CHINA PLANS MANNED SPACE LAUNCH

Chinese officials have announced plans to blast their first yuhangyuan (space traveler) into space by the end of the month. If successful,

"China will continue to develop its space exploration plans," said Wang Shuquan, the deputy secretary of the commission for science, technology and industry for national defence. "At a future time, China will carry out lunar landing and flight experiments."

They've established a target date of 2010 for walking on the moon.

It remains an open question as to whether the Chinese can overcome the daunting technological problems now that the Clinton-Gore International Technology Partnership Program has ended.