Chinese to Launch Manned Spaceflight Next Week

[FrostyBoy]

Good job


Forget the U.S.

Bring on CHINA!

[Az]

congrats, China. Nothing special to dance and cheer about, but I hope this will ignite competition. It probably won't though.

[Drake Tungsten]

It probably won't though.

Of course it won't. Who's going to compete with the Chinese? America is 50 years ahead and no one else seems to want to waste their money on a manned space program.

[TheStinger]

There are a number of countries who could do this, most however would see looking after their people a higher prority.

[Az]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten

It probably won't though.

Of course it won't. Who's going to compete with the Chinese? America is 50 years ahead and no one else seems to want to waste their money on a manned space program.

50 years ahead? this says little. 80-90% of the progress in space exploration has been done in the first two decades of space exploration. And considering the fact that the Chinese are already doing tried and tested stuff, they could catch up on that in less than a decade, if they wanted. Now if the Chinese landed on the Moon, that WOULD spark a space race.

[Drake Tungsten]

Now if the Chinese landed on the Moon, that WOULD spark a space race.

I doubt even that would.

[Az]

Nah, I think that would. It's one of the things the USA psyche of the last century is built upon: Vietnam, The moon landing, and the Kennedy murder. That's the wibe I've been getting from american art, anyway.

[Curiosity]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten

It probably won't though.

America is 50 years ahead and no one else seems to want to waste their money on a manned space program.

America has slid back in recent years... they're really about where they were in the late '50s in many respects. If that.

A vigorous space program could leapfrog the US within a decade. Not that China is likely to try, though.

[Drake Tungsten]

America has slid back in recent years... they're really about where they were in the late '50s in many respects. If that.

Don't remember those late 50's space stations.

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten

America has slid back in recent years... they're really about where they were in the late '50s in many respects. If that.

Don't remember those late 50's space stations.

Yeah, neither do I.

Anyway, now the Chinese are in space that is more money to be spent on the ISS.

[Az]

Anyway, now the Chinese are in space that is more money to be spent on the ISS.

yay for ****ing and stopping in one place.

[DaShi]

In all seriousness and as much as I like to rag on China, I really don't think that this is a waste. Someday, space will be the future (provided people are still around). So any nation that wants to be a major player in it has to start somewhere.

Will it spark another space race? Not yet. As China grows then it is likely. Something's got to light a fire under the US's ass sometime.

Anyway, back to ragging on China:

In a country where comets are seen as an omen of great catastrophe and hard times, isn't sending off rockets kind of like shooting yourself in the foot?

[Q Classic]

god, the iss sucks. it's worthless as a research platform, a way station, anything other than a little cylinder to send people up in and leave them there.

The chinese don't have any siblings.

recently, in the backwater regions of china, where abortion is common on female fetuses, the pressure for male offspring to mate has become so great that families are keeping breeding-age females within the family.

[DaShi]

So is that big orange star I see in the sky the rocket? And if so, isn't too far south?

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by TheStinger
There are a number of countries who could do this, most however would see looking after their people a higher prority.

Nah, few other countries could do this. Their leaders lack long term vision. Putting a man in space is the first step of a long voyage. Chinese leaders understand that. Most other leaders can only think about what will this do for me today.

And the idea that the top priority of other world leaders is to look after their people.