Diving deep to gather knowledge
On Thursday, Wang Yaping delivered a lecture to students from Shenzhou X, becoming China's first teacher in space. Her feat was hailed as a breakthrough for China's manned mission in space. The Jiaolong manned deep-sea submersible is an equally, if not more, important stride for China's deep-sea technology mission.
On Tuesday, Jiaolong carried its first scientist on its second deep-sea dive. It had completed its maiden dive of its first application-oriented trial mission on Monday. The successful deep-sea dive of Jiaolong means China has completed the first tier of manned deep-sea diving, and its research and resource exploration abilities have greatly advanced.
Some people believe that the success of the Jiaolong manned deep-sea submersible's mission, which will provide technological support to China's ocean resource development, is more important than the Shenzhou X mission.
