Slashdot Mirror
Chinese Moon Base by 2012 - or 2006?
apsmith writes "Former congressman and House Science chairman Robert S. Walker has written some rather striking conclusions about Chinese intentions in space over the next few years, based on information received for the recent Commisison on the Future of Aerospace. Walker is convinced the Chinese are going all-out for a permanent settlement on the Moon within 10 years; apparently some closer to the situation in Japan think the first landing will be in only 3-4 years. Meanwhile the Economist says IT people are starting to focus on space as the next high-tech venue. Fortunately, despite NASA's neglect, we do have a few private missions to the Moon in the works."
2001 has come and gone. Still , watch out for large black rectangular prisms once you start building.
You obviously missed the press release. The Moon now belongs completely to the US. Any enemy spacecraft approaching it will be shot down with missles launched from a secret base on the moons surface.
a good Chinese restaurant on the moon will fix that little no-food or water problem and make NASA's job so much easier....
You will have to pry my proprietary software $$$ from my cold dead hands!
I could order food from their moonbase and it will still get to my house on earth faster than from the restaurant down the street.
Trolling is a art,
I think china needs the moon to some of their billions of people!
The reds are going for a permanent settlement on the moon? No problem. Reagan had it all worked out years ago. ;^)
If life is like civilization, as soon as the Chinese make it, our entire society will crumble!
Since we have about 4 Future Technologies already, I beileve we should launch a full scale attack on China, take our scientific research down to 0% to collect as much gold as possible, and start building our own.
While we are at it, we probably shouldn't ask for a UN vote, we will surely fail, and lose there too.
What would be America's best way to win? We've already secured some oil resources, we need to build a harbor!
http://use.perl.org
"I can't see a financial justification to use it as a start point for Mars missions"
Maybe a mars mission would be done for ideological reasons.
Maybe they want to make the red planet the, er, red planet.
Bob.
Doesn't this whole conversation presuppose that someone has actually been to the moon in the first place? ;)
In all seriousness though, just think about how cheaply they could produce kung fu movies in space w/o having to spend all that extra money on wires and CGI for the Shaolin flying kicks and jumps! Err... that's reason enough to try isn't it?
i just find it funny that you're all going on about how bad china is, can`t feed its own people etc. when america has the highest rate of people below the poverty line in the world, yet spending billions on something as stupid as space is ok? maybe we should all fix up our own planet before trashing things external to it
WTF is a sig?
Wee.... another article about a "evil country" and almost every american /. reader starts pulling threats like "They should abandon all nuclear weapons. They should stop to exist. They should become american." out of his ass.
America, stop being so pathetic!
You mean a giant "laser".
All your base are belong to us.
A-Bomb
1. Build a base on the moon
2. ???
3. ???
4. ???
5. profit!
Seriously, a moonbase is really tough to justify right now. There are all the enlightened arguments about science etc. but wouldn't it be much nicer if we first developed life support and automated mining/manufacturing technologies here on Earth, and then went up once it becomes economical to do so? We would even do more science that way in the long run.
Then leave it for those guys to mass produce it.
All your base are belong to U.S??
Alison
"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." - Albert Einstein
That Chinese will be the official language of the moon? and can you image the extremely slo-mo ping pong games that would be played?
From excellent karma to terible karma with a single +5 funny post...
Will they all soon say "Made on the Moon" ? ;p
or at least, wake them up
You want them to be more woken up? Not me. The USA is acting likes it's on a caffine and sugar high at the moment.
USA Hey, maybe we should bomb Syria? Or Iran? You know, for world peace?
Rest of world Erm. Let's just think about it for a bit, shall we?
USA What?! [Crazy stare] Are you threatening me? Huh, huh? I thought you were my friend? Well you're no friend of mine. You want a fight? Huh? Huh? I can take you all on...
I, for one, would prefer the USA to take a bit of a nap, rather than being woken up!
The United States Government's Department of Homeland Security has announced that Robert Heinlein is now wanted under the U.S. Patriot Act for sponsoring terrorism. His idea of using the moon as a base to attack Americans will not be tolerated.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
I always considered the moon landing an achievement for the entire human race.
That's likely because you're not American.
I'm the big fish in the big pond bitch.
they have strange ideas about how to fix the overpopulation problem..
So, will they also be the first country to violate human rights in space?
Great food, but no atmosphere.
(rimshot)
Thanks, I'll be here all week...
They'd better stay well fucking away from my piece of Lunar real estate! Or they can pay rent...
Yeah, but they have the labor to build so many bad rockets, all they'd have to do is stack them up and climb to the moon. :-)
--- Ban humanity.
"Your kids might not want to live on the moon."
[The Moon] ain't the kind of place to raise your kids. In fact it's cold as hell. And there's no one there to raise them if you did...
+ G to tha Izzo, A to tha Tizee, Talking Giz-oat, Ya'll Bettah Feel Me... +
I thought we already had.
...they'll have a rocket that can send a man to the moon, but not a nuke to NY?
quoth the poster:
You want them to be more woken up? Not me. The USA is acting likes it's on a caffine and sugar high at the moment.
i wouldn't exactly call it a sugar high . . .
Look out honey cause I'm usin' technology
Ain't got time to make no apologies
Law and Order: Loose Cannon in Iraq, starring Bush Jr, featuring other meaningless sides as necessary.
USA: I know that scumbag over there is committing these n+1 crimes, in addition to being a total jerk. [full list of crimes, from pedophilia to narcotic crimes follows]
... police gets to guy's door, kicks it in, breaks furniture, yells at wife to find out where the villain is, scares the kid, etc. etc.
World: Um, ok, yeah he is an asshole... so show us the evidence, and we'll get him convicted. He had done some pretty bad stuff earlier... but due to super powers not caring back then, got away.
USA: Ok, here are the rumours I heard, which pretty much prove he's done it all. Plus I KNOW he's guilty.
World: Uh uh... err, that's not, like, evidence yet. We can't just go in like loose cannons can we?
USA: D'oh! You pussy yellow-livered liberals! I'm going in, getting the villain, then show you the #%*)$^ evidence!
USA: Come on, Tony, let's take care of this scumbag here and now!
USA: Ok, here here! Listen to this; I found out the guy was a bad husband, drinking too much, neglecting kids! Yee-haw! 1 - 0 for law and order!
World: Right, bad bad guy... but where's the evidence of crimes you listed, from making crystal meth to leading a child porn ring?
USA: Um, yeah, those things I said I knew he dun... like, who cares, he was a bad guy wasn't he?
USA: But enough bickering about details... now, see, the house is a mess, door broken, need to be fixed, costs money... errr... guys, let's collect some dough, don't be stingy here, help the poor people out! Seems like I forgot my checkbook, but, hey, that's what friends are for right?
World: Did we ask you to kick door in, slap kids, throw chairs around, piss on the porch? Did we say we'll foot the bill on this stupid cowboy stunt?
World: But ok, guess we have to help to clean up the mess. As usual. But only because the family is ruined, and you are the big bully that will just kick our butt too if we don't.
USA: Oh but hey, here's the solution; the dude had a car that I can sell to my friends over at Deal-a-Car, for low price... that should cover something. Then I can also take these electronics, that could pay something small... and here's something other valuable I can loot I mean use for helping these poor folks here!
I like paying taxes. With them I buy civilization -- Oliver Wendell Holmes
Maybe you missed that little documentary called star wars. Basically what happens is this kids father builds a planet destruction device out in space and the rest is well documented factual history.
..becuase I am the proud owner of 2 whole acres of the moon.
What do you think taxes are going to be like....or am I behind already?
"Wernher Von Braun" by Tom Lehrer (as recorded in 1965):
(spoken introduction)
What is it that put America in the forefront of the nuclear nations? And
what is it that will make it possible to spend $20 billion of your money
to put some clown on the moon? Well, it was good old American know-how
that's what, as provided by good old Americans like Dr. Wernher Von
Braun.
(breaks into song)
Gather round while I sing you of Wernher Von Braun
A man whose allegiance is ruled by expedience.
Call him a Nazi, he won't even frown
"Ha, Nazi schmazi", says Wernher Von Braun.
Don't say that he's hypocritical
Say rather that he's apolitical.
"Once the rockets are up who cares where they come down,
That's not my department" says Wernher Von Braun.
Some have harsh words for this man of renown
But some think our attitude should be one of gratitude.
Like the widows & cripples in old London town
Who owe their large pensions to Wernher Von Braun.
You too may be a big hero
Once you've learnt to count backwards to zero.
"In German or English I know how to count down,
Und I'm learning Chinese" says Wernher Von Braun.
be for here or to go ?
Sig Heil: Scumerica - Land of the Free* (* 18+, valid papers, health insurance, some restrictions apply)
As soon as we have space colonies, there will be space wars. If we can't have peace on Earth where we live together, I don't see much hope for utopias in space.
Space wars!!!??
AWESOME!!
If you don't understand any of my sayings, come to me in private and I shall take you in my German mouth.
Of course it should. Haven't you ever heard of colonisation? Do we want china to own the property on the moon? Of course we don't. The moon is as american as apple pie and by gum, it doesn't belong to no goddamned commies!
It always sounded to me like he said "a". Maybe it's just the radio voice. That's a better thing to make fun of anyway. He's doing his big quote for history and shit, and he says it with the exact same modulation as if he were noting the time they flushed the toilet. "That'sahhhh one small stepforman... onegiantleap... formankind." I mean, sure he's a test pilot, but Shatner could do better than that.
2006? Maybe they're using the chinese calendar or something.
- shazow
They better go for 2006. 2012 might be a bit too late.
I highly encourage China to buy miliatary technology and technical expertise from the French. That should keep the US safe for several decades.
-------- -------- Support Wesley Clark for president!!!