SCEN is supporting The Scotland China Association to promote the SCA talk taking place on Monday 14 October 2024. For the convenience of our speaker, this is not on their usual Tuesday. It will take place at the Friends Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace ( the raised terrace above Victoria Street) EH1 2JL starting with Chinese tea & biscuits at 7pm. It will be a hybrid meeting, but we hope that many of you will attend the meeting in person, to meet their speaker and other SCA members – please do come along! Others who might be interested are always welcome. A Zoom link will be sent out a day or two before the meeting.  If you are interested in attending by Zoom, please email Elizabeth Leith on elzbthlth@aol.com and she will send you the link. 

DETAILS of SCA talk

Date:  Monday, 14 October 2024

Time:  7:00 pm for tea & biscuits, talk will begin at 7:30 pm

Venue:  Friends Meeting House, 7 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh EH1 2JL

 Speaker: Dr Molly Silk

Title: China’s Space Odyssey: Innovation, Diplomacy, and the New Lunar Frontier

Abstract:  Mao Zedong once lamented that China could not even launch a potato into orbit. But in 2003 China’s national space programme was propelled into the global consciousness with the success of its first human spaceflight mission. Over the last two decades, China has demonstrated incredible innovative capacity through its taikonaut, lunar, and Martian missions, not to mention the establishment of its global GNSS system. But in an increasingly divided geopolitical landscape, how will China garner global support for its future space activities, including the construction of its very own lunar base? Dr Silk recently received her doctoral degree from Manchester University, where she was based at the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research. Her research examined China’s space policy and the diplomatic efforts undertaken by agents of the national Chinese space programme, including cultural, communicative, and cooperative activities. Her research interests also include U.S.-China relations, U.S. and China innovation strategies and competition, emerging technologies, the commercial space sector, and intelligence and defence.