Taiwanese-American astronaut Kjell Lindgren yesterday encouraged Taiwanese children to pursue their dreams of space adventures at an event in Taichung marking NASA’s completion of the Artemis II mission.
Lindgren made the comment during a tour of the Combined Logistics Command Taichung Hostel that formerly catered to US military personnel, among other clientele.
American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene accompanied Lindgren at the event, which was hosted by Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕).
Photo: CNA
Lindgren, who was born in Taichung in 1971 to a US airman and Taiwanese mother, said that he looked for his birthplace, and the whereabouts of his friends and family on Earth, through the porthole of his spacecraft, as had numerous NASA astronauts before him.
In 2015 he posted a picture of Taiwan has seen from the International Space Station during Expedition 44/45.
The Earth is beautiful when viewed from anywhere in space, he said, adding that Taiwan proper appeared “a green jewel in the mist” from orbit.
The current moment is a golden age for space flight and exploration, he said.
Great things are expected from the data collected by the Artemis II mission, which are being utilized to plan a second moon landing, he added.
Young Taiwanese should not be afraid to hold on to their dream of going to space, as he is confident that the time would come for him to meet this generation of Taiwanese as colleagues out of this world, Lingren said.
He also accepted a gift of star-shaped pastries from the founder of Liue’s Bakery, Liu Che-chi (劉哲基), adding that he had likely eaten Liu’s famous apple-stuffed rolls during his childhood on a US base in Taiwan.
Lindgren handed out NASA badges and stickers to the event’s participants, adding that revisiting Taiwan after a lifetime of space missions felt like coming full circle.
Lu told the event that Lingren’s father served at the Ching Chuan Kang Air Base in Taichung, where he met the astronaut’s mother, making the astronaut a member of the Taichung family.
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