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<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2></FONT></DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT>From <A
href="http://sciscoop.com/story/2003/12/9/75913/2558">SciScoop</A>: Some new
players are getting ready to break Earth orbit and head out into deep space. <A
href="http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-12/08/content_288360.htm">China
has released its plans for lunar exploration</A> over the coming decade, which
include a two-ton lunar orbiter named "Chang'e-I,'' an apparent reference to an
ancient legend about the fairy Chang'e who flies to the moon. The craft is
currently under construction and will lift off within three years for a 9 day
voyage to the Moon followed by a functional year in lunar orbit. Chang'e is to
be followed by an unmanned Chinese lunar sample return mission in 2010. In the
second decade of the 21st Century, China plans to land one of its citizens on
the Moon. Meanwhile, White House spokespersons have <A
href="http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=11175">debunked as inaccurate
rumors</A> several reports that in coming weeks President Bush would issue a
call for an American return to the Moon or manned missions to
Mars.</DIV></BODY></HTML>