*What's wrong with the International Space Station? All the cool kids are up there already. Thirteen of 'em, for heaven's sake. It's as crowded as Hong Kong.
*From the "I'll believe this space bluster when I see the fumes from the launchpad" department:
China to start building an orbital space station in 2020
Published By MattOn: 31 August 2009 3:32 PM CEST Source
BEIJING, August 31 – China will begin the construction of its own orbital space station in 2020, the Sina news service said on Monday, citing a top official with the country’s manned spaceflight program.
Gu Yidong said that China would sent two or three space labs into orbit in 2010-2015, while the basic module of the space station is to be orbited by 2020.
The spacecrafts will “form the basic orbital complex of the Chinese space station” when docked together, he said.
According to earlier Chinese media reports, China plans to send a manned mission to the Moon by 2030 and subsequently build a lunar base to send missions to other planets in the Solar System, such as Mars. By 2050, China plans to develop and launch a research probe to space bodies outside the Solar System. (((That oughta be fun; maybe they've got some special Chinese plan to mangle the speed of light.)))
A Chinese astronaut conducted the country’s first spacewalk last September, making China the third country in the world after Russia and the United States to send a man into open space.
Copyright 2009 RIA Novosti. All rights reserved.
