Free Republic

china's unannounced test of a hypersonic glide vehicle in August signals that the Chinese regime is about to violate the Outer Space Treaty. The United States should now withdraw from that global agreement so that it can develop a similar weapon. Unfortunately, Washington is not even trying to catch up to its geopolitical arch-foe. This month, the Financial Times revealed that China launched such a vehicle into "low-orbit space." The glide vehicle "circled the globe" and then cruised down toward a target, missing it by "about two-dozen miles." Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on October 18 contradicted the FT...

VIENNA (AFP) – They call them the "people in outer space". But besides stopping extra-terrestrial arms races, this tiny UN office has very down-to-earth goals: to help poor countries develop crops and help manage natural disasters. Overshadowed by its larger UN siblings -- like the World Health Organisation, the nuclear watchdog IAEA or the refugee agency UNHCR -- the Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and its 27 employees sit almost forgotten in the vast hallways of the United Nations headquarters in Vienna. "If we do make contact with aliens, who do you think should be representing mankind?" jokes UNOOSA...