China's manned space flight program.

[Joseph]

Originally posted by mindseye

Quote:

I say we blow the thing out of the sky. Space is ours, you dirty communists.

Uh, they (Communists) were there first.

No, we were with a small rocket in the late 40s or real early 50s.
The Soviet were first with a sat. and with a human even with the first one or two that were lost before Yuri flight. That is still a secret in Russia.

[Q Classic]

a small rocket can't carry a flag and claim vacuum for a country.

then again, neither can a person.

space is international, you w*nkers.

[My Wife Hates CIV]

The sad part about Chinas space program is it will be completely secret. They will share nothing with the world even if they are successful. So... what's the point??

[Q Classic]

well, that way, if they fail, nobody knows.

[Oerdin]

I think the main point is to build intercntential ballistic missiles, to get int o the stalitte launching business, and to sooth their bruised egos about historically being kicked around by the West and the Japanese.

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by Oerdin
The Chinese government has announced that they will launch a manned Shenzhou 5 rocket by the end of the year. The Chinese media is saying that the launch of a Chinese rocket will "symbolize China's significant breakthrough in space flight and aerospace business". While I applaud China for building a manned space flight mission I really don't see who this is anything more then a giant pissing context because they're just doing what the Soviets and Americans did 50 years ago. Also it's perfectly clear the EU and Japan could have had manned space programs decades ago if they wanted to but the truth is there is very little money to be made in such a program so they haven't bothered.

The main issue for the Chinese seems to be soothing their bruised egos about being a second rate power for most of the last millenium. Wouldn't the money be better spent by providing water and power to the hundreds of millions of Chinese peasants who make less then $200 per year?


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3112322.stm

If you can launch a spacecraft like this you're not far from a real ICBM.

Thanks again Bill for supporting the Chinese "space program"

[mindseye]

I think the main point is to build intercntential ballistic missiles, to get int o the stalitte launching business

Uh, hello ... China already has ICBMS (albeit old ones) and China is already one of the world's leaders for launching satellites. They even launch them for US corps.

As I've said in earlier threads on this topic, it's clearly a national prestige program that may have some ancillary benefits (spin-off techs, infrastructure development, experience and skills, etc.).

China has other such programs either under its belt or under development. Three Gorges Dam, Shanghai maglev railway, world's largest shipyard, incredibly big/long bridges, etc.

Damn, don't you guys play Civilization? Have you forgotten the importance of building Wonders of the World? Sometimes the symblic value of a great undertaking is more important than any practical or immediate benefit.

[Q Classic]

yeah, but you can usually buy those wonders in one turn without any deaths.

[mindseye]

If you can launch a spacecraft like this you're not far from a real ICBM.

They already have ICBMs (albeit relatively old ones) capable fo striking the US.

Thanks again Bill for supporting the Chinese "space program"

Nice try, but the USSR/Russia was/is far, far more influential on the PRC's space program than anything they gained dring the Clinton admin.

[MikeH]

Originally posted by Lonestar


Ten. Using Technology we already have. We don't even need any "Battlestar Galactica" ships, just a couple of super-heavy boosters.

Getting astronauts there is easy. Getting them there and having them not die rapidly because of radiation damage and preventing the huge muscle and bone wastage that they'd suffer on the journey, so that they could actually function on a return to the Earth are the difficult bits.

[C0ckney]

a haircut costs 25 quid i america, do they use gold scissors or something?

and i'm all for sending the chinese leadership into space, and leaving them there

[mindseye]

a haircut costs 25 quid i america, do they use gold scissors or something?

Scissors? Try lasers.

Another China-US haircut comparison:
* Cost of a haircut in a hair salon in San Francisco: about $30
* Cost of a blowjob in a hair salon in Shanghai: about $12

Hair salons provide a broader range of service here.

[Arrian]

In San Francisco, a haircut (with tip) cost me about $35.

Are you serious?

I got a haircut yesterday for $14.

-Arrian

[Chemical Ollie]

So now, instead of little green men we will get little yellow men?

[Sava]

Originally posted by Chemical Ollie
So now, instead of little green men we will get little yellow men?

that's terrible...

[vee4473]

china will, like all other communist states, find that all they can do is keep up... and in the end fall.

[Sava]

no because Ronald Reagan isn't around to make them bankrupt their economy by building tens of thousands of nukes...

[vee4473]

no, because shackling your citizen's under a rifle and fear isn't going to bring out their and yor country's best.

[Verto]

Originally posted by Sava
no because Ronald Reagan isn't around to make them bankrupt their economy by building tens of thousands of nukes...

How dare he!

[Sava]

Originally posted by vee4473
no, because shackling your citizen's under a rifle and fear isn't going to bring out their and yor country's best.

economic slavery in a trickle up system does??

How dare he!

you'll be saying that if a Russian made nuke goes off in a US city... god forbid...

[Oerdin]

Originally posted by C0ckney
a haircut costs 25 quid i america, do they use gold scissors or something?

and i'm all for sending the chinese leadership into space, and leaving them there

I pay $9 plus a $2 tip.

[PLATO]

Sava, You crack me up!!

Uh, hello ... China already has ICBMS (albeit old ones) and China is already one of the world's leaders for launching satellites. They even launch them for US corps.

Yes they have 54. None of the current 54 they have are capable of reaching all parts of the United States. They are currently upgrading all of them (with the "new" technolgy they "aquired") so that they will be able to hit any point in the world. China's problem was never the boost phase to orbit, but rather the tech to effectively guide a rocket.

[mindseye]

I got a haircut yesterday for $14.

Well, I wasn't counting that place at the bus station.

edit: spelling

[mindseye]

they have 54. None of the current 54 they have are capable of reaching all parts of the United States.

Good enough for deterrent's sake!

[mindseye]

Originally posted by vee4473
china will, like all other communist states, find that all they can do is keep up... and in the end fall.

Gee, that's nice, except for two little problems:
(a) Do you really think contemporary China is "communist"?
(b) Do you really think China (politically, economically, socially, etc) is like any other country in the world?

Other than those two little problems, you're spot-on, mate!

Originally posted by vee4473
no, because shackling your citizen's under a rifle and fear isn't going to bring out their and yor country's best.

Are you trying to talk about China again? If you are, it sure doesn't sound like the China I live in. I can't even recall the last time I actually saw a soldier, much less a rifle. Far fewer cops than in the US, too (and the ones you do see are usually directing traffic).

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by mindseye

Quote:

If you can launch a spacecraft like this you're not far from a real ICBM.

They already have ICBMs (albeit relatively old ones) capable fo striking the US.

Quote:

Thanks again Bill for supporting the Chinese "space program"

Nice try, but the USSR/Russia was/is far, far more influential on the PRC's space program than anything they gained dring the Clinton admin.

Plato already correctly answered the first part (and after a little thought the second part).

[Oerdin]

So does China copying a Russian rocket design still constitute a major advancement in Chinese Aerospace?

[mindseye]

So does China copying a Russian rocket design still constitute a major advancement in Chinese Aerospace?

What, are you kidding? There's a lot more to spaceflight than just manufacturing some sophisticated hardware (no small feat in itself).

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by mindseye
What, are you kidding? There's a lot more to spaceflight than just manufacturing some sophisticated hardware (no small feat in itself).

Yeah!

Sheesh, haven't these people played Civ?

[Curiosity]

Originally posted by MikeH
Getting astronauts there is easy. Getting them there and having them not die rapidly because of radiation damage and preventing the huge muscle and bone wastage that they'd suffer on the journey, so that they could actually function on a return to the Earth are the difficult bits.

Dammnit; seems like every time I poke my nose into the OT someone is trotting out this line. I should save a response to it.

The radiation on a flight to Mars would be bad for you; but in much the same sense as smoking is bad for you, not in the sense that you would die horribly on the way. The levels just aren't that bad, perhaps excepting during sunspots, when you would retreat into a radiation shelter for a day or so.

Muscle wastage is a problem when you are off earth for a couple of years, and it requires some adjustment when you come back. But don't forget that Polyakov walked away from his capsule after 18 months in zero-g. The astronauts would be spending much of their time in 1/3-g, so their difficulties shouldn't be much worse than that.

I can't see any insurmountable barriers to going to Mars, other than lack of the will to do so.