Chinese in space

[Ins0mniac]

Now that China's in space, I wonder about other countries.

If any Muslim countries want to reach into space, it begs the question, how to design a spacesuit that can incorporate the wearing of the turban. Would it be worn inside, or outside the space suit?

And if France launches into space, wouldn't it be weird listening to them talk to mission control in that French accent?

[Up_All_Night]

french and the european space agency have had plans to send men into space with their own stuff but they wouldn't commit the money

[Asmodeus]

Thats becuase the french don't fall, they 'surrender to gravity'

over here, some of us are excited, hoping it will reignite a space race. since you know GWB just couldn't stand that some godless commie chinks are making techonological advances that make us look like we're all from texas

[FireHart]

Ahh.... The Space Race. NASA is going for a manned Mars operation with The Aurora Project though. I'd still like to see 'em red-and-yellow up in teh m00n someday. Gotta love 'em :D

[angel_b]

Originally posted by Asmodeus
Thats becuase the french don't fall, they 'surrender to gravity'

AHAHAHAHA!

[BlueBoy]

I say good on them!

At the very least this will stop us from sliding into some apathetic, luddite state. ;)

[Goat Boy]

I hope it gets the space race going. It won't.

What it wil get going is an arms race. That is the whole point of a space program. It is a way of saying "We now have a workable and really fucking kick arse ballistic missile program. Don't fuck with us."

But we can live in hope and dream that this does result in a world where we are all one step closer to being able to say "Get your arse to Mars."

[thingy]

I'm surprised nobody's brought up the reasoning behind China's doing this yet. It's obviously to do something about the population overcrowding there.

[Buffalo]

<Racist Joke>Does anyone feel the nip in the air?</Racist Joke>

Sorry..

Buffalo hangs his head in shame...... :(

on a more serious note - I think this is a good thing. At some point (maybe even within our life time), the human race is going to have to flee this hunk of rock and we're disturbingly far behind schedule..

[Up_All_Night]

it'll be interesting when the X-price people get someone up into space

[utopian]

The Chinese will need to put a significant amount of money into this if they're going to be anywhere near as successful as the Russians were. The Russians were pretty much the underdogs in the space race, and while they were the first to put a man into orbit, they were beaten to the moon by the Americans. I don't see the Chinese as being a significant threat to the mission to Mars, as they're 42 years late to put a man in space.

Not to belittle them, though. They're obviously very keen on cementing their place in the new technological world and I think it's great to see them trying hard, despite them being as far behind as they are. Hopefully this will bring about more interest in exploration of the inner solar system by manned craft. I wonder if the EU will want to launch a space program within the next ten years, as they become less and less a collection of nations and more a strong community.

Source: CNN
If all goes well with the early manned flights, the Chinese plan to launch a satellite to the moon within three years. After that, China plans to launch a space station. The goal is to establish a permanent outpost on the moon within 15 years.
This is very ambitious, and I don't doubt that they'll achieve the launch for a moon landing within three years. I would hope that the Chinese and the Americans can collaborate to advance both their efforts, but I see the problem with that being that the United States wouldn't want to give away its technology to the Chinese.

Asian countries are also fearful of the Chinese using this technological step forward as a method to beef up their military. Despite Beijing's staunch "anti-weaponisation" stance, Taiwan can't help but feel threatened by the communist power's entry into a new age.

Source: MSNBC
Besides Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province, the main strategic and political impact of the space launch likely will be felt by India and Japan.
India already has its own satellite and missile programs and, seeing China as its main rival, likely will accelerate its efforts although it may not feel a need for a manned program which is costly and mostly for prestige, [Larry] Wortzel [of the conservative Heritage Foundation] said.
Japan, which has launched reconnaissance satellites, may consider a manned space program but almost certainly will move quickly to initiate a missile defense program, he said.
I'd say that Japan and India are jealous that China has managed to come out and successfully launch a manned space craft. I vaguely remember back in the mid 90s that India was trying to get its space program up and running, but due to problems with Pakistan had to focus more on its military than the stars.

I can understand that Asian countries would feel threatened by a nation with 1/5 of the world's population continuing its space program, but we have to remember that the Chinese have had four launches (the first in 1997) and that their space program has been running for the last 20 years. I sincerely hope that this doesn't bring about an arms race, where all nations on earth attempt to put defence systems into space. This would hinder the exploration of space and would increase tensions all around the world as countries aim lasers and missiles at each other from a height of 42,245 km.

Sources:
CNN: "Chinese Launch could signal new space race" (http://edition.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/10/14/space.race/)
MSNBC: "Chinese launch sparks Asian debate" (http://www.msnbc.com/news/980519.asp?cp1=1)
MSNBC: "Launch seen bringing China 'great power' status closer" (http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusgen/reuters10-14-214001.asp?t=RESPC)

[SmaSheD_CoW]

Originally posted by utopian
The Chinese will need to put a significant amount of money into this if they're going to be anywhere near as successful as the Russians were. The Russians were pretty much the underdogs in the space race, and while they were the first to put a man into orbit, they were beaten to the moon by the Americans. I don't see the Chinese as being a significant threat to the mission to Mars, as they're 42 years late to put a man in space.

Dunno bout that, I didn't think the yanks could even get back into space atm, let alone reach some bloody big rock a few kazillion miles away?

[ersatz]

Dunno bout that, I didn't think the yanks could even get back into space atm, let alone reach some bloody big rock a few kazillion miles away?

you can still use the equivalent of Saturns and Soyuz to get people into orbit. You could even clean out the spent tanks to use as SkyLabs around lunar orbit.

If they didn't want to go the whole way to the moon it might be easier to assemble a cluster of spent tanks around a Lagrangian point. Perfect place for a military installation too

Unmanned lunar satellite has recently been done by the ESA, couldn't be that hard for China to repeat.

I highly recommend anyone interested to read 'Titan' by Stephen Baxter, nice alternate present/near-future. Also just finished 'Voyage' by the same guy.

[Ins0mniac]

Originally posted by utopian
The Russians were pretty much the underdogs in the space race, and while they were the first to put a man into orbit, they were beaten to the moon by the Americans.


I wonder if the EU will want to launch a space program within the next ten years, as they become less and less a collection of nations and more a strong community.[/url]


Firstly, the Americans weren't the first to the moon. The Russians were. The Russians orbited the moon before the Americans got there. The Americans were the first to land on the moon. And as far as the Russians being the "underdogs" I think it was pretty damn close at some stages.


As far as the EU, they've already launched a space program, the European Space Agency. They're already sending probes to Mars.

[MisterBishi]

Originally posted by Ins0mniac
If any Muslim countries want to reach into space, it begs the question, how to design a spacesuit that can incorporate the wearing of the turban. Would it be worn inside, or outside the space suit?

Considering Muslims don't wear turbans on earth, I can't see that it would be a major concern in space.

[utopian]

Originally posted by Ins0mniac
Firstly, the Americans weren't the first to the moon. The Russians were. The Russians orbited the moon before the Americans got there. The Americans were the first to land on the moon. And as far as the Russians being the "underdogs" I think it was pretty damn close at some stages.
The Russians may have orbited it, but that's like saying that walking left to right near the finish line of the 100m sprints is the same as crossing it. The Americans were the first on the moon. Landing on the moon requires a totally different machine than if you were just orbiting it.

The Russians would be viewed as the underdogs simply because they're not as much a part of the Western world as the USA are. Just because it's close doesn't mean there can't be a "favourite" to achieve their missions first.

Have the ESA just been launching probes? I don't remember seeing anything about manned flights. Does anyone know if they're planning any, or if they'll just send men up in American missions?

[Ins0mniac]

Originally posted by utopian
The Russians may have orbited it, but that's like saying that walking left to right near the finish line of the 100m sprints is the same as crossing it. The Americans were the first on the moon. Landing on the moon requires a totally different machine than if you were just orbiting it.

Have the ESA just been launching probes? I don't remember seeing anything about manned flights. Does anyone know if they're planning any, or if they'll just send men up in American missions?

Yeah, I'm not sdaying the U.S didn't win the space race, they certainly did and I give them credit for it.

Yeah, the ESA are just into launching probes at the moment.

[Grumblefish]

Originally posted by Ins0mniac
Yeah, I'm not sdaying the U.S didn't win the space race, they certainly did and I give them credit for it.


No they didn't, the USSR won the space race. USA was first to put a man on the moon, so the best I'll give them is the race to put a man on the moon. You're forgetting there was a race just to get anything into space, and the Soviets certainly won that. The Soviet Union was at times well ahead of the Yankee filth.


The other guy:


As for Taiwan being a renegade province in China's eyes (Which isn't exactly true, I'm pretty sure it's "one country, two systems" like other areas of China), that's a two way street. The Guomindang mission statement has always been to reclaim the mainland and instate Sun Wen's Three People's Principles ruling method. Do they not also claim sovereignty over China, Tibet and Mongolia?

[Grumblefish]

Oh yeah, as silly as the idea may sound, I hope this starts a huge arms race and rush to colonise space. This race should result in the Eurasian continent being the only inhabitable place on the planet. I guess if it is a nice day, Australia can be spared, but the American continents have to be incinerated.

[iaidoka]

Does this mean that now all the dudes at the international space station can order out Chinese ?