On July 20, 2018, the "Special Exhibition of Recovered Items from the Manned Space Program’s Long March 2F Rocket Launch and Recovery," jointly organized by Dream East Future World and the China Space Museum under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, was officially launched at Dream East Future World, marking the beginning of the "Happy Space Carnival" summer event and offering visitors a rare opportunity to see and experience aerospace artifacts up close.
This special exhibition is on a grand scale and is the first large-scale exhibition of recovered rocket launch items in China. With over 50 exhibits, all components come from the recovered parts of the Long March 2F-Y11 rocket used in the "Shenzhou-11" mission, including rocket boosters, core stages, payload fairings, and engines. Particularly noteworthy is that these exhibits, through the efforts of aerospace experts, have been assembled according to the rocket’s structure into 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, abbreviated as CZ-2F, has a total length of 58.3 meters and weighs nearly 500 tons. It is currently the longest, most technologically complex, and highest in reliability and safety among all carrier rockets in China. In October 2016, the CZ-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 CZ-2F has made a large-scale appearance in the form of recovered items after completing its mission.
At the launch ceremony, more than twenty children, serving as "Space Culture Ambassadors," solemnly pledged to voluntarily 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 Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, gave an on-site explanation of rocket working principles and related aerospace knowledge for space enthusiasts.
"I used to only see rockets in videos and books. Here, not only can I hear aerospace experts explain space knowledge on-site, but I can also see so many real recovered rocket parts. It’s truly inspiring, and I want to give a thumbs-up to China’s space program," said a visiting middle school student.
Mr. Huang Xiaoqiang, General Manager of Dream East Future World, stated, "We hope that through this special exhibition, more ordinary people will have the opportunity to come into close contact with aerospace artifacts, allowing young people to experience the achievements and charm of China’s space technology and inspiring their dreams in space exploration."
Dream East Future World is China’s first and the world’s second space-themed park, a national AAA-level tourist attraction. It won the 2017 Skyscraper Award for "China's Brand Indoor Theme Park" and 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 Base for Popular Science and Quality Education, and a Resource Unit of the Beijing Municipal Primary and Secondary Students’ Social Resources Classroom in Hebei Province. The park features over 30 high-tech interactive experience projects, integrating aerospace technology exhibitions, extracurricular science education, and technological entertainment, allowing visitors to learn about and experience aerospace technology while enjoying tours and interactive activities.