china and thorium

China extended its space ambitions this week with the launch of its third manned mission. The Long-March II-F rocket was launched from the Jiuquan spaceport in Gansu province on Thursday. The flight will last for approximately 70 hours and include China's first spacewalk, which is set to take place on Saturday. The Shenzhou-VII capsule is currently orbiting Earth at a height of 300 kilometers, where astronaut Zhai Zhigang will conduct extra-vehicular activity to oversee the release of a satellite.

China became the third nation after the United States and Russia to independently put a man in space when Yang Liwei went into orbit on the Shenzhou V mission in October 2003. The nation also launched a lunar probe, Chang'e-1, last year to orbit the moon and gather data.

Chinese media stated that this is a critical step in the country's three-step program, which consists of sending a human into orbit, docking spacecraft together to form a small laboratory and finally building a large space station. The Shenzhou VIII and IX missions planned for 2010 will start the development of China's space laboratory. Its long term goals include landing on the moon.

Not all is going according to plan. Chinese state media Xinhua ran a story on the spacewalk, including quotes from the astronauts as if they were in space, on Thursday before the launch had taken place. Xinhua has since pulled the gaffe from its website.

India also has its lunar ambitions in full swing, with plans to launch a flight next month. The Chandrayaan probe has a two-year mission, during which it will orbit the moon and digitally map the lunar surface and scan for minerals such as thorium and uranium.