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Scientific American

October 1, 2003

1 min read

China's Great Leap Upward

By boosting astronauts into orbit, China hopes to become the newest superpower in space

By James Oberg

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Thread of the Silkworm. Iris Chang. Basic Books, 1996.

The Chinese Space Program: A Mystery within a Maze. Joan Johnson-Freese. Krieger Publishing Company, 1998.

The Chinese Space Programme: From Conception to Future Capabilities. Brian Harvey. Wiley-Praxis Series in Space Science and Technology. John Wiley & Sons, 1998.

More information about China's space efforts can be found at www.spacedaily.com/dragonspace.html, www.astronautix.com, www.fas.org/spp/guide/china/index.html, people.itu.int/~meens/Shenzhou/shenzhou.htm, www.cnsa.gov.cn and www.cgwic.com/index1.html

More by James Oberg
Scientific American Magazine Vol 289 Issue 4This article was originally published with the title “China's Great Leap Upward” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 289 No. 4 ()
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