Space Exploration at China Science Fiction Convention 2024

DENG DI

The ancient Chinese folklore of the Jade Rabbit and Moon Goddesscontinues to inspire enthusiasm to explore the lunar surface.

NSIDE the main venue of the eighthChina Science Fiction Convention（CSFC） in Beijing， a dozen primaryschool students were seen squattingin a huge artificial “l(fā)unar soil pit”wearing gloves and goggles， diggingwith their small shovels while a steady stream of visitors passed by.

“Here inside the pit is a lunar soilsample of national standard which wejointly developed with the Key Laboratoryof Earth and Planetary Physics，Chinese Academy of Sciences， last year.Based on the lunar soil collected byChinas Change-5 lunar probe in 2020，our researchers simulated the lunar surface，” said Yu Bin， a manager of theSchrodingoose Lab， a company dedicatedto promoting science educationamong children.

At the convention in Shougang Park，Shijingshan District， from April 27 to29， scientists simulated the moon surfacebased on their scientific researchresults， and allowed children to dig onthe “moon” for all kinds of gems buriedin the lunar soil.

“While the children play， our workerseducate them about space， tellingthem why we need to go to the moonand how we are going to do it. Thechildren ask a lot of questions. In thisway， it is easier for them to understandand digest knowledge about space. Alot of science popularization nowadaysis spoon-fed， but we hope to stimulatetheir scientific enthusiasm from within，”said Yu.

The exhibition area of more than8，000 square meters attracted research institutions and exhibitors along theindustrial chain， including the DeepSpace Exploration Lab， Yuanyu ScienceFiction and Future TechnologyResearch Institute， and GuangzhouDongjing Computer Technology Co.，Ltd. University students from BeihangUniversity and Beijing Institute ofTechnology， and primary and middleschool students， as well as sciencefiction enthusiasts gathered at theconvention.

A sideline event of the annual Zhongguancun Forum （ZGC Forum），the China Science Fiction Convention2024， under the theme of “ScientificDreams， Creating the Future，” featured18 activities that were spread acrossfour sections， including the openingceremony， forum meetings， industrypromotion activities and a science fictionfilm week， to bring a visual feastof “technology + imagination” to visitors.The convention not only focusedon the innovative applications ofcurrent cutting-edge technologies inscience fiction， culture， art， and otherfields， but also set up many booths forordinary attendees to experience thecharm of it in an immersive way.

Apart from the “l(fā)unar soilpit，” there was more to seeabout the moon landing atthis years convention.

Fun Science Experiments

In order to give visitors an immersiveexperience， the simulated lunarsoil that appeared in the “l(fā)unar soilpit” at the convention was speciallyshipped via large trucks from Ulanqab in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region，over 300 kilometers away fromBeijing， by scientific researchers.

“Together with scientists from theChinese Academy of Sciences， wevefound the youngest volcanic basaltin the volcanos near Ulanqab thatis closest to the sample collected byChange-5 from the moon. We wentthere several times， collected it， andbrought it back as experimental soil.We transported six tons of the soil forthe ‘lunar soil pit here at the site，” saidYu further.

In addition to the game of treasurehunt from lunar soil， Yu also broughtthe 4.5B interstellar laboratory hedesigned to popularize space scienceand aerospace science knowledgeamong primary and secondary schoolstudents.

The 4.5B interstellar laboratoryshowed visitors a core technologyin 6G era – terahertz radar technology.With a high frequency of above100 MHz， it is mainly used to furtheranalyze the structure of outer spacematerials. According to research， terahertzmakes it possible to make a morecomplete analysis of the structure ofsubstances compared with traditionalmethods， helping humans better understandthe universe. Meanwhile， thistechnology is also expected to be usedin broader fields， such as healthcare.One day in the future， people might beable to use it to monitor their electrocardiogram，blood pressure， and bloodsugar without wearing any equipment.In the distant future， it can even beused to measure movement at a cellularlevel， such as the movement ofcancer cells.

Apart from the “ lunar soil pit，”there was more to see about the moonlanding at this years convention. Asuperconducting magnetic levita-tion test was set up at another booth.A worker poured liquid nitrogen onthe superconductor and lowered thetemperature to minus 196 degreesCelsius， simulating the extremely lowtemperature environment on the lunarsurface. The cooled superconductorwas then placed on a magnet track，and the crowd saw it levitate and moveforward rapidly. An experiment of thisnature laid the foundation for high-efficiencytransportation with extremelylow energy and minimal wear and tearon the moon in the future.

In terms of scene design， there werealso augmented reality scripted gamesand virtual reality interactive experiences，providing the audience with animmersive journey of planet exploration，like the super popular scientificresearch ship on the “surface of Mars.”The simulated bumpy driving bringseveryone a driving experience close tothat on the surface of Mars. In addition，there were also interstellar postoffices and interstellar supply stationsto popularize science in a more vividway to the public.

In the eyes of Duan Ran， projectoperations director for the exhibition，each booth was dedicated to openingthe door to science for general audiences，especially Chinese teenagers，so as to provide them a journey fromfantasy to science. In her view， sciencefantasy was the predecessor of science.As human beings first have dreamsbefore they transform them into reality，planting science dreams in childrenshearts is the first step to encouragethem to embrace scientific explorationand become top scientists.

As an important section of theeighth China Science Fiction Convention，the 2024 Trendy and FantasySeason included four major themesections： popular science fiction and science education， science fiction technology，science fiction literature， andscience fiction cultural and creativemarket， gathering more than 40 technologyexhibitors.

Space Mission Accepted

“Welcome to the space rescue team，we will face a challenge in space. A fewdays ago， the space biological base encountereda super strong solar storm，causing damage to many facilities andserious deviation of the orbit. Oncethe space virus in the base is leaked tothe Earth， it will bring catastrophe tohumankind. Your task is to drive thereturn capsule， dock it with the spacestation， enter the biological base， andrestart the control system. Are youready？ The return capsule is about toenter orbit.” Jia Zhuo， director of theScience Fiction Research Base at ZGCScience Fiction Industry InnovationCenter， announced a mission toparticipants.

The ZGC Science Fiction IndustryInnovation Center， located in ShougangPark， has an immersive science fictionexperience hall. The simulated returncapsule inside is not only of almostequal proportions to the real thing， butalso has all the details， from the internalinstruments and equipment to thecosmic scenery outside the window.

To complete the rescue mission， itis necessary to first enter the returncapsule， then lift off， complete thedocking in the air， and enter the spacestation. During the experience， visitorswill find that the process of manuallydocking a spacecraft requires not onlyprofessional knowledge， but also manymeticulous maneuvers， which is a testof skill and patience.

According to the China MannedSpace Engineering Office， after enteringorbit， the Shenzhou-18 mannedspacecraft successfully docked at theradial port of the Tianhe core moduleof the space station at 3：32 on April 26，2024. The entire automated rendezvouslasted approximately 6.5 hours. Thebreakthrough in Chinas docking technologymade those who experiencedit marvel at Chinas development inspace technology.

The ZGC Science Fiction IndustryInnovation Center also serves asa platform for the development ofChinas science fiction industry. Onthe afternoon of April 27， as one ofthe important forum activities of theconvention， the 2024 China ScienceFiction Research Center Annual Meetingand Achievements Conference wassuccessfully held in Shougang Park，and the Chinese Science Fiction OverseasCommunication Report 2018-2023was released. The report noted that asChinese culture went global， the globalspread of Chinese science fiction， asexemplified by the works of Liu Cixin，is diversified， interconnected， andmulti-dimensional. With its growinginfluence， Chinas science fiction is becoming a newly emerging culturalforce around the world.

Incredible Steel Art

This years science fiction conventionalso had a session displaying sci-fiderivative cultural and creative products，which not only created a mustvisitdestination for sci-fi enthusiasts，but also a communication and tradingplatform for sci-fi enterprises along theindustrial chain.

“We adopted a completely marketorientedoperation model to organizethe exhibition， adding something thatis more accessible to the public， suchas science fiction literature， sciencefiction film and TV shows， and sciencefiction derivatives. Visitors can experiencethe charm of science fiction firsthand.We also help companies go fromvisiting exhibitions to participating inexhibitions and building business fromShijingshan District，” said Duan.

What particularly attracted attentionwas the booth displaying theShougang silk steel and cicada-wingsteel artworks. Steel has always givenpeople the impression of being toughand unyielding， and steel as thin as silkor cicada wings only existed in sciencefiction imagination in the past. Nowadays，China has broken through manyscientific and technological problemsto make such steel a reality.

“Silk steel” is made from more than10 kinds of elements at the high temperatureof 1，600 degrees Celsius. Aftera complex process， the elements aretransformed into an electrothermalalloy fiber with a diameter of only0.01meter. The fiber is oxidation-resistantand tough at above 1，000 degreesCelsius. After the steel is made intosilk-like thin threads， it is then blendedinto embroidery threads of various colors，which will be interwoven into allmanner of arts and decorations.

At the booth， visitors could viewsilk-like steel wire up close， witness its“l(fā)ightness， thinness and softness” andlearn about its manufacturing process.The experience shattered peoples inherentunderstanding of heavy， hardsteel being transformed into silk-likeworks of art after hi-tech processing.

Since 2018， Shougang JingtangUnited Iron & Steel Co.， Ltd. has successfullyproduced ultra-thin steelplates with a thickness of only 0.08 millimeter，which are widely used in hitechfields， such as 5G equipment. “Cicadawing steel” represents Shougangsachievements in the field of ultra-thinsteel technology. The series of BingDwen Dwen postcards made of “cicadawing steel” and launched in 2023 alsorepresent the century-old industrialupgrading and green and sustainabledevelopment of Shougang Park， whichused to be a big steel mill.

With a variety of activities from scificultural and creative markets， sci-fireading corners， sci-fi living room andothers， the convention， seeing the developmentof science fiction industryas an opportunity， opened up a newlife of imagination for on-site and onlinevisitors to experience incredibletechnological changes. It is hoped tonot only promote Beijing as an internationalscience fiction hub， but alsoboost high-quality development of thescience fiction industry in China.