China's first manned space launch imminent

[crabofix]

Originally posted by NUKE
The Shuttle is 1970's US technology, unmatched even today by any nation.

Your just full of it,  70 s "US" technology, unmatched?

[NUKE]

I doubt the Russian version ( copy) was better, since it was never completed and was only capable of a couple of un-manned orbits due to lack of life support and computer limits. And this was YEARS after the American shuttle was in regular service.

And the Russion version was only a copy that didnt even fly one person into orbit.

[NUKE]

Originally posted by crabofix
Your just full of it,  70 s "US" technology, unmatched?

Tell me what nation matched the US space shuttle?

[crabofix]

Originally posted by NUKE
Tell me what nation matched the US space shuttle?

Not talking about the shuttle, but the technology, US was probebly researching everything by themself and took no help from anyone else? WoOooOW, A complete new "old 70īs" technology, that no one knows about?
And no one will be able to match it the year 2003 If they found it worth to waste money on it?

[NUKE]

Let me clear it up for you: The US developed the space shutttle in the late 60's through mid seventies, completeing the project in the late 70's and launching it into space in the early 1980's and no other nation has duplicated it since.

[crabofix]

Originally posted by NUKE
Let me clear it up for you: The US developed the space shutttle in the late 60's through mid seventies, completeing the project in the late 70's and launching it into space in the early 1980's and no other nation has duplicated it since.

Ok, so you think, that if there was anything to "earn" with this, no one would make an effort? It is an enourmouse cost to develop a spacecraft. But dont say that others dont have the technology to do it.

Cause the chinese took of in a "shuttle"

[Gh0stFT]

Competition is good! Race to Mars is ON!

[Saintaw]

Here's a more fitting one to play with :

[mrblack]

I have to see the footage of them trying to eat in zero gravity with chopsticks:rofl

[Twist]

Yeaaaaah...Jackie Chan in space, I think I'll wait for the video.

[Chairboy]

I'm no chinese apologist, but technically, their Shenzhou spacecraft is the most modern spacecraft design in service.  The Soyuz is still full of analog equipment, as is the US space shuttle.  The Shenzhou is apparently a ground-up re-design of the Soyuz.  If the Soyuz design threatens you, then keep in mind that there has been discussion about the Soviet Union 'appropriating' a GE spacecraft design remarkably like Soyuz in the 60s.

http://www.astronautix.com/articles/wastolen.htm

If it makes anyone feel better....  

[Chairboy]

Oh, and the Buran was a technologically superior design.  It should have been, it was developed about 10 years after the US shuttle and was able to take advantage of 10 years of technology.

It could do feats the US shuttle couldn't, including automatic landing (the first flight of the soviet shuttle was unmanned because it COULD be unmanned, the US shuttle first flight was manned because they had no other option) and aborts through all phases of launch.

The soviet shuttle was scrapped because of a tiny roadbump in its development schedule, namely that the entire Soviet Union collapsed shortly after its first flight.  It wasn't because the design was unsound.  Finally, when Russia had enough money to start spending on space again after a couple years, they looked at the shuttle design and realized what most people realized in the US about the shuttle, that it is an extraordinarilly expensive way to go to space.  The US spends $500 million per launch of the 'advanced re-usable shuttle'.  The russians spend 1/10th that for their disposable spacecraft.  Who's the sucker?

If you'd like to read more about the development of the US shuttle and why it is so expensive, check out Jensen's definitive guide on the subject:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0963397451/qid=1066207682/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_3/104-7461083-4888700?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

[Fishu]

If the history repeats itself, they'll be having at least one russian cosmonaut in the craft, helping it's crew to get it in the space.. and probably back

Originally posted by NUKE
Let me clear it up for you: The US developed the space shutttle in the late 60's through mid seventies, completeing the project in the late 70's and launching it into space in the early 1980's and no other nation has duplicated it since.

It might have something to do with the disinterest in space on a global scale, since theres nothing of interest except for the money blackhole.
Only real business up there is the satellites and there seems to be enough competition already..  the russians and americans.
So all in all, it would cost alot more to get into the space than theres profit.

....which is quite much the reason why US hasn't been developing new space shuttles with a hurry.
Hurried space development and competition pretty much died when soviet union collapsed... actually already before that.


People can always achieve something outstanding and have nobody else do it, if they pour helluva lot money into it

[trolla]

Great stuff stolen tech or not, it takes a brave man to sit on top of all that explosive stuff when launching.
Moon is nest for them i read somewhere and that is within the next 3 years.

Guess they need some space there is about 1 billion of them

[straffo]

Originally posted by GScholz
Fishu, actually it's the French who owns most of the satellite launching marked.

Not only the French :