Retired basketball star Yao Ming takes on new mission as China’s ambassador to Mars
Other big names appointed include China’s national volleyball coach Lang Ping and award-winning sci-fi writer Liu Cixin
PUBLISHED : Monday, 10 October, 2016, 1:02pm
UPDATED : Monday, 10 October, 2016, 1:02pm
Related topics
China has appointed retired basketball star Yao Ming and 10 other celebrities as “Ambassadors to Mars” to promote the nation’s first mission to Mars in 2020.
The other celebrities who will become ambassadors alongside Yao, 36 – who played for America’s Houston Rockets in the National Basketball Association – are Lang Ping, the coach of the women’s Olympic gold-medal-winning volleyball team; composer and conductor Tan Dun, guzheng player Yuan Sha, award-winning science-fiction writer Liu Cixin, members of the Chinese teenage boy band TFBOYS, and opera singers Warren Mok, Dai Yuqiang and Wei Song, Xinhua reported on Monday.
China unveils designs for orbiter, lander and rover for its first unmanned mission to Mars
This is the first time China has appointed an ambassador for its major space programme.
The move comes after Beijing announced in August that it planned to send a spacecraft to Mars in the summer of 2020.
Is China militarising space? Experts say new junk collector could be used as anti-satellite weapon
The 11 ambassadors will help publicise the Mars programme, encourage interest in science and technology among young Chinese people and also promote China’s international image.
The 2020 mission would be launched on a Long March-5 carrier rocket from the Wenchang space launch centre in southern China’s Hainan province, Xinhua reported.
Most Popular
Viewed
- 1
![Star says she has ‘experienced unprecedented pain and agony’ in first social media post since disappearing three months ago]( "Star says she has ‘experienced unprecedented pain and agony’ in first social media post since disappearing three months ago")
- 2
![US President Donald Trump sips a glass of Diet Coke after making a toast during a lunch at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Photo: AP]( "US President Donald Trump sips a glass of Diet Coke after making a toast during a lunch at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Photo: AP")
- 3
![Former CCTV talk show host Cui Yongyuan fans the tax evasion flames after top-paid actress fined US$129 million for under-reporting income]( "Former CCTV talk show host Cui Yongyuan fans the tax evasion flames after top-paid actress fined US$129 million for under-reporting income")
- 4
![Illustration: Brian Wang]( "Illustration: Brian Wang")
- 5
![Students hold Korean unification flags ahead of the first of three summits so far this year between North and South, in Seoul in April. Photo: Reuters]( "Students hold Korean unification flags ahead of the first of three summits so far this year between North and South, in Seoul in April. Photo: Reuters")
Shared
- 1
![Star says she has ‘experienced unprecedented pain and agony’ in first social media post since disappearing three months ago]( "Star says she has ‘experienced unprecedented pain and agony’ in first social media post since disappearing three months ago")
- 2
![New legislation that would grant the Philippine president powers similar to martial law comes amid claims by critics that he made up the alleged ‘Red October’ coup plot to justify a crackdown on the opposition]( "New legislation that would grant the Philippine president powers similar to martial law comes amid claims by critics that he made up the alleged ‘Red October’ coup plot to justify a crackdown on the opposition")
- 3
![Students hold Korean unification flags ahead of the first of three summits so far this year between North and South, in Seoul in April. Photo: Reuters]( "Students hold Korean unification flags ahead of the first of three summits so far this year between North and South, in Seoul in April. Photo: Reuters")
- 4
![A clause allowing any member of the North American trio to effectively block each-other’s free-trade deals seems aimed at China and is expected to feature in future US trade agreements]( "A clause allowing any member of the North American trio to effectively block each-other’s free-trade deals seems aimed at China and is expected to feature in future US trade agreements")
- 5
![Former CCTV talk show host Cui Yongyuan fans the tax evasion flames after top-paid actress fined US$129 million for under-reporting income]( "Former CCTV talk show host Cui Yongyuan fans the tax evasion flames after top-paid actress fined US$129 million for under-reporting income")
Commented
- 1
![Students hold Korean unification flags ahead of the first of three summits so far this year between North and South, in Seoul in April. Photo: Reuters]( "Students hold Korean unification flags ahead of the first of three summits so far this year between North and South, in Seoul in April. Photo: Reuters")
- 2
![US Navy photograph showing the near-miss during a confrontation between the USS Decatur (left) and the PLA Navy destroyer in the South China Sea on Sunday. Photo: Handout]( "US Navy photograph showing the near-miss during a confrontation between the USS Decatur (left) and the PLA Navy destroyer in the South China Sea on Sunday. Photo: Handout")
- 3
![A US carrier group pictured during an exercise near the Philippines last year. Photo: AFP]( "A US carrier group pictured during an exercise near the Philippines last year. Photo: AFP")
- 4
![Pence speech comes a week after Trump accused China during a meeting of the UN Security Council of interfering in American elections to help his Democratic rivals]( "Pence speech comes a week after Trump accused China during a meeting of the UN Security Council of interfering in American elections to help his Democratic rivals")
- 5
![Illustration: Brian Wang]( "Illustration: Brian Wang")
You may also like
Can reinvented lion dance end Hong Kong’s ‘identity crisis’?
In partnership with: Leisure and Cultural Services Department
French luxury cream transforms skin in 28 days with unique rose extracts
Sponsored by: Lancôme
Comments: