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#21
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tscottme wrote:
John C. Baker wrote in message ... While manned space flight is an impressive technical accomplishment, and space exploration is important to mankind's understanding of himself, I have one thing to say to Beijing: "Welcome to 1961." Standby for garish polyester clothing and bitter, ugly women without bras. ROFL! On the other hand, I might make a visit to The Cavern. Cheers David |
#22
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robert arndt wrote:
Andreas, [...] So, don't assume that any future German manned launch would be an ESA peace mission. If Sanger is ever built the very first payload might very well be a spy sat or other military package. There is no "German" space program, it's all European (i.e. ESA). And remember that Germany has been bashed recently for its _lack_ of military enthusiasm. Even if not built and a German rocket is launched instead, German nationalism will guarantee a different name. Raumfahrer? Never. Raumjaeger or Jaegernaut, probably. "German nationalism"?? Where (or when!) the **** are you living?!? It's not 1945 anymore! For the record, I'm a German with a more than average interest in space flight, and I have _never_ seen terms like "Raumjäger" or "Jägernaut" (ridiculous!! - whoever thought of this can't possibly be a native speaker of German!) in a German publication (since the late '70s at least). Andreas |
#23
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Gernot Hassenpflug wrote in message ...
"Ed Majden" writes: The American space efforts were not necessarily done on their own either. I think Mr. Newton should be given some credit along with Mr. Von Braun and his crew. Canadian born Jim Chamberlin chief designer of the CF-105 AVRO Arrow was basically the guy that designed the Gemini space craft. He was one of a number of AVRO Canada engineers that headed south to work for NASA after the sad cancellation of the Arrow project. See: http://www.exn.ca/Stories/1999/07/06/64.asp Scientific efforts are build of the shoulders of scientists of many nations, not just one. I think the Chinese should be congratulated! I only hope their efforts are peaceful ones and not cold war one-up-man-ship as was the case in the past. Bravo for a good post amongst the rubbish! In Japan there is great effort to continue to improve their launch rockets, but at present there is not enough confidence to go to manned launches on their own. The Chinese are indeed to be congratulated, vey impressive indeed, no matter what help they had - that, after all, is the point of scientific progress. Not to dump on the PRC's endeavor here, but "impressive" seems a bit much. What is so impressive about them today matching US/Russian technology of the 1960's, while conducting a "feat" that has little or no real value, scientific or otherwise? Nor have they, with this event, demonstrated much in the line of "scientific progress"--the whole man-going-around-the-earth-in-space-merely-because-he-can is kind of passe (by at least three decades). Just what new item, or theoretical development, or experament, was accomplished here? None. If they were truly interested in "scientific progress" they would have been clamoring to join the ISS effort, or develop efficient and useful unmanned payloads--but this particular mission is little more than an internal propoganda feat designed for their own domestic consumption. If you are really looking for a PRC space feat, it would be their emerging capability to compete in the commercial launch business (albeit no doubt largely due to their still-significant ability to control domestic costs). Brooks |
#24
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"Ed Majden" wrote in message news:Lfgjb.103719$6C4.38239@pd7tw1no...
"Gene Storey" wrote in message Looks like a complete copy of the Soviet space program, down to the pressure suit, and the name "cosmonaut." How can they go wrong? The American space efforts were not necessarily done on their own either. True, but nobody has said it was. We took advantage of the talents of a lot of folks who came over here--which in and of itself is a pretty good talent of the US. I think Mr. Newton should be given some credit along with Mr. Von Braun and his crew. Canadian born Jim Chamberlin chief designer of the CF-105 AVRO Arrow was basically the guy that designed the Gemini space craft. Canadian born, yes--but a US citizen from the early sixties, as were Von Braun and crew. Which makes them Americans in the truest sense of the word. And to be completely honest, Chamberlin was the Gemini project manager, not "the designer", and moved from that post in 1963 because of budgeting problems within his purview, and possibly some personal conflicts (he reportedly was not a "people person", to say the least). That does not take away from his substantial contributions to Mercury, Gemini, and even the Apollo programs (he also did some early work on the shuttle). He was one of a number of AVRO Canada engineers that headed south to work for NASA after the sad cancellation of the Arrow project. See: http://www.exn.ca/Stories/1999/07/06/64.asp Scientific efforts are build of the shoulders of scientists of many nations, not just one. I think the Chinese should be congratulated! I only hope their efforts are peaceful ones and not cold war one-up-man-ship as was the case in the past. I am much more impressed by the Chinese effort to compete in the commercial launch business than I am in this reminiscent-of-the-early-sixties propoganda ploy.If they were really interested in scientific advances, they would continue with their launch business and join the ISS effort, instead of repeating the feats of others forty years after the fact. Brooks |
#25
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If they were really
interested in scientific advances, they would continue with their launch business and join the ISS effort, instead of repeating the feats of others forty years after the fact. Absolutely agree. Kicking in to the ISS, offering their services in heavy lifting, etc., would gain them far more than this Gagarin-esque flight and a near duplicate of early Soviet space plans. I think this flight was a monumental achievement for the PRC, but the postflight interview with the Taikonaut seemed a blast from the past, with party slogans and embedded phrases that show their program is under the Communist banner, intended to spread their message into the reaches of space. That is sad, and I think it detracts from the accomplishment of the Chinese people. v/r Gordon |
#26
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"Kevin Brooks" I am much more impressed by the Chinese effort to compete in the commercial launch business than I am in this reminiscent-of-the-early-sixties propoganda ploy.If they were really interested in scientific advances, they would continue with their launch business and join the ISS effort, instead of repeating the feats of others forty years after the fact. I somehow doubt that they were asked or invited to join the ISS effort. As for progress, you must learn to crawl before you can walk. ESA in Europe did this with their launch facilities. Indeed, they have not put a man in space but they don't have the deep pockets that the USA has. If news stories are correct China plans on building their own space station and perhaps sending a man to the Moon. The USA program to do this was a propaganda stunt at the time. Beat the Soviets at all costs. There were of course scientific spin-offs but if science was the primary goal, why did they only send one planetary geologist to the Moon? |
#27
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In article ,
Kevin Brooks wrote: I am much more impressed by the Chinese effort to compete in the commercial launch business than I am in this reminiscent-of-the-early-sixties propoganda ploy.If they were really interested in scientific advances, they would continue with their launch business and join the ISS effort, instead of repeating the feats of others forty years after the fact. Eh? You mentioned "scientific advances" and "ISS" in the same sentence. I'm not entirely sure I see any relationship between scientific advances and Fredovitch. OTOH, China is launching Double Star as a joint mission with ESA in the fairly near future as an add-on/follow-on to Cluster II, and that is a mission which should provide significant scientific gain. OTOH#2, Long March looks to be shaping up to being one of the more useful launchers, possibly trailing only Vostok and Proton. -- Andy Breen ~ Interplanetary Scintillation Research Group http://users.aber.ac.uk/azb/ "Who dies with the most toys wins" (Gary Barnes) |
#28
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In article ,
ANDREW ROBERT BREEN wrote: OTOH#2, Long March looks to be shaping up to being one of the more useful launchers, possibly trailing only Vostok and Proton. oops. s/Soyuz/Vostok. -- Andy Breen ~ Interplanetary Scintillation Research Group http://users.aber.ac.uk/azb/ "Time has stopped, says the Black Lion clock and eternity has begun" (Dylan Thomas) |
#29
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"Ed Majden" wrote in message news:A%Wjb.114508$9l5.38880@pd7tw2no...
"Kevin Brooks" I am much more impressed by the Chinese effort to compete in the commercial launch business than I am in this reminiscent-of-the-early-sixties propoganda ploy.If they were really interested in scientific advances, they would continue with their launch business and join the ISS effort, instead of repeating the feats of others forty years after the fact. I somehow doubt that they were asked or invited to join the ISS effort. I imagine that had they wanted in, it would have been acceptable--Russia is part of it, so why would the PRC have been excluded? As for progress, you must learn to crawl before you can walk. By that reasoning, every nation wishing to enter into the commercial aviation field has to first experament with gliders, etc.? I disagree--there was never any need for them to follow the same path as what the rest of us did forty years ago. What would have been more noteworthy was had they skipped this stage entirely, based upon the vast pool of knowledge already available from previous space operations. Just what exactly did this flight *really* accomplish? They launched some four or five unmanned capsules before this manned flight--add up the cost incurred in all of that and determine if the net value of being able to say "we sent a guy around the earth, just like the US and Russia did forty years ago!" was worth it. ESA in Europe did this with their launch facilities. Indeed, they have not put a man in space but they don't have the deep pockets that the USA has. Excuse me, but China is not exactly known as having unlimited resources, either. Look at their average standard of living, and then tell me this was really a great idea. If news stories are correct China plans on building their own space station and perhaps sending a man to the Moon. The USA program to do this was a propaganda stunt at the time. Beat the Soviets at all costs. There were of course scientific spin-offs but if science was the primary goal, why did they only send one planetary geologist to the Moon? Because the geology could better be done here on earth? Hard to do the old "taste test" (trust me, such a critter does exist in the field of "seat of the pants" geotech engineering) in the vacuum of space . I note that the PRC is not really being very forthcoming with their future plans (if any), unlike the US was (which makes it much easier for them to deny failure, since they don't commit to anything in the first place). And based on what we have seen this week, if it does develop the way you see it, we'll see maybe a Salyut/Skylab class PLA space station in place around 2020 (again maintaining that all important 40-year lag in their "scientific progress"). Brooks |
#30
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