China Quiet on Eve of Space Flight

LA Times ^ | October 6, 2003 | AP

[Cincinatus' Wife]

BEIJING -- The launch could happen as early as this weekend from a remote base in the Gobi Desert. China's first manned space flight would carry one "taikonaut" - or as many three. It could last from hours to several days.

Other than that, the Chinese government isn't really saying.

After 11 years of planning to join the space-faring elite, China is on the brink of making history and reaping a propaganda windfall. But as the hour approaches, the communist government is staying silent about a date and other details, wary of risking the damage of public setbacks.

……Success has encouraged Chinese researchers who want support for sending probes to the moon and Mars.

On Sunday, the secretary-general of the government's Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense was quoted by a state news agency as issuing a rare public affirmation of official interest in such ambitions.

"In the future," the China News Service quoted Wang Shuquan as saying, "China will conduct tests on lunar-landing flight."

[Prodigal Son]

Facing repairs, NASA targets next fall for shuttle launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA is targeting next fall for its next space shuttle launch, saying there are too many post-Columbia repairs to fly any sooner.

Senior space agency officials decided Friday to aim for a launch in September 2004 for Atlantis. That date could slip even into 2005, depending on the progress of the shuttle repair work.

NASA had been using next March as a planning date for the first shuttle flight following the Columbia disaster.

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Looks like it's going to be a while before we're in space again.

[M1Tanker]

With most of the anti-satillite tech comming from big liberal donors like Loral, who benifitted greatly from Clinton betraying the USA and selling high technology for campaing contributions.

[Prof Engineer]

Facing repairs, NASA targets next fall for shuttle launch

By then Rutan will be sending a ship to the moon.

[Junior]

I think this is rather exciting. Nothing is more likely to get NASA to wake up and smell the coffee than a little competition. I hope the Chinese put men on the Moon in the next couple of years for the same reason.

[ArrogantBustard]

And only about 4 decades after we did it, why are they bothering?

Need I remind you that although we "did it" in the 1960s, we cannot send a man to the Moon today?

[Prodigal Son]

At least China is decades behind us on this:

Not Science Fiction: An Elevator to Space

[Nateman]

And only about 4 decades after we did it, why are they bothering?

Imagine talking a bolder on the moon and then putting a ring of steel around it. You then accelerate said bolder through a series of magnets to get it to escape velocity. When it hits the Earth it has the force of an atomic bomb. Not a bad place to be where mere rocks can be made into atomic bombs. In short the moon is the ultimate strategic position. That's why.

[Ronin]

That's a good question. But they ARE bothering. China's plans for space are not following the U.S. Russian model. The propaganda value is nice, but I am betting they have more practical goals.

When China gets to the Moon they are going to stay there. They are going to work the place. And when they start producing whatever it is they went there to produce, we are going to be looking at a long game of catch up.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Realizing an ancient dream, something America has forgotten.

Ouch.

[Orion78]

PING!

[GOP_1900AD]

USA: Atlas led to not only Mercury but also an ICBM. PRC: PRC's first space shot will lead to new ICBMs. Oh and also, the PRC recently announced a "satellite launching rocket" that sounded quite similar to an ICBM - four state, solid fueled, etc. Not a huge stretch to picture this "satellite launching rocket" in a cold launch rig, on a TEL, in a silo or even in one of the new monster ballistic missile subs they are working on...

[GOP_1900AD]

I hadn't thought of that one... that would be pretty bad....

[BabsC]

Have you read Sun Tsu, The Art of War.

Common sense dictates you always go for the high ground. Develope a base on the moon and look "down" on the earth. All you really need to do is throw big rocks with the right trajectory.

Quite a few Science Fiction novels and short stories have been based on the premise of what would happen if different cultures gained that upper hand.

[bonesmccoy]

if they are serious, the would need a reusable method of flying payloads to deep space.

Such methodology does not currently exist.

Still, COSCO to the moon???

[bonesmccoy]

yes, you would be correct and we would be the "landing zone" for such payloads.

Kinds sucks not having SDI and Ballistic Missile Defense now.

[Ronin]

I don't buy that. The Russians ran Mir for the longest time without a reusable shuttle clone, even though they did build one and played with it for a while. It's now been refurbished as a "restaurant".

But even supposing you are right, how do you know they are not working on that right now? Just because we announce everything we are going doesn't mean the Chinese will, or think they should.

Once they get the basics of their own Space Station in place, and I think that is their next step, I would expect them to start building big, simple, dumb boosters that concentrate solely on lifting huge amounts of weight into orbit.

Their next step would be a purely space-borne truck to move things between Earth and Lunar orbit and then, of course, work on the lunar lander itself.

That's all speculation, of course, but reasonable based on my feeling of the way China does things. China is not interested in pioneering for pioneering's sake.

They have definite goals in mind and are quite willing to let others do the experimental stuff and steal the results when it is done. Is that fair? No, but they don't care much about "fair" either.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

China develops its first solid-fuel satellite rocket***BEIJING (AFP) - China has successfully test-fired its first four-stage solid-fuel rocket capable of putting small satellites into space on short notice, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The launch of the Pioneer I rocket on September 16 at north China's Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center makes China only the third country capable of developing such rockets, after the United States and Russia, a spokesman for China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC) told Xinhua.

The rocket is capable of putting payloads of up to 100 kilograms (220 pounds) into orbit around the earth to help with resource exploration, environmental monitoring and surveys, the spokesman said.

The announcement comes just weeks ahead of China's planned manned space mission, which is widely expected to take place next month, based on media reports.

The Xinhua report did not say whether the rocket had any connection to the launching of space flights or whether it could launch satellites for military use.***

[GOP_1900AD]

I am suspicious of the maximum payload figure and guess the real figure to be much greater. If so, then this could well be the PRC's answer to the MX / Peacekeeper. Is this the "commercial" version of the DF41? Or maybe something newer?

Mark

[RightWhale]

They have definite goals in mind

They have ten tech teams working on space goals, and there seems to be some conflict between them. The moon is definitely a goal, although they aren't yet cutting metal. Also, they will be looking to catch up and surpass western space exploration by looking for breakthroughs. The day will come when our side tries to cop Chinese tech. Probably within 10 years.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Suspicious is a good thing to be with the communist Chinese.