[FPSPACE] China space news: Own orbital station by 2020, manned lunar missions by 2030

[John Charles]

Peter,
Thanks for this interesting item.
First, we should be cautious about inferring changes to the Chinese
program schedule from a Russian press report based (no doubt) on a
Chinese press report.
Second, we should be cautious about inferring changes in the Chinese
lunar program schedule based on anything.  Many times the reports from
China are garbled by filtering through press releases and multiple
translations.
Third, we should not become either encouraged or disheartened by
reports of delays in Chinese lunar plans, as they are years in the
future, even less firmly scheduled than those of NASA, and--from my
reading--highly dependent on both the speaker and the audience.
John Charles
Houston, Texas

On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 9:45 AM, Peter Pesavento<pjp961 at svol.net> wrote:
> From RIA Novosti (yes, the Russians of all people)
>
>
>
> Also….has the Chinese lunar landing timetable been pushed back?  I dimly
> thought it was to have been much earlier than 2030.
>
>
>
> http://en.rian.ru/science/20090831/155972965.html
>
>
>
>
>
> China to begin construction of orbital space station in 2020
>
>
>
> 13:5431/08/2009
>
> BEIJING, August 31 (RIA Novosti) - China will begin the construction of its
> own orbital space station in 2020, the Sina news service said on Monday,
> citing a top official with the country's manned spaceflight program.
>
> Gu Yidong said that China would sent two or three space labs into orbit in
> 2010-2015, while the basic module of the space station is to be orbited by
> 2020.
>
> The spacecrafts will "form the basic orbital complex of the Chinese space
> station" when docked together, he said.
>
> According to earlier Chinese media reports, China plans to send a manned
> mission to the Moon by 2030 and subsequently build a lunar base to send
> missions to other planets in the Solar System, such as Mars. By 2050, China
> plans to develop and launch a research probe to space bodies outside the
> Solar System.
>
> A Chinese astronaut conducted the country's first spacewalk last September,
> making China the third country in the world after Russia and the United
> States to send a man into open space.
>
>
>
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-- 
John Charles
Houston, Texas