Zhang Kejian, the head of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), released a video statement commemorating the 60th anniversary of the first human space flight of Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. He also used the announcement to underline China’s commitment to cooperate with Russia in the further development of space exploration. Zhang described to Xinhua recently how CNSA is drawing up plans for the country’s space development during the 14th Five-Year Plan. These will include the lunar exploration program’s fourth phase, interplanetary exploration such as asteroid reconnaissance, heavy-lift carrier rockets, and reusable space transportation systems. China will also build a space infrastructure system for communications, navigation, and remote sensing that covers the world, making better contributions to humanity’s peaceful use of space. Zhang said that China will also be issuing a new White Paper on Space later this year.
Meantime, the U.S. State Department posted an idiotic tweet on April 12: “Today marks 60 years since the first human was sent to space! On International #HumanSpaceFlight Day, we honor all U.S. astronauts who have ventured into space, including Apollo 11 astronaut and former Assistant Secretary of State Michael Collins,” obviously neglecting any mention of Gagarin’s flight, but meriting the accurate comment from Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin that they are “assholes.”
The Russian Embassy in Washington was more diplomatic but no less sharp, writing in part on its Facebook page:
“Our forgetful [State Department] colleagues can find the bust of the space pioneer at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Sculptures of Yuri Gagarin also were erected in Cleveland, Colorado Springs, New York City, Houston and Chicago. Thousands of Americans, including astronauts and NASA personnel, visit these sites every year to honor the memory of the Soviet cosmonaut.
“We also would like to quote the message from the U.S. President John F. Kennedy to the Soviet leader Nikita S. Khrushchev, which is available in the State Department’s archives: ‘The people of the United States share with the people of the Soviet Union their satisfaction for the safe flight of the astronaut in man’s first venture into space. We congratulate you and the Soviet scientists and engineers who made this feat possible.’
“As early as April 9, 2021, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei went to the International Space Station on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft named after Yuri Gagarin….” [https://www.facebook.com/RusEmbUSA/posts/1573192536224464]