China Reveals Its Space Plans Up To 2016

PolygamousRanchKid writes "China plans to launch space labs and manned ships and prepare to build space stations over the next five years, according to a plan released Thursday that shows the country's space program is gathering momentum. China's space program has already made major breakthroughs in a relatively short time, although it lags far behind the United States and Russia in space technology and experience. The country will continue exploring the moon using probes, start gathering samples of the moon's surface, and 'push forward its exploration of planets, asteroids and the sun.' Some elements of China's program, notably the firing of a ground-based missile into one of its dead satellites four years ago, have alarmed American officials and others who say such moves could set off a race to militarize space. That the program is run by the military has made the U.S. reluctant to cooperate with China in space, even though the latter insists its program is purely for peaceful ends."

The final frontier

[SJHillman]

At this rate, if we want Star Trek to remain at all within the thinnest stretches of credibility, the next reboot of the series will have the Enterprise captained by Sulu and Kirk will be pitching manure in Iowa.

Re:The final frontier

[EdIII]

Welll..... if it is going to be captained by Sulu I think the love scenes are going to turn out a bit differently.....

Re:We should have nuked them 30 years ago

[Anonymous Coward]

we should start nuking nascar events. biggest concentration of retard mutants I can think of.

Re:The final frontier

[Brett Buck]

Oh Myyyyy....

Re:The final frontier

[Ethanol-fueled]

They don't really use spacesuits, that silver uniform is just the duct tape holding the cosmonaut to the ACME rocket sticking out of the ground.

The test launch should go well as long as the cosmonaut doesn't look down and make gravity kick in. Man, if he does, that rocket's gonna explode. People can survive the fall, but the explosions tend to leave them in disfigured in blackface.

American funded space programs ...

[drnb]

Well at least one of the American funded (Walmart shoppers, etc) space programs has a plan. Too bad its not the US based one.

Re:Uh, yeah

[crutchy]

pushing back our knowledge of the universe to mere instants before its creation.

...for what exactly? has it paved the way for a better toothbrush or something?

But you just sit there and gripe.

You must be new here.

Re:What the hell is wrong with you?

[drnb]

Both the Russians AND the USA have weapons in space regardless of treaties.

Whoa whoa whoa, what? What weapons do the Russians and the U.S. have in space?

A fixed blade knife in a survival kit maybe?