China launches the unmanned Tiangong 1 later this week, setting up opportunities for docking and long-duration stays. John Matson reports

Who will be next to get to the moon? Maybe China. The upstart Chinese space program could take a step closer this week by launching the Tiangong 1, or "Heavenly Palace," into orbit.

"The Tiangong itself is a very small craft, roughly about, I believe, eight tons, and it's smaller than our SkyLab was.” Dean Cheng of the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. “And the main purpose of this is two things: one, to practice docking maneuvers, and two, to allow Chinese astronauts to have a little more extended time in a microgravity environment."

Tiangong could pave the way for a future Chinese space station and for exploration further afield. An unmanned spacecraft will reportedly dock with it later this year.

"If that works out well then we would expect to see, next year, missions Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10, both of which would be manned, doing docking with the Tiangong craft and probably moderate-duration stays."
—John Matson

中國本周發射了無人駕駛的天宮一號，為接下來的對接和長時停留做好了準備。約翰·馬特森報道。

誰將是下一位月球訪客？——中國。

本周天宮一號的發射或進入軌道，都會推進崛起中的中國太空計劃更進一步。

“天宮一號是很小的航天器，我估計大約有八噸重，并且比我們的天空實驗室衛星還要小。”在美國華盛頓傳統基金委員會的陳迪安這樣說，“它如此輕小的原因有兩個，一是可以實踐對接演習，二時可以讓中國的宇航員可以在微重力情況下有更多的時間。”

天宮的發射會給中國太空空間站和更進一步的探索奠定良好的基礎。據報道，無人駕駛飛船會在年內實現對接。“如果實現了我們計劃中的對接成功，那么明年，神舟九號和神州十號的任務，將是實現載人飛行，與天宮航天器實現對接，并可能在太空適度停留。” —約翰·馬特森