Chinese to Launch Manned Spaceflight Next Week

[muppet]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi


Eh, Canada has a space program.

and it fits on a single floppy disk

[Alinestra Covelia]

I hope that Yang Liwei, the Chinese taikonaut, will rename his son.

After all, we're only a few more decades away from the date when the Unity blasts off for Alpha Centauri, and we all know that the Chief Executive Officer onboard that vessel is named Sheng-Ji...

[Q Classic]

when was his son born? 'cause sheng-ji is a '99 baby.

[Az]

[Alinestra Covelia]

You're right, Q^3d, I think Yang's son is 8 years old already.

But you never know, what with these records and all. I'm sure there must have been some bureaucratic mistake... to mix up... erm... a 4 year old with an 8 year old...

...sort of thing...

[Lord Merciless]

You don't want Shengji Yang to be your boss.

[Alinestra Covelia]

Lord Merciless obviously doesn't know me very well...

[Az]

Why can't he just have another.... oh, wait, I forgot.

[Straybow]

Originally posted by Tingkai
Imagine what the US could have done with the billions that Junior is wasting on Iraq.

Geppy and Teddy K would be wasting it on 3rd generation welfare mothers and their 4th generation babies of uncertain lineage.

[Straybow]

Is not! Is not!

Originally posted by mindseye

My understanding was that the maglev was a project undertaken by a German enr & constr firm,

Sorry, you missed my point. My point was that China is the first country to have an operating mag-lev passenger line. Germans and Japanese created the tech, but only built test tracks.

My point was that the Germans or Japanese (or Brits, Frogs, Yanks, etc) didn't for really good reasons. Regular passenger service hasn't been economical for decades. Japan's bullet train and France's TGV are real money pits. Maglev is white elephant tech. Build a profitable passenger rail system; then I'll be impressed.

Actually, the tallest under construction is the Shanghai World Financial Center in Pudong, Shanghai, scheduled to be completed in 2007 (some sources say 2005). It will stand at 492 m (1,624 ft), with 101 stories.

Shanghai WFC roof is 460m, the rest is antenna. Construction halted in 1997, recently resumed with a redrawn plan rumored to be 499m (the architect is under pressure to exceed whatever Taipei Financial Center builds). Union Square 7 is 108 stories, roof height 474m. Taipei 101 (101 stories) is 509m official height including a "spire" (but not including the antenna); the roof height is lower than either WFC or US7.

These things are pissing contests. WTC replacement plans are for a 1776 ft (541m) tower. Seoul is claiming plans for one higher than all those, and some Yogi Maharishi devotees are babbling about a 2222 ft (677m) Asian-style pyramid (apparently it will glow with Vedic wisdom).

[:) Smiley]

Technological superiority in space exploration is a moot point. The US is using 1970s and 1980s technology at the moment because they haven't bothered to invest in new hardware since the Space Shuttle.

Technical know-how to put a man on Mars, build space cities with a population of millions, fly to other stars, that all can be found in a couple of textbooks. It is not cutting edge.

What does matter though is the ability to turn that knowledge into actual use. This is something that can only be gained by actually doing it. Space has moved from pure science to engineering. Who knows, someday it might become business and economics.

[Mou]

In my opinion, it is worth doing though it is a bit expensive.
I would not believe such a propaganda that space exploration is a
glorious mission for human beings. In fact, I think it still be a myth even in my lifetime.
China need it because in these experiments maybe we can also get a ability to extend war to outer space like other countries have. China understands the game's rule on earth.


quotes from Los Angeles Times on Oct 15th,2003
----
Any muscle flexing may worry critics wary of China's growing military might and the potential for a new space race. Washington has been reluctant to allow China to join the international space station project. Chinese scientists were denied visas to attend the World Space Congress last year in Houston, a decision some experts say was based on the fear that the Chinese could steal American technology.

"There's a strong feeling against cooperation. That's why the Chinese feel, 'We have to do this ourselves,' " Harvey said.
----
"An Ambitious China Reaches for the Stars"



I dislike commies, however, now I like this one below:
Arise ye prisoners of starvation
Arise ye toilers of the earth
For reason thunders new creation
`Tis a better world in birth.

Never more traditions' chains shall bind us
Arise ye toilers no more in thrall
The earth shall rise on new foundations
We are but naught we shall be all.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by mindseye
Far from "been there, done that", the dealings with the "barbarians" brought vast riches to China, so profitable that the court eunuchs who were running the show became very wealthy and powerful.

Yes, by all means, there were a number of factors that contributed to the end of China's maritime exploration, but the fact that some people were getting rich did not stop others from saying that it was detrimental to society and the group ended up winning.

It is not unlike the people, in the states and China, who complain that money spent on the space program is a waste and should be going towards other things. These people fail to see the real benefits of space exploration.

[DanS]

Technical know-how to put a man on Mars, build space cities with a population of millions, fly to other stars, that all can be found in a couple of textbooks. It is not cutting edge.

This isn't quite the case. If you take space cities, for instance, there are a lot of unresolved technical issues and some science that doesn't yet exist. For one, construction materials problems will crop up, depending on where you put the city. If the city is in Earth orbit and has some dark time, then the fast and extreme temperature fluctuations result in short operational lives.* If the city is not in Earth orbit and doesn't get any dark time, then you have heat dissipation problems as well as unhealthy radiation levels. Add to that vibration/noise problems that haven't yet found solutions, among many other things.

The US is using 1970s and 1980s technology at the moment because they haven't bothered to invest in new hardware since the Space Shuttle.

This is quite true. And we can't do many things because we have not yet invented what is necessary. See my comments, above.

*Because of lack of materials that can handle temperature fluctuations and vibrations, any object in space with both light and dark time has a ~ 5 to 9 year depreciation cycle. When doing the financials on most space businesses, that depreciation cycle is a real killer--as much of a problem as launch costs. Consider that new construction on an earth city has a 30 or 45 year depreciation cycle, and land in an earth city does not depreciate. That's what a space city has as competition.

[:) Smiley]

The proposals I've read about are sited so they don't go through the light-dark cycle. Shielding is made with materials from asteroids or moon.