China v. US: space race or miscommunication?

Jeff Foust
Space Review

It would be difficult for one to be familiar with current events in space over the last few years, or even the last few months, and not be aware of the perception that the United States and China are, or will soon enter, a full-fledged space race against each other. On more than one occasion in the last several months NASA administrator Mike Griffin warned that he believed that China would land humans on the Moon before the United States returned (see “Defending Constellation”, The Space Review, February 4, 2008). After Griffin discussed his interpretation of Chinese capabilities at a hearing of the House Science and Technology Committee last month, one committee member, Congressman Nick Lampson (D-TX), drew parallels to the launch of Sputnik, saying, “I believe personally that we may be in a greater period of challenge today than we were in 1957; we just don’t hear the beeps.” One presidential candidate, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), even made a tangential reference to China’s growing capabilities—and a potential loss of American capabilities—in a campaign speech last week in Houston: “I don’t want to be sending Americans into space on a Chinese or Russian manned vehicle.”

On the surface, these concerns are understandable and even reasonable. China has marked a number of major space milestones in recent years, from the launch of its first manned mission, Shenzhou 5, in 2003 to the launch last year of Chang’e-1, its first robotic lunar orbiter. China is also undergoing a dramatic economic revolution that can be called miraculous with little risk of hyperbole, becoming a massive exporter of all varieties of goods and enriching hundreds of millions of Chinese. If China has the ability to transform its society so radically, many argue, there’s little reason to doubt it can become a dominant power in space as well, if the nation’s leaders so desire.

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China to carry out first spacewalk in 2008

XINHUA

BEIJING- China plans to carry out its first spacewalk in second half of the year, an official of the nation's manned space program said here on Thursday.

Shenzhou VII will be launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern province of Gansu late in the year, and the astronauts will leave their spacecraft for the first time, the official told Xinhua.

The spacecraft will also release a small inspection satellite, which monitors its own performance.

Breakthroughs have been made in significant techniques related to the spacewalk. Research into the development of spacecraft and rockets has been going smoothly, and astronauts have undertaken extensive training, according to the official.

Shenzhou VII will start the second phase of China's three-stage space program, said the official.

In the second stage, China plans further breakthroughs in manned space flight, such as space walks and docking of the capsule and space module. In this phase, China will put into orbit a space laboratory staffed by humans for short periods and establish a fully-equipped space engineering system.

In the third stage, China will build a permanent space station and a space engineering system. Astronauts and scientists will travel between the Earth and the space station to conduct large-scale experiments.

China began its manned space program in 1999. It successfully sent Yang Liwei into orbit on the Shenzhou V spacecraft in 2003.

Two years later, Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng completed a Chinese record of five-day flight on the Shenzhou VI. All returned safely.

China may broadcast maiden spacewalk live

SHANGHAI - China may live broadcast the first ever spacewalk by its astronauts in the upcoming space mission of Shenzhou VII this year, a scientist involved in the program said here on Friday.

Yuan Jie, president of Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST), made the remarks at the ongoing annual session of Shanghai People's Congress, or legislature of the city.

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