Smashed to smithereens, a return to Earth orbit for retirement, or a voyage into deep space—those are the alternative fates that have awaited the Chinese lunar probe Chang'e 2 since its launch last October. Now the decision has been made: Chang'e 2 will go to the second Sun-Earth Lagrangian point this month, laying the groundwork for Martian missions.

China's airport construction program is continuing to expand. The latest update of the building campaign for 2011-15 includes 56 airports, up from 45 announced earlier and the 33 commenced under the previous five-year plan. The country is working toward a scheme based on five clusters of airports to serve the north, east, south, southwest and northwest of China. Major international gateways anchor the first three of those clusters, at Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

If the South Korean air force's plans come to fruition, by 2030 its leading combat aircraft will be pilotless—and domestically made. That strike aircraft will be backed by a home-grown manned fighter, which by then will have been in service for nine years. It all seems rather ambitious for a country whose main experience with combat aircraft development so far has been a light attack aircraft based on a supersonic trainer that was designed with guidance from Lockheed Martin.