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U.S. Snubs China's Offer for Space Cooperation
Devar writes "According to this space.com article The US has turned down China's offer for cooperation in space because their 'technology was not mature.' "Anticipating future space cooperation with the U.S., China fitted the Shenzhou craft with a docking ring capable of linking up with the International Space Station (ISS) and has at least one launch site, Jiuquan, located at near the same latitude as NASA's Cape Canaveral, which would allow similar launch profiles." This action has prompted China to turn to the ESA."
I'm fairly patriotic, but someone needs to take stock of things and notice our space technology is so mature it's falling apart...
For great justice.
I wish I could grab this idiot or whoever's responsible for this crap and hit them square on the noggin with a 2x4. Did someone mention to the idiot in charge that our equipment currently in use is largely based off 1970's technology? So the Chinese are using similar equipment to what we had in the 60's--that makes them 10 years behind, not 20! They're moving forward too, while we're stationary. Watch for the Chinese to announce in 2020 that they are not interested in working with NASA due to our primitive space technology.
Enraged Chinese Emissary
"Your civilization's greatness is an example for all, but our people grow jealous of your privileged lifestyle. Only the secret of Space Flight will appease them!"
[o] "No. Your people are not ready for such knowledge."
[_] Give secret of Space Flight.
Enraged Chinese Emissary
"We know you have knowledge of Space Flight. Give us the secret at once, or face the consequences!"
[o] "Consequences, schmonsequences!"
[_] Give secret of Space Flight.
When someone who may not necessarily be as (adept,technically cool,well-dressed) as you offers to incorporate your designs on (code,hardware) into their systems you don't dismiss them. You look at the situation as a moment upon which to build standards and some kind of relationship. WTF? Is NASA some kind of High-School cheerleader that's afraid to be seen with the Chinese kid?
If I was running anything at NASA I'd welcome them, offer specs, and request an inspection of any hardware prior to send-off for docking in order to ensure compliance. The only other requirement I'd stipulate would be a technician to assist the Taikonaut's CAPCOM with any issues that may arise during a docking. It would rock to have a Chinese visit to the "INTERNATIONAL" freakin' space station.
They can't believe that NASA would snub them.
Everyone with a brain should be wondering too.
Did someone at NASA blink and have a phantasm about helplessly watching the Chinese storm the ISS? Good Grief!
Where's the change in the "Culutre" of NASA which would allow them to remove their collective heads from their collective arse?
I know "existence preceeds essense", why can't NASA understand?
Because the right heads haven't been lopped off...the NASAhole brigade is still firmly in place, and I imagine Bush Jr. probably laughed when he heard this, hell, he was probably listening on the other line and laughing. Bush Sr. will probably sucker-punch his boy sometime in the near future for this.
Every new form of media has it's own Requirimento
You can probably see where this starts to tie in to NASA now. NASA works a lot with satellites and advanced guidance and propulsion systems for missiles, exactly the technology we don't want China to have. Well, it's a pipe dream to hope they'll never have it, but we need to stay just enough ahead of them for our missile shield to work (at least, work as well as it ever will).
I applaud you (I'm being serious, not sarcastic) for asking, by the way. Far too many Slashdot posters are intellectually lazy and assume the easy answer is the right one: "Bush sucks at foreign relations, so this must be just another screwup." But you never learn anything unless you look deeper!
Besides, this is the point now where we get into the really interesting stuff: whether the position is right, whether it will work the way it's supposed to, whether it's relevant... all that good stuff. It's much more fun than mindless bashing of an unpopular politician.
China already has missle technology capable of launching various payloads* from the mainland to Taiwan: so what missles are you referring to exactly that they are "developing" of which they don't yet have? It says on that page that China can also launch missiles that can hit mainland United States.
Another link that may be of interest to you:
http://www.rense.com/general38/cong.htm
Disclaimer: I work for NASA.
A lot of the comments on this thread are being critical of NASA for not allowing Chinese participation in ISS.
This is not NASA's decision. Hell, many of us would be thrilled to work with the Chinese (despite what you may see on the news, working with the Russians is very fun, challenging, and exciting to us grunt engineers). NASA takes its marching orders directly from the executive branch, and whether or not to include China in NASA's manned program is decided by the White House, and technical merit is at the very bottom of the evaluation criteria on whether to include them or not.
At the top are probably two considerations...
Political - this is a huge carrot to wave in front of the Chinese, and I don't think the White House is ready to cash in on it yet. I can imagine it coming into play if we wanted something from China with respect to either the North Korean or Taiwan issues.
Technology Transfer - like it or not, the same basic technology that is used to put people in space is also used to defend the United States. Any time you work with an international partner who is "behind" you technically, some of the technology bleeds over (no matter how hard you try to stop it) and the technology gap closes. You need to be very careful about that when you are talking about working with a potential adversary. Is the risk worth the benefit? Right now, I think the answer the national leadership has decided is "no".
Worst...sig...ever!
They've got a craft with a docking ring for the ISS.
...
What's really to stop them from launching and just hooking on up with the ISS? Are there anti-spacecraft LASERS on the ISS?
Hell, if I could do it , I would
(Another quiet day on the ISS)
(Suddenly there's a bit of a bump)
radio: "Bing,bong!"
ISS crew: "er, Hello?"
radio : "Ah, g'day. Was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd do the friendly thing and drop in and say hi."
ISS crew: "(Stunned silence)"
radio: "I've got a six pack on ice here.... want one? We could chuck empty beer bottles at passing continents... bet you can't hit the white house from here!"
You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
There is a lot of hype here.