Picture Of The Day

Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng (L) and Chen Dong wave in front of a Chinese national flag before the launch of Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft, in Jiuquan, China, October 17, 2016. China is racing to catch up with Russia and the United States and become a major space power by 2030. Beijing plans to launch construction of its own manned space station next year. While China has insisted its ambitions are purely peaceful, the U.S. Defense Department has accused it of pursuing activities aiming to prevent other nations from using space-based assets during a crisis. Besides its civilian ambitions, China has tested anti-satellite missiles and the U.S. Congress has banned NASA from two-way cooperation with its Chinese counterpart over security concerns. REUTERS/Stringer

WNU Editor: The above picture came from this photo-gallery .... China's space exploration (Reuters).