Slashdot Mirror
China Outlines Moon Project Goals
Kulic writes "SpaceDaily.com is reporting that China has announced 4 scientific goals for their Moon project. There are three general goals - orbiting the Moon, docking spacecraft with one another in lunar orbit, and returning moon rock samples to Earth. Each step is outlined, with a detailed description of what they hope to accomplish during the orbiting stage. It looks like China is serious about their space program, and is taking an incremental approach."
Actually, it seems like the money would be better spent in China, improving the humanitarian and social situation.
I'm all for space programs, but a country like China should reconsider its priorities.
As far as I'm concerned the Chinese are at the same level now. Everyone's whining about how we've already been to the moon, but blame NASA for not going anywhere beyond that. It's their damn fault.
As long as it is reported as a copy of something already done, no problem!
/. story that mentions this, can you point it out?
It is not the fact that the Chinese are using a tested method, it is the fact that the reporters are acting as if this is the first time anybody did it this way. I missed the portion of the
Eve Fairbanks says I drive a hybrid!LOL
No one is doubting the phenomonal rate of progress made during the sixties and early seventies by the US and USSR. Like Newton, the Chinese seem to have their sights set further than their predecessors and intend on exploiting space more directly than using it as a research platform.
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
Instead of denigrating a fantastic acheivement, why not congratulate them ?
Going to Mars is a fine scientific aim, but if you read between the lines, their aims are also commercial - the moon is a definite target then...
Simon
Physicists get Hadrons!
Cept the government of China doesn't believe it has a humanitarian or social situation. Everything is fine, in their eyes, so a space program seems a reasonalbe expendature of funds.
How about getting the hell out of Tibet before invading the moon.
What, like the US is any better? You guys still have unemployment and hunger, right?
Now we know where those 500 billion dollars in foreing investment in china have gone.
There's a growing sense that even if The Future comes,
most of us won't be able to afford it.
-- Lemmy
when a new Chinese Space Mission update is posted on slashdot some people start to complain:
- China has other problems and moon is not a priority
- Been there done that they are 30 years late
You have to know that China is not spending ALL the money on space travel. It's working on its own problems right now. It's a developping country but the thing is it's a hell of a developping country with almost a billion workers that are about to create the biggest market in the world.
You did that 30 years ago... ok. And what ?
What about doing REAL space and moon exploration instead of a big show off like the Appolo program was ?
China is planning actual exploitation of moon ressources within the next 50 years. They could really become prevalent in the future just because of the bargain they are doing today. Imagine if they manage to set up a full moon base.
They would become prevalent in energy, astronomy, vacuum manufacturing and space exploration. You should think about it and maybe the US government should try to spend less money on war and maybe a little more on space exploration...
Iraq: war to save the U
Every time we return to Mars (successfully) we learn more because the instruments are modern. The 2001 photo orbiter has 20 times the resolution of the 1976 orbiter. This permitted seeing layering in valleys, indicative of water action. The 2008 orbiter will has five times better resolution for learning more geology.
The Moon has only been revisited twice since the 1960s, so there is much to learn with improved instruments. Especially since only eight locations have been sampled by US and Soviet expeditions. I dont care whether NASA, the ESA or China does this, as long as somebody does.
I'm sure Japan is pleased to know where their 2.26 trillion yen in foreign aid to China went over the past 25 years.
Everyone receives "international aid". Britain receives tons of cash from the EU to aid run-down industrial areas, to say nothing of the farm subsidies. The reason there's so much China hating going on at the moment is that they're running a positive balance of trade with the US; ie the US is gradually owing more and more money to China through normal trade relations. China is running its economy the model WTO way and is getting the rewards that an industrialized country gets for doing that. The US doesn't like it because it's being outcompeted.
I agree, but I think we have more problems than just being lazy. We have a big problem with our culture. We seem to care more about money than eachother, which is why we let those astronauts die.
This is a big problem, far worse than laziness. And it must be addressed. It cannot be ignored. Yet we're still in denial.
Just look at how congress reacted to the report given to NASA. Look at the rhetoric we use when discussing these problems. We understand this, but have a hard time admitting it to ourselves. We have a hard time being honest and caring about eachother.
We still think we're better than everyone else. Which is why we have a problem with China going out into space and doing things we thought was impossible for them to do. We're not always right and we're not perfect, no matter how big our ego gets.
Besides, we're too busy with Iraq to worry about space.
Close, but not quite. This is what the world needs right now. NASA, USA, they're has-beens. Americans have all but stuck their collective heads in the sand, thinking they're the only superpower left, calling other countries "second world" etc.
Hopefully this'll spark more action in other parts of the world, like the European Community, India, Brasil. You laugh at India and Brasil? Look at it this way... the more these countries start getting into complex hi-tech projects on their own, the more they will mature as an economic force and the faster they will become superpowers.
I find it strange that a country that requires so much foreign aid ($1.8 Billion according to the Economist) can afford to have a space program. Perhaps it's time to cut them off...
This is not the sig line you're looking for... move along.
There's only one channel in English, and it's a government channel telling how wonderful China is.
We have one of those as well. It is called Fox News.
The Chinese government blocks CNN, MSNBC, and most all western media. All news comes through the government sponsered tv channels, or through the "rumor train". We often know about things going on over there before they do.
Based on what I have seen (or more acuratly, not seen) in the news, I would say that we also have the same problems. These days, CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC just do news that is approved by their corporate owners (buddies with W.). I found it interesting that during Desert Storm II, that none of the news were showing protests (several radio broadcasters in colorad stated that they were under orders from ClearChannel to not broadcast anything about that).
China is building the worlds largest ferris wheel and going to the moon purely to make themselves look good. If they can set up a moon base it won't be primarily to make money, though I'm sure they wouldn't mind that. It would be much like our space race, to prove that we're better then them.
No doubt much of what you said including the above is true. But then again we are the same way in the USA, but with a western influence.
Do not get me wrong. I have no desire to live in China, but we are not all that great either.
Your world view is pretty fucked up. On our TV we had joyous orchestral, almost movie like soundtracks, with fancy computer graphics overlaid over a sanitized view of the war.
And you slate their "propaganda"?
Throughout school they have a class they call Propaganda(well, not really, but an equivelant word in Chinese) that is just that, all about how bad the west is and how wonderful China is.
And you were oblivious of the "God Bless the USA" teachings you learned in school? All the sanitized history, focusing only on the good things?
The scientists propigating the advances, the medical students that become practitioners that treat world leaders, and the univerities that attract foreign students are all privately funded. They have no bearing on our nation's school system. The public school system itself is quite the mess.
I don't agree with everything else you said, but I feel that you do have some valid points.
The environment that allows, even encourages, the private funding of world leading medicine, scientific advances et. all, is something to be proud of, but does not indicate a well run public school system.
And how is that so very different from the West where millions pray to god, jesus, allah etc. to cure or prevent disease or illness? With a straight face many supposedly inteliigent and educated people advocate this behaviour.
Stick Men
What the Economist doesn't say is that nearly all of that $1.8 billion in aid that China receives is in the form of interest bearing loans with conditions attached. E.g. the EU/US/Japan gives China a $300 million loan at 5% interest with the condition that China makes a $1.5 billion order of Airbus/Boeing/Mitsubishi products. Most governments in the industrialized world categorizes such loans as aid to make themselves look altruistic and divert popular attention from the fact that these aid are really nothing more than government subsidies for the big and powerful corporations.
Also, not the other posters comments on how the "aid" money ends up in the pockets of big business interests ( same with Israels billions ).
Kind Regards
"A few great minds are enough to endow humanity with monstrous power, but a few great hearts are not enough to make us w
Tell that to the French and the rest of the Europe. Let me cite some examples off the top of my head.
You were saying something about hypocrisy?
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Yes, that is a problem. Are you saying that corruption is unique to the United States? How do you respond to the French doing business with him in the first place?
hat $5 billion is Iraq money, it comes from the procedes of Iraqi oil sales
Actually, no, to date, there has been very little income realized from sale of Iraqi oil. We are too busy trying to stop them from sabotaging the oil infrastructure to focus on selling any of it. We just passed an $87 billion dollar spending bill, of which, about $20.3 billion goes into the reconstruction of Iraq. There was an attempt in our Congress to make (at least some of) this money a loan. That attempt was defeated. We are, for all intents and purposes, giving them that money to rebuild the country with. So what if some of it goes to American contractors? If you were living in Baghdad right now, and didn't have reliable electric power, would you complain if an American company (instead of, say a French one) fixed the problem? If an Iraqi doctor saves your life after a serious accident using American medical supplies are you going to be upset about it?
Oh, and it's funny how you fail to mention that in the past, even when he was waging war with Iran and gassing Kurds (all with the backing of the CIA), the US was happy to do business with Saddam Hussein, just as they are happy to do business with countless oppresive regimes around the world.
Yes, and the French were only too happy to do business with him as well. And business with the South Africans during apartheid. I fail to see your point, other then perhaps, "World politics suck", but it's hardly a uniquely American problem now is it?
Yeah, I find it laughable that you say the French didn't want to go to war and proscribe it down to money
We didn't ask them to go to war. We asked them to support us in doing so. Right, wrong or indifferent, they could have gone about opposing us with a little bit more tact. For a country that we have twice saved from the Germans (whom I'll point out were no threat to us in the First World War), this shows a lack of graditutde. It kind of reminds me of the French refusing to allow us to use their airspace when we went after Quddafi. Sure hope they don't expect us to use their airspace the next time they lose a war to one of their neighbors :) Sure would hate to offend them.
I'll also say that, regardless of what your opinion was on the Iraq war, you have damn good reasons for wanting to support us now (and for hoping that we succeed) -- not the least of which is the plight of the Iraqi people. Can you honestly say that they would be better off if the insurgents drive us out of the country and declare an Islamic State? Perhaps you should get off your soapbox and help out. If you aren't part of the solution, then you are part of the problem.
Lastly, I would also point out that I was initially opposed to the war as well. Once it started however I saw no choice but to root for it's quick end and for our success in rebuilding the country. Pulling out now would be a disaster for us and the rest of the region.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.