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Chinese manned space launch

arcticpenguin

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arcticpenguin said:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=624&e=2&u=/ap/20031008/ap_on_sc/china_space

Alleged launch date: 15 October 2003.

Scientific American ran an article on their technology recently: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&colID=1&articleID=0005B4B6-1CEC-1F5D-905980A84189EEDF

I wonder if the Chinese government is prepared for the openness expected of a launch televised live: successful or otherwise.
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Good news for state-capitalist China.
 
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/10/10/china.space/index.html

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- China has confirmed that it is planning to launch its first manned space flight at "an appropriate time" between October 15 and 17.

The announcement was made Friday by an unidentified official in charge of the country's manned space program, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
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The official in charge of China's space program doesn't have a name?
 
(As observed by NASA in the US on OPctober 15th): 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1,...lift off. We have lift off. (Long pause). What the?! Hehhhhhhhhhh! What the....?! I think it's heading our way! Hmmmm. Get on the hotline to Washington. NOW!!!! (Commander from NASA to President Bush) You don't suppose....you don't suppose that they put a suicide fall-guy in that capsule, and it's packing a nuke, do you? Because...that Chinese capsule is headin' straight our way!!!!:eek:
 
The announcement was made Friday by an unidentified official in charge of the country's manned space program, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
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I'd bet good money that the guy gave his name but the people at CNN couldn't pronounce it....That or the Officials responsible are keenly aware of the possibility of failure and don't want their names associated with the launch.
 
I haven't been following the developing Chinese space program as much as I should have been, but they have been saying for some time that a manned launch could probably happen within the second half of 2003.

The capsule is has been tested with a dummy, and given the degree of professianlism I percieved the last time I read about this, I imagine it will be a very sucessful launch.
 
arcticpenguin said:
I wonder if the Chinese government is prepared for the openness expected of a launch televised live: successful or otherwise.
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It seems to me that I saw some footage of a Chinese rocket launch on one of those "video clip" shows (perhaps "Real TV"). The camera followed the rocket until it became obvious that there were "technical difficulties." Then the video showing the rocket was abruptly "lost." Although it was not widely known in China, the rocket crashed into a town, killing and hurting many.

It is possible that the Chinese officials will decide to show the launch only if it is a success.
 
Wow, the Chinese have perfected 1960's technology! That's fantastic (just kidding...don't get all pissed off)!
I don't see why they are receiving so much coverage...we launched a space shuttle every few months (before the accident), and NASA wouldn't receive nearly that much coverage (and the shuttle would be in orbit for long periods of time, not just a few hours). Yes, it is the first time China is doing such a thing, but still....

edited to add: To clarify my position, I'd like to say that I don't mind the Chinese launch garnering so much attention, it's just that I wish that each of our space shuttle flights would receive the same attention from the media. When Columbia "exploded" during re-entry, how many people even knew that there was a shuttle on a mission at that time?
 
I predict China's space program will overtake the USA's space program within a decade, with all those scientists they have working on such things.
 
Wow, the Chinese have perfected 1960's technology! That's fantastic (just kidding...don't get all pissed off)!
I don't see why they are receiving so much coverage...we launched a space shuttle every few months (before the accident), and NASA wouldn't receive nearly that much coverage (and the shuttle would be in orbit for long periods of time, not just a few hours). Yes, it is the first time China is doing such a thing, but still....
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If they enter that market with the same vigour as they have entered the market for cars, -electronics furniture etc. then i would start worrying if i was NASA. The space shuttle is not very efficient when it comes to putting things in orbit and the Chinese space agency might be the final nail in the shuttle coffin.
 
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/10/14/china.countdown/index.html

Reports Tuesday said state broadcaster CCTV had scrapped plans to transmit live television pictures of the launch on the advice of "space experts."

According to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post the live broadcast was canceled "because the leadership considered the political risks of a failure too great," the newspaper said citing unidentified "media sources."
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They blinked. They couldn't handle the openness.

Mission controllers have said the launch will take place in daylight anytime between Wednesday and Friday, although there is mounting speculation in the Chinese media that the Long March 2-F rocket will blast off at about 9 a.m. Wednesday (0100 GMT Wednesday, 9 p.m. ET Tuesday).
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Godspeed, taikonaut #1...

China is doing this for national pride. I wonder how far it will take them! Mostly I'm just pleased to see that some humans still have the stones to do this sort of thing.

A slight aside - has anyone read Stephen Baxter's novel Titan? It's amazingly prescient and current.

did
 
clk said:
I don't see why they are receiving so much coverage...we launched a space shuttle every few months (before the accident), and NASA wouldn't receive nearly that much coverage (and the shuttle would be in orbit for long periods of time, not just a few hours). Yes, it is the first time China is doing such a thing, but still....
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There's no "but still" - you nailed it. This is the first time China's done such a thing. It's a safe bet that China's fifth launch won't garner nearly as much publicity as their first.

Much like our repeated moon landings...


To clarify my position, I'd like to say that I don't mind the Chinese launch garnering so much attention, it's just that I wish that each of our space shuttle flights would receive the same attention from the media.
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Well, a routine shuttle flight simply isn't "news". Sucks, but them's the breaks.

NASA might do a little more to try to engage the public interest in what they're putting into space, though. Even their web site isn't terribly interesting unless you're already a scientist.
 
I'm of two minds in that. Since they used to sign my paycheck, I do try to keep an eye on certain aspects of the program.

But... I do wish we were already at the stage where launches and orbital activity were so common we thought no more of it than regular air travel.

I do hope to live that long.
 
T'ai Chi said:
I predict China's space program will overtake the USA's space program within a decade, with all those scientists they have working on such things.
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That, of course, depends on whether they base calculations and other preparations on real math and physics or on feng shui.
 
Ove said:


If they enter that market with the same vigour as they have entered the market for cars, -electronics furniture etc. then i would start worrying if i was NASA. The space shuttle is not very efficient when it comes to putting things in orbit and the Chinese space agency might be the final nail in the shuttle coffin.
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Yes, because everywhere I look when I drive to work, I see chinese cars!

Are you mad?


This just in- The Chinese are afraid to broadcast the launch now, and have cancelled the broadcast. Makes ya feel REAL confident that it will succede huh?

I wish the Taikonaut godspeed, but I think it would be more appropriate to start writing him a good eulogy. . .

"Chen was a brave man, and a national hero. . .'
 
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=570&ncid=753&e=1&u=/nm/20031014/sc_nm/space_china_dc

The clock was ticking down for possible lift-off around 9 a.m. (9 p.m. EDT Tuesday) on Wednesday, the start of a three-day window for a launch that would rocket China into the exclusive space club pioneered by the former Soviet Union and United States four decades ago.
...
Chinese legend holds that a Ming dynasty (1368-1644) official named Wan Hu attempted the world's first space launch. He strapped himself to a chair with kites in each hand as 47 servants lit 47 gunpowder-packed bamboo tubes tied to the seat.

When the smoke cleared, Wan was obliterated. But the dream was not.
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arcticpenguin said:
Chinese legend holds that a Ming dynasty (1368-1644) official named Wan Hu attempted the world's first space launch. He strapped himself to a chair with kites in each hand as 47 servants lit 47 gunpowder-packed bamboo tubes tied to the seat.

When the smoke cleared, Wan was obliterated. But the dream was not.
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Let's hope that story was not an omen.
 
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