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China's Moon Shot

Last week NASA worried aloud that chilling relations with Russia would cut off U.S. astronauts from catching rides on Russian rockets to the International Space Station, once NASA’s Space Shuttle fleet has completely retired around 2010. Based on news coming out of China today, maybe they can hitchhike on China’s new moon-landing, space-station-building rocket fleet, […]

Shenzhoulaunch
Last week NASA worried aloud that chilling relations with Russia would cut off U.S. astronauts from catching rides on Russian rockets to the International Space Station, once NASA's Space Shuttle fleet has completely retired around 2010.

Based on news coming out of China today, maybe they can hitchhike on China's new moon-landing, space-station-building rocket fleet, which this week will support Beijing's first spacewalk.

The "Shenzhou 7" mission and spacewalk "will help China master docking techniques needed for the construction of a space station, likely to be achieved initially by joining one Shenzhou orbiter to another," The Associated Press reports.

*Future goals are believed to include an unmanned moon landing around 2012, a mission to return samples in 2015, and possibly a manned lunar mission by 2017 — three years ahead of the U.S. target date for returning to the moon. *

Don't fret: "China's space experts have denied any military intent in its space program," Bernama assures us.

(Photo: via Space Today)