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Article: China makes a statement.(Editorials)(Ambitious space program bears watching)(Editorial)
- Article from:
- The Register Guard (Eugene, OR)
- Article date:
- October 19, 2003
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Register Guard. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: The Register-Guard
Sending people into orbit is a questionable allocation of resources for any country, especially a poor one. Yet China evidently believes a manned space program is worthwhile, having successfully launched a "taikonaut" into orbit last week. The launch makes sense mainly as a matter of symbol, but the Chinese also had substantive goals in mind.
Symbolically, the Shenzhou 5 mission allows China to join the United States and Russia as the world's only spacefaring nations - even though China is not yet in the same league. The former Soviet Union first scored a comparable achievement more than 40 years ago, with the United States ...