
“You are building a powerhouse for the future of aerospace engineering,” she said in words of encouragement to them.
Thomas Pesquet is another ESA astronaut who has an affinity with China. One of the most famous European astronauts, he is also a prominent influencer on social media.
The Frenchman speaks six languages, including Chinese. On the eve of the year 2021, he shared his cultural knowledge of the Chinese New Year on Twitter. “The Chinese New Year starts 12 February (in 2021 according to the traditional Chinese calendar) and is celebrated with ‘the dragon’ (in emoji), my favorite mythical creature now.”
In November last year, Pesquet and three other astronauts aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon arrived at the ISS.
Crossing paths
The following day after he and his fellow crew members took off, the Chinese-manned space mission Shenzhou-11 landed. The French astronaut “crossed paths” with two Chinese taikonauts, Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong, who then recorded a short video for the ESA and especially for Pesquet, to greet his departure for the ISS.
When three Chinese taikonauts on the Shenzhou-12 mission joined the Chinese space station, or CSS, in mid-June 2021, Pesquet posted a congratulatory message on the image-hosting website Flicker: “The population of humans in space grew by 43 percent … all human spaceflight is an incredibly impressive achievement, congratulations!” The post included photos of China taken from space.
German Matthias Maurer is also an active ESA participant in SinoEuropean cooperation. He has been learning Chinese for years with the intention of working better with his Chinese counterparts on the Chinese station, he told Xinhua in 2018.
His Chinese name Ma Tian was chosen by himself, and means “heavenly horse”, according to his Chinese teacher.
He and Cristoforetti participated in a sea survival exercise organized by the Astronaut Center of China in 2017, marking the first joint training session involving Chinese and foreign astronauts in China.
Maurer said China has a lot of advantages such as its own rockets, capsules and a space station. “I want to participate in both European and non-European experiments there. Also (to) build a live video connection so that the European public can talk with the European astronauts in the CSS and see inside,” Maurer said.
Training and living with 16 other Chinese astronauts, he felt like “being part of a family”.
“I would expect to do any type of work and take the same responsibility as any Chinese astronaut in CSS,” he said, noting that the cooperation is a “win-win”.
Maurer is a believer in the strength of cooperation for the future of space activities. “Once we look beyond Earth orbit to the moon or Mars, we need all the partners we can find on this planet … the more we have in the ‘family’, the better we will become,” he once said.