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China Targets 2022 For Space Station Completion
Taco Cowboy writes: According to Reuters, China is aiming for 2022 to get its first space station operational. "China's leaders have set a priority on advancing its space program, with President Xi Jinping calling for the country to establish itself as a space power." After Chinese astronauts docked with the country's experimental space lab last year, they're planning the launch of another laboratory in 2016. Launch and construction of the new space station's core is planned for 2018, and their goal is to complete it by 2022. China insists that its space program is for peaceful purposes.
Every single space program* is currently for peaceful purposes.
Every space program from the 1950's on has been primarily for two purposes: 1) Espionage 2) Missile technology. Science is a distant third but has always been used as the front for PR purposes.
"China insists that its space program is for peaceful purposes."
The technology will find it's way into everything from cars to nuclear weapons. That's what research and technology does, it spreads to new and different areas. Sometimes for the better, sometimes not.
The good thing about this is that maybe other countries will sit up and take notice. Even if you put aside the fact that we should have a lunar base by now, why doesn't the ISS have some sort of light maneuvering craft? A small 2-3 person craft could access satellites, do research away from the ISS, or even (with a slightly larger craft) do mapping and surveying missions of the moon. The Apollo program did great work with pretty basic craft by today's standards. A light maneuvering craft could also transfer personnel and supplies from one space station to another. Hey NASA, the astronauts need a space Mini-van for the weekends!