China's first space docking conjures folktale sky lovers

When Chinese spacecrafts Tiangong 1 ("Heavenly Palace") and Shenzhou 8 ("Divine Vessel") linked up in orbit on November 2nd, the space docking represented an important milestone for China's aerospace program and a big leap towards building their own manned space station by 2020.

Okay, you might be thinking, I'm not here for space news! Well, the docking is ALSO being called "the romantic story of the season" (by Xinhua, a state newspaper), which likened the docking to a "space kiss." And a Sichuan-based daily published a seriously florid love poem inspired by the event called "Lover's Talk," which includes this line at the end:

Tiangong, my lover, for the arrival of this moment -- wait for me. I'm coming.

Well!

According to an article on Space.com,  the linking of the spacecraft conjures a bit of Chinese mythology that makes these romantic associations inevitable:

The spacecraft docking maneuver has reminded many in China of a famous folk story involving a cowherd and a weaver, who are punished by the Goddess of Heaven and can only meet in the sky once a year by crossing a bridge formed by magpies, mythology and folklore expert An Deming told Xinhua.

Read the whole article here.