Made-in-China Goes to Space

After China’s Mars mission, it is already onto its next expedition. 

The country launched three astronauts – Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo – into orbit to spend three months aboard the Tianhe module some 380km (236 miles) above the Earth. 

Tianhe ("Harmony of the Heavens") is the centerpiece of China's first space station, a three-module, 66-ton structure that the nation aims to have fully assembled by the end of 2022. It will take a total of 11 launches to build and supply the orbital outpost that will comprise of living quarters, science labs and even a Hubble-class telescope to view the cosmos. 

This is China's longest crewed space mission to date and the first in nearly five years. 

The crew had successfully docked with the space station just over seven hours after the launch. Their Shenzhou-12 spacecraft took off atop its Long March 2F rocket on June 17, 2021. 

Needless to say, this ignited a lot of interest from the Chinese population – but more than that, observant netizens have pointed out that what’s interesting is the gear and equipment in the Tianhe core module are all produced by Chinese companies. 

In fact, the topic "Daily Life of Chinese Astronauts" had 240 million views on Sina Weibo by Thursday. 

Devices including a Huawei P30 mobile phone, Lenovo ThinkPad laptop and Xiaomi electronic screwdriver were clearly seen in the livestream, released on Wednesday. 

Others such as bone-conduction headsets made by AfterShokz and Huawei FreeBuds didn't escape netizens’ attention either. 

Besides the electronic devices, present too were the Chinese watch brand Fiyta, clothes and sleeping bags for the astronauts by outdoor sportswear maker Toread, not to mention, refrigerators by Haier and microwave ovens by Galanz. 

Apart from the above products, other core products such as computers, operating systems and robot arms were all developed and manufactured by Chinese enterprises. For example, the Kylin OS replaced a Western system on the Chinese space station. 

This represents a big step forward in the development and progress of China's industrial manufacturing. China rocks!

R2-D2 Droid in Your Home

Fancy owning the R2-D2 droid?

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image credit: http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t5diwakexp0v7w5c2n0m.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image credit: http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--exLcsMSY--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/1280800059890301098.jpg

 

Haeir makes it possible and if you have the money, you can now own a built-to-scale, remote-controlled icebox version of the “Star Wars” franchise fan favorite R2-D2.

 

Yup, this R2-D2 mini-fridge can actually roll through the house, transporting a dozen chilled cans of beer at a time – how’s that for using The Force!

 

According to Engadget, Aqua R2-D2 has more-than-fridge-like capabilities, including Wi-Fi and a projector that can play movies via the average Android. On top of its faux-holographic projector, it also beeps and boops, as well as whirring lights.

 

For now, it will only be available in Japan and cost a hefty ¥998,000 (RM35,276). Still, it is available for pre-order, with the first shipments due out in December 2015.

 

I am not a “Star Wars” fan but I am thrilled to the idea of having this droid bring me a drink when I am chilling at home. I want one!

 

On Thursday, I was at the MAICSA Toastmasters meeting at KL's MidValley Boulevard. It was one of those rare occasions I didn’t have any meeting role – which is fine with me, really. Speeches were alright but the evaluations were a class above.