China's 1st Space Walk Mission a Step Toward the Moon?

China is counting down toward Friday's launch of its most challenging space mission yet, which is set to include the country's first space walk. The mission furthers an ambitious space program that plans to build a base on the moon—in cooperation with NASA or not. The flight of the Shenzhou VII rocket—China's third manned mission—is scheduled to take off not quite a year after Beijing deployed its first spacecraft to map the lunar surface. National Geographic Article...