Nation's space industry spreads its wings

Engineers' help

A group of engineers from the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology was involved in making You Are My Glory, and their participation laid a foundation for the show's success, according to Gu Man, whose book was dramatized for the series.

The academy, one of China's leading spacecraft and carrier rocket manufacturers, is part of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.

In a post on Sina Weibo, Gu said she is grateful to the many space industry experts who helped with the book's dramatization.

"They arranged tours to Xi'an (Shaanxi province) and Hainan province for us to meet people working at space facilities and to watch rocket launches. They also fact-checked and proofread sections of my script concerning space industry operations and taught actors how to portray real space engineers," Gu posted.

"Without their help, I would not have been able to complete parts of the script about space programs and it would have been harder for the production team to film certain episodes."

Wei Ran, a project manager at the Shanghai Institute of Aerospace System Engineering, a subsidiary of the Shanghai academy, said he and dozens of other engineers at the institute were invited to advise Gu and members of the production crew for the series.

"After receiving permission from the academy, we organized a guided tour of our institute for the production crew to learn some basic facts about a State-owned space research entity, such as the code of conduct and confidentiality rules. For instance, we showed them how an engineer should put his or her phone inside a specially designed signal-blocking locker before entering the office, and how employees are reminded of confidentiality requirements by their computer's screen saver.

"We also demonstrated some basic examples of being a space engineer, such as putting on an electrostatic discharge garment and using the air shower antechamber before entering a highly purified production facility," he said.

To enable the production crew members to familiarize themselves with the way in which engineers meet and discuss research issues, Wei and his colleagues arranged a meeting attended by spacecraft professionals.

"We couldn't take them to a real business meeting because of secrecy rules, so we organized a mock one and asked engineers to discuss the feasibility of a fictional deep-space exploration project," he said. "However, the procedures at the meeting were the same as for real ones, which helped the production staff better understand operations at a space institute," Wei said.

Moreover, some scenes were shot inside the institute's facilities, he added.

"It was difficult or impractical for the crew to build some facilities, such as those with large, sophisticated testing equipment or a huge ground control center, so we decided to let them use some of our infrastructure on condition that no secrets were leaked," Wei said.

"Interestingly, scenes of engineers having dinner were filmed in our dining hall. Most of those appearing in these scenes are researchers at the institute, while the food eaten by the actors was typical of the dishes served to institute workers that day."

You Are My Glory is popular with Chinese viewers because it uses an enchanting storyline involving two attractive protagonists, features stylish modern city scenes, and portrays many aspects of the lives and jobs of space industry workers, Wei added.