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.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
RSS