China space program

(Newser) - Yet another advance is in the works for China's space program. China will try for its first manned space docking later in June, its space agency announced today, according to the New York Times . The Shenzhou 9 will dock with the Tiangong 1 space lab "sometime in June,...

(Newser) - Weird. China took its first step toward building a space station last night and while the launch of the unmanned Tiangong-1 space lab went smoothly, there was a major slip-up in the propaganda department. State broadcaster CCTV's launch coverage included an animation of the module docking with a crew...

(Newser) - A team of researchers has finally arrived on Mars after a 257-day flight —none of which was real. Six men from across the globe spent 257 days locked in a 12-by-20-foot steel capsule in Moscow, simulating the experience of traveling to the planet, the Daily Mail reports. They’ll...

(Newser) - China launched its first lunar mission today, beginning its gambit to be the third country to put a man in space. The Chang'e-I probe fired into space unmanned, but the lunar orbiter should earn China’s space program respect—and lucrative contracts, Bloomberg reports. China next plans to land a...