China Steals NASA Secrets

This story of space espionage is amazing on so many levels:

1. The government is even letting us know about these facts. Usually this would be hidden away from citizens (for good reason).

2. These secrets were stolen on an ongoing basis that went on for 25 years

3. China needed to resort to these levels

4. This will not strengthen China-US relations, it will only cause further stress

Money.cnn.com reports:

"Dongfan Chung, who was employed by Rockwell International from 1973 until its defense and space unit was acquired by Boeing in 1996, also was charged with acting as an unregistered foreign agent of the People's Republic of China. He is a native of China and a naturalized U.S. citizen, the Justice Department said.

The indictment alleges that Chung took and concealed Boeing trade secrets relating to the Space Shuttle, the C-17 military transport aircraft and the Delta IV rocket. Chung allegedly obtained the materials for the benefit of China, the government said."

We previously talked about China's moon strategy but this espionage has now been made clear and laid out in the open - China has set its sights on space exploration and is pursuing it in various manners.