[Aggie Mama]

Well, the first question to ask would by why? The answer, I think, is not "to test the limits of our knowledge."

[GingisK]

If you'd ever seen a Chinese train or a Chinese domestic airliner, you'd assume that any space hardware built by the Chinese would merely make a new crater in the moon.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Clinton/Gore turned Jiang's space program into a regular JFK.

[Hacksaw]

On the way there, they will accidentally wreck into the space shuttle and try to blame it on the hot dog American pilot.

[B Knotts]

All our base are belong to them?

[chilepepper]

This is great news. This will push the US (and particularly NASA) out of their lethargy and we may start to get some space action at last after 30 years of doing much less than we could be doing.

In fairness to NASA, the US public had lost interest in space but perhaps now we can use the national security angle again, with a Chinese base having the same threat as the Sputnik did in 1957...

[r9etb]

Oberg's a sharp guy, and he's probably correct.

FWIW, he correctly predicted that for ISS the Russians would experience the very financial and schedule difficulties that they ended up having.

Still, if we grant the premise that the Chinese want to do this, there's no technical or economic reason for them to do so. It'd all be about stature.

But again, Oberg's correct. It would take a tremendous amount of logistics to support a moon base (not just moon landings). It's highly doubtful that they could actually support one any time soon.

[Mr. Bird]

They don't have a blue water navy, but they think they can colonize the moon? Talk about denial....

[Ed_NYC]

China's first and last attempt!

[crypt2k]

The United States must not allow the Red Chinese a free hand to establish a human presence in space. We must preempt thier efforts by establishing outposts at strategic locations (north and south poles of the moon, Mars) ahead of them.

[TADSLOS]

"Bejiing, the Clinton has landed"

"That's one small step for espionage, and one giant leap for Democratic Fundraising"

[Don Myers]

There are a lot of folks in here who would love to have whatever the Chinese are smoking these days.

[Enemy Of The State]

haha..they better just concentrate on getting a man into space first...then we can ship them all to the moon!

[Fredgoblu]

China...will establish a base on the moon as we did in the South Pole and the North Pole." China Daily quotes Ziyuan as saying. He did not say whether China's mission to the Moon would be manned.

Stupid question, but can you really call it a moon base if it's an unmanned mission?

[OBAFGKM]

Moon base ping.

[nightdriver]

"China is expected to complete its first exploration of the moon in 2010 and will establish a base on the moon as we did in the South Pole and the North Pole."

The NORTH pole???

ROTFLMAO!!!!

[Junior]

James Oberg, a veteran of the US space programme and an authority on manned space flight, says China is unlikely to send astronauts to the Moon.

"They don't have the budget or the technology," Oberg told New Scientist. "Their whole approach has been remarkably cautious. Robot missions make much more sense." But Oberg believes China could feasibly construct a small space station.

Yeah, just keep telling yourself this so you can continue along doing the crappy job you've been doing on getting human beings beyond Earth orbit. Don't be surprised, however, when the Chinese have a working moon base in 2010.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

NASA's Official Response

[MistrX]

Thank you, Bill Clinton.

[Moonman62]

The Soviet Union used their space program to detract attention from the weakness of their society. The chicoms are doing the same thing.