China plans to put astronaut on the moon finally off the ground

image: DailyMail, Reuters

China finally made it official that it intends to land a man on the moon by publishing it on a government 'white paper', which serves as a public government document as well as a blueprint for the next five years. 


Chinese scientists have always talked about a manned-lunar mission but now it seems it will be a policy goal of the PRC (People`s Republic of China). The white paper is part of China`s effort to be transparent amid criticism over its intentions and cooperation of their space program. Now the news comes at a time when NASA just retired it`s shuttle fleet & program and left space travel up in the air, China will hope to capture the spotlight and highlight their soaring ambitions in space. This is welcoming news in some part, as the last time an astronaut set foot on the moon was from the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972. 


China to note, has made successful gains in space thus far. In 2003, they launched their first "taikonaut", Yang Liwei into space. In their plans for their own space station, they conducted for the first time docking of two unmanned spacecraft last month, hoping to put up a permanent space laboratory by 2016. Only this week, China just launched a trial operation of its own satellite navigation system called Beidou, which will try to end the reliance on U.S. based GPS and bring it closer to matching U.S. space capabilities.


Now, although a manned Chinese mission to the moon is still some time away, after 2020 says some Chinese space experts, it nevertheless finally is made public by the government and an aspiration to a nation and the space community. As Zhang Wei, an official from China`s National Space Administration, said at a briefing, "when looking up at the starry sky, we are full of longing and yearning for the vast universe."  


Sources: 
 - China push to put astronaut on the moon (12/29/11), FinancialTimes
 - China reveals five-year 'space plan'... and putting a man on the Moon is a top priority, (12/29/11),  
   DailyMail