Chang'e-1 is named after a beautiful fairy who flies to the moon in the Chinese legend. Tan Xi, a retired teacher in the northern port city of Tianjin, has put together a slide show to introduce the wonders of space to the public.
Tan Xi is introducing China's first lunar orbiter Chang'e-1 and space history to university students in Tianjin. The retired teacher has over 200 slides, distilled from over 40 years of collecting.
The 66-year-old was bitten by the space bug in his youth. He collected all information he could on satellites and space exploration. Now Internet search engines drive his hobby. When he learned about China's first lunar probe, Tan decided to share his collection with the public. He spent over a year learning how to make slides before starting his lecture tours.
Tian Xi said, "I've been looking forward to China's lunar mission since I learned of the United States' Apollo moon landing in 1969. I started collecting space flight materials from then on. Now Chang'e One is turning my dream into reality."
Audience enjoy the novel approach of Tan's lectures. He draws on cartoons, movies and even poems and traditional Chinese Paintings.
The legend of Chang'e has been told through the ages in China. With the launch of her namesake satellite, Chinese will soon have new stories that will go down in history.
