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China Completes Its First Manned Space Docking

Posted by timothy on from the rapid-progress dept.

This AP story, as carried by the Houston Chronicle, says that the Chinese Shenzhou 9 spacecraft (carrying a crew that includes the country's first female astronaut) has successfully docked with an orbiting module, a first for China's manned space program. However, manned mission or not, the actual docking was actually executed from below: as with previous docking maneuvers, "Monday's docking also was completed by remote control from a ground base in China. A manual docking, to carried out by one of the crew members, is scheduled for later in the mission. Two crew members plan to conduct medical tests and experiments inside the module, while the third will remain in the spacecraft."

11 of 130 comments (clear)

  1. Significant Milestone by mister2au · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Slow but steady progress since initiating this program in 1992.

    With a first Chinese moonwalk estimated for 2024 that is 32 years total (with already 50 years of rocket research in the world to leverage off) ... makes you understand just much the US threw at its lunar programme to manage going from the start of the Mercury program to moonwalk in less than 11 years

    1. Re:Significant Milestone by EdgePenguin · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Or, to put it another way, how little the Chinese are investing. The space program is clearly not viewed as a high economic priority in China. The period between their first manned flight and now is roughly the same as the period between the first US manned flight and first US lunar landing; and in that time period China has had an economy far in excess of that of the US in the 1960s. They have also had lower costs due to the fact that they don't have to develop all the technology from scratch. They could easily have done a repeat of Apollo on this time scale, but chose not to.

    2. Re:Significant Milestone by Gordonjcp · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Maybe they just don't want to rush it and take chances. In the 1960s the US and the USSR were competing to be the first to space and the first to the moon. The Chinese are going to be the third country to reach the moon (second, for manned missions since the Russians didn't bother) whichever way you slice it.

      There's no point going at it in a hurry and risking the lives of astronauts any more than they have to. Back when the Apollo missions were flying, the US and the USSR had an attitude of "get someone up there and maybe back down if they survive, and get it done now". The Chinese don't need to do that.

    3. Re:Significant Milestone by mister2au · · Score: 5, Informative

      Technically not third to reach the moon
      - Japan put up an orbiter (Hiten) in 1993
      - ESA put up SMART-1 in 2003
      - India crashed their Chandrayaan probe (deliberately an impact mission) a few years ago

      And even then, both India and the Europeans are targeting manned landings before China.

      Although even Iran has announced for 2025 so clearly some of these need to be taken with some skepticism

    4. Re:Significant Milestone by k(wi)r(kipedia) · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think the total size of the economy is more important in attempting to measure a country's ability to maintain a national space program. Otherwise some small but rich European or oil-producing country would have also launched humans into space a long time ago. The Soviet Union was clearly poorer than the US in per capita terms, but managed to beat the US to several early space milestones.

    5. Re:Significant Milestone by abelb · · Score: 5, Informative

      Don't forget that China has successfully completed two orbital lunar missions with Chang'e 1 and 2.

    6. Re:Significant Milestone by Xiaran · · Score: 5, Funny

      Iran is going to go up there and knock over the American flag.

  2. Re:In Space... by yotto · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Look... I apologize already for the insult, okay? But it isn't entirely undeserved.
    Making extensive use of, well, let's say "borrowed" technology -- not to mention the outright theft of some of it -- is hardly equivalent to doing this stuff on your own.
    If it's a success, I will be somewhat surprised, and not very inclined to credit them for it.

    I know. American scientists were able to get to the Moon without using any technology from any other cultures. Every other country should have to do the same. The Chinese shouldn't even be able to use those rockets we invented thousands of years ago.

    (For the sarcastically disabled, I know who invented the rocket)

    --
    Pulp Audio Weekly - Geek News and Reviews
  3. Sorry in advance... by yotto · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...carrying a crew that includes the country's first female astronaut... A manual docking, to carried out by one of the crew members, is scheduled... Two crew members plan to conduct medical tests and experiments...

    ...giggity.

    --
    Pulp Audio Weekly - Geek News and Reviews
  4. Re:In Space... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Hmm... Well...

    You mean "borrowed" in the sense like the USA did when using the techniques developed in Nazi Germany?

    And why should you develop something yourself when the knowledge is available? Most techniques used by the NASA are not especially top-secret as far as I know. So - why spend an big budget on something that's freely available?

    I think there is a good chance the first man on Mars will be Chinese. Not because they are that good, but because they slowly bit steadily keep pushing forward, while the USA is stepping down. Anyway by the time of those first manned mars landing, I estimate the biggest budget in the USA will be spend on thousands of lawyers fighting the (around that time completely out-of-control) software patent wars (inside the USA, because outside the USA people are not that stupid).

  5. Re:In Space... by hakann · · Score: 5, Funny

    This explains it perfectly: http://www.xkcd.com/984/