Advancements in space tend to take a lot longer than planned, so China’s rapid progress building a new space station (known as the “Heavenly Palace”) is quite a surprise. About a month ago, they launched the first test segment; this week, they launched the second and connected them together. Seems they’re well on their way to having it finished on schedule by 2020. I can’t remember the last time NASA finished anything on schedule.
Anyway, here are this week’s sciency links, starting with China’s space station and NASA’s ongoing problems.
- Should America be Jealous of China’s “Space Kiss”? from Big Think.
- NASA Plan for Private Space Taxis Hasn’t Won Over Lawmakers from Space.com
- Moscow ‘Mars Mission’ Ends after 520 Days from Physorg.com.
- Enough of the Hubbub About Pluto, the Little Planet That’s Still a Little Planet from Motherboard.
- Periodic Table of Swearing from Drunk Liberal Scientist.
Planet Pailly 
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