Image Credit: Discovery Magazine (article)
The above is a photo of the International Space Station.
Tiangong means "heavenly palace." It is the tentative name for the proposed space station that China will launch in 10 years.
- Educational focus (early 1970s - present), leading to:
- Financial supremacy in 5 years;
- Their own space station within 10 years!
The three-person crew station will be conducting experiments in "astronomy, biology (particularly as it pertains to space radiation), and microgravity."
My opinion: this is the kind of research one does to prepare for further space exploration, not to exclude a moon mission or beating us to Mars.
STEM = science + technology + engineering + math = national financial prosperity.
Supplement this function with the political will and national focus to accomplish this task.
From the article: One NASA official has called the project “a potent political symbol,” which would put China in a powerful—and autonomous—position in space.
On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced before a special joint session of Congress the dramatic and ambitious goal of sending an American safely to the Moon before the end of the decade.
We just have to be willing to work at it again.
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