I'm a major fan of the Voyager project and remember vividly the pictures of Saturn when I was in high school. The engineering involved is impressive, in any context. I'd just like to point out that depending on the definition of space, solar system or which of the two Voyagers we are talking about, this event has occurred quite a few times now in the press. A quick Google search of news reveals at least this many announcements about reaching the "edge of space."

2008: http://www.space.com/5586-voyager-spacecraft-reveals-solar-system-edge.html

2009: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/12/29/near-the-edge-of-the-solar-system-voyager-2-finds-magnetic-fluff/

2010: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/8201280/Voyager-1-reaches-edge-of-solar-system.html

Space, unfortunately, is the "next" battlefield. China with its small military budgets and limited means -- currently -- has identified our communications systems as a fatal flaw in our military operations. The modern battlefield includes heavy use of satellite imaging, real-time mapping, communications jamming, coordination with tactical centers often far removed from the front lines. Prestige is important motivation in becoming the third country to put a person in space but getting stronger in space military applications is the key strategic objective. It's the only way to compete with the US militarily in the near-term. This military angle should be an important consideration for the US side regarding any agreement on cooperation in space.

I'd be more excited and more complimentary of Toyota if I thought the hybrid cars they sell changed the equation much. They get a lot of marketing mileage out of hybrids, but their cars still depend completely on gas companies and do little to change driving habits or any useage patterns that contribute to congestion and pollution. They've done just enough to stand out, not a bit more. It's a lot of talk for very little change.

Why bother to try to convince them? Waste of effort.

Maybe the difference is that they didn't create a monster explosion, but... Japan just crash landed their "Kaguya" (SELENE) lunar orbiter into the Moon. The Kaguya had been orbiting the Moon for 17 months since its launch in September 2007. Strangely (to me) they are not released pictures until this November.

http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2009/06/20090611_kaguya_e.html

There's not a lot to suggest that China will follow the same path as Japan. They have tried, consciously, in limited ways, to emulate the so-called Japanese miracle. But they have a monster coastal market and a pre-industrial in-land one, they have large minority populations and adversarial labor relations, they have heavier industrial demands for military production than the Japanese who adhered to American hegemony... these and many, many other factors make comparing China's path to Japan's overly facile.