Space: Russian Robot +Tiangong + Reusable Rocket?

choi

(1) Philip M Boffey, A Russian Robot, a Martian Moon. New York Times, Nov 6, 2011 (opinion)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/0 ... q=russia&st=cse

Note: Phobos (moon)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phobos_(moon)
(the larger and closer of the two moons of Mars, the other being Deimos; Both moons were discovered in 1877; named after the Greek god Phobos (which means "fear"), a son of Ares (Mars))

(a) Phobos and Deimos ("dread" or "terror" in Greek) are twin brothers.
(b) Ares and Mars are Greek and Roman, respectively, god of war.

(2) Andrew Jacobs, China's Space Program Bolstered by First Docking. New York Times, Nov 5, 2011.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/0 ... %20space&st=cse

Quote:

"American and Russian aerospace engineers perfected space docking in the 1960s, but Wu Ping, a spokeswoman for China’s manned space program, said that Chinese scientists had come to this moment largely on their own

There is in place a "20-year-old sanctions that limit cooperation between American and Chinese aeronautical engineers  * * * The policy, imposed by Congress shortly after Beijing’s violent suppression of pro-democracy protesters in 1989, restricts scientific exchanges and blocks exports of space technology. Chinese scientists are barred from American space conferences, and China is not among the 16 countries whose astronauts are allowed to use the International Space Station.

(3) Carl Hoffman, Shooting for the Stars: Elon Musk is revolutionizing three industries simultaneously--autos, energy and space travel--building a future of electric cars, solar power and colonies on Mars. Too bad he's not ambitious. Wall Street Journal Magazine, November 2011 (published on Oct 30, 2011)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB ... 53493609116516.html

Quote:

"When he heard that NASA had no plan to send astronauts to Mars, it boggled his mind. The financial problem seemed straightfoward, if not simple: Existing rockets employed old technology, used once. 'Imagine,' he says, 'if you built a new 747 for every flight.'

"And if he can figure out how to recover the first stage of his F9 [rocket], he'll have done no one has ever done before--created a fully reusable rocket which costs only $200,000 per flight for propellant. * * * 'And I think I have.'