Spacemen gather for Beijing Planetary Congress

The 2014 Planetary Congress of the Association of Space Explorers (ASE) will be held in Beijing from Sept. 10 to 15.

More than 90 astronauts from 19 countries, including the United States, Russia and China, will attend the Congress, the authorities in charge of China's manned space program announced on Thursday.

The astronauts will visit Shenzhen, Tianjin and Xi'an for exchange activities. Various meetings and symposiums are scheduled during the event.

Found in 1985, the ASE is an international nonprofit professional and educational organization of over 395 members from 35 nations.

The Planetary Congress is ASE's primary forum for professional exchange among US, Russian and world astronauts and cosmonauts.