[KevinDavis]

[isthisnickcool]

Ya see a couple of Chinese guys get shot into space and about an hour you want to see it again.....

[Last Dakotan]

...a substantial slowdown in the pace of China’s already glacial human spaceflight development.

If their's is described as glacial - what's ours?

[Moonman62]

Nevertheless, Congressman Ken Calvert, chairman of the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, recently raised the prospect of a Moon race between the United States and China.

What race? We've already beat them there by decades.

[phantomworker]

"I would rather be on the Moon to greet the Chinese rather than going to the Moon and have the Chinese greet us."

Kind of scarey thought to have the Chinese up there first...

[tricky_k_1972]

Space Ping! If you want on or off this list please Freepmail me. My Home Page

[Walkenfree]

Question here. Didn't Russia just launch a space ship a few days ago?
This article says, "China is planning to launch one in a few days."
Doesn't it seems strange they would simultaneously orbit Earth ?

[hopespringseternal]

I am a little puzzled why Day insists a lunar program can only be done with a large rocket. Docking spacecraft is done so routinely the only reason to develop a large rocket is because you want to develop a large rocket.

Saturn V launched a lunar transfer stage, lunar lander, and command and service modules all in one launch. By using separate launches you avoid big rocket development and can make each one much more robust.

NASA's plans are protracted because they envision a jobs program for the shuttle army much more than a lunar program.

[Zuben Elgenubi]

It must be difficult for the Chinese to pronounce "Loral". The "l's" and "r" probably make it impossible:

"Thank you, Rolar."

"Crinton" is so much more easy.

[SunkenCiv]

Nevertheless, Congressman Ken Calvert, chairman of the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, recently raised the prospect of a Moon race between the United States and China. Noting that NASA’s plans are to land a human on the Moon by 2018, Calvert told a reporter for Aerospace Daily & Defense Report: "I’ve been talking to a number of people that are much more knowledgeable about that than I am, [about] some things that maybe are still classified, but they believe that the Chinese are probably on the mark to get there sooner."

Hadn't the Chinese already stated their target date, like, three years ago?

Nope, sorry, no moon race. It's more important to balance the budget, raise taxes, bring the troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan (but not Europe), and get Israel to withdraw from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Oh yeah, and make amnesty for illegal immigrants and gay marriage the law of the land. ;') Hope I didn't forget anything.

I'm reminded again of a warning years ago by a scientist, who equated the US' approach to space with that of Portugal's exploration of the globe. I think that's a bit paranoid, because the technology for space travel hasn't improved a great deal since Von Braun, and so it remains challenging at best to maintain off-world colonies.

To stoke paranoia a bit more, however, Portuguese expansion was derailed by defeat at the hands of Moslems in 1578. ;')

[G8 Diplomat]

China claims they're going to the moon in 2012. I don't believe they'll make it. Only recently (a few years ago) did they even send a man into orbit, and that was only for 23 hours. They're a little behind. Men were sent into orbit FORTY YEARS AGO.