Space exploration can unite the common goals of nations

Friday marked the last ever launch of the US Space Shuttle programme as Atlantis set off from Cape Canaveral. Over the course of the historic 35 year programme these invaluable missions have captured the imagination of the world, taught us so much, and have paved the way for future exploration of our galaxy.

During this time, the world has also changed drastically, as globalisation has been accelerated by advances in technology and travel and the thawing of the Cold War, which have broken down international boundaries and made cultural integration easier and more accepted in many parts of the world.

One of the biggest barriers that remains however is language, and although advances in language technology tools, including machine translation, are steadily breaking down the walls, the level of communication that can lead to the successful transfer of knowledge and ideas across language and cultural divides can sometimes be elusive. As the US draws back the scale of its space adventures for at least a decade, the opportunity is there for the Chinese to take the next step and it would be good to see East and West work together on a shared goal.

The Chinese language is becoming ever more important from an economic perspective and the global business community is acutely aware that being able to communicate and work collaboratively with Chinese colleagues and competitors will be critical to economic growth.

Similarly, space exploration should no longer be a competition between two worlds of different ideologies as a show of strength, but as a collaboration between nations of every race and belief to help benefit future generations of mankind on our own fragile planet.