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The Shenzhou seems to be the equivalent of the Apollo stack with only the Lunar Module missing. With this setup, China could perform a circumlunar mission next year, and NASA couldn't match it for 10 years. In that sense, China is 10 years ahead of the US. Seem to be a lot of Chinese food jokes going around, but it is whistling past the graveyard. Would it be surprising if China wheeled out a Lunar Module in the next year? They also don't need a rocket as huge as the Saturn V, so don't look for that, either. Two launches, a rendevous of capsule and lunar booster, and they are in business. Next year.

They aren't listening, y'know. The whistlers have their fingers in their ears. In this case, they can't concieve of history repeating itself.

I am not having an anxiety attack over this, but it does concern me.

Russia was considered backward, too. Oh gee, this is a Russian-derivative spacecraft, isn't? Curious...

re: NASA couldn't match it for 10 years)))

Any Chinese probes to Mars? Just check out the jpl site to see that they don't come close to what we could do if we could forget about sending pets and pals on rides, and sent a robot to do a robot's work. Or an armada of robots.

The Chinese are putting their little lotus footprints in our decades-old footsteps.

If we just didn't have to bring 'em home, the wonders we could do. As it stands, let the Chinese have their fun. If they focus only on the spaceman merry-go-round, they'll end up just as stuck as we have.

Naturally lots of food jokes because this was an article about space food.

You say that NASA is ten years behind, but NASA is technologically so far ahead of China that we are in their rear view mirror and ready to lap them once again. It only looks like we are behind if you ignore history and the truth.

A swallow does not make a summer, and one person in a space capsule thrown into orbit does not constitute a viable human space program. There is much the Chinese will have to learn and master, however, they do have a technological advantage the Soviets and Americans didn't have 40 years ago and they have the knowledge gained from America's open-door space program.

The US has little interest in lunar missions because the moon has very limited intrinsic or strategic value in the foreseeable future. If your interests have turned from the desert to the ocean, you don't keep returning to the desert hoping to find water. Rather than waste money on an independent human space program, China should put their considerable talents toward something truly useful such as research into affordable, limitless supplies of energy.

1. We did it first.

2. We did it 33 years ago.(Men on moon)

3. We sent men to the moon 6 times. Over 2 decades ago.

3. We have exceeded 100 flights on the follow-up system to the Apollo systems.

I am currently sitting in a NASA office and I'm not very happy about the state of the Agency, but they ARE 42 years behind us, using the technology and lessons we gave them.