Salt Lake City, Utah,　Oct. 12 -- Upon Wednesday’s successful launch, the non-profit Association of Space Explorers (ASE), which is populated by past and present astronauts and cosmonauts, issued an invitation to China’s professional space flyers - through the United Nations - to take part in their organization.

"As a member of the Association of Space Explorers and a three-time space flyer, I am absolutely convinced that the more human presence there is in orbital space and beyond, the better for all humanity in understanding our place in a very limited one planet environment,” space shuttle payload specialist Charlie Walker told collectSPACE, a SPACE.com partner, during the 19th annual ASE Planetary Congress in Salt Lake City, Utah. “We have to look forward to a successful launch, and a successful return, of any and all taikonauts and Chinese flyers to space and back again."

(SPACE.com)