Message posted by Andre' M. Dall'au on October 18, 2005 at 5:00:11 PST:

The following was under-reported by western media. The Chinese, as shown by their history, will not simply go to the moon and return, but establish a presence and will lay claim for ownership. If America doesn't want to find artifacts from Apollo 11 in Chinese Museums, then we'd better get moving.

Chinese Astronauts Return Safely Home
> Flight's Success Inspires Patriotic Pride
>
> Washington Post, 17 Oct 05
> author: Edward Cody
> Copyright 2005, The Washington Post Co. All Rights Reserved
>
>
> BEIJING, Oct. 17 -- Two Chinese astronauts bumped to Earth in the thinly
> populated Inner Mongolian plains Monday after nearly five days in orbit,
> bringing China's second manned spaceflight to a successful conclusion and
> igniting a burst of patriotic fervor.
>
> Technicians broke into applause as Fei Junlong, 40, and Nie Haisheng, 41,
> were shown on official television climbing from the Shenzhou VI's round
> reentry module and waving to the recovery team that greeted them at 4:33
> a.m. in predawn darkness. Both men were proclaimed in good health after
> preliminary medical checks, the official New China News Agency said, and
> they ate a breakfast of chocolate and herbal tea followed by instant
> noodles.
>
> Wang Yongzhi, the Chinese space program's chief general designer, told the
> agency that the low-orbit flight marked an important step forward in the
> nation's long-term ambitions for space exploration. The program, which is
> managed by the military, plans to send up another pair of astronauts in
> 2007 and have them walk in space. The goals are to set up an orbiting
> space laboratory and put an unmanned vehicle on the moon by the end of the
> decade.
>
> China first launched a manned spacecraft in October 2003, when Col. Yang
> Liwei rode the Shenzhou V into orbit for 21 hours. Previously, only
> Russia and the United States had mastered the technology necessary for
> manned spaceflight. China's entry into the exclusive club was hailed here
> as a symbol of the country's economic and scientific power after more than
> two decades of reforms that have in many respects shifted it away from
> doctrinaire communism.
>
> Some U.S. specialists, noting the military's leadership role, have
> suggested China has military applications in mind for its space program.
> The same technology that sends men into space, they have noted, can boost
> Chinese efforts to set up space-based navigation for cruise missiles or
> develop weapons to cripple orbiting U.S. military equipment.
>
> But Chinese officials have repeatedly insisted they have no such
> intentions. In international forums, they have consistently opposed
> putting weapons into space.
>
> At the same time, Chinese officials have made no secret of their delight
> at the national pride generated by spaceflights. Wu Bangguo, head of the
> National People's Congress and a senior Communist Party leader, hailed
> Monday's successful landing for its "great significance in raising China's
> international status, our economy and technical strength, defense and
> national cohesion."
>
> In the same spirit, the New China News Agency quoted Fei's father as
> saying, "The motherland is so great" when he heard the news of his son's
> safe return.
>
> "Let us raise a welcoming toast to our heroes," the agency said in its own
> commentary. "The two men's space journey has touched 1.3 billion beating
> hearts."

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