Chinese moon landings

[Skanky Burns]

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat
What defeat? Yeah, they got there first, we did the rest.

Erm, the only thing US won in the space-race was putting a man on the moon.


Anyway, Russian experience with MIR will be of great help with the ISS. Speaking of which, is China taking part in building the ISS?

[Sprayber]

Originally posted by Skanky Burns


Erm, the only thing US won in the space-race was putting a man on the moon.


Anyway, Russian experience with MIR will be of great help with the ISS. Speaking of which, is China taking part in building the ISS?

Pretty ****ty deal if you ask me. We won the "Space Race" and all we got was some lousy rocks. Or so the T-Shirt goes.

[Lonestar]

Originally posted by Serb

May be for Americans it is the first Orbital station, for us it is 13th. We already have an experience of long space flight, you've just started to gain in orbital station.

What the hell was Skylab, chopped liver?

For the Record, the NASA Spacestation was going to be a "One-luanch" Skylab-type station, then Al "I invented the internet" Gore said that, in the interests of international relations, let's make it big and expenive!

[Shi Huangdi]

Easy- national pride. China now has become economically startified, as corrupt bourgeois, many of whom have made their fortunes through corrupt dealing, live in luxuries, at the same time as hundred of millions of Chinese barely subsist in conditions bad enough to rival anywhere else in the third world. They can no longer rely on communism credibbly as a justification for their brutal totalitarian regime. To gain support, they focus on nationalism.

[Serb]

Originally posted by Lonestar


What the hell was Skylab, chopped liver?

For the Record, the NASA Spacestation was going to be a "One-luanch" Skylab-type station, then Al "I invented the internet" Gore said that, in the interests of international relations, let's make it big and expenive!

An American spacemens lived for years on Earth orbit?

[Lonestar]

Originally posted by Serb


An American spacemens lived for years on Earth orbit?

Nope. Just like no Russians. Many Astronuats and Cosmonuats have lived for over a year in orbit, but not more than two. (in fact, the limit was 500-something days)

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by Shadowstrike
The really alarming thing about this is the uncertainty of China's political system. Simply put it we don't know if the next strongman in Beijing will be a hardliner who recalls the days of the Great Leap Forward (a ultimately foolish endevour that killed millions), or a progressive Chinese Gorberchev.

Given how Gorbachev screwed up Russia, let's hope the next leader has the vision of Deng.

As for the Chinese space program, they're doing it for the same reasons as the Americans - to prove they have the technology to do it.

What I hope is that this spurs another space race and that that leads to further space exploration.

[Serb]

Originally posted by Lonestar


Nope. Just like no Russians. Many Astronuats and Cosmonuats have lived for over a year in orbit, but not more than two. (in fact, the limit was 500-something days)

Yeah, those record belong to Russian astronuat, don't remember his name. My point was that we have longer expirience with long space flights.

[Lonestar]

Originally posted by Serb

Yeah, those record belong to Russian astronuat, don't remember his name. My point was that we have longer expirience with long space flights.

Well no offense to Russia Serb, but I think having the ISS be jointly American-Russian run is the stupidist idea ever.


Half these spacemen were fighterpilots trained to kill each other, for crying out loud!

[Serb]

Originally posted by Tingkai

Given how Gorbachev screwed up Russia, let's hope the next leader has the vision of Deng.

China is doing much better then we are.

Damn, looks like we always shows examples to others how things should not be done.
I guess it's our fate to make really big mistakes, it is good that other countries learn from our mistakes and don't make the same mistakes.

[Serb]

Originally posted by Lonestar


Well no offense to Russia Serb, but I think having the ISS be jointly American-Russian run is the stupidist idea ever.


Half these spacemen were fighterpilots trained to kill each other, for crying out loud!

Absolutely agreed and always though alike.

[Giant_Squid]

Well, I think it's because America's always first in everything, and they want to point at the Americans and say "Whatever you can do, we can do to" as a prelude to being accepted as another superpower. Whenever you hear about why America's so great, it's always something like "We can put a man on the moon". If China could do that, it'd be a huge psychological boost for them

And I hope they do. That'd make someone in Congress sit up and realize that we haven't made a single real accomplishment in spaceflight since the shuttle program and maybe it's time to get off our collective rear end in the space department. And this is just the throw-money-away-at-insanely-expensive-and-seemingly useless-project-just-to-annoy-people-who-we're-technically allied-with-anyway administration to do it.

[Dauphin]

If putting a man on the moon is so important to be accepted as a superpower, then why didn't the Russians even attempt a moon landing? - Because they felt it was pointless.

If the Americans were the first to launch a satellite or man into orbit then we still would not have had men visit the moon. The only reason the US created the notion of the space race was purely a political consequence of the space-technology inferiority complex.

If Europe wished, it could plan moon landings, but it is not doing so, neither is Russia. We are both capable of researching and funding such projects, we just see no need for it. Hence I beleive any Chinese moves are purely political posturing - a response to NMD as many have said.

[KrazyHorse]

What I don't understand is the idea that eventually the moon should be used as some sort of forward base for the construction of long-range spacecraft. Given that there aren't any metals on the moon and only minimal amounts of water, you'd have to ship materials there anyway (either from the Earth or the Belt). Why would you expend all the delta-v to put something down on the surface when you'll just have to lift it all back off again when you're through with construction? Orbital construction platforms make much more sense (probably at the Lagrange points).

[Serb]

If putting a man on the moon is so important to be accepted as a superpower, then why didn't the Russians even attempt a moon landing? - Because they felt it was pointless. If putting a man on the moon is so important to be accepted as a superpower, then why didn't the Russians even attempt a moon landing? - Because they felt it was pointless.

If the Americans were the first to launch a satellite or man into orbit then we still would not have had men visit the moon. The only reason the US created the notion of the space race was purely a political consequence of the space-technology inferiority complex.

If Europe wished, it could plan moon landings, but it is not doing so, neither is Russia. We are both capable of researching and funding such projects, we just see no need for it. Hence I beleive any Chinese moves are purely political posturing - a response to NMD as many have said.

Agreed 1000%
It is not necessery to send men in moon. Any research on Moon's surface could be done with use of robots. It is much cheaper, the way Soviets choosed for Moon exploration.
Launch of men on Moon was the political action of US government to show the rest of the world that Americans have great space technology too.
Those guys just wandering on Moon surface awile, and of course put their flag , and flew back. They have done nothing that robots of that times could do.

P.S. If the last sentance sounds not properly,- I want to say that unpiloted moon stations landed on Moon surface done the same exploration job the humans do. There was no need to send humans, robots were/is cheaper.