Triumphant Return of Eight YF Life Jr. Astronauts from their Nine-day Space-Exploration Journey - It is Possible!
August 12, 2019
The “YF Life Jr. Space Camp Program”, exclusively sponsored and organized by YF Life Insurance International Ltd. (YF Life), has achieved yet another successful touchdown. The eight YF Life Jr. Astronauts — Timothy Chan, Altan Chan, Aelita Chan, Anson Cheng, Chase Chung, Justin Ho, Natalie Liu and Alex Ngan — have now returned from their nine-day U.S. Space-Exploration Journey. To mark the triumphant return of the Jr. Astronauts, YF Life today held a Celebration Ceremony in their honor. Program patrons and judges in attendance included Ir. Dr. Raymond Ho Chung-tai, SBS, MBE, SBStJ, JP, Hong Kong Deputy to the 10th and 11th National People’s Congress of the PRC; Mr. J.P. Lee, SBS, OBE, JP, Chairman, The International Chamber of Commerce - Hong Kong; and Dr. Shum Chi Wang, Chairman, Agency for Volunteer Service.
The eight Jr. Astronauts staged a dynamic space LED drum performance as the curtain raiser to the Ceremony, exhibiting their excitement and joy at completing their challenging missions at the US Space Camp, and signifying how the eight shone brightly in pursuing their dreams in the spirit of “It is Possible!”
The nine-day U.S. Space-Exploration Journey offered the eight Jr. Astronauts practical as well as theoretical training courses integrating innovative, unique and well-rounded training methodologies, greatly enriching their knowledge of advanced space technology. Starting off at the US Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, the Jr. Astronauts experienced a wide range of challenges during their simulated astronaut training and activities, including riding on the "Multi-axis Trainer" to experience the sensation of weightlessness and free movement in space, and producing their own working scale-model rocket. In the "1/6th Gravity Trainer", the team experienced different ways of moonwalking in an environment simulating one-sixth of the Earth’s gravity. They were also hooked up to the "Manned Maneuvering Unit", which gave them the experience of performing virtual missions outside the orbiting space shuttle. The second leg of the journey took the Jr. Astronauts and their parents to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where they got a close-up view of a real Saturn V rocket and the “Space Shuttle Atlantis”. During the trip, the Jr. Astronauts also had the opportunity to meet with veteran astronaut John Herrington, and understand more about the life of real astronauts working in space.
Ms. Jeanne Sau, Chief Marketing Officer of YF Life and Program Commander, said, “The ‘YF Life Jr. Space Camp Program’ entered its 21st year this year, and we are very grateful to participants, parents and schools for their tremendous support, as well as to the presidents of the universities in Hong Kong and community dignitaries who act as the patrons and judges of the Program. The eight Jr. Astronauts really lived up to the ‘It is Possible!’ spirit in dealing with various challenges and completing their mission at the US Space Camp, demonstrating their outstanding ability to reach out for their space dreams with self-confidence, inquisitiveness and perseverance. We believe that this once-in-a-lifetime experience will strengthen their ability in taking on other challenges. By organizing the Program, we are helping children to make their dreams come true, and embodying the brand commitment of YF Life to ‘Own the future’.”
The “YF Life Jr. Space Camp Program” was founded in 1999 as the very first program to provide simulated astronaut training for children from Hong Kong and Macau. Since its inception, the Program has helped 150 children realize their space dreams. With its all-round, innovative and unique training methodology, the Program is designed to spark and nurture children’s interest in space exploration and advanced aerospace technology, as well as strengthen the parent-child bond through a series of parent-child collaboration activities. The Program slogan “It is Possible!” encourages children to take on challenges and go beyond themselves. The costs of the nine-day space-exploration journey, including the fees for the children and parents to join the overseas space camp, all round-trip flight tickets, accommodation, meals, travel insurance, and so on, are fully sponsored by YF Life.
YF Life Insurance International Limited is a member of publicly listed Yunfeng Financial Group Limited (HKSE: 376), with major shareholders including Yunfeng Financial Holdings Limited and MassMutual International LLC. Yunfeng Financial Holdings Limited is a company owned by Mr. Jack Ma (Yun) and Mr. David Yu (Feng). Leveraging our robust financial background and solid reliability, YF Life is committed to helping customers “own the future” by providing professional and technology-enhanced one-stop risk- and wealth-management consulting services, as well as MPF services.
The eight Jr. Astronauts staged a dynamic space LED drum performance as the curtain raiser to the Ceremony.
Mr K. P. Tay, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of YF Life (3rd row, fifth right), Ms Jeanne Sau, Chief Marketing Officer of YF Life (3rd row, first right), together with patrons and judges of the Program, Ir Dr Raymond Ho Chung Tai (3rd row, fourth right), Mr J.P. Lee (3rd row, fifth left), and Dr. Shum Chi Wang (3rd row, fourth left) share the joy with a photo with the 8 Jr. Astronauts, their parents and school representatives.
The eight Jr. Astronauts all lived the "It is Possible!" spirit to successfully complete various challenging missions during their nine-day Space-Exploration Journey.
During the trip, the eight Jr. Astronauts had the opportunity to understand more about astronauts working in space from real-life astronaut John Herrington, who flew on a number of space missions.
