Sacred Vessel in orbit China has successfully launched another space capsule into space. The capsule, with all the equipment onboard for a manned flight, was laucnhed from the Gobi desert aboard a Shenzhou IV rocket. The capsule is expected to orbit for 7 days before returning to Earth. In the last few years, the Chinese have been increasing their spending on their space program. Hand picked fighter pilots have been training for the manned missions that are in the works. China also aims to go to the Moon after doing the manned orbital flights. There is a whole bunch of things tied into China's recent push to get to space - prestige, at being one of the few nations to have sent people into space; an exercise to demonstrate China's tecnological capabilities; a warning to the US who's dominant presence in the Asia-Pacific region China wishes to challenge; and just plain home grown pride. Regardless of the reasons, let's hope they succed, and let's hope this pushes the US to increase spending in the space program.

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