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

中国本周发射了无人驾驶的天宫一号，为接下来的对接和长时停留做好了准备。约翰·马特森报道。

谁将是下一位月球访客？——中国。

本周天宫一号的发射或进入轨道，都会推进崛起中的中国太空计划更进一步。

“天宫一号是很小的航天器，我估计大约有八吨重，并且比我们的天空实验室卫星还要小。”在美国华盛顿传统基金委员会的陈迪安这样说，“它如此轻小的原因有两个，一是可以实践对接演习，二时可以让中国的宇航员可以在微重力情况下有更多的时间。”

天宫的发射会给中国太空空间站和更进一步的探索奠定良好的基础。据报道，无人驾驶飞船会在年内实现对接。“如果实现了我们计划中的对接成功，那么明年，神舟九号和神州十号的任务，将是实现载人飞行，与天宫航天器实现对接，并可能在太空适度停留。” —约翰·马特森