China Plans Manned Space Launch By 2005

cosyne writes: "CNN.COM has this article on China's space program planning to send a man to the moon. 'The mission is part of Beijing's plans to create a space industry and earn the prestige of joining the United States and Russia as the only nations to have sent humans into space.' I wonder if they'll make it before the recently mentioned amateurs."

Comments

Moon Landing

[Alien54]

There were earlier reports from the middle of the week that China was planning to eventually go to the moon. Later Reports showed that this was not correct, at least not yet.

They just want to get their feet wet, for now.

New Scientist has a good story on this. And there is this page with links on the chinese space program from U.S. Embassy Beijing Environment, Science and Technology Section.

Re:The Peoples' Rocket

[Anonymous Coward]

but an arms race in outer space is not econmically nor politiclly fesiable to begin with.

I think that the Chinese are being overly generous with this 1998 thing. Killer satellites have been under test a lot longer than this. In fact a good 25% or LEO trash is debris from killer satellite tests that were conducted at least 20 years ago.

the article represents the nadir of journalism

[xah]

I read this article last night and just shook my head. Yes, it is very intersting that China plans to send humans to the moon. That makes an impressive headline for CNN.com. Actually, it's in the sub-headline. But where does it say that China will send a man to the moon within the article itself? Nowhere. Reading the piece from beginning to end left me bewildered. They announce something, give some background facts, and never investigate the chief fact of the article, not mentioning it even a single more time.

This is an important development. The world's most fearsome tyranny is attempting to take the lead in the space race. We deserve better reporting on these plans than this amateurish effort.

I doubt this.

[Krapangor]

I don't think all scientist who were working and the first ICBM really wanted to create ICBMs instead of real "space rockets".
I think some of them tried to build "space rockets" and used them for military purposes.
Take von Braun for example. He always wanted real space flight (well known fact) but build military rockets for the Nazis and the US first. But when the US were searching for space flight rockets after the sputnik shock his project succeeded at once unlike to navy's whose blew up very impressively. The navy used ICBM based designs. I suspect that von Braun always kept space flight capable rockets in mind and created the rocket stuff this way. Therefore his success.