Tuesday / 21 October 2003

China Aims for Station / Moon; Gains Congratulations From India, USA. Taylor Wang, first ethnic Chinese in space Challenger astronaut and now professor of physics at Vanderbilt University (Nashville TN), says, "China is hoping to send a probe to the Moon, though is unlikely to send a manned mission there in the foreseeable future. I think their Moon mission is less ambitious than the (U.S.) Apollo program." Also Wang believes that China should seek to play a role with Russia and the USA in the ISS. Beijing recently revealed contents of 'secret cargo' aboard Shenzhou 5 orbiter that is still circling the Earth: China national flag, Beijing 2008 Olympics flag, UN flag, Renminbi note, memorial stamps for China's first human spaceflight, memorial envelopes of the human spaceflight project and crop seeds from China's Taiwan Island. Most experts believe China also has a reconnaissance camera aboard. The China National Space Administration has copyrighted the name of taikonaut Yang Liwei to prevent businessmen from profiting from its use. India Prime Minister Vajpayee hailed China's success and urged his scientists to speed up their Moon program. USA President George W. Bush said last week's accomplishment was an "interesting development."

The Kennedy 2 Lunar Exploration Project Seeks Permanent Human Lunar Base by 2020. According to a press release issued by the Lunar Republic, it has entered into an agreement with The Kennedy 2 Lunar Exploration Project, K2LX, "to provide more than $3.5-billion in financial support to a program that will return humans to the Moon." K2LX was created in June 2003 as a partnership between private investors and a consortium of independent aerospace contractors in the USA, Europe and Asia. The goal is to establish operational bases on the Moon for study, tourism, manufacturing and resource development, using public and private funding. No specifics about the K2LX partners were provided. The Lunar Republic says it is an "international business company" which sells and registers lunar real estate. "We have long sought a partner such as K2LX that is ready to go forward with a plan to get our partners to the Moon in exchange for our support," said Lunar Republic Managing Director David Ferrell Jackson in a betterhumans.com article. K2LX and the Lunar Republic are also reportedly looking into partnership opportunities with commercial launch vehicle manufacturers, equipment contractors and facilities providers. The three-phase project includes an unmanned mission to the Moon by 2013, a human mission by 2015, and a permanent settlement by 2020.

Final Moon Society Election Results. The Moon Society, an international non-profit educational and scientific foundation formed to further scientific study and development of the Moon, has announced its final election results. The positions of Vice-President and Secretary went uncontested as David Wetnight and Amy McGovern were elected to second terms in those respective positions. Randall Severy was reelected to the first Director position and John R. Schroch was elected to the second Director position. The election for the third Director position ended in a tie between Ian Randal Strock and Dana Carson. They agreed to let the contest be determined by the flip of an "electric coin" because there is nothing in the society bylaws to cover such an event. Carson won the toss for the third seat and was thus reelected as Director. The society will not be without the services of Strock who will remain a member of the Leadership Council, which helps prepare "issues" for board action. The bylaws are to be changed in case a tie occurs again. The participation percentage in the elections "was substantially greater than in the... National Space Society," according to the Moon Society Elections Committee 2003 Chair, Peter Kokh. Questions or concerns can be sent to KokhMMM@aol.com.