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China Developing Manned Space Mission To the Moon

Posted by msmash on from the how-about-that dept.

China is building a manned spacecraft capable of sending astronauts to the moon as well as near-Earth orbit flight, according to Chinese state media. From a report on CNBC: The official newspaper of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China cited system chief architect Zhang Bainan who claimed the craft is being designed to carry as many as six astronauts. The newspaper, Science and Technology Daily, quoted Zhang Bainan as saying China wished to catch up with international standards of space exploration. The fresh announcement follows a separate Chinese ambition to bring back samples from the moon before the end of this year.

9 of 149 comments (clear)

  1. Good for them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Good for them. At least someone is interested in getting out into space.

    1. Re:Good for them by Maritz · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If our species learns to live in space, it will have potential to go on indefinitely. If we stay on earth, maybe a century or two tops. That's what's "so great" about it.

      --
      I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
    2. Re:Good for them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Meh, not all Americans wear a MAGA hat. If China gets space travel going to the Moon, so much the better. It might be cheaper to use their state-of-the-art rockets to get real payloads into orbit.

      Of course, it would be nice if the US was hitting the moon again, rather than wasting cash on walls, private prisons, and no-bid contracts. However, until corporations are taxed the way they are in every other developed nation, that revenue just flies out of the US and to other countries.

    3. Re:Good for them by WrongMonkey · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Our species has been living on this planet for over 200 millennia, mostly without the benefit of technology. Similar hominid species were thriving for over 3 million years. What *exactly* do you expect is going to change in the next century or two? Even if the Earth were to be hit simultaneously by global warming, nuclear war and a comet, it would still be infinitely more habitable than any known planet. We have an entire continent (Antarctica) that hasn't even begun to be colonized and you're ready to write off the whole planet.

    4. Re:Good for them by thrich81 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, right now in 2017, the USA's space program has two (2) functioning rovers on Mars, a spacecraft operating in orbit around Jupiter, a spacecraft operating in orbit around Saturn, a spacecraft operating in orbit around Ceres, a spacecraft on the way to its second encounter with a Kuiper belt object (after its flyby of Pluto), etc. If you want to review what the USA has done since the 1960's -- Since the 60's the USA has had successful missions to every planet in the Solar System, and orbiters around all of them from Mercury out to Saturn, plus five USA spacecraft are currently on their way out of the solar system. No other spacefaring nation will be able to say that anytime soon.

    5. Re:Good for them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well, given what we've seen out of the Trump administration we can indeed conclude: MAGA hat == Anti-science

      The people he's recruited for appointments clearly stated they reject scientific consensus and evidence based conclusions about many very serious scientific topics.. Why just today we have the head of the EPA saying that Co2 is not a primary contributor to global warming.

      I find it even more interesting that the support you offer in evidence of your argument is a bunch of unrelated politically charged assertions and claims about a past election.

      I'm forced to conclude, indeed, MAGA hat == Anti-science

    6. Re:Good for them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Oh look, some fuckwit with the SJW boogeyman again

    7. Re:Good for them by thrich81 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Replying to my own post because I should have added this -- with all that said about the USA space program, I fully applaud these Chinese efforts and those of all other nations (and private organizations). There is plenty of space out there for everyone. On the plaque which the Apollo 11 mission left on the moon in 1969, it says, "We came in peace for all mankind." Totally true or not, it's the right sentiment.

  2. Security vs security theater by sjbe · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Seems more like Turmp is interested in 'safety' to the detriment of literally everything else.

    Trump has no interest in actual safety. He has a strong interest in "security" theater. Big difference between the two. One keeps us safe and the other keeps him elected. He cares about the later. Putting a wall on the US/Mexico border will do almost nothing for safety but it will do a lot to make paranoid conservatives happy.