Sixteen Chinese high school students won a space exploration trip to the United States starting from January 26.

Rick Shangraw, Vice President of Arizona State University

They were awarded the trip after the China Youth Space Academy's final competition, a non-profit activity co-organized by China Youth Social Service Center, china.org.cn and Arizona State University (ASU). The results were announced on November 18 last year.

According to the organizers, the students will be given an opportunity to meet their American peers at ASU and visit ASU Mars Space Flight Center, Lowell Observatory.

ASU, as one of the best comprehensive universities in America, enjoys a high reputation in terms of Mars research and observatory equipment. ASU professors will offer guidance on scientific observation and academic papers to the visiting Chinese students, and the university plans to offer four full scholarships for four-year bachelor degrees to the top contestants of the China Youth Space Academy.

"We have such an event in the United States as well, and I hope it will be helpful to the scientific exchange between the two countries," Rick Shangraw, Vice President of ASU, told Beijing Review after last year's competition.

The students are scheduled to return to China on February 5.

(Beijing Review January 25, 2008)