Amazing, China plans to build a rival to the International Space Station, and aims to have it in orbit by 2020. I say amazing, as it’s less than 10 years ago that China put a human in space. You have to wonder which country will be the first to walk on the surface of Mars?
China laid out plans for its future in space yesterday, unveiling details of an ambitious new space station to be built in orbit within a decade.
The project, which one Nasa adviser describes as a “potent political symbol”, is the latest phase in China’s rapidly developing space programme. It is less than a decade since China put a human into orbit for the first time, and three years since its first spacewalk.
The space station will weigh around 60 tonnes and consist of a core module with two laboratory units for experiments, according to the state news agency, Xinhua.
Officials have asked the public to suggest names and symbols for the unit and for a cargo spacecraft that will serve it.
Source: China unveils rival to International Space Station and the World Wide Web!
