OT: They did it!

Loser · #1 October 16th, 2003, 01:12 AM

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/1...nch/index.html

Whoo-hoo!

The Chinese are in space!

oleg · #2 October 16th, 2003, 01:50 AM

I hope it will promote more funding to NASA.
Its budget just $14B. War in Irag could fund NASA for 7 years

General Woundwort · #3 October 16th, 2003, 01:53 AM

NASA's problem is it has no long-term goals, and doesn't even have a plan yet to replace the Shuttles when they wear out (sooner rather than later). NASA needs to make a case to do and be something other than a "US postal service" to Earth orbit, if they want more money.

Atrocities · #4 October 15th, 2003, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Loser:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/1...nch/index.html

Whoo-hoo!

The Chinese are in space!

The chinese conquest of the world has begun.

Thermodyne · #5 October 15th, 2003, 05:05 PM

Let�s look at this for what it is. The Chicoms have proven that they can borrow technology and build a platform to put a man in space. And for this I congratulate them, but I am only a little impressed. They have also proven that they are willing to pay the expense of venturing into space. Where they will go with this remains to be seen. They are certainly working it for all of the political capital that they can squeeze out of it. They need to publish some papers on their goals and expected returns. To just repeat the successes of the Soviets and Americans will be a waste of time.

If the Chicom�s want to impress the world, then they should hold free elections, open to all of China. Now that would impress me!

Baron Munchausen · #6 October 15th, 2003, 06:12 PM

If this wakes up the US Congress to NASA's need for proper funding and direction then it's a great thing. The space agency has been in the doldrums since the end of Apollo. We need a big push to develop a truly re-usable space vehicle so it can be released to commercial uses. There are plenty of good technologies available. It's been 30 years since the creation of the shuttle! We can do much, much better if we just have some motivation in the govt. to pay for the initial development. No private industry group is willing to spend the necessary billions on something they might not be allowed to exploit commercially.