Chinese manned space flight set for Oct 15

[Emperor_Norton_II]

While we're wailing and gnashing our teeth over Arnie, the rest of the planet is moving along...

http://www.spacedaily.com/2003/031008055847.1r4od5qj.html


China's first manned space mission will make a single orbit of the earth in a flight that lasts just 90 minutes on October 15, reports said Wednesday.

Xie Guangxuan, an engineer who headed the unmanned Shenzhou III mission, said that the Chinese would follow the example of the former Soviet Union and the United States when they made their maiden manned flights in the 1960s, the Oriental Morning News reported.

When Russian Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space in 1961, his flight lasted 108 minutes aboard Vostok 1. Days later American Alan Shepard spent just 15 minutes on a suborbital flight.

(more, as always, in the link)

[Ediacara]

1. Congratulations to the Chinese Space Program!

I hope all goes well.

[DannyRed]

10. DinoBoy

Are you a mineralogist or petrologist?

Why do you have petrographic microscope shots of plagioclase as part of your tagline???

Good stuff, by the way -- I love the strain-induced twinning in the center photo...

[Ediacara]

18. I'm a student in paleontology

But I really enjoy igneous rocks under the microscope.

10 points to you for identifying them as rocks under the microscope :-)

Most people think they're kind of strange abstract art.

[The Zanti Regent]

2. I told you so

WHen China builds a moonbase and heads to Mars, while Tom De Lay and his Lysenkoites have out school students doing Bible Studies, remember I told you so.

America is well on its way to becoming a fourth-rate country

[Ediacara]

3. perhaps this will serve as another Sputnik scare

On can only hope...

[tom_paine]

4. Ha ha --dem Busheviks don't scare easy

:puke: :puke: :puke:

In other words, they are too busy stealing the Public Treasury to spare one thin fucking dime for a forward-looking Manned Space Program.

Period.

100% certain. Imperial Amerika will have no Space Program other than military Earth Orbit shit.

100%. You heard it here first.

That's if the Busheviks remain in power and the Old Republic never restored.

[Emperor_Norton_II]

5. Oh, Thomas, what are we going to do with you?

Personally, I suggest you borrow a pistol from an NRA buddy and put yourself out of your misery. Seriously man, this permanent despair trip is really starting to grate. If the situation's that permanently fucked, you might as well kill yourself and save yourself the heartache and the rest of us from your constant whinging.

I will also state, for the record, that you do the original Tom Paine, the author of Common Sense and great beliver in Liberty, Justice, and making a better world, a great disservice by using his name to promote nothing but pessimism and doubt. One line with the word "if" doesn't excuse paragraph after paragraph of how totally screwed and oblivious we all are.

To wit, Thomas: Take your doom and shove it.

[DeaconBlues]

7. I'm not so pessimistic

but it is telling that China is sending a man or woman into orbit while we have to hitchhike on Russian rockets to supply the space station.

But is it just Bush's fault that the space program is in such sad shape? The program has limped along from lack of funding and NASA incompetence for decades (every president since Johnson has been guilty). Hopefully a little healthy competition from China will make the American people a little more foward-looking.

[Maple]

6. By the time you guys get to Mars

the Martians will be speaking Chinese.

[7th_Sephiroth]

8. space race

i would love to see that, but, it'll prolly end up being china Vs. India or something just to accomplish what has allready been done by the U.S.

[truthisfreedom]

9. good luck china. i hope you didn't copy those chips we let you have durin

g the clinton era... they were programmed to be controlled by us using satellites. although i'm not too pleased with your human rights record and your approach to controlling people using disinformation disgusts me, i hope for the best for your hardworking people.

[Bandit]

16. I suppose you are refering to the waiver Clinton "re-authorized"

to the Larell Group for Rocket technology transfer. It was issued by Reagan in the first place and Clinton just re-newed the waiver. He was roasted for that but he didn't initiate it.

[el_gato]

11. china is concerned with

the militarization of space
it's in the plans of the corporate elite to militarize space
and i think china doesn't want to be subject to this

[Emperor_Norton_II]

12. Huh?

Where did you get that little nugget of information from?

FWIW, if it comes down to the dreaded Militarization of Space, I'm sure China would much rather be the subjector than the subjectee. Ta.

[Exultant Democracy]

13. Their Army is pretty scary, they make a lot of policy

and the Chine governmentduck walks around pretending that they are in charge of their military.

[realFedUp]

14. Any used EP-3 parts on that?

and I think we can wail and gnash as long as we want...

[underpants]

15. Wow this is a defintiely blow to the Malawi space program

in their "Space race" with the Chinese. Time to upgrade the bucket I guess.

[Zolok]

17. Congrats to the P.R.C.

Health to their cosmonauts yadda yadda yadda...<I still don't trust Peking!>
Last time I checked, the PRC was pushing this Soyuz knock-off cause' they wanted an all-Chinese ride to the ISS.
Well why not?
Hell I'm still waiting for an all American ride to the ISS!
:)
You are right though, our space program is in a devil of a state...I say we proclaim a "man on Mars by 2025" program....spread the costs out over time and hopefully get some cost effective propulsion technology in place.
www.chimesatmidnight.blogspot.com