A new space race | Science | The Guardian
A new space race
* Anil Dawar
* The Guardian, Tuesday 24 February 2009
* Article history
The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) was set up in 1969 but only one Indian citizen has made it into space. In 1984, Rakesh Sharma, hitched a lift with Soviet cosmonauts to dock with the Salyut 7 spacestation.
In November 2008, the unmanned Chandrayaan 1 orbited the moon. Isro now aims to launch an unmanned mission to Mars in 2013. China shelved plans to put men on the moon in 1967 rather than lose the race to the USSR. In 2003 it became the third country to send an astronaut into space when Yang Liwei orbited Earth 14 times.
In 2005, two more astronauts followed, and last year, Zhai Zhigang completed the first Chinese space walk. In 2005 Iran revealed its manned programme. It plans to launch a manned mission within a decade, as it seeks to become the region's leading space power by 2021.
A new space race
* Anil Dawar
* The Guardian, Tuesday 24 February 2009
* Article history
The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) was set up in 1969 but only one Indian citizen has made it into space. In 1984, Rakesh Sharma, hitched a lift with Soviet cosmonauts to dock with the Salyut 7 spacestation.
In November 2008, the unmanned Chandrayaan 1 orbited the moon. Isro now aims to launch an unmanned mission to Mars in 2013. China shelved plans to put men on the moon in 1967 rather than lose the race to the USSR. In 2003 it became the third country to send an astronaut into space when Yang Liwei orbited Earth 14 times.
In 2005, two more astronauts followed, and last year, Zhai Zhigang completed the first Chinese space walk. In 2005 Iran revealed its manned programme. It plans to launch a manned mission within a decade, as it seeks to become the region's leading space power by 2021.