"JimO" wrote in message
...
My home page www.jamesoberg.com
now has the materials and transcripts
from my testimony on China

An interesting analysis of Chinese plans and international cooperation.
I think that your testimony did a good job of pointing out that a Moon
mission or Mars mission are not trivial endeavors but require a lot of
time and work.

This is the first I have heard that the Chinese may opt for an near-Earth
asteroid visit prior to a Moon voyage.

At the time of the Shuttle/Mir program, it seemed to me that the US was
putting a lot of effort into these flights....ended up being a sizable
chapter of NASA history. Looks like the Soviets are honoring our past
support by helping us now.

I am a little skeptical that the Chinese would not utilize Russian
hardware because "they can't afford it." The Chinese are flush with cash
now. Perhaps even affluent enough to more than one copy of MS Windows. I
recall that China wanted to buy a manned capsule at one point but the
Russians would only go as far as providing blueprints. For what China is
spending on the Olympics they could finance a large space program. The
Chinese space folks probably have to lobby the politicians there the same
as NASA does. Buying hardware seems like an easy shortcut but when you
do that you deny yourself the benefits of developing industrial
infrastructure.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/15/in...agewanted=2&hp

Senator Brownback ends with an equivocal remark that Congressional
support for the Shuttle is weak ("I just don't pick up the enthusiasm in
the Congress for continuing the Shuttle a whole lot longer"), but that
space flight is a feel-good activity that seems worthwhile in some vague
sort of way.