A special exhibition of recovered items from China’s iconic Long March 2F rocket, a key player in the nation’s aerospace achievements, is being held at Dream East Future World...

On July 20, 2018, the “Special Exhibition of Recovered Items from the Manned Space Program’s Long March 2F Rocket Launch” jointly organized by Dream East Future World and the China Aerospace Museum under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation was officially launched at Dream East Future World. This marked the beginning of the “Happy Space Carnival” summer activities, offering visitors a rare opportunity to see and experience aerospace artifacts up close.

This special exhibition is grand in scale and represents the first large-scale display of recovered rocket launch and recovery items in China. The exhibition features over 50 items, all recovered from the Long March 2F-Y11 rocket used in the “Shenzhou-11” mission. These include rocket boosters, core stages, fairings, and engines. Notably, through the efforts of aerospace experts, these items have been assembled according to the rocket’s structure, forming an almost complete Long March 2F rocket, measuring 43.44 meters in length (the full rocket is 58.3 meters long).

The Long March 2F rocket, commonly referred to as the Long 2F, is 58.3 meters in length and weighs nearly 500 tons. It is currently the longest, most technologically complex, and highest in reliability and safety standards among all carrier rockets in China. In October 2016, the Long 2F successfully launched the “Shenzhou-11” manned spacecraft, marking a major victory in the “centerpiece battle” of the space laboratory phase of China’s manned space program. This is the first time the rocket has made a large-scale appearance in the form of recovered artifacts after completing its mission.

At the launch ceremony, over twenty children, serving as “Space Culture Ambassadors,” solemnly pledged to become inheritors and practitioners of China’s space culture.

Chang Wuquan, Deputy Chief Designer of the overall system and ballistic designer for the Long March 2F rocket at the First Research Institute of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, gave an on-site explanation of rocket working principles and related aerospace knowledge to space enthusiasts.

“I’ve only seen rockets in videos and books before. Here, not only can I hear aerospace experts explain space knowledge on-site, but I can also see so many recovered rocket items up close. It’s truly inspiring, and I want to give a thumbs-up to China’s aerospace industry,” said a visiting middle school student.

Mr. Huang Xiaoqiang, General Manager of Dream East Future World, stated, “We hope this special exhibition will give ordinary people the opportunity to come into close contact with aerospace artifacts and allow young people to experience the achievements and charm of China’s aerospace technology, inspiring their dreams of space exploration.”

Dream East Future World is China’s first and the world’s second space-themed amusement park. It is a national AAA-level tourist attraction and was awarded the 2017 “China Brand Indoor Amusement Park Award” by the Skyscraper Awards. It has been listed as one of the “2015 Key Cultural Industry Projects in China,” a 2017 National Preferred Tourism Project, one of Hebei Province’s Top Ten Cultural Industry Projects, a Hebei Provincial Popular Science Education Base, and a Resource Unit of Beijing’s Primary and Secondary School Students’ Social Resource Classroom in Hebei. The park features over 30 high-tech interactive experiences, integrating aerospace technology exhibitions, extracurricular science education, and technological entertainment. Visitors can learn about aerospace technology while enjoying interactive experiences, immersing themselves in the wonders of space science.