Shenzhou 9 Sparks Renewed Debate On Space Race With China 283
MarkWhittington writes "With the flight of the Shenzhou 9, which includes the first docking between a Chinese spacecraft and a prototype space station module, a renewed debate has arisen over the implications of Chinese space feats. China is planning a large space station by the end of this decade. It has expressed the desire to land people on the moon sometime in the next decade. Scientists, foreign policy experts and journalists debate whether China has supplanted the U.S. as a space power and whether that matters. 'In reality, the implications of China's move could be a much cooler third option: a new space race between the Chinese government and U.S. startups. While China is 50 years behind the U.S. government, they are much more comparable to U.S. companies. It was only a couple of weeks ago that SpaceX made history by becoming the first private company to successfully dock a space module to a station in orbit. This means they are roughly 10-15 years behind the Chinese government, but they could gain fast.'"
Re:Prediction (Score:5, Funny)
No, they'll build their own knock-off moon.
Re:It's a space "RACE" because that's what US want (Score:3, Funny)
If the average Chinese person is smaller than the average American person, it could be argued that the average Taikonaut is smaller than the average Astronaut - so while the station may be physically smaller, it will appear bigger!
uhm, or not...
Re:It's a space "RACE" because that's what US want (Score:5, Funny)
That left China with no other alternative but to construct their own space station
With blackjack. And hookers.
Re:Prediction (Score:2, Funny)
That's no moon!!!
Re:It's a space "RACE" because that's what US want (Score:5, Funny)
I think that's what most of us wanted, considering China is a communist country
Umm ... Last time I checked Russia is a communist country too
How come there was no similar battle cry over Russia (and the previous USSR) involvement in the ISS?
Re:Is China even behind at all? (Score:5, Funny)
There was a time when the right mix of brains, creativity, and guts came together
There still is - it's called haggis.