CAMPUS PEOPLE

Dr. Tony Curtis interviewed for Reuters story on the Chinese manned flight space program

A news story, based on an interview with Dr. Tony Curtis (Mass Communications) has appeared in print and electronic media outlets around the world. The story originated from the Beijing bureau of Reuters news service and was picked up by media worldwide.

It may be read online at numerous media sites including Reuters or on Yahoo News.

The article is about China’s bids to join the space race. China is nearing its first manned space launch. Dr. Curtis comments from his post as editor of Space Today Online.

“With the launch of the Shenzhou spacecraft, China lifts its technological image into the heavens, bypassing the rest of the advanced-engineering nations," Dr. Curtis told Reuters.

A successful launch, on the heels of Beijing winning a bid to host the 2008 Olympics, could fuel nationalism and boost the Communist Party's credibility as China seeks a place on the world stage alongside great powers.

It comes as no surprise that China's space program may have military applications.

“As the Soviet Union used its Soyuz capsules and Salyut space stations in the 1970s and 1980s to spy from space and carry out other forms of military research, so will the Chinese,” said Curtis of Space Today Online.

“The launch of Chinese astronauts will capture the attention of everyone, especially opinion leaders," Curtis said. “That could breathe new life into the U.S. space program as Americans realize that competition has returned after disappearing for a time since the fall of the Soviet Union.”