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Chinese Astronauts Complete First Spacewalk
As_I_Please writes "At 8:40AM (GMT) this morning, Chinese astronaut Zhai Zhigang successfully spent 18 minutes in a tethered spacewalk outside the spacecraft Shenzhou 7. This is an important step in China's goal of building an orbiting space station and sending astronauts to the moon."
This announcement brought to you by the freedom-loving Chinese Press at 7:20am.
I wonder if the dialog amongst the spacemen was any different this time?
See, I don't mind being skeptical. What I don't understand is this blind of some countries, and unbridled skepticism of others.
"Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
Congratulation!
I read about this last week on an English language Chinese news website.
This is an important step in China's goal of building an orbiting space station and sending astronauts to the moon
Yeah, right. You've got a couple more steps before you can move into the Moon Base, speedy.
That's probably why they broadcasted it "live" on TV?
I think it's something about announcing launches, with detailed transcripts of conversations, before they happen. Sending underage athletes to international events, swearing they're of age even after evidence is found that they're not. Sadly, the list goes on and on.
At some point, distrust and skepticism becomes the norm.
Your point is well taken that all governments lie, and necessarily so. Some governments lie a lot about things that don't seem worth lying about.
Your skepticism is likely well placed. These are the same people who posted details about the launch hours before the actual launch took place:
http://gizmodo.com/5054776/china-launch-success-hits-web-hours-before-actual-blast+off
This is my opinion. To make sure you don't steal it, it's covered by the DMCA.
Oh, I don't blindly trust any countries government. Rather, I trust any countries government to say only what makes them look best, true or not.
More importantly, because just recently, China announced the exactly same story http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/25/2145209 *before* they had even *launched*...
Well.
Just as it's not good to discount /everything/ that some countries announce, sometimes the skepticism is well earned.
Why are all posts so anti-chinese?
I love democracy and I live in a liberal western democratic country (Sweden), but I do not at all understand why all posts have to be so negative.
Lets critisize china when they do something bad. When they do something good like this, lets congratulate them! This is a great step forward, not only for china, but for all of humankind.
I honestly believe that China will be the space super-power during the 21st century and the faster they get there the better for ALL OF US - EVEN AMERICANS!
So lets just cheer and celebrate this success! Congratulate the astronauts and engineers that made this possible. It is impressive and it is a fantastic work no matter if you are a russian, american or chinese.
Hopefully China will make a real push for space forcing the US to get off its arse in regard to the final frontier...
Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
...your local Walmart.
I have to agree though, considering just how recently they announced their successful launch before they ever left the ground.
The point is that they are building their space program. You have to consider Asian, and especially East Asian thinking. They aren't like the west with its "profit immediately or forget about it" thinking. When I see China putting men into space (the third country to do so after Soviet Russia and then the USA) and now doing space walks, that means they already have a long term plan to set up semi-permanent if not permanent colonies in orbit or on other celestial bodies.
See, they are not in a space race. They are doing this for their more distant future. When they do something like this, they aren't thinking of the next quarter's profits or even the next year's. They are thinking in terms of the next generation or the generation after.
And, I applaud them for it. It is nice to see homo sapiens thinking long term about getting off this pale blue dot of ours, and not only thinking about it but taking active steps towards such a goal. I couldn't care less what language they are speaking or what country they are from. They are humans and they are making the effort that others seem to have given up on. Power to them.
"Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
A chinese astronaut is called ...
Since they like to make announcements of upcoming events as if they already occurred it's likely that they really mean that the the space walk is happening tomorrow.
China is sending men into space. We are scrapping our only way of getting into space. Talk about progress...
The same way the fireworks at the opening ceremonies of the Olympics were broadcast "live" ?
Laws affecting technology will always be bad until enough techies become lawyers.
Forgive my skepticism, but this is exactly the sort of thing that China commonly lies about.
The fact they had a spacewalk or the fact they did it without loss of human life?
Really, there is nothing gained long term if they lie about a space walk and frankly Soviets did it without lying. They could have, but so could the Americans about the moon.
Secondly, it would be easier to send up a few people to die than actually fake it. Not to mention that anyone can intercept the signals they are broadcasting. Sure they could have sent up a video to broadcast from space, but if they are going to do that they just need to shove someone out into space and get home without incident.
"I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
-Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
I don't think it's that unusual for a press agency to write about events before they happen. They're expected to put out a release almost immediately to various wires (like AP), or they'll get scooped by other reporters and bloggers.
I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and suggest that they wrote the release as I would expect, and it somehow got out before it should have.
You can also bet that both of our US Presidential candidates are already working on their acceptance speeches, and will have them completed days before the election even takes place. I'm sure their campaigns' press releases already have quotes in them, too.
-David
Yeah, like theres never been a press report of a major event that hasn't gone out accidentally before time? Like, say, the BBC News report of Building 7 collapsing several minutes before it actually did.....
It was a fuckup, nothing more imho.
It's CHINA! There are, like, a BILLION of them! They could get to the moon by standing on each others' shoulders!
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
http://www.universetoday.com/2008/09/27/chinas-first-spacewalk-a-success-video/
"Zhai lifted himself through the hatch and waved at the camera attached to the service module on the outside of the craft, with Earth looming overhead."
"He then tried to take off the helmet for a 'nicer portrait shot'."
(After the implosion of his body, another astronaut from the 344 person manned spacecraft was sent to replace him.)
Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many.
Chinese astronaut Zhang Ziyi successfully spent 18 minutes in a tethered spacewalk outside the spacecraft Shenzhou 7.
My first thought, "that's pretty dangerous, in every movie she's been in, her clothes are ripped off suddenly and forcefully."
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i would have agreed with you when i first read that article yesterday, but i couldn't understand why the Chinese government would lie about a launch that they already spent so much time and money preparing for, and were clearly going to carry out.
it wasn't until some other slashdotters remarked that this could have simply been a prepped news story, which is a common practice in mainstream media, and that the transcripts were probably holder text--still a bad idea i think, but at least understandable.
and it should be noted that this time there was live video footage. and it would be a pretty stupid thing to try to fake a space mission. i mean, cheating in the olympics, or any other sports, is something that you can get away with (and i have no doubt that plenty of countries have gotten away with on many occasions), but faking a space mission is more along the lines of lying about achieving cold fusion. there's just simply no way you can deceive people about that for more than a few weeks or months at most. so unless they plan on being ridiculed by the world later, it would be a very stupid thing to do.
I think it's something about announcing launches, with detailed transcripts of conversations, before they happen.
If I am remembering correctly a news outlet in China published "accidentally," the story with a conversation transcript. While it is possible that that was exactly what was going to be published following the launch/spacewalk it could well have been a "template" for the real story to be published after the launch. China likes to script and practice things with meticulous detail prior to the actual "public" event. They're trying to prove to the world and themselves that they are worthy of attention as a global powerhouse and it starts for them by putting their best foot forward. They don't want mistakes and/or embarassments and this is their way of mitigating it.
These folks have done in 10 years what has taken over 100 in the US in terms of industrialization and economics. Cut them a bit of slack... I'm grateful to the Chinese for their pursuit of space exploration. It provides healthy competition that has been lacking since the fall of the USSR. It may well be what is needed to get the money flowing back into NASA and instead of the likes of Blackwater and DoD more generally. Even if there's a bit of exageration--which may or may not be the case--it isn't as if we weren't doing the same thing to the Russians with our own space program.
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Riiiiight. Because putting melamine in milk powder and antifreeze in toothpaste isn't about immediate profits, it's a long-term strategy for building a trusted brand.
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Check out the video
The cut to the long shot at the end with the guy clearly dangling from wires is hilarious! Like a bad pantomime.
Hey, I am not suggesting that you blindly trust the Chinese government to tell the truth.
"Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
Forgive my skepticism, but this is exactly the sort of thing that China commonly lies about.
Finally conspiracy tards will be satisfied, there really will be a faked moon landing.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
Just try not to kill everyone on the planet when you do it, mmmkay?
. . . so I guess I won't have to stay up on election night waiting for the results . . .
That site will have them a week in advance . . . yoo-hoo!
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
I think it's something about announcing imminent danger and WMD's, with detailed descriptions and sworn statements, when they don't exist. Sending armies to make war under false pretenses, swearing that enormous threats exist even after zero evidence is found that they exist. Tragically, the list goes on and on.
At some point, distrust and skepticism becomes the norm.
Your point is well taken that all governments lie. Some governments lie a lot about things that then cause a lot of unnecessary death, misery and anguish for others.
Still, their people get to keep driving Hummers, so that makes it OK, right?
so unless they plan on being ridiculed by the world later, it would be a very stupid thing to do.
Exactly. I am still amazed by the people here who think the Chinese government could be that stupid on a national scale.
Even the Bush administration isn't that crazy.
Don't quote me on this.
Surely someone can get out a telescope and see if there is a little man floating around in the sky?
-- If I were a fish, I'd be wet
This is old, I read about it before it happened.
"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."
-- Pablo Picasso
Given that China is emerging as a new player in space technology, the USA is probably watching the event closely. Ask them.
But then, this is exactly the sort of thing that US government lies about ;-p (other countries having threatening technology that could be applied for military use)
Seriously, when has China lied about space missions?
Don't quote me on this.
While they can make up whatever high goals -- to boost nationalism, to save the world, or whatever -- the entire execution is contingent on money and profits. China is a highly profit-driven place; a lot more than rich places. Companies have to see profits to do the tasks. And just like the U.S. and everywhere else in the world, China has to face the hurdle of creating job opportunities. Huge projects like these can save thousands jobs in their defunct state-owned factories. They also need to absorbs millions of college graduates every single year. Along the lines, officials also need to use these opportunities to take bribes to profit themselves.
That's exactly what happen in the U.S.: many companies need NASA projects for which they will hire thousands of people. Think about the scenario of laying off all the workers for the Shuttle program. Along the line, the politicians need to get donations.
So while pride and nationalism may play a role, these are largely about business and money.
The Bush administration did fake the Iraq war to scare Americans into voting Democratic. I am so sick of these liberal ploys to take over the white house.
93rd rule of Slashdot: No matter how obvious my sarcasm is, my comment will be taken seriously by someone.
And there is only a faked laser reflector on the moon too.
There is a spark in every single flame bait point.
china faked a spacewalk and the US faked a moonlanding, US still ahead
Nothing to see here...
Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity!
Why is this modded troll?
Seriously, guys.
You mean the fireworks that actually happened? How much do you know about your supposed fake fireworks anyway?
To clarify (and agree), the fireworks depicted during the opening ceremony did in fact go off as shown. The actual footage everyone saw, unless they were in Beijing, was a computer-rendered simulation of the same fireworks. The reason they were animated for broadcast is that the shot shown of the fireworks would have been at best difficult and dangerous, and at worst impossible, to do for real and live. I don't really see the big deal for this; it's basically some special effects showing an angle that couldn't otherwise be shown. It's like all the news networks doing a story about West Bumfuck, Iowa, and using Google Earth to do a fairly nifty zoom-in-from-orbit effect because that obviously can't be done for real. But nobody screams at CNN for that. Of course, that being said, I don't exactly give China the benefit of the doubt for things they have a real motive to lie about, like space missions.
Those who anthropomorphize science and/or nature already believe in an intelligent designer.
Well... except there are a lot of countries out there (ours very much included) with lots of technology watching the sky. I would *think* that if you wanted to fake something in Space, you'd need to have NASA complicit in your hoax. I kind of doubt that happened.
I'm skeptical of China too. But, I love space. Congrats guys, amazing accomplishment.
In Capitalist America, bank robs you!
Yeah, but... is it for real?????
If the Canadian government announced they had landed on the moon, I would likely not believe that. China, well, it's not particularly surprising they were able to put a man in orbit. Almost a non-event.
Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the author.
In addition to proving China's ability to maneuver in space, the spacewalk showed that China can produce reliable and safe space equipment. During his space venture, Zhai wore a new Chinese-built spacesuit, dubbed Feitian (Chinese for "fly the sky").
The suit, which reportedly cost 30 million yuan (about $4.4 million), did its job protecting Zhai from the harsh temperatures and radiation of space. It has 10 layers of insulation, weighs about 265 pounds (120 kg), and takes up to 15 hours to assemble and put on, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.
15 hours to assemble and put on, let's hope they don't need it in case of an emergency!
bash$
wag the dog?
More importantly, because just recently, China announced the exactly same story http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/25/2145209 [slashdot.org] *before* they had even *launched*...
So you are saying the Chinese pulled a dupe?
The Chinese deserve due credit for their achievements, in space. However, their government lacks any kind of credibility and that diminishes what has been accomplished.
It took them 40 years to catch up with the other superpowers in accomplishing this spacewalk, which should serve to amplify the effects of their oppressive regime and communist philosophy overall.
The Chinese news agency will fabricate whatever suits them, so any narrative going along with this accomplishment should be ignored. Their Olympics wowed us with their faked opening ceremony, underage athletes supported with government-supplied cover stories, biased judging and who knows what else that went undetected.
How much slave labor is used in their space program is unknown. How much stolen and misappropriated technology they've used is unknown. How many people that were sickened, injured or killed by the hazardous materials and working conditions prevalent in their space program is unknown. But we already know that the authoritarian state of China would forbid dissemination of this information, and we know that there's no reason to believe that these kinds of sufferings of their people have not ceased. This is what tempers our enthusiasm for their achievement.
The early Renaissance was old hat to the ancient Romans. But the Europeans had to make that first step back to the level of technology and culture enjoyed by their ancestors, or they would have been stuck in the Dark Ages. Think of the Chinese space effort as a complement to the venture capital-funded new space economy of (mainly) the US. Most of the technology used by these small space companies are just mash-ups of old pre-Apollo technology. Yes, sometimes it's necessary to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes not just once, but many times over.
These folks have done in 10 years what has taken over 100 in the US in terms of industrialization and economics. Cut them a bit of slack...
Turned from a proud and upright nation into a nation run by capitalists swine that couldn't care less how many people they trample so long as they get more money than everyone else? ... No not that one? Oops, sorry.
Check Google "orbit view" on Google Sky ... I think he was scratching his balls at the time.
We do that in the U.S. as well. The last few years I've read a story on yahoo news about what the president said (past tense) in the State of the Union Address, the morning of the day it is going to take place. You see speeches leaked regularly, almost always from the Bush administration, less from senate and house politician.
And seriously, why do the taikonauts get cooler spacesuits than the American astronauts?
A blog about stuff.
Interesting. And a good reason for races to inter procreate. Let's mix it up and save ourselves from domination by one specific (possibly evil) gene type.
O'WONDERWe're working on it.
That sounds somehow familiar.
A blog about stuff.
And because of how much China exports these corrupt business practices affect the health of people outside their borders.
I for one try, as much as possible, to avoid any products that come from China because I have no idea what I'm getting.
You know what. China is serving global demand. Global business demands profit at all and any cost. Consumers don't care who sewed their shirts, that those people despite working hard can't afford healthcare and education.
They say "don't care was made to care". Well the developed nations have sown the seed of their contempt for the humanity of the people of those manufacturing nations by not caring except about price. Now we're beginning to reap what we have sown.
You've all heard of companies using child/slave labour. Clothing manufacturers, computer makers. Much of the worlds chocolate supplies are tainted with slavery #1 ... none of these companies go out of business.
But now our constant drive for the bottom line is affecting the health of our home nations, now will we sit up and say no to globalised exploitation?
---
#1 about 50% of cocoa comes from West Africa (Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali) where child slavery (abduction of children to work for no money) was considered widespread in 2001/2002. I have never seen any reports of a solution to this problem. See eg, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1963617.stm http://www.365act.com/actions/2.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/apr/19/globalisation.benstafford;
Other sources http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_exploitation_in_the_chocolate_industry particularly http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/24/news/international/chocolate_bittersweet.fortune/ (read that one if nothing else).
HA! This coming from someone who's probably from America. Everyone knows we faked the moon landing...
and it should be noted that this time there was live video footage.
Like the Olympics? Yeah, I'll wait for confirmation from NASA or similar. Surely international organizations were monitoring this pretty closely.
Forget thrust, drag, lift and weight. Airplanes fly because of money.
it wasn't until some other slashdotters remarked that this could have simply been a prepped news story, which is a common practice in mainstream media, and that the transcripts were probably holder text--still a bad idea i think, but at least understandable.
I figured that was what was going on. A real classy thing for the voice of the State to be doing, but not as dumb as the alternatives. But who knows, maybe someone over there with a bit of power is that stupid. You don't need to whole government in on the act.
The space walk was actually not the main point of this mission. The actual reason of the guy doing this space walk is to take back two experiments (container, I think) from outside in which these results will be used for their next mission. The space walk is, well, a symbolic thing that's really not the main point. Their scientist actually say that the general public and medias mistakenly identify this space walk as the main point. But it's actually not because Russia and USA etc. already carried out a few hundred of these missions anyway.
I'm not sure, nasa will certainly be able to detect your craft and work out it's approximate size but I'm not so sure they would be able to tell if for example a spacewalk had really been performed or if that was just video footage prepared in a faking lab and sent up with the spaceship. Hell I don't even see how they can tell for sure if there are live humans on board.
note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
And if he claims tomorrow that he won the election you're more than welcome to have a few doubts.
"These folks have done in 10 years what has taken over 100 in the US in terms of industrialization and economics."
They bought a capsule design from Russia (and modified it to their needs) and then designed their own EVA suit. I think from 1959-1969 we pulled off a bit more than that.
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Oh, and it's actually not a space walk. He actually use his hands to hold the handles on the ship to move towards the target. So it's really not a walk at all.
i think most people recognize that. it's a pretty ethnocentric attitude to think that only the U.S. can conduct legitimate space research and everything China does must have an ulterior motive behind it. of course, if you see China as the enemy, then you can't concede to the fact that they might be genuinely interested in space exploration or recognize any achievements by the Chinese people.
it's really saying that we can be proud of our own space program, but China can't be proud of theirs. frankly, i think the more countries venture into space, the closer humanity as a whole gets to the possibility of space colonization. so who cares what flag is sewn onto their uniform? the are far worse things to spend time and resources on than space exploration.
Wow
Just figured I'd comment that my post here has seen a heck of a ride.
Metamoderators, you paying attention?
There is film released in 2002, which was filmed on film, not digital, and talks about the girl in question could be a international start at age 10. The medias conveniently don't mention that.
As someone who writes a lot of those news stories (on the local, not national level) I can attest to the fact that sometimes generic scripts are pre-written, with details to be filled in later. Usually they're for events that happen in pretty much the same way every year (parades or festivals, stuff like that). However, I doubt the Chinese launch article was one of those. It reportedly included detailed dialogue between astronauts and the ground. For obvious reasons, you don't include detailed quotes in a pre-written "skeleton" script or article.
Oh wait, nevermind. That was just the Chinese government posting it a day before it happened...
Dept. of Defense would have to be included in the conspiracy too, since they have *much* more money and assets in space than NASA.
couldn't resist.....
If this were any other subject, i'd take it as a joke, but when I read your post the image of a Chinese military offical on the other end pops into my head.
Honestly, I gradually believe Chinese politic system is not very bad. See US can elect Bush, the liar, stupid ever person. See US critic always discussed chinese financial system is in dangerous. but the fact is not always like most so-call democratic oriented expected... it is time to wake up...
Horsehit. Reporters and bloggers, and the AP, get this kind of information from the press agencies.
Horseshit again. This wasn't a press release, but a complete and detailed article including descriptions of events and air to ground dialogue that had not happened yet.
Press releases....sure. Transcripts!?
You're joking, right?
A press release for a successful mission would read like, "The People's Republic Of China successfully inserted their latest spaceship into LEO."
If it's circulated after the event it's non-fiction - provided the ship didn't actually burn on the launch pad. If it's circulated *before* the event has taken place it's called fiction....or, dare I say, propaganda. See the difference?
As far as the transcripts go, I take it with a grain of salt. China is so in the habit of blatantly attempting to make their shit smell like roses that their roses now remind me of cow manure. You guessed it, I'm totally mistrustful and very skeptical towards any Chinese press release.
As for your example of acceptance speeches for the two US Presidential Candidates...If either one of them released their acceptance speech before they we're elected, they'd be laughed off the ticket. That being said, any prepared entity(person/business/Gov't) makes preparations for eventualities. Releasing them early plays very well into propaganda stratagems - therefore, free thinkers are more inclined to question the motives behind the press release and question the validity of any future press releases.
Let me guess, it was the Beijing Evening News, right?
No it's not. China lies about internal dissent and such when it's embarrassing. They don't make up achievements out of whole cloth. (Not since the era of Chairman Mao, anyway. If you go back 50 years to the Great Leap Forward, there was a lot of bullshit propaganda. Not so much now, they know they couldn't get away with it.)
Are there any sources of information on the validity of this that aren't controlled by the Chinese government, that verify their claims?
Look up in the sky with a telescope. I'm sure that the military authorites of dozens of countries monitored the launch and orbit. You think they would all go along with China if it was fake?
Yeah, so no one knows if they REALLY did a spacewalk. That's pretty trivial compared to getting them in orbit, no real reason to fake that. Thay use a Russian spacesuit, thay certainly work.
In other news, the next manned mission is to rendezvous with an asteroid on track for a near collision with earth.
Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.
Reading comprehension please. Industrial development is the subject here. The United State did not launch into space in 1860 much less 1830 or so did it? That is the point here. China has gone from backward agricultural slaves for European Empires to having a space program in a very short time frame.
I am seeing a lot of uninformed, and often racist, sentiment regarding this. Here are the facts.
1. This is not a Russian capsule. The three module shape is dictated by the principles of capsule design in general, not by China simply buying a set of blueprints
2. They are not moving that slowly, they are simply being economical with the number of missions they fly. It took Russia and the US 4 years to get from men in space to spacewalks, it has taken China 5 years.
3. Their spending money on this whilst there are *gasp* still poor people on China is not something that can be criticised from a country bailing out wall street whilst letting the poor rot. At least Chinese people will eventually benefit from space technology. Who will benefit from bankers being insulated from the consequences of their actions? Everywhere has inequality. No reason to crucify China specifically for it.
4. Shenzhou is the most technologically advanced manned spacecraft flying. The Shuttle has more capability but it is nearing the end of its life and when it retires, Americans better get used to play to second fiddle to China for a while.
5. Being racist makes you a dick. Chinese people are just as capable of this as you are.
If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
Space travel is pretty old. All it really takes now is good engineering, and a lot of money. China may still be stifling innovation with central planning, but it is a lot better than the USSR in the days of Sputnik and Yuri Gargarin. If China says they can send a man into space, I really don't care to doubt them. The zero-carbon city they are building is a lot more interesting.
I think that it's a fantastic accomplishment. Making it and buying it are two very different things. Yes they've modified it and that takes expertise but if I buy a diesel submarine and modify it does that mean I can produce another one with out buying the platform ?
But then again they didn't have to invent industrialization first, they could buy industrial stuff from many suppliers. It's a bit like flying from Spain to the US and saying you're better than the discoverers because it was faster.
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
If it were true, China is just disclosing this information while they are setting up a military base on the moon... With tools that are "Made in China"
So the European union is beefing up their science, and China now has a get it done attitude. Who are we to criticize. We should be way ahead.
The problem with China as I see it, is that they reherse, prepare and pre-approve of everything that is to be said , done or published. This boils down to one thing: They do not trust the people entrusted with saying, doing or publishing. In short, they do not trust their people.
Other countrys have it like this too, but they still have to trust their people in the end.
If a news reporter has read the script 3 times, but decides to say: "This has been the news, and I'm a little teapot." at the end of his segment, then nobody in their right mind would blame his country for that. Grow up! People are teapots!
I work in the space industry. Lack of funds is not the problem. The problem is lack of leadership. NASA has a budget of around $16 Billion a year. That's a lot of money. It could be spend a lot better with proper leadership. But as with all government projects there is way too much waste. I'd say you could reduce the workforce by 1/2 and not effect the people actually doing the work. It seems 1/2 of the money is spent tracking where the other 1/2 is going. What the bean counters don't understand is that most of the technical people are space geeks. We spend hours at home and off the clock thinking and working out problems. I've spend my own money to order parts and get them in next day for a project as opposed to waiting weeks for procurment to plod along. I've painted things at home with Krylon because to do it on the center you would need to use paint specs and certified contractors. We do it because we love human space flight. I could get paid a lot more working in another field but the benefits of working with the hardware we get to work with is worth the difference. And for those that say "It's not rocket science". Actually rocket science isn't that hard anymore. Most of it has been figured out. It is now a matter of good management and practical engineering.
I love Jesus, except for his foreign policy.
Space colonization? Don't be absurd. When we've colonised the bottom of the Atlantic and the Gobi Desert, I'll be a little less sceptical. Until then, save it for the convention.
Everything I needed to know about life, I learnt from Blake's Seven
It may well be what is needed to get the money flowing back into NASA and instead of the likes of Blackwater and DoD more generally
Not in America, not until you've paid off a trillion-dollar war debt and the same again in subsidies for those tens of millions of people living in those insanely over-priced cardboard boxes you call "houses" over there.
Everything I needed to know about life, I learnt from Blake's Seven
That is why China, and Russia, and Venezuela, and Iran, and North Korea and all the other countries you invaded and explored are getting together for the day that we going to destroy your pathetic country and take our revenge!
Boy, that's SOME COALITION you got there.
Everything I needed to know about life, I learnt from Blake's Seven
These folks have done in 10 years what has taken over 100 in the US in terms of industrialization and economics
Easily said with the help of reverse engineering rather than invention. China has an old history going back hundreds and thousands of years, but now the government is looking around and letting people catch up. Once the people catch up, the government's power is far reduced so it takes a braver government to trust the people to take the country into the future.
Know your pads. One time pad: good for cryptography. Two timing pad: where to take your mistress.
America faked an economic boom, too.
Everything I needed to know about life, I learnt from Blake's Seven
Hanlon's razor:
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
I think it is significant and praise-worthy that the Chinese have reached this milestone and we can hope there are more in the future. Near-space is important to mankind to develop technology for future long distance missions to the planets and asteroids and for perhaps building power-sats for beamed power from orbit to earth and eventual elevators to reduce the cost of lifting mass from the surface to low orbit. We should encourage the Chinese and perhaps get them to join in the International Space Station project as well.
The reason we are skeptical is because they announced that it was a success before it was launched the other day. The report they filed included conversations by the astronauts, but the mission hadnt even been launched yet. They quickly took the report down, but it made it to slashdot before they did.
We arent skeptical for any racially charged reasons.
"These folks have done in 10 years what has taken over 100 in the US in terms of industrialization and economics."
Are you truly that stupid or are you chinese? Technology has changed by leaps and bounds when the US did it over 30 years ago. Plus the US did it purely from their intelligence and work, not based on stolen technologies and ideas that came from spying scientists sent to foreign countries to steal some more.
Well you see health care isn't a right, hells it's not even a privilege, it's a straight luxury. So is having your own bedroom, or even bed.While working a sweat shops sucks no one forces them to, it's just the best option available and consumers can't be held accountable for lack of better options. That doesn't include situations where better options are forbidden through slavery, legislation (like the chines "black" people), caste systems, or emigration restrictions which should be slapped down.
Every thing I have ever read about trade liberalization shows that it is pareto-efficient, that is, Both sides win. The US gets things cheaper and other countries get jobs that pay more then substance farming. If you mandate through legislation that the cost to use their labor goes up guess what happens? investment leaves. Thats not some crazy republican lie, thats fact and has happened several times. Mandating through law that you get paid more then your work is worth doesn't make it worth more. Many goods can be made in the states by low labor machines but it is cheaper to use low tech labor intensive processes over seas because labor is cheaper, if you increase the cost of their labor without increasing its value you have a problem.
The Japs knew this and spent considerable effort to create high value labor when they industrialized. The reason a western laborer gets more things like cars appliances and health care is because our labor is really valuable and it is cost effective to invest expensive medical treatment to double our productive lives or cars to allow more time savings.
I care very deeply for the poor in the sweet shops, and wish there was a way to help them out that didn't take self-determinism on their part and generations to accomplish. I just know that nothing comes free. They are screwed, and flawed socialist policy or heavy handed western intervention has always failed. sometimes the best thing to do with a painful wound is stop picking at it.
How many times do I have to say? It's the economy, stupid.
Since when the former slave traders become such kind-hearted patronages? When your country sits on the sidelines watching the Africans starved to death, or sets unacceptable political conditions for every cent's aid, China at least sends in investments and builds the factories and roads.
In the 1980s China first opened up its own country for the west to exploit. We didn't complain about the low pay. We tighten our belt and save every penny we can to build our country. The Africans can too, and China is giving them a chance.
If you're not doing anything better than this, please don't get in the way.
Many goods can be made in the states by low labor machines but it is cheaper to use low tech labor intensive processes over seas because labor is cheaper, if you increase the cost of their labor without increasing its value you have a problem.
And you support that position?
Do you know what else is cheaper, harvesting organs and bloods from live subjects rather than waiting for donors or using synthetic replacements. The only difference is how quick you kill the people who are serving your needs.
I never said healthcare was a right but the compassion we share for fellow humans should be such that we feel bound to provide basic healthcare and education for low-paid workers.
If you mandate through legislation that the cost to use their labor goes up guess what happens?
That depends on how you meet the cost. Fairtrade chocolate and coffee are not appreciably more costly at the POS (I realise they're not representative crops), some are cheaper than "luxury brands". The difference is how much the shareholders make in profit. Your decision is whether you feel people need extra disposable income in the developed nations or if they need basic necessities in developing nations. Your vote is at whichever shops you use. Your argument was levelled in the UK about minimum wages, except when they came in no one really noticed ... 10% of city bonuses maybe?
They are screwed, and flawed socialist policy or heavy handed western intervention has always failed.
I guess that as I live in a house in dire need of maintenance but with scarcely enough money to feed and cloth us, despite working hard. I've suffered the position of medicine or food and I don't think "they are screwed" is a good enough response. They are screwed because of a) over-population, but importantly, b) greed and c) lack of active compassion. I don't think it's a done deal ...
Plus the US did it purely from their intelligence and work
Yes, and the best German scientists money could buy.
China's a little late to that party.
Maybe because CNN always says something to the effect of "and here depicted on Google Earth..." as opposed to implying or saying that it's a live shot. Pretty huge fucking difference.
Yes it is reasonable to show a simulation, but it is also reasonable to expect that what's being shown is clearly labeled as a simulation.
San Francisco values: compassion, tolerance, respect, intelligence
Calm down. IIRC, in the NBC (in the States) broadcast of the Opening Ceremony, the commentator said that the fireworks being shown then were animated (I can't remember exactly what he said, but I figure it can be looked up). The catch is that he said it in the context of a pun, so some people didn't catch the fact that he was really saying "this is an animation." Others did. So, maybe it wasn't crystal clear, but it wasn't something being hidden. While we're at it, CNN doesn't announce at all that the animation you're seeing is a Google Earth production. There's a logo in one corner of the screen, but it's easy to miss. Of course, the animation is so over-the-top that it's clearly not a real camera shot, but still.
Those who anthropomorphize science and/or nature already believe in an intelligent designer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMxQEHfU6hM Someone claims to have good eyes spotted something in the video
Okay. That certainly puts a different face on it.
Incidentally, I'm quite calm, I just tend to swear gratuitously for emphasis. :-)
San Francisco values: compassion, tolerance, respect, intelligence