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China Plans Manned Space Launch By 2005
cosyne writes: "CNN.COM has this article on China's space program planning to send a man to the moon. 'The mission is part of Beijing's plans to create a space industry and earn the prestige of joining the United States and Russia as the only nations to have sent humans into space.' I wonder if they'll make it before the recently mentioned amateurs."
It seems to me that China really has no other reason to do this other than to say that they have done it, and they are spending giant amounts of money in the process. Think of what else that could be used for! Even if they succeed, that does not take care of their other problems such as hunger, poverty, etc. This whole plan is reminiscent of Orwell's 1984; It's all just to boost military morale.
I wonder if this will embarass the US government into mounting another of its great space adventures... Wishful thinking i suppose, but my grandparents got to watch a moon landing with their kids and i want to watch a mars landing with mine. (when i find a geek-friendly woman that is)
Chinese Manned Space Program: Behind Closed Doors is a very interesting read. It details not only a large chunk of the history of the Chinese space research, but also describes the secrecy that has shrouded most of it.
How well does this translate into Mandarin?:
"We choose to go to the moon, and to do these other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."
Cynical old bastard that I am, those words actually choke me up every time I hear them. Space exploration (not arsing about in low earth orbit) exemplifies everything that is great about the human spirit. Our reach should exceed our grasp.
We in the west have forgotten that, and now it's all about the bottom line. Sounds like China still gets it. Good luck to them, I reckon.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
Yeah, kinda like the US. Literacy rate below any other supposedly civilized country. Social security almost non existent. Good education reserved for those who can afford it. More people in jail than anywhere else. Makes you wonder how reasonable it really is to burn $400M on every shuttle launch, for example...