Chinese Crew Blasts Off for Space Mission

[DanS]

You're right, GePap. It started that way. But very quickly after first launch, that objective was revised, and the Shuttle became merely a space station service vehicle -- i.e., a prestige program. For the last 20 years, Shuttle has been all prestige. Nowadays, that prestige is costing us $5 billion per annum. All the 50s technology was trotted out again in the 80s to do the real work.

[Whoha]

Originally posted by DanS
Again, I'm having trouble understanding your point. Are you saying that it shouldn't have been cut?

that to.

[GePap]

A Space Station is not a prestige program either. It is an expensive program, but cost itself does not make it prestige- there is no national "honor" in having a space station, specially since the Soviets/Russians had Mir forever anyways.

Any way you cut it, the Space Shuttle program was never "prestige", specially after Challenger blew up.

Prestige would be sending men back to the Moon again, or being the first to Mars.

[Odin]

Originally posted by Whoha
that it was unsustainable was no reason to cut it, that it was politically easy to cut it was.

Yep, sadly, politicians only care about short-term political gain, funding the space program for long term gain of eventual colonization means nothing to them iif that money could be spent on some pork-barrel projects that helps them get re-elected.

[DanS]

Space Station has always been prestige. In this case, we were trying to spread the prestige around to our major international friends.

[DanS]

Sometimes it's difficult to convey the scale of the Apollo Program. To put it in today's terms, at its height, the Apollo Program represented about twice the financial burden to the country versus the current Iraq War.

[SlowwHand]

Speaking of returning to the moon, that's in the works.
2015?

(Sloww waits, taps his foot, checks his watch as he waits for the first nimrod to scream, "FAKED!".)

[Odin]

Originally posted by SlowwHand

(Sloww waits, taps his foot, checks his watch as he waits for the first nimrod to scream, "FAKED!".)

[GePap]

Originally posted by DanS
Space Station has always been prestige. In this case, we were trying to spread the prestige around to our major international friends.

A Space Station is as "prestige" as an Antartic Station. And you NEVER spread the prestige-that goes against the very meaning of prestige-you do it to show just how good YOU are, not anyone else. To allow others in is to admit you couldn't do it on your own.

We spread the costs because it was simply not worth enough to any one party to pay the full cost. Another obvious reason why it was NOT prestige.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by Winston
3rd world countries getting their priorities all mixed up in order to prove themselves to others.

Narrow thinking.

The Chinese government is spending money on many things, including the space program.

The space program provides a means to develop a trained and experience technological class who can then use their expertise for other items.

One of the strengths of China is that the government takes a long term view, rather than just looking at things that will make a profit this quarter.

The ways things are going with the lack of funding for the U.S. space program, the Chinese may well catch up to the U.S. (rough estimate, in 50 years) and be the first to land on Mars.

[Cyclotron]

I don't think so. If the original Space Race showed anything, it was that even we lazy capitalists kick it into gear when we think the other guy is going to one-up us. If the Chinese get to that point, it will be a close call; the US government won't just let them have it.

Additionally, you forget that this Chinese launch is basically off all Russian equipment and technology - they have not yet proven the ability to innovate in the field of space technology at all.

[GePap]

The US made it to the moon thanks to a giant, GOVERNMENT RUN AND FINANCED program. "Capitalism" at most simply set a higher base of resources form which to draw upon, but the Apollo program was a good ol' fashioned example of centralized planning, much like the Manhattan program.

The only question is, who is willing to pump in the required amount.

And as for using old Russian equipment, sorry to break it to you but right now only the Russians have a reliable and constant way of putting men in Space. Soyuz might not be the space shuttle, but Soyuz keeps going and going, while the Shuttle, well, doesn't. Plus the Russians have more experience when it comes to time in Space. Dissing Russian space equipment is not really that smart a thing to do.

[Q Classic]

So, Hoo wrote the article, and Hu's the current leader. Who's actually going up? Nobody with a Wang.

[Cyclotron]

Originally posted by GePap
And as for using old Russian equipment, sorry to break it to you but right now only the Russians have a reliable and constant way of putting men in Space. Soyuz might not be the space shuttle, but Soyuz keeps going and going, while the Shuttle, well, doesn't. Plus the Russians have more experience when it comes to time in Space. Dissing Russian space equipment is not really that smart a thing to do.

Huh? I'm well aware of good, solid Russian space technology. All I'm pointing out is that, since the Russians never went to the moon, let alone mars, using Russian technology will only get one so far. Once they start planning their moon mission they will only have Russian prototypes and such to back them up, not real solid equipment. They'll have to start being inventive, and that what's not been seen yet.

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by DanS
Sometimes it's difficult to convey the scale of the Apollo Program. To put it in today's terms, at its height, the Apollo Program represented about twice the financial burden to the country versus the current Iraq War.

it's appalling to imagine that for the cost of the Iraq war we could have funded fully half the total costs of an endevour as immense and unprecedented as the Apollo program was.