back to article China to combine four ships to form space station

The Director of Jiuquan Launch Center claims that China is set to build a space station by snapping together four spaceships (Shenzhou 7, 8, 9, and 10), to be launched sequentially, according to a report by Hong Kong newspaper the Ming Pao Daily News. Though other reports indicate that taikonauts aboard Shenzhou 7 will return …

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  1. Mark Lockwood

    Music

    What they need is some catchy music for the live stream of the initial launch and dock. I wonder if Brian May and Eddie Van Halen are available - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjijteu0gcQ

  2. Andy Thomas
    Alien

    Not to be nitpicky...

    ...but Dai X was actually made out of three Dai X fighters, not four. But I'm glad I wasn't drinking when I saw him loom large, I never expected to see him appear on the Reg! (I run sfxb.co.uk, which is perhaps where the image came from?)

  3. Vulch
    Go

    Orbital compartments

    All the previous Shenzou have left their orbital compartments in orbit after their mission. Unlike the equivalent module on the Russian Soyuz, those on the Shenzou have their own solar panels and manouevering thrusters that lets them act as independent spacecraft for two or three months.

    It's possible that Shenzou 8 and 9 will have larger orbital compartments as they don't need the re-entry modules due to being flown un-manned. The Russians did something similar to build and deliver the Pirs docking and airlock module to the ISS.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    lol

    I wonder how much their space station will cost and how long it will take in comparision to the one currently up there? It may eevn have some use to them.

  5. Smallbrainfield

    Dai X !

    That was an ace show. I had a bit of a thing for Commander Makara, then I found out recently that she was supposed to be a bloke...

  6. Dave Ross
    Happy

    Not impressed...

    unless it has it's own transformation sequence!

  7. FlatSpot
    Joke

    sheds in space

    Is this for real... even Skylab was better than that... what are they going to do in it? have intergalactic ping-pong matches ;)

  8. Mark York
    Paris Hilton

    Commander Makara

    Zoltar from Battle of The Planets, in it's original form as Gatchaman Katse (Zoltar) was really confused about his sexuality.

    Paris because she isn't confused about her sexuality.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Black Helicopters

    Shuttle tanks

    Wasn't there a plan to loft the shuttle's expended liquid fuel external tanks into an orbit from where they could e salvaged as components of a space station?

    Canned because not sufficiently porky...

  10. Nano nano

    Litter louts

    Hope they are first going to clear up all that dangerous crap they left around when they blasted that old satellite a while back.

    http://www.space.com/news/070202_china_spacedebris.html

    Strikes me a big sheet of orbital Blutack should be able to capture most of it ...

  11. b
    Stop

    don't worry

    it'll be cheap and crap and fall apart within a few months..that's if everyone doesn't get poisoned by using it, like so many chinese products!

    still, it's better that they spunk their money on space trips and not better land forces, back here on planet earth..with a estimated miltary of 200m, that scares me more than them going into space..

  12. Henry
    Stop

    The love affair continues

    Perhaps an elegant Chinese solution to the Falun Gong problem....

  13. William Doohan
    Alien

    If your gonna build a mecha......

    As they put it together they need to yell something manga-ish like "Tibetan buddhist crushing technique!! "

  14. Teoh Han Hui

    ISS

    Isn't the International Space Station assembled module-by-module as well?

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