China's 'Heavenly Palace' Space Station Will Go Down in Flames

"Beijing, we have a problem." Since it first went up in 1998, the International Space Station has played host to astronauts from more than a dozen countries -- but not one of them was from China. In fact, in 2011, the U.S. Congress passed a law specifically prohibiting Chinese access to the ISS over concerns about "national security." This, of course, has the Chinese a bit miffed. And as we mentioned last year, China has been planning to build its own, all-made-in-China space station instead. Slated for completion by 2022, the Tiangong 3, or "Heavenly Palace," space station will probably comprise three separate-but-linked modules, with a pair of laboratories flanking a central living habitat. Heavenly Palace is expected to go into service just as America and Russia are preparing to disassemble their International Space Station for obsolescence. More

(Source: Motley Fool - Oct 10)