Looking for encounters of the space kind

Chinese scientists have their eyes and ears fixed on the heavens, waiting for a sign that may come soon - or a lot later

When the NASA spacecraft Juno arrived at Jupiter this week after a journey of nearly 3 billion kilometers, the scientists who had toiled in relative obscurity over many years to make it happen finally got the chance to fete their great success before the world.

But for space scientists like Mao Shunde, those kinds of public accolades may never come. Instead he must have the patience to devote his all to a task that may well prove fruitless in his own lifetime.