| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Therion Ware" |
| Date: |
10 Oct 2003 05:51:22 AM |
| Object: |
OT: Manned China space launch confirmed |
China has confirmed that it will launch its first manned space mission
between 15 and 17 October, the official Xinhua news agency has
reported.
The Shenzhou 5 spacecraft will orbit the earth 14 times before landing
at a "pre-selected area" an unnamed space official told the agency.
China is aiming to become the third nation after the former Soviet
Union and the United States to send humans into space.
But until now the anticipated launch has been shrouded in secrecy.
None of the would-be astronauts, known in Chinese as "yuhangyuan",
have yet been named.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3180618.stm
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| User: "Therion Ware" |
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| Title: Re: OT: Manned China space launch confirmed |
10 Oct 2003 05:54:18 AM |
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On Fri, 10 Oct 2003 11:51:22 +0100 in alt.atheism, Therion Ware
(Therion Ware <autodelete@city-of-dis.com>) said, directing the reply
to alt.atheism
China has confirmed that it will launch its first manned space mission
between 15 and 17 October, the official Xinhua news agency has
reported.
The Shenzhou 5 spacecraft will orbit the earth 14 times before landing
at a "pre-selected area" an unnamed space official told the agency.
China is aiming to become the third nation after the former Soviet
Union and the United States to send humans into space.
But until now the anticipated launch has been shrouded in secrecy.
None of the would-be astronauts, known in Chinese as "yuhangyuan",
have yet been named.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3180618.stm
More here:
China's new space order
By Helen Briggs
BBC News Online science reporter
Yuri Gagarin, Alan Shepherd - Li Qinglong? If China becomes the third
nation to put a person into space, the man rumoured to be the first
Chinese astronaut, or yuhangyuan, will be the new name on everyone's
lips.
Coming more than 40 years after Gagarin's historic orbit of the Earth,
it will not in itself be a major technological triumph.
But it will spell out to the world that China has the know-how and
financial clout to put a crew into space.
"It establishes that China has come of age as a technological and
economic player," says Howard McCurdy, a space policy expert at
American University, Washington DC. "That you're a player on the world
scene in the modern 21st Century economy."
Cold War shadow
The Chinese Government has revealed few details of its first manned
space flight. But if they can pull it off - and many believe they can
- it will symbolise China's entry to the elite club of space-faring
nations at a time when the US is agonising over manned space flight.
If the Chinese land on the Moon, that would be a different equation
Prof Howard McCurdy
According to Douglas Millard, curator of space technology at London's
Science Museum, the "ripples" of the Cold War are still passing
through us, leaving the old space powers - the US and Russia - in a
state of flux.
"We're still riding on the coat tails of the Cold War," he says. "A
lot of the old rule books have been thrown away."
There is no doubt that the US is still the heavyweight by far, holding
the purse-strings for about 80% of the world space budget and largely
financing the International Space Station.
But the glory days of Russia's space programme are long over and other
nations are starting to stretch their wings in the high ground of
space.
Europe has its own launcher, the Ariane 5 rocket, and a fleet of
planetary probes, but has not committed itself to manned missions.
Japan is investing in unmanned space craft and India is trying to
harness nationalistic pride with talk of sending a probe to the Moon.
So where does this leave the US, as a new order emerges? According to
Phil Deans, director of the Contemporary China Institute at the School
of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, "some figures
in the Bush administration are frightened to the point of paranoia" by
this demonstration of Chinese power.
"The Americans are very, very concerned," he says. "Since the end of
the Cold War, they have had almost a complete monopoly on getting
themselves into space. Now there's a lot more competition."
East-West links
While the US does not collaborate with China on space missions, other
countries such as Brazil and Europe are forging links.
The European Space Agency has joined forces with China for a space
science mission, Double Star, which will study the effects of the Sun
on the Earth.
He is confident that when it comes to the manned mission, China can
pull it off.
"Based on what we've seen, they know what they're doing," he says. "It
wouldn't surprise me if it works and it is on time."
Dr Fazakerley believes China is unlikely to stop there, unless there
is a big political upset.
Big ambitions
There is talk of unmanned and even manned missions to the Moon which,
if confirmed, would certainly raise the stakes.
"If the Chinese land on the Moon, that would be a different equation,"
says Professor McCurdy.
"It's a lot of money to spend to prove you're a big kid on the
technology block."
McCurdy says that with the Cold War out of the equation, there is much
less significance in China putting people into orbit unless they
choose a prize such as the Moon, which would cost a fortune.
But according to Dr Deans, the prestige of even a short flight around
the Earth matters to the Chinese.
"Big projects like this are a good way for the Chinese leadership to
maintain its legitimacy," he says.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/sci/tech/3171094.stm
Published: 2003/10/10 04:19:55 GMT
© BBC MMIII
--
"Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You."
- Attrib: Pauline Reage.
Inexpensive VHS & other video to CD/DVD conversion?
See: <http://www.Video2CD.com>. 35.00 gets your video on DVD.
all posts to this email address are automatically deleted without being read.
** atheist poster child #1 ** #442.
.
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