CNN: China's Space Station

[Chip]

Gung Ho!

http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/space/0...ace/index.html

[Jigsaw]

Golly. Well, they're nothing if not ambitious. I mean, three whole unmanned missions, and they're ready to build a space station?

Okaayyyyy... [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

Still, I guess if they're not having to do their own R & D, if they're just basically "copying off of" the U.S. and Russian space programs, it's possible. I suppose practically any country in the world could have a space program just by downloading the specs from nasa.gov or something.

Wishing them all the best.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Jigsaw on 2002-04-03 20:00 ]</font>

[GrapesOfWrath]

On 2002-04-03 19:59, Jigsaw wrote:
Wishing them all the best.

For sure. Remember, we stopped running the space race when everybody else dropped out.

[Firefox]

Any possibility Bush may decide to label China as part of the axis of evil should it keep this up?

[David Hall]

On 2002-04-04 05:40, GrapesOfWrath wrote:

For sure. Remember, we stopped running the space race when everybody else dropped out.

That's what I'm hoping. I think that once the Chinese get a man into orbit, it will jumpstart a lot of people into thinking we need to do more in space. I don't think it'll start a new space race exactly, but at least it'll give the space program a little more positive emphasis and backing.

[Launch window]

Project 921-3.

http://www.astronautix.com/craft/chiatory.htm

At the Zhuhai Air Show in November 2006, a new model of the station was displayed, docked to a Shenzhou spacecraft, which allowed it to be scaled. It now appeared very similar to the early Salyut space stations orbited by the Soviet Union in the 1970's. Continued delays in the New Generation launch vehicle series pushed first flight well past 2010.

[01101001]

AP: China Eyes Joining Space Station Project

China hopes to join an international space station project that already counts leading space powers like the United States and Russia as its members, a government official said Tuesday.
[...]
"We hope to take part in activities related to the international space station," Li Xueyong, a vice minister of science and technology. "If I am not mistaken, this program has 16 countries currently involved and we hope to be the 17th partner."

A reporter had asked whether China in the future would be more likely to compete or cooperate with America in space. Li said China wanted to cooperate with the United States, but gave no specifics.

[publiusr]

I think Bigelow might make a sale to China if he plays his cards right. He has been forced to ride atop rockets that carry 5 tons or less to LEO. The big LM should carry 20 tons or more.

[Drbuzz0]

Yeah and they're planning a dedicated branch of the communist party to operate in space. I'm kinda surprised. I figured they had given up on pretending to be communist. I mean, granted most communist governments looked nothing like the Marxist ideal, but at least the Soviets weren't so blatantly pro-capital.




But then again, four or five people on a space station might be able to actually have a working communist society going on.

[01101001]

Reuters: China plans space station as probe reaches moon

China, only the third country to put a man in space aboard its own rocket, expects to launch a space station by 2020, state media said on Wednesday, the day its first lunar probe reached the moon.

The space station, the world's second, would be a "small-scale 20-tonne space workshop," the China Daily quoted Long Lehao, leading designer of Long March 3A, the launch vehicle for the lunar probe, as saying.

[Van Rijn]

I was taken aback by, "The space station, the world's second" since it certainly wouldn't be the world's second space station. Later in the article they do note that ISS is currently the only operational space station, implying there were others. But who knows by 2020? There might well be one or more private space stations in operation as well as government stations.

[Doodler]

Good grief, Mir was NOT the first space station... There were what, three Salyuts launched, Skylab, then Mir, then the ISS?

[Launch window]

A space station is exactly what they need if they want to understand the science behind long duration flight, the science of human endurance such as simulating sending astronauts on that long journey to Mars and back. If the Chinese do put effort into building a station my guess is that they do it a lot cheaper than our badly managed international effort and they built it a lot quicker as well.

[novaderrik]

A space station is exactly what they need if they want to understand the science behind long duration flight, the science of human endurance such as simulating sending astronauts on that long journey to Mars and back. If the Chinese do put effort into building a station my guess is that they do it a lot cheaper than our badly managed international effort and they built it a lot quicker as well.

see post #2..
i wonder how much lead paint they will use in it?

[Nicolas]

If they can comply with the "solder without lead" regulations (no rant on the results of using solder without lead, I know, I know...), "paint without lead" shouldn't be that hard...

But that's a bit off topic

[Doodler]

A space station is exactly what they need if they want to understand the science behind long duration flight, the science of human endurance such as simulating sending astronauts on that long journey to Mars and back. If the Chinese do put effort into building a station my guess is that they do it a lot cheaper than our badly managed international effort and they built it a lot quicker as well.

Caveat emptor.