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Chinese Astronaut Makes It Back Safely
brindafella writes "SpaceDaily is reporting that China's historic first manned space mission has ended with the safe return of its first astronaut Lieutenant Colonel Yang Liwei, 38, who landed just before 6.30am Beijing time (2230 UTC 15/10) at the designated recovery zone north east of Beijing. The capsule has been recovered and opened and the pilot is very much alive, 'and doing autographs.' Furthermore, 'Premier Wen Jiabao was seen on television talking to Yang on the phone and smiling widely and clapping after he hung up.'"
Thats the problem with Chinese space missions, as soon as one has landed, you want another.
Quidquid Latine dictum sit, altum videtur (anything said in Latin sounds important)
Now, congratulations to the Chinese to jumping over this first hurdle of space exploration, but as the article also points out, their designs are based on 36 year old designs (with some upgrades). Now that this is done, how fast will they advance? Can they move full steam ahead, go to the Moon, to Mars, etc? Or will it take them another 15 years to do the next step?
Congrats, China! You managed to put a man into orbit (and return safely to the Earth) without the benfit of stolen German technology! Space exploration is no longer limited to Russia and the U.S. - show them what you're made of!
:D
Go Forth And Conquer!
why am i so excited?
A blog like any other.
Is there anyone else that thinks this is China saying, "Screw you America, we don't need you and your restrictive anti-trust business practices?" I mean, all the recent events:
China Open-Sources
The Great Firewall of China
China's Moon Launch
Is it just me or is this China trying to assert its technological domninance, so to speak?
I for one would rather have china than Bill. The former's food is better, for starters.
We're spending all out money destroying Iraq and then rebuilding it.
Not meaning to sound bitter, and I think its fantastic that the Chinese did this. I hope China goes to the moon or beyond.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
According to the article on space.com, the mission cost 1 billion. To quote, "Yang hurtled around the planet for the rest of Wednesday, making a planned orbit shift in midafternoon and stopping work only to rest and eat Chinese food designed especially for space travel." I for one think 1 billion dollars is well worth it for space chinese food. Along with space icecream, we can now have a complete and balanced space diet. I look forward to the day when the guy on the phone of the local chinese restraunt asks if i want my dumplings to be steamed, panfried, or 'space'.
Just to be a technical terry here but the creation of the warp drive was achieved AFTER the US and nearly every major nation on earth had been ripped apart by the third world war. As such the US no longer existed.
Did we get to see this guy before the launch? I am not advocating a conspiracy or anything, but I would bet that China had a backup prepared to make the media appearances if anything had gone wrong. They were certainly quite worried about having the launch televised.
To those not in the know, Firefly's set in a future where China became one of the dominant superpowers, influential enough that all the English-speaking characters can easily communicate... well, curse anyway... in Chinese (and Serenity's system alarms are bilingual, English and Cantonese). Could be that Joss Whedon's idea for a background might not be so farfetched!
While it will take time for places like China to really catch up with us, it's not as long as some might think.
The US space program is a MESS. Shuttle launches aren't even news worthy anymore unless they blow up. (no offense intended, those who died are still heroes in my mind). But without a challenge, our space program will continue to lag.
We need more countries like China to catch up. We need someone to out pace us and kick start the US interest in space.
Hopefull this will be the first step.
Wow, these racist posts are getting pretty full on - racial slurs about black americans get modded down into oblivion and racial slurs about anyone else get modded to the stars.
It seems like the time is right to split slashdot into us.slashdot.org and wholeworld.slashdot.org.
Or maybe under14s.slashdot.org and over14s.slashdot.org
I wonder if any amateur astronomers have verified the launch? The media on this is so controlled by the Chinese gov't, skepticism is definitely in order (really for any story coming out of the Chinese media). It's all about independent sources. Unfortunately, NASA would never say, "We checked it out; they weren't lying!" Not a great thing for international relations.
What I love is the report that the taikonaut was reading a flight manual during flight... "Now was I supposed to push the green button or the red button?"
That courage and the American spirit of adventure is alive and well... albeit in China. In the US, we're still wringing our hands and calling for an end to manned space flight, because we lost a shuttle and seven fine astronauts - along with our backbone as a people.
Kudos to the Chinese. It's about time we had some healthy competition in space. Let's get another Space Race started. Maybe that will get the US Congress and NASA off their collective asses and back into the game (and we might see a human on Mars inside of 10 years). Maybe we can drive a little rivalry to foster some nationalistic pride in the US again (but I doubt it).
I know this: if the Chinese lost a capsule, they'd bow their heads in homage for a moment of silence, then get to launching another one, two weeks later. That's the kind of resolve that allows a nation to succeed. The rest of the world should take note, unless they want to be following in the footsteps of the Chinese for the remainder of the 21st century, instead of leading the way.
While I normally don't support ancient Egytians in just about any way (due to their human rights stances),congrats on the pyrmids!
sheesh.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
"Welcome to the 60's", etc. comments are simply pointless. First, I hate to break this to some of you, but our rockets haven't advanced all that much since Saturn V. The shuttle is still decades old and we have yet to start on a replacement. China doesn't have to catch up to the 21st century to level with us, all they have to do is get up to the 80's technology, which with their immense pool of college graduates, this won't actually take 20 years.
Next, keep making those comments if it makes you feel better, but what are other nations supposed to do? Throw their hands up into the air and just simply accept the American lead and say "The Americans and Russians already beat us to it, what's the point of even trying?" God forbid the underdog from daring to dream big... How about doing something more useful like trying to advance our own technology? Maybe it's time to replace the shuttle with some 21st century technology and puts some gap between us and the Chinese?
Lastly, who really cares where the technology and the help came from? Does China care now that they know how to do it? Let's face it, technology has always been built on top of the works of others. Let's not forget who were the first people to use gun powder and create rockets. China is going to built on top of the new knowledge and keep advancing.
EvilCON - Made Famous by
so who do you think is going to be the first to jump at declaring it a hoax?
I vote for the Iraqi Information Minister...
I hope this starts the begginings of another space race. With our (America's) woefully old technology, hopefully the Chinese will catch up soon and force us to start really innovating again.
Yes, there are valid reasons why America has been so lax in the development of space travel. Mostly the fact that we can't seem to justify the expense in light of the profound economic problems in our country.
Of course, there is the opinion...my opinion...that in the long run, mankind's advancement in space is far more important then short term economic woes. And if it takes one of our (America's) uneasy neighbors to start making us nervous for us to get back on the ball in full ernest, then it's a good thing.
The Internet is generally stupid
I'm sure that EVERY country that has the resources is going to closely watch what China does in space.
That's putting it mildly. Our "captains of industry" don't think any farther ahead than four or five months. Our politicians don't think any farther ahead than the next election.
(Some of the other posts remind me of the Onion's sideline caption: 6,000-Year-Old Culture Now Considered a "Developing Nation".)
All the researched, published, well-documented reports about modern China -- i.e., ones in bookstores, not slashdot; actual books, not single web pages and sound bites -- point to plans stretching over the next ten to fifty years, not just for space, but for China in general. They realize that almost none of the plans will come to fruition in their lifetimes, but that's okay, their descendants will put the finishing touches on and see it happen. We in the U.S. wouldn't dream of investing in something that won't benefit the same people investing in it.
Analogy: In the minutes that China's rockets take to slowly lift off the ground, America is racing the quarter-mile in top-fuel hotrods and claiming they rule the world... while China's rocket gains momentum... and keeps gaining momemtum... and eventually covers distances the little modded hotrod can't even dream of. Yes, they're in for the very long haul.
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
China has always been crowded, and always been centrally administered/socialist, since 1500BCE and earlier.
It's the only way they have managed to survive. Eventually as they continue industrializing (and reduce the population vs. land area, esp. in rural zones) conditions will improve.
We want China to keep striving at "pointless" pursuits. It's a good sign, overall; regardless of the unpalatable practices (and that's your opinion) that many suffer under.
Fuck Beta. Fuck Dice
You can bet that any time anyone launches something orbital (or more importantly, suborbital) that NORAD (an thier Russian etc counterparts) will be looking long and hard at it.
I'd be guessing that somewhere in their three ring binder for space launches there's a little note that says "ring this number and inform NORAD et al of time of launch". It'd be the polite thing to do, anyway.
You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
There is a lot of hype here.
Life imitates art...
In Stephen Baxter's Titan, the Chinese launch their first manned ship around the same time as Columbia is destroyed upon re-entry!
The only reason we have the rights we have is that people just like us died to gain those rights. -- Cheerio Boy
On the other hand, the US is not even 250 years old, whereas England has called itself that since I think no later than the 11th century, France the 1200s IIRC, and I'm not sure about Spain or Portugal or the other big exploration countries.
"And let's face it: Russia was only steps behind America for much of that race."
Russia was ahead for the first half or so; they were first to launch a satellite, the first to launch a man*, the first to orbit a person (which was for them wrapped up in the first manned flight, while for us it took until our third launch), and the first to perform an EVA. The first thing we were first at so to speak was inflight rendezvous, and that wasn't until Gemini 12. The first time we put ourselves clearly in the lead was Christmas 1968 with the flight of Apollo 8.
*They were also the first to orbit a woman (maybe 1967? The late 60s come to mind), however as this is not a technological achievement I left it out.
Don't forget that China has 5 times the USA's population, 10 times Japan's and 16 times that of Germany. It's not at all surprising or threatening that their GDP would be bigger. However, that huge population won't be content with the lack of democratic controls or labour protection laws forever...
The illegal we do immediately. The unconstitutional takes a little longer.
--Henry Kissinger
In France it happens that French cosmonauts (when taking part to a Russian mission) or astronauts (with NASA) are simply called "spationauts".
(I think the word is for all Europeans, but I only know its use in French).
McCartney fans pay bus tickets. [...] Lennon fans too, with discretion.
Gagarin flew 1 orbit. I think Leonov flew 17 on the second.
The Chinese did have 4 unmanned test flights.
The Chinese, as always, have a plan for future exploration. What plan does NASA have?
The Chinese plan (rhetoric) sounds a lot like NASA's plans after Apollo. I don't doubt that there will be 2 lonely Chinese camped out in a minimal space station, no doubt of Russian design, within 10 years. To what end, besides flag waiving?
And let's hope the Chinese do better than NASA, the latter having killed their astronauts with stupid bureaucratic decisions.
Fly any test vehicle as many times as the shuttle has and you will have problems. The failure of the shuttle is not the bureaucracy so much as the lack of builtin robust crew escape and abort capability. Do you think there are no bureaucrats in China?
an ill wind that blows no good
It is great news, and quite refreshing, to see someone actually moving *ahead* in aerospace.
The entire aerospace field has been a complete disappointment since the 1970's.
- the biggest, baddest civilian jetliner that still "rules the skies" is the Boeing 747 - from the late 60's
- the giant B52s carpet-bombing the Taliban last year were from the 60's
- We are witnessing the last flights of the Concorde - a monumental aerospace achievement - from the late 60's
- the world's fastest air-breathing jet, the SR71 Blackbird - also from the late 60's - is now completely retired.
- the fastest rocket plane - the X-15 - was retired in the 60's.
- the aging Space Shuttle (NASA's pride and joy) is 1970s technology that didn't fly until the 80's
America in general, and NASA in particular, have done nothing, and gone nowhere in aerospace in the last quarter century. Compare the 747/Concorde/Blackbird/SaturnV of 1969 with the Spitfire and V2 of 1944. Now that was progress!
It's about time someone else has stood up with even the beginnings of a challenge to American dominance and arrogance in space. America deserves it - they've squandered a 25 year lead. I hope China makes it far. I hope they get to the moon. I hope they build New Beijing on the Lunar South Pole Basin. I am sick and tired of listening to the tired old American "who cares? we were there first" line. So what? What did you manage to do there? Run around, pick up stones, and leave? Good job! You couldn't even get back there now if you wanted to! How many of the engineers and scientists that put Armstrong on the moon are retired? How many of them are even still alive?
America's best achievement right now is the International Space Station. Really, it's just another Mir. Nothing new. Barely outside our atmosphere. I mean come on! Maybe this new development will inspire some new ideas and dreams. Maybe it will propel us at least to the moon again. We need a kick in our proverbial backside.
History will look back on the Kennedy-inspired moon shots as a false start. A sputter of something that failed even as it got going. Ok, but now it's time to let the adventure really begin! Let's get out there and DO something!