China's burning ambition to be the next nation to put a man on the moon is old hat; in a previous article we covered their plans to land on the moon by 2024.

Recent developments are showing that these Chinese plans are continuing apace. The Xinhua News Agency has just reported the successful test-firing of the engines of a new rocket that could be used to launch this landmark flight to the moon.

The new rocket, known as 'Long March C', has engines that are thrice as powerful as those of its predecessors - they burn liquid hydrogen and kerosene and generate a maximum propulsion of 109 tons. Long Lehao, chief engineer of the project, has described this improvement as critical to the program, as the existing launch vehicles aren't powerful enough to take men to the moon.

In addition, the 'Long March C' will also have a multitude of other uses: it will be used to place China's first space station into orbit; it is expected to compete with Japan, the US and Europe in the satellite-launch market; and it will also be the cornerstone of efforts to place an unmanned vehicle on the moon by 2010.

Check back with us for further developments.

Data sent back by Cassini is shedding light on the origins of some of Saturn's rings by dissecting it's most enigmatic features.

According to the pool of scientists and astronomers who are analyzing Cassini's data, they have seen a bright arc of material looping around the edge of the G-ring. They believe that this is a long-lived feature of the ring held in place by resonant interactions with the moon Mimas.

It has long been known that Saturn has Uranus- and Jupiter-like rings, but with this development, it is most likely that the ringed planet may also have Neptunian type rings, as well. This is so since the G-ring's predicament is very much the same as that of Neptune.

The team had suspected that the bright arc had formed through a series of collisions between small icy bodies orbiting in the plane of the G-ring. Now, they suspect the arc is actually the source of the G-ring, as particles break away from the arc and drift outwards.

Aside from the developments about the G-ring, the researchers now have a full grasp about the origins of the E-ring. They are now quite sure that this double banded ring is formed from ice errupting from geysers at the south pole of the moon Enceladus. But still, more data and research are needed to be dead sure how the double banded structure of the E-ring came about.

After sifting through a number of name books for babies born on earth and heaven, doting NASA officials finally settled on a name for their rockest bound for the Moon and Mars: Ares. Ares is the Greek God of War also known as Mars by the Romans.

Ares 1 and Ares 5 are expected to take future astronauts and heavy cargo back to the Moon and beyond. The first unmanned Ares test flight is expected in 2009. Piloted test is set for 2014. Ares 1 will serve as NASA’s Crew Launch Vehicle and will launch the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), a 25-ton capsule-based spacecraft designed to ferry astronauts to the ISS and Moon. Ares 5 will be NASA's Cargo Launch Vehicle capable of boosting a 45-ton lunar lander and a rocket stage to ferry the lander and CEV to the Moon.

One of the world's leading theoretical physicists, Dr. Stephen William Hawking, is urging all of us to pack up and leave our beloved planet and move into artificial habitats in space or in a deconstructed Moon. In his recent talk in Hong Kong, the famous physicist said, "Life on Earth is at the ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster, such as sudden global warming, nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus or other dangers."

He mentions the wrong shape of the earth as one of the leading factors on why we must flee. Mathematics will support this idea of Hawking's to an outstanding degree. Think about it. The earth is a sphere, and a sphere has less surface area than any other form of the same volume. This means that, in the near future we could have already occupied most of the existing land on the planet.

But, he also poses possible solutions to our dilemma. We could either occupy Mars now, and by the mid-century we'd already have it filled. And even that won't be the best solution, because we are still moving into a sphere, which the main reason why we are moving out. So, he then suggests along with physicists like Freeman Dyson, that asteroids and perhaps the diminutive worlds of the Kuiper Belt, could be the next best thing. Unfortunately, Dyson reckons that our descendants will migrate to where land is abundant.

Building artificial habitats in space could probably be the perfect solution to our realty needs. This is not an entirely new concept though. Building gigantic, rotation aluminum cylinders in orbit, has dated back to 1970s, when Gerald O'Neill and Tom Heppenheimer wrote speculative books on how it might be done. Or if that doesn't sound appealing to you, we can always take the moon apart and redevelop it as a dream suburbia.

The House of Representatives is expected to wrap up the 2007 Science, State, Justice, and Commerce Appropriations bill which would determine NASA's upcoming budget. NASA says it needs more money, something like $15 million to study and plan for a new start on a Europa mission.

The Committee also supports NASA’s plans to extend the life of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) which recently turned sixteen. The Committee maintains that keeping HST afloat and in the pink of health should be one of NASA’s “top near-term priorities.”

They also directed NASA to enter into an arrangement with the National Research Council for an independent assessment of how the International Space Station can best be used as a technology test bed in support of the Vision for Space Exploration – the Moon, Mars and Beyond effort.

An asteroid, which is estimated to be as large as a half-mile or more in diameter, is nearing our planet. No, there is no need to panic and all since scientists and astronomers' findings and calculations all point to a no-collision scenario but the asteroid will make a really close approach with Earth on July 3.

Just how close is the asteroid gonna get? It will be passing just beyond the Moon's average distance from Earth.

Astronomers will be having a field day come July 3 for they will be attempting to get a more accurate assessment of the asteroid's size with the use of radar technology. Astronomers plan to utilize NASA's 70-meter (230-foot) diameter Goldstone radar, the largest and most sensitive antenna in its Deep Space Network. Located in California’s Mojave Desert, the Goldstone antenna is now being readied to catch 2004 XP14 on July 3, 4 and 5.

The asteroid tagged as 2004 XP14 was discovered last December 10, 2004 by the Lincoln Laboratory Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) whose primary job is to keep watch of asteroids which would be passing the Earth too closely. If it ever hits Earth, with be long dead by that time.

There were initial concerns that the 2004 XP14 might hit our planet later this century and that will need special and close monitoring. But due to further analysis, impact in the foreseeable future has been rules out. Although the size of the space rock isn't known, the asteroid is said to be a member of Class Apollo- a class of asteroids which have Earth-crossing orbits.

Astronomers have been speculating on the exact size of this upcoming Earth visitor but it is widely believed that it measures 410 to 920 meters and even if it won't hit us, it has been classified by the Minor Planet Center in Massachusetts as a potentially hazardous asteroid. This one will pass closest to Earth at 4:25 UT July 3 (12:25 a.m. EDT or 9:25 p.m. PDT on July 2), seeing it would require moderate-sized telescopes handled by seasoned observers.

NASA has been very busy putting all their efforts in creating a 21st century exploration system that will be affordable, reliable, versatile, and safe with the ability to carry four astronauts at a time to and from the moon. It will be reminiscent of an Apollo capsule, only three times larger. The new ship can be used 10 times.

Unlike before, we're going to be staying a little longer in the moon this time. Once a lunar outpost is established, crews could remain on the lunar surface for up to six months.

The space agency has released some high resolution photographs to give us a better idea on how they are going to the moon and back.

China is gearing up for their moon probe! After predicting that their will be a manned lunar landing for China in 2024, China is now gearing to set up radio telescopes to monitor that country’s first lunar orbiter, Chang’e 1, according to Li Yan, director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Yunnan Observatory.

This monitoring project just goes to show that China is indeed more than capable of monitoring and tracking their future Moon-orbiting satellites. Spread out in distance from each other, the radio dishes are set up in Beijing, Shanghai, the southwestern Yunnan Province, and the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The testing was conducted in an agreement between the CAS and the European Space Agency. Every four hours, the satellite circled the Moon and the telescopes were able to detect half the orbit, or about two hours. This Moon probe is based upon the country’s Dongfanghong III satellite platform and other technology. Chang’e 1 is on track to be tested at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province in December. If the probe’s readiness is green-lighted it will be launched in April 2007.

Aside from that, Chang'e 1 will also sport a stereo camera system that will chart the lunar surface, an altimeter to measure the distance between the spacecraft and the lunar surface, a gamma/Xray spectrometer to study the overall composition and radioactive components of the Moon, a microwave radiometer to map the thickness of the lunar regolith, and a system of space environment monitors to collect data on the solar wind and near-lunar region. From the looks of that alone, it seems that there is a lot on Chang'e 1's shoulders.

If you think angels can't be seen outside of this planet, then you're wrong. Sort of.

An image of the two largest moons of Saturn together was taken by the Cassini spacecraft last June 11 where it shows that the smaller moon was wearing a halo. This was captured when Cassini was about 3.6 million kilometers away from the moon Rhea.

The second-largest moon of Saturn (Rhea) is the one silhouetted again the moon Titan in the image. Titan is about three times as large as Rhea. The halo effect is actually the sunlight scattered by the thick atmosphere of Titan. (The sun is positioned behind the moon in this image.)

This image however, was not taken for its aesthetic appeal; this is going to be used by mission managers to aid them in planning out Cassini's manoeuvres in the coming years. These large moons have a gravitational effect on the spacecraft so it's important to gather such orbital information for the mission.

China now has enough technology, material, and economic strength to put a man on space by 2024, says deputy chief architect of China's lunar probing project Long Lehao.

It seems like the efforts of China's ambitious space exploration, set for 2017, is just the third of the four steps that will eventually lead to the country's putting a man on space. The first stage was already realized when China sent Shenzou IV to orbit the Earth. The second stage will take place from 2009 to 2015 and will see China's first space walk.

China is gearing at the possibility of mining the moon for its Helium-3, which has great potential as a non-polluting fuel source. Although currently, there is still no technology to exploit Helium-3, it is still being eyed for its value as a replacement for oil and gas.

China will be sending an unmanned probe to orbit the moon and survey its surface next year.