【September 13, 2014, CMSP News】On September 13, the second technical session of 27th Planetary Congress of ASE was held in Beijing Space City. During the conference hosted by American astronaut Bonnie J. Dunbar, astronauts from Russia, America, Japan and Italy exchanged opinions on the following themes: prospect of human space development, communication and  cooperation, space medicine and security. 

Figure: Second Technical Session of 27th Planetary Congress of ASE (Taken by Xv Bu)

Russian astronaut Alexander Alexandrov introduced Russia’s plan in human space development, saying that Russia is developing its own new heavy-lift carrier rocket and plans to build a lunar base. He believes that moon landing program will be a permanent project.

Russian astronaut Sergey Avdeev discussed astronauts’ importance in communication and cooperation of space exploration. He emphasized that astronauts should not only need to know the skills of spacecraft operation but also learn the skills of communication. 

Japanese astronaut Sochi Noguchi played the video of releasing small satellite in his latest ISS mission.  Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli reviewed ESA’s human space development and the cooperation ESA has carried out with America and China. In his opinion, frequent symposiums in different forms can promote multi-lateral cooperation in human space. 

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield looked backed the space development of Canada, such as development of Canadarm, astronaut training. He said that only when we figure out why we go to space will we be able to go further into space.

Following the keynote speeches, astronauts interacted with the audience. When asked about how to deal with astronauts’ health and safety issues in space, American astronaut Bonnie J. Dunbar explained the current research in the field of extreme environment and astronaut flight support.

About 300 people including astronauts, officials and experts participated in this technical session. (By Yu Yanjuan)