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As last module docks, China completes its space station

nytimes.com

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Re: As last module docks, China completes its space station

#51

Post by oneoff786 »

Victerius wrote: post #39
oneoff786 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re afraid china will beat the us to aesthetic space stations?

I want a country to make one. Any country. I would gladly pay for a ticket for a week long stay on an aesthetic space station. You have no idea how badly I want to live in the kind of futuristic future depicted in science fiction.

> I would gladly pay for a ticket for a week long stay on an aesthetic space station.

How much would you pay? Because the capital cost of building it was hand wavey thrown out as $500B and the operating costs of facility would be exorbitant.

What do you imagine doing?

Re: As last module docks, China completes its space station

#52

Post by baybal2 »

Victerius wrote: post #8

I hope mankind can move beyond building space stations as a handful of modular small cylinders, and start building space stations the way they appear in science fiction: dozens of rooms, cubical exteriors, hallways, human height doors that open and close, stairs, elevators, hangars, a nuclear reactor instead of solar panels, and modules that rotate around an axis to create artificial gravity. And a more diversified c…

It's extremely hard to join large structures airtight, with joints being stronger than the material itself.

Soviet, and Russian spacecraft, and modules were traditionally made with extremely uneconomical method of machining the vessel from a single giant piece of aluminium to not to worry about joints, and their strength under space conditions.

Re: As last module docks, China completes its space station

#53

Post by vasco »

wellthisisgreat wrote: post #13
mensetmanusman wrote: post #6

Quoted post unavailable.

Nationalism, any forms of it are evil. There is no "benign nationalism" that is just people being proud for their country or whatever. It all leads to sorrow and, ultimately, destruction. Paraphrasing Voltaire, we should squash it. It is not beneficial and people can absolutely "reach for the stars" in all senses of it without nationalism. The only thing nationalism, in any form, moderate or extreme, is good for is f…

I have the same feeling. Most people are quick to be anti nationalist shenanigans but then are quicker to defend things like "keep jobs for " type rhetoric as if the people who are taking those jobs aren't humans of equal worth.

I wish we'd just get done with it but I have the same sadness that it's going to take a few more hundred years at least.

Re: As last module docks, China completes its space station

#54

Post by jason-phillips »

Yiin wrote: post #26
huhtenberg wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The page sits at "Loading" and the console shows "Uncaught (in promise) TypeError: navigator.geolocation is undefined".

Your browser needs to support sharing geolocation.

No, it does not.

An uncaught error where you don't catch and gracefully handle errors in your promises is not the users' fault. It's sloppy workmanship.

Re: As last module docks, China completes its space station

#55

Post by Steltek »

edm0nd wrote: post #37
wellthisisgreat wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nationalism, any forms of it are evil. There is no "benign nationalism" that is just people being proud for their country or whatever. It all leads to sorrow and, ultimately, destruction. Paraphrasing Voltaire, we should squash it. It is not beneficial and people can absolutely "reach for the stars" in all senses of it without nationalism. The only thing nationalism, in any form, moderate or extreme, is good for is f…

I think nationalism is just fine. Its okay to love your country and fellow citizens. It's when it turns to extremism that it gets ugly and bad.

I typically define that as "patriotism". In other words, patriotism is loving your country and wanting to make it better. Nationalism is loving your country and thinking it's better than all the others.

Re: As last module docks, China completes its space station

#56

Post by systemvoltage »

Victerius wrote: post #20
elil17 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We need a reason to do it first.

More habitable space, more luxurious accommodations, more energy generating capacity, more space for laboratory equipment and experiments.

Here in SF, we have cars with bumper stickers that say "Leave space alone".

So it starts, the birth of space environmentalists.

Re: As last module docks, China completes its space station

#57

Post by jdbernard »

jason-phillips wrote: post #54
Yiin wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your browser needs to support sharing geolocation.

No, it does not. An uncaught error where you don't catch and gracefully handle errors in your promises is not the users' fault. It's sloppy workmanship.

I'm sure they'd be happy to give you a refund. :)

Re: As last module docks, China completes its space station

#58

Post by vbezhenar »

nonethewiser wrote: post #11
Victerius wrote: post #8

I hope mankind can move beyond building space stations as a handful of modular small cylinders, and start building space stations the way they appear in science fiction: dozens of rooms, cubical exteriors, hallways, human height doors that open and close, stairs, elevators, hangars, a nuclear reactor instead of solar panels, and modules that rotate around an axis to create artificial gravity. And a more diversified c…

Hopefully they solve more important problems first though.

No post body was provided.

Re: As last module docks, China completes its space station

#59

Post by throwaway894345 »

diskzero wrote: post #42
Victerius wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

Space stations and exploration can be a difficult proposition to justify to any economic system; democratic, socialist, communist, etc. For China to want to "beat" us, building bigger and better space stations would somehow have to align with the current and future five year plans. I would rather have China and the US pouring tons of money into space stations and exploration, but it is hard to figure out the rational…

The space race was motivated by competition with Russia, notably the imperative to establish a tactical nuclear advantage. We could conceivably see another space race between the US and China, but maybe not if "space" doesn't have the same tactical appeal?

Re: As last module docks, China completes its space station

#60

Post by post-it »

buscoquadnary wrote: post #44
TremendousJudge wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're seriously overestimating Chinese economic capabilities. They are still constrained by the same economic realities as everybody else, and -- much as we wish it were possible -- they cannot afford to just do whatever .

"You can accomplish anything when you have vision, determination and an endless supply of expendable labor"

The type of labour needed to build a space station isn't expendable.
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