Posted on 10/14/2003 6:14:27 PM PDT by Brian S
Wed 15 October, 2003 02:07 BST
BEIJING (Reuters) - China has launched its first manned space flight from the Gobi desert, Xinhua news agency says, in its bid to become the third country to put a man in orbit after the former Soviet Union and the United States.
The Shenzhou V, or "Divine Ship V", was expected to orbit the Earth 14 times before returning after about 21 hours.
Xinhua said the craft carried astronaut Yang Liwei, 38. The launch on Wednesday, 42 years after the Soviet Union put the first man into space, marked a milestone for China's secretive space programme, which analysts say has its sights set on a manned mission to the moon.
What "edge" is lost?
We could orbit dozens a people a year in a tin can capsule in a few months if we wanted to, which, we don't because it's pointless(as this Chinese mission is, and all of their manned missions for a decade, will be absolutely useless in all practical military, economic, and scientific terms.)
Heck, even our own manned program (the Space Shuttle) really has set us back in space.
If we'd not had the Shuttle program (and that Godawful space station) at all, and spent the money on our unmanned programs, we'd be a lot further ahead militarily and scientifically in space, for sure.
Percentage of ownership doesn't matter a hill of beans if the production facilities are located within their territorial jurisdiction. "A stroke of the pen" would be more like shooting ourselves in the foot. We'd have to run around half naked until we were able to redevelop our own production infrastructure. The Chinese, OTOH, wouldn't even notice we were gone.
WE are the ones becoming more dependent on THEM, NOT the other way around.
The US is working on planes that can load up with tourists, fly at mach 10, orbit the earth a few times, and come back and land at home.
Just going just to get there isn't really helpful. Our space program has largely turned to a venture to make money. Its not some big national pride thing anymore. That and the military applications...
In short, our space program has to be practical, not just a money vaccum.
FYI, this is true of any field of endeavor. Our space program got a huge lift from Nazi technology that we recovered after wwII and we also got a lot of help from the former german scientists as well.
China is a sleeping giant, as our government is doing their best to help them out in big economic ways.
This thread reminds me of some of the Rush threads, as many refuse to see or accept what is happening in China, AND our own country.....
YES!!
The explorer spirit of the West needs some competition to reinvigorate itself.
The Chinese Giant Junk seafaring era ended approximately when Columbus reached America. For the next 500 years the West looked out and the Chinese looked inwards. But Where are the lunar lovepalace hotels anyway?
Now let's see if any enthusiasm can be generated; probably start with spacewar units and then proceed to further exploration. If a new spacerace ensues and the public starts to care about being less advanced than the Chinese, the results could be great.
Now I wish China would put an armed killer satellite up there too. It certainly would start a fuss!
Their ethics is not our ethics. Unfortunately, there is no greater society to rein them in, so they will win every time even if we don't respect them.
ANYTHING that gets our cowardly Congress to agree that we should Go Back to the Moon--& ON to Mars--is Good.
It seems that our "Fearless Leaders" have a PROBLEM with the "Future!"
There is, apparently, NO UNDERSTANDING OF the Potential of Human Endeavor--especially with regard to the Exploration & Colonization of Space!!
Either we "Join &/or Surpass" the current Chinese Manned Space Program, or we Stand Aside, & Watch the Chinese Dominate "The Skies!!"
Willy-Nilly, we are NOW in ANOTHER "SPACE RACE!!!"
SO BE IT!!
Either we go BACK TO THE MOON,--& ON TO MARS,--or the "Language of EarthCentric Space Exploration" will be CHINESE,--NOT ENGLISH!!
If our "Political Leaders" CANNOT UNDERSTAND the Simple Equation I Just Created, then I Fear "Western Civilization" will NOT BE a "Factor" in the Future Exploration of our near Space.
We are NOW on the "Cusp" of Human expansion to the Stars!
We "Go to the Stars" as a "Creature," or we Involute--& Perish.
I'm ON OUR SIDE;--I BELIEVE THAT we have EARNED the RIGHT to CONTINUE!!
WE ARE WORTH SAVING,--& we ARE worthy of future Considerations of our behavior--, & we have EARNED the RIGHT to objective analysis of ANY of our Decisions!
Doc
We don't have the budget...we are to busy thinking we can "nation build" in a region that would sooner "slit our throats" than to look at us.
That ole "New World Order"...daddy Bush "vision thing" getting in the way.
And...what flavor of "kool-aid" do you prefer tonight???
Americans won't care if there is no entertainment value. What China will do in space will be most boring, but is the key to their ascendancy on earth, and it will pass under the radar. The game will be over before we notice anything is wrong.
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