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China ready to launch first crew to new space station
#1
Quote:[Image: c1_4003115.jpg]

A Long March-2F rocket will carry the first crew to China's new space station.

BEIJING: The first crew for China's new space station prepared to blast off this week for the latest step in Beijing's ambitious
programme to establish itself as a space power.

The mission is China's first crewed spaceflight in nearly five years, and a matter of prestige for the government as it prepares
to mark the 100th birthday of the ruling Communist Party on July 1 with a propaganda blitz. A Long March-2F rocket carrying
three astronauts in the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft is slated to lift off from a base in northwest China's Gobi desert on Thursday,
according to experts with knowledge of the matter.

They plan to spend three months on the Tiangong station, China's longest crewed space mission to date, with spacewalks
among their tasks. The astronauts will aim to "get their new home in space kitted out and ready to use," said Jonathan
McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
"It's a practical goal rather than a groundbreaking one."

The Long March rocket, with the Shenzhou craft attached, was moved to the launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch
Center last week, according to the Chinese space agency. Shenzhou-12 will dock with the main section of the Tiangong station,
named Tianhe, which was placed in orbit on April 29.

A cargo craft last month transported fuel, food and equipment for the crewed mission.
Another 11 missions are planned over the next year and a half to complete the construction of Tiangong in orbit, including
the attachment of solar panels and two laboratory modules.
Three of those missions will carry astronauts for crew rotation.

"Keeping the station up and running smoothly involves much detailed and complicated work, as we saw on the International
Space Station during its early days," said Chen Lan, an analyst at GoTaikonauts, which specialises in China's space programme.
"In fact, ISS construction was much slower" than the Chinese station.

Once completed, Tiangong will have a mass of around 90 tonnes and is expected to have at least a 10-year lifespan, according
to the Chinese space agency. It will be much smaller than the ISS, and similar to the Soviet space station Mir, which was launched
in 1986 and decommissioned in 2001.

- 'Building a great nation' -
China has invested billions of dollars over decades to catch up with established space powers such as the United States and Russia.
It has so far sent humans into space, probes to the Moon, and last month landed a rover on Mars -- a rare and prestigious space-faring achievement.
China's desire for a human outpost of its own in Earth orbit was fuelled by a US ban on its astronauts on the International Space
Station, and it is now days away from placing the first crew on Tiangong. State media reported in October last year that astronauts
have been selected for all four crewed missions, but officials have been tight-lipped about their identities
All 11 Chinese astronauts to date have been military pilots.

A long-term human presence in space would be a significant leap in China's space programme.
President Xi Jinping called China's space station a key step in "building a great nation of science and technology" after the launch
of the Tianhe core module in April.

The International Space Station -- a collaboration between the United States, Russia, Canada, Europe and Japan -- is due for
retirement after 2024, although NASA has said it could potentially remain functional beyond 2028.
It sets up a scenario where Tiangong could be the only operational space station.

While China does not have specific plans to use it for international cooperation, its space authorities have said they are open to
foreign collaboration.
Foreign collaboration for a price IMO.. Nevertheless I wish them good luck and a safe launch

https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/213267...ce-station
#2
China hasn't had much luck with success in space percentagewise. I wish them the best though. But for some reason I get the picture of rednecks trying to shoot it down with clearly no results. Like when they tried shooting drones down. But my brain is scrambled, so nevermind. I hope their crap doesn't fall on us.
#3
I think this is scary. If China gets in a position of power in space, it's game over for us Earthlings. All they'd have to do is use a DEW (directed energy weapon) on anyone who gets out of line. There is a reason why the U.S. banned China's astronauts on the International Space Station. We can't allow them to gain control.
#4
HMmmmm. China spacecraft ? I don't trust their ordinary manufactured lightweight, breakage prone, toxic, junk here on solid ground. Can you imagine your air getting thinner and thinner until blackness sweeps over you.. .some ahead of you, some behind you, suffocating and dying. That Simple..... and it's very likely. There are certain people who you can trust and then the rest. Seen both. OH Hell no, I can find Chinese citizens in the underground anti communist, and turned capitalist. Makes a difference to be standing on equal ground. Who do I have problems with then ? Who is left. I think we can imagine. I had Chinese import friends in Downy California in 03 - 06 and both entities , them and us/we made excellent profit. But there was trust, and old school 'Honor' believe it or not , and my word was the same... to be accepted and believed, and it being mutual. 

 A phone call was all that was needed
So that leaves about..................................oh...........................zero places else to go to. Maybe Europe will come out of their slumber, but it's doubtful. and a shame with so many gifted and talented artisans  I suppose they will kill their selves and environment first.    and 06 is a long time ago. She always looked so 007 and me, so action as well. Fun fun fun.  So now I'm on the opposite side of the country again.  

All this: just over the title. It brought instant laughter to me, but it was something familiar to me. I would Not trust a Chinese space craft ........any way shape or form. You be my guest, you try it.  ...carry...on
#5
(06-15-2021, 05:51 PM)Mystic Wanderer Wrote: I think this is scary. If China gets in a position of power in space, it's game over for us Earthlings. All they'd have to do is use a DEW (directed energy weapon) on anyone who gets out of line. There is a reason why the U.S. banned China's astronauts on the International Space Station. We can't allow them to gain control.

I wouldn't worry much over it.

Space stations appear to be an end-of-life gasp from dying nations. The Soviet Union put up Mir, and then collapsed. The US put up the ISS, and is now in the process of collapsing. China putting an orbital station up could be a good sign of the end of the CCP.

Besides that, they have already armed space, and CCP satellites with lethal intent are over our heads right now, at this instant - in violation of international law, but there nonetheless. Nations have a bad habit of ignoring international law that conflicts with their desires.

The manned space stations aren't what you need to worry about. The orbital weapons platforms that are already in place are what needs to concern you.

Something I learned long ago - don't be distracted by looking where their right finger is pointing, concentrate instead on what their left hand is DOING while they are trying to distract you with their finger-pointing.

.
Diogenes was eating bread and lentils for supper. He was seen by the philosopher Aristippus, who lived comfortably by flattering the king.

Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’




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