Good luck guys! Next stop, the moon, then on to Mars!
Let’s get the space race going again!
I think thats fantastic. I would like to see more nations take an interest in space exploration, it gives us an incentive to pick things up a bit.
Also, with more space-faring nations, do you think we may see international exploration projects in the future? While a trip to mars might not be financially feasable for one nation, what abotu several pitching in? The concept seems very appealing to me 
I think as far as the US is concerned, we need the Chinese to make some significant progress or our politicians will never get off their complacent asses & do something.
When you’re dealing with international projects, you have to deal with even more politicians. Scarey, costly & inefficient.
If we could sell the idea to private international/multinational corporations, it’d probably happen pretty fast.
I don’t think anything significant is going to happen until the we fear the Chinese are going to do it first, and gain the advantage.
That’s why I wish the Chinese much luck. I want them to have a permanent station on the moon, a manned mission to Mars with plans to place a permanent station there. Then we’d have no choice but to keep up and/or cooperate.
More power to them. The more in space, the merrier, as long as everybody plays nice.
I’m hip.
Considering how poorly the co-operation has been working out assembling the international space station, I think the US would think twice about committing themselves to an even bigger international project like a manned Mars program.
I do think that if China starts regular manned flights (especially if they start serious lunar plans), it’ll likely spur the US to more ambitious projects. Hopefully it’ll get us back to the moon for long-term exploration, rather than for just a few short visits.
Eric
Traffic is already bad here, what do we need with some gun toting americans mucking up the works
I dispensed with this money-wasting ego trip for the communist leadership on Nov 13 here…
www.geocities.com/hkhemlock/diary-16nov02.html
It’s truly pathetic. As a columnist here in HK wrote today, what are they doing in space when they don’t even have a proper financial system?
Manned space flight is a thing of the past.
That’s the old apple & oranges comparison. Why spend money on manned space flight when we still haven’t (insert your favorite cause here)?
I think the eventual value to the human race is well worth it. I suspect it’s critical to our survival & continued development as a species.
More than that, there’s more than enough technology spin-off to justify the expense, even if it might not seem so at first glance. It takes a lot of know how to propel a human being several thousand miles straight up and get it all back in one, functional, living piece.
Woo Hoo!
I’d like to see what a private space group in China could pull off… since the Americans can’t seem to get our poop in a group.
Woo, hoo! Now India’s goin’ too!
Please, please, please mean this is the start of a new space race.
I don’t get it…they are essentially using a slightly redesigned “SOYUZ”-type capsule, that the Russians were using in the mid-1960’s? Chinese industry is probably incapable of great reliability, so we are likely to see a few horrendous space accidents as well. The “LONG MARCH” booster rocket is not noted for reliability either-one blew up while attempting to launch a communications satellite.
I just don’t understand it-the Chinese will make a few orbital flights, and that will be it. Will this divert attention from the serious problems facing their economy? I doubt it very much.
What I would like to see would be a UN-based effort to get to Mars within the next 20 years (I’d love to see it).
Nope, the days of glory in space exploration are long over, and nothing substantial is coming out of China’s 1960’s-style space program.
Ugh, I don’t trust the UN to do anything. No sir, not one bit. Much too disorganized with too many people with different goals in mind involved. Nothing’s going to get done. IMO you need a small group of different nations with the industry to compete separately with each other to get to anywhere. Sure some technology sharing would be good, but that’s it. A China-US space race would be fine.