Perhaps obscured by all the attention being paid to the financial crisis gripping the U.S., and by the 'tainted milk' scandal which is in full bloom ("... at least 53,000 Chinese infants became ill from ingesting baby formula spiked with melamine, which is used in making plastics, fertilizer and flame retardants; four have died..."), the Chinese today launched their third manned space mission. Three "taikonauts" blasted into space in their Shenzhou 7 space craft, propelled by a Long March-II F missile. Later they will be conducting China's first space walk, making China only the third nation (behind the Soviet Union/Russia and the United States) to achieve this. Meanwhile, the Indian space program plans on launching a lunar probe next month...
Le vaisseau spatial chinois Shenzhou VII a décollé
Commentary: China's space dream flies high with Shenzhou-7
China primed for next great leap forward into space