I already have a digital copy but haven't started reading it.
Wow! Someone has written a whole book on a mission that has only been studied in a few papers. Seems the author is pretty positive the Chinese will be going.
You can read the first two pages for free, but they don't say very much.
I know the guy: he contacted me a couple of years ago on the topic: he was an intern at the European Space Policy Institute and he was working on a report on Chinese exploration programs, which was to be out end-2013.
now that I think of it, he promised me a copy of the report...
Took a quick glance. Disappointed.
It’s heavy on politics while very light on engineering and technology. The actual manned mission architecture is explained in like, three pages? The rest is politics, Shenzhou, Chang’e, sino-Europe Corporation, etc, etc. Overall pretty unimpressive.
Give it a try if you have access to Springer. Otherwise I reckon save your money.
Seems to me the politics will be significant, maybe the most significant factor. Will the Chinese economy support this effort, how will their leadership decide to spend the available money, will the money spent provide a positive outcome? All political aspects to my way of thinking.
Look at the price and look at the page count. That's a lot of money for an eBook or a hardcover. For that kind of money I'd expect a much larger book!
I got ebook - pls contact me via personal message