Taikonauts
Assuming that I have converted my time zones correctly, and that nothing went awry with the countdown, the third Chinese manned space mission is heading for orbit right about now. There should be three crew aboard, one of which will perform a spacewalk during the mission, using a spacesuit based on Russian designs.
This mission is to lay the groundwork (spacework?) for a Chinese space station, to be constructed in orbit from emptied fuel tanks before 2020. This idea was proposed by American scientists decades ago, but eventually rejected.
Meanwhile, we are still trying to decide whether to throw tons of money at the Shuttle to keep it flying, buy Soyuz spacecraft, or beg for rides from the Russians (who we’re currently mad at because they’re invading people again). Who knows, maybe the SpaceX manned program will work out.
Tags: space
