From The International Herald Tribune:
Sending a man to the moon was once old news, but not anymore. A space race is occurring between Asia's giants - China, India, Japan and even South Korea - and China desperately wants to win. For the Chinese, it is not just about boasting rights. Being the first in Asia to send a man to the moon goes to the heart of Beijing's search for power and security.
It has been almost 40 years since Neil Armstrong led the Apollo 11 mission. Yet China and India - both countries with around 700 million people living on $2 a day or less - recently announced that they aim to have a man on the moon by 2020. Japan, which halted much of its space-exploration activities in the 1990s, has revived its ambitions and now talks about a moon mission with the same deadline. South Korea also recently threw its hat in the ring, with the same timeframe.
Read more ....
Sending a man to the moon was once old news, but not anymore. A space race is occurring between Asia's giants - China, India, Japan and even South Korea - and China desperately wants to win. For the Chinese, it is not just about boasting rights. Being the first in Asia to send a man to the moon goes to the heart of Beijing's search for power and security.
It has been almost 40 years since Neil Armstrong led the Apollo 11 mission. Yet China and India - both countries with around 700 million people living on $2 a day or less - recently announced that they aim to have a man on the moon by 2020. Japan, which halted much of its space-exploration activities in the 1990s, has revived its ambitions and now talks about a moon mission with the same deadline. South Korea also recently threw its hat in the ring, with the same timeframe.
Read more ....