Urgent GSC Update:

*China is on the verge of joining the United States and Russia as the world's only spacefaring nations. Chinese officials have stated that the launch will be for peaceful intentions. However, due to the percieved threat of technology, the launch could spark an arms/space race (similar to the Cold War between US/Russia in the 60's-70's) in Asia, or, due to the Communist implications of such an event, the launch could spark an outburst of space activity in the US (good, but for the wrong reasons). Similar to the initial Russian space program, the Chinese will be using a single man capsule (dubbed "Shenzhou," or roughly translated as "the divine craft" [thank you Chris]) poised to make 14 orbits with one crewmember. Another smiliarity stems from the secrecy of the launch- just like Russia, China refuses to televise the launch untill all is said and done (unlike America, which endured the "flopniks" and "kaputniks" of the early Vanguard launches televised on national TV). Space policy experts are confident the launch will take place tomorrow morning. Three Chinese astronauts (taikonauts) have been selected but no names have been confirmed.