The Quest for Space

I recently read an article on the CNN website mentioning that China has successfully launched a lunar probe. Now there has been speculation about Americas landing on the moon, but is it possible that a new space race is evolving? In the article Chinese Rocket blasts off to moon the associated press mentions that India may be joining the quest for the moon as well. Japan already has a probe orbiting the moon right now.

Also in the article, it mentions that China has interest in joining the International Space Station program. Currently, the Americans have denied China from joining the program, mostly because of the form of government China has. They have a communist dictatorship, and anyone who has heard of the cold war can understand why America would be uneasy about allowing a communist dictatorship to join the International Space Station program.

Speaking of the International Space Station (I.S.S.), has anybody heard any new developments on the story? I know that the I.S.S. was breaking news before the attacks on the World Trade Center, has that program been put on the back burner? Canada has been developing robotic systems to be added to the space station and I have heard very little on that as well. The last I have heard about the Space Station is that every shuttle crew that goes up will visit the station, mostly to check for any damage incurred during launch. Shouldn't the I.S.S. be used as a stepping stone for our quest for a space fairing civilization?