Free Republic

The first of NASA's enormous Space Launch System (SLS) rockets stands as tall as the Statue of Liberty. Towering 212ft above the ground and flanked by its two smaller booster rockets, the core stage of the US space agency's next generation rocket has been photographed, for the first time, in its launch configuration ahead of its maiden voyage later this year. Designed to carry astronauts to the Moon and beyond, this gargantuan launch vehicle will play an integral part in NASA's Artemis program which aims to place astronauts on the Moon before 2030. The other key component will be the...

The writer is chairwoman of the National Security Decision Making Department at the U.S. Naval War College.NEWPORT, Rhode Island As the countdown clock ticks away, best-guesses have set the Chinese launching of their first taikonaut, or yuhangyuan, into orbit on or around Oct. 15, 2003. The date, however, is still uncertain since the Chinese always maintain some ambiguity to save face if difficulties occur. The Shenzhou V - "Divine Vessel" - capsule will be launched into orbit by a Long March (CZ) 2F rocket. The event will make China the third country in the world to have a manned space...