Yan Can Launch!

Today marks China'a second manned space mission with the launch of 2 astronauts on a 5 day orbital mission. China also announced plans to build factory on the moon, in the next 5 years, that will manufacture useless plastic doodads for American children...

Seriously though, you have to admire the Chinese people and the government for getting things accomplished. China's future goals include having a space station within 5 years, and to eventually put someone on the moon. I think they are set to be the world leaders in space exploration and technology very shortly for a number of reasons. The first is that they have a government that does not rely on popular approval to get things done, like the former Soviet Union. Secondly, the budget for the space program is $2.3 billion, compared to the United States' $16.9 billion. Obviously, with spending much less per project, more projects are bound to be completed in the same amount of time.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4333158.stm