BBC News – China Shenzhou-9 spacecraft makes first manual docking. This makes for very interesting reading – it’s like following the space race of the 1960’s in replay, only this time it’s a one man race and the progress of China as an incumbent is quite staggering. It is clear that China is the only nation with both the technical and financial prowess at this stage to progress with it’s agenda in space exploration. The US is heading towards bankruptcy and can’t afford to invest money in space travel and is in fact behind where it was at any time since the mid 1960’s in terms of its capabilities. Russia is relying on 1960’s technology for it’s programme. China has ambitions of becoming (is it not one already?) a super-power. For all that is wrong with China, one cannot deny that technically and financially it is about the leapfrog both the US and Russia and take its place again as the world’s leader (it is very interesting to note that for 18 of the last 20 centuries, China had the world’s biggest economy – it was only in the 19th [British empire] and 20th [USA] that it was surpassed by other nations; at current trends it will be another decade only until it surpasses the USA as the world’s biggest economy again…)
BBC News – China Shenzhou-9 spacecraft makes first manual docking
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