Nov 022011
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15562928
An unmanned Shenzhou spacecraft docked with the Tiangong-1 space lab.
Congrats to the Chinese.
We’d better step it up, people.
6 Responses to “Chinese spacecraft dock in orbit”
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We’ve had a permanently crewed space station for over a decade.
It’s the Chinese that need to step “it” up.
> We’ve had a permanently crewed space station
It’s a useless piece of crap that has been completely unused. A *good* space station would have been used as a base of operations for spacecraft construction, or as a propellant depot, something. ISS just… goes around.
> It’s the Chinese that need to step “it” up.
They are plodding forward. Slowly. We are racing backwards.
They have a manned launch system. What does the US have? Hopefully we’ll have the Dragon/Falcon 9 shortly. *Hopefully.* I fully expect the regulators and litigators to do their damnedest to make sure that the Dragon doesn’t happen.
Indeed such result is outstanding, especially if we think that they started about 15 years ago more or less from zero.
This result is more remarkable if we think that is far better of what Europe did in the same time frame (given a budget order of magnitude higher than Chinese’s one)…
Ok what Shenzhou 8 made is the same realized by ATV-1 some years ago with the “little” difference that the Shenzhou is a full-fledged manned spacecraft while ATV it is only a single-shot no crew Coca-Cola can.
I wouldn’t assume that the China’s budget is less than Europe. As demonstrated by China’s military, the Chinese have interesting ways of budgeting that make it seem like they are spending less than they actually are.
doG forbid that anyone ever hired by NASA could be found “excess to requirements”. And yes, I expect the usual players to do whatever is necessary to ensure Dragon never gets man-rated (unless doing so “proves” the usual suspects’ choice to be “cheaper”).
Hmm. Wrong thread. Sorry, and my bad.