The People's Republic of China successfully completed
its second human spaceflight mission on October 17, 2005. China is only the third country, after
Russia and the United States, able to launch people into space. Its first human spaceflight was in
2003 when a single astronaut, or "taikonaut," made a flight lasting slightly less than a day. The 2005
flight lasted five days, and involved two taikonauts. As the United States embarks upon President
Bush's "Vision for Space Exploration" to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020 and someday send
them to Mars, some may view China's entrance into the human exploration of space as a competitive
threat, while others may view China as a potential partner. This is the final edition of this report.