Chinese spacewalk

[rfisher]

They didn't try very hard with this one did they?

I mean, come on, the flag being waved in space. Everyone knows that's a fake. It wouldn't move round the stem in space - no gravity, no wind.

Reckon they are in a film studio under the birds nest stadium myself.

Oh and the take off was CGI with a model on a conveyor belt.

[Rich-UK]

But it took off

[AJI]

But they do have their own space program.
I was talking about this the other day ......... if the USA's idea of capitallism duely falls to pieces then maybe China will be the only country on earth with a space program.
Unless Russia sells its gas for more profit and tries again with its own.

[anonymous-user]

AJI said:

But they do have their own space program.
I was talking about this the other day ......... if the USA's idea of capitallism duely falls to pieces then maybe China will be the only country on earth with a space program.
Unless Russia sells its gas for more profit and tries again with its own.

Many countries have a "space program".

Check out ESA, JAXA etc

[Eric Mc]

True - but China is the only one apart from the US and Russia with an idigenous manned programme.

They have made their ambitions for manned space flight very obvious - and it is up to the US (and possibly Europe) to respond.

[anonymous-user]

Eric Mc said:

True - but China is the only one apart from the US and Russia with an idigenous manned programme.

They have made their ambitions for manned space flight very obvious - and it is up to the US (and possibly Europe) to respond.

Respond to what?

[GilbertGrape]

Now, what if China lands on the moon (I doubt it) and there isn't any trace of anyone else ever being there?

Id love to hear explanations for this if it ever does happen.


[i]Solar winds picked everything up and blew them away. We have been observing the space junk for many years now.[i]

Edited by GilbertGrape on Sunday 28th September 10:11

[Eric Mc]

Well, they have anounced that they do want to put men on the moon - and I don't doubt this ambition.

I just can't see the US standing idly by as a Chinese astronaut plants his foot on lunar soil. The Americans have responded with the anouncement ond ongoing work towards their "return to the moon" programme. It may not happen for a while but the manned exploration of space will progress and it is up to the rest of the world to ensure that no one nation achieves a dominance in this area.

I think the Chinese should be congratulated for kick starting a renewed interest in manned spaceflight and a raising of the goal to proper Solar System exploration and not just low earth orbit missions.

[funkyboogalooo]

GilbertGrape said:

Now, what if China lands on the moon (I doubt it) and there isn't any trace of anyone else ever being there?

Id love to hear explanations for this if it ever does happen.

Edited by GilbertGrape on Sunday 28th September 10:11

How bigs the moon then? Would it be like landing on the earth and not finding a flag because that would be easy! I bet its a big arse moon.

[funkyboogalooo]

GilbertGrape said:

Now, what if China lands on the moon (I doubt it) and there isn't any trace of anyone else ever being there?

Id love to hear explanations for this if it ever does happen.

Edited by GilbertGrape on Sunday 28th September 10:11

How bigs the moon then? Would it be like landing on the earth and not finding a flag because that would be easy! I bet its a big arse moon.

[GilbertGrape]

funkyboogalooo said:

GilbertGrape said:

Now, what if China lands on the moon (I doubt it) and there isn't any trace of anyone else ever being there?

Id love to hear explanations for this if it ever does happen.

Edited by GilbertGrape on Sunday 28th September 10:11

How bigs the moon then? Would it be like landing on the earth and not finding a flag because that would be easy! I bet its a big arse moon.

Id imagine everyone would want to know how man made objects have withstood time while sitting on the moon. Id imagine they would want to land close enough to these so that they could inspect them.

I'm surprised we haven't seen images of them on the moon already.

[Eric Mc]

The moon's land area is roughly the same as the continent of Africa, so there is quite a bit of ground to cover. However, the exact locations of the six Apollo landing sites are well known (to with a couple of milimeters) so the Chinese would have no trouble knowing where they were.

However, if and when the Chinese land there, I am sure they will be more interested in running a successful mission i.e. getting a man/men down on the surface and getting him/them home safely rather than wasting time and effort looking for old Apollo hardware. Also, depending on the type of rockets used to get to the moon and the size and weight of the spacecraft and lander will determine very much the locations chosen for any Chinese landings.

There is also the question of time-scale. I reckon it would be at least 10 to 15 years before the Chinese would be in a position to attempt a landing. The new US lunar landing programme is up and running with many elements of the rockets and spacecraft now being tested and, subject to any changes in the White House and the priorities given by future presidents, they could be back on the moon by 2020.

Obviously, once landing people on the moon becomes more routine, visits to the old Apollo sites might very well become routine and I do hope that at least some of them will be protected by some sort of "preservation order" as a memorial to the early manned space programme.

[GilbertGrape]

Eric Mc said:

The moon's land area is roughly the same as the continent of Africa, so there is quite a bit of ground to cover. However, the exact locations of the six Apollo landing sites are well known (to with a couple of milimeters) so the Chinese would have no trouble knowing where they were.

However, if and when the Chinese land there, I am sure they will be more interested in running a successful mission i.e. getting a man/men down on the surface and getting him/them home safely rather than wasting time and effort looking for old Apollo hardware. Also, depending on the type of rockets used to get to the moon and the size and weight of the spacecraft and lander will determine very much the locations chosen for any Chinese landings.

There is also the question of time-scale. I reckon it would be at least 10 to 15 years before the Chinese would be in a position to attempt a landing. The new US lunar landing programme is up and running with many elements of the rockets and spacecraft now being tested and, subject to any changes in the White House and the priorities given by future presidents, they could be back on the moon by 2020.

Obviously, once landing people on the moon becomes more routine, visits to the old Apollo sites might very well become routine and I do hope that at least some of them will be protected by some sort of "preservation order" as a memorial to the early manned space programme.

Can't land on the moon for 10-20 years...yadda yadda yadda.

They flew there in a tin can all those years ago, and still they need many years preparation time with todays technology and hardware. It will always be 10-20 years..

[Eric Mc]

GilbertGrape said:

funkyboogalooo said:

GilbertGrape said:

Now, what if China lands on the moon (I doubt it) and there isn't any trace of anyone else ever being there?

Id love to hear explanations for this if it ever does happen.

Edited by GilbertGrape on Sunday 28th September 10:11

How bigs the moon then? Would it be like landing on the earth and not finding a flag because that would be easy! I bet its a big arse moon.

Id imagine everyone would want to know how man made objects have withstood time while sitting on the moon. Id imagine they would want to land close enough to these so that they could inspect them.

I'm surprised we haven't seen images of them on the moon already.

Up until fairly recently, we had no means of imaging man made objects on the moon. Telescopes on earth can't resolve detail that small from a distance of 250,000 miles. And there had been no moon orbiting mapping misssions of any note from 1972 up until 2006. This is now beginning to change. The current Japanese orbiter does seem to have photgraphed the shadow of one of the Lunar Module descent stages in the past few months but its cameras are not sharp enough to pick up the actual artefacts.
There are a series of unmanned mapping orbiters due over the next few years - both by the US and others - which will be good enough to pick them out from the background clutter.

[GilbertGrape]

Eric Mc said:

GilbertGrape said:

funkyboogalooo said:

GilbertGrape said:

Now, what if China lands on the moon (I doubt it) and there isn't any trace of anyone else ever being there?

Id love to hear explanations for this if it ever does happen.

Edited by GilbertGrape on Sunday 28th September 10:11

How bigs the moon then? Would it be like landing on the earth and not finding a flag because that would be easy! I bet its a big arse moon.

Id imagine everyone would want to know how man made objects have withstood time while sitting on the moon. Id imagine they would want to land close enough to these so that they could inspect them.

I'm surprised we haven't seen images of them on the moon already.

Up until fairly recently, we had no means of imaging man made objects on the moon. Telescopes on earth can't resolve detail that small from a distance of 250,000 miles. And there had been no moon orbiting mapping misssions of any note from 1972 up until 2006. This is now beginning to change. The current Japanese orbiter does seem to have photgraphed the shadow of one of the Lunar Module descent stages in the past few months but its cameras are not sharp enough to pick up the actual artefacts.
There are a series of unmanned mapping orbiters due over the next few years - both by the US and others - which will be good enough to pick them out from the background clutter.

I really hope they are there, and Id love to see pictures of them sitting up there.

[johnnywb]

Hmm new space race and cold war between the US and CHina...?

[Eric Mc]

GilbertGrape said:

Eric Mc said:

The moon's land area is roughly the same as the continent of Africa, so there is quite a bit of ground to cover. However, the exact locations of the six Apollo landing sites are well known (to with a couple of milimeters) so the Chinese would have no trouble knowing where they were.

However, if and when the Chinese land there, I am sure they will be more interested in running a successful mission i.e. getting a man/men down on the surface and getting him/them home safely rather than wasting time and effort looking for old Apollo hardware. Also, depending on the type of rockets used to get to the moon and the size and weight of the spacecraft and lander will determine very much the locations chosen for any Chinese landings.

There is also the question of time-scale. I reckon it would be at least 10 to 15 years before the Chinese would be in a position to attempt a landing. The new US lunar landing programme is up and running with many elements of the rockets and spacecraft now being tested and, subject to any changes in the White House and the priorities given by future presidents, they could be back on the moon by 2020.

Obviously, once landing people on the moon becomes more routine, visits to the old Apollo sites might very well become routine and I do hope that at least some of them will be protected by some sort of "preservation order" as a memorial to the early manned space programme.

Can't land on the moon for 10-20 years...yadda yadda yadda.

They flew there in a tin can all those years ago, and still they need many years preparation time with todays technology and hardware. It will always be 10-20 years..

The fundamentals of the machinery still needs to be designed, tested and flown before any landings can be made. On a project this size, ten years would always be looked on as a minimal period required.

In an effort to cut down on the time, NASA are actually going back to some of the hardware used in Apollo. For instance, some of the engines designed to be used on the Saturn V rocket and the Lunar Module have been taken out of storage and test fired again (after 40 years in some cases) - sometimes with new, more efficient fuels. NASA have been delighted with the results. The Lunar Module engine has been fired up using a number of different propellants now and it has worked really well. Those guys back in the 60s really new what they were doing.

At the moment the main problem is getting a final design frozen on the Command Module. Unlike the Apollo CM, it will be bigger (carrying up to seven crew) and will be made mainly from composites (unlike the Apollo CM which was aluminium, steel and titanium). The proposals for the designs of the Lunar Landers have currently being submitted by the interested aeropspace manufacturers and will be subject to review by a NASA board. This all takes time and, unlike the 1960s "Space Race" it's all happening at a far more leisurely pace.
Depending on how fast the Chinese move, this pace may accelerate.

Edited by Eric Mc on Sunday 28th September 11:14

[garycat]

It would be interesting for the Chinese to visit the old apollo sites to examine how the technology and materials have stood up to being in space for 40 years. They could use this knowledge to influence what to use for their space program.

BTW Discovery channel has new series NASAs greatest missions starting tonight at 9pm ( clashing with James May ) if you are into space stuff.

http://www.discoverychannel.co.uk/web/shows/NASA/

[Sciroccology]

I'd love to know how the Hasselblad cameras (and golf balls) the Yanks left behind have stood the test of time up there.


Still, if the Chinese do make it onto the moon, at least subsequent visitors will be able to enjoy Kung Po Chicken and egg fried rice when they get there.

[bobthemonkey]

Eric Mc said:

GilbertGrape said:

Eric Mc said:

The moon's land area is roughly the same as the continent of Africa, so there is quite a bit of ground to cover. However, the exact locations of the six Apollo landing sites are well known (to with a couple of milimeters) so the Chinese would have no trouble knowing where they were.

However, if and when the Chinese land there, I am sure they will be more interested in running a successful mission i.e. getting a man/men down on the surface and getting him/them home safely rather than wasting time and effort looking for old Apollo hardware. Also, depending on the type of rockets used to get to the moon and the size and weight of the spacecraft and lander will determine very much the locations chosen for any Chinese landings.

There is also the question of time-scale. I reckon it would be at least 10 to 15 years before the Chinese would be in a position to attempt a landing. The new US lunar landing programme is up and running with many elements of the rockets and spacecraft now being tested and, subject to any changes in the White House and the priorities given by future presidents, they could be back on the moon by 2020.

Obviously, once landing people on the moon becomes more routine, visits to the old Apollo sites might very well become routine and I do hope that at least some of them will be protected by some sort of "preservation order" as a memorial to the early manned space programme.

Can't land on the moon for 10-20 years...yadda yadda yadda.

They flew there in a tin can all those years ago, and still they need many years preparation time with todays technology and hardware. It will always be 10-20 years..

The fundamentals of the machinery still needs to be designed, tested and flown before any landings can be made. On a project this size, ten years would always be looked on as a minimal period required.

In an effort to cut down on the time, NASA are actually going back to some of the hardware used in Apollo. For instance, some of the engines designed to be used on the Saturn V rocket and the Lunar Module have been taken out of storage and test fired again (after 40 years in some cases) - sometimes with new, more efficient fuels. NASA have been delighted with the results. The Lunar Module engine has been fired up using a number of different propellants now and it has worked really well. Those guys back in the 60s really new what they were doing.

At the moment the main problem is getting a final design frozen on the Command Module. Unlike the Apollo CM, it will be bigger (carrying up to seven crew) and will be made mainly from composites (unlike the Apollo CM which was aluminium, steel and titanium). The proposals for the designs of the Linar Landers hare currently being submitted by the interested aeropspace manufacturers and will be subject to review by a NASA board. This all takes time and, unlike the 1960s "Space Race" it's all happening at a far more leisurely pace.
Depending on how fast the Chinese move, this pace may accelerate.

I'd probably argue that the launch vehicles are the main problem, so the command module is having to be redesigned, and arguably compromised to 'help' with the performance of the rockets. Otherwise, give that man a coconut - as ever, Eric gives a very good account of the situation.