11–20 of 74 posts
Does anyone have a list of things China said they are going to do but haven't actually done? [Added] Just to be clear, I am actually interested in a list, not interested in disparaging China. I'm mainly curious.
The Chinese call one of theses lists their constitution.
Orbital space debris is a real problem. I hope China will be a little more responsible than they have in the past. http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelpaukner/4314987544/sizes... http://www.space.com/3415-china-anti-satellite-test-worrisom... http://www.space.com/20138-russian-satellite-chinese-space-j... In any case, I hope more countries put more space stations up. It would be great for space tourism and other huma…
In my opinion, Chinese engineering is a wonder to behold in an era of modern western bureaucracy killing amazing projects. I realise Chinese politics are so far the other way they can be just as bad in different ways, but if China had the same level of bureaucracy as the west their insane Beijing-Shanghai high speed rail link would have never happened. In the process of creating this, they built 3 of the top 5 longest bridges in the world.
China have a lot of wealth, a lot of manpower, a lot of ambition. Sure, there is a high cost, but there was a cost to the pyramids, the great wall, skyscrapers in any top tier city, castles around the world and so on.
I'm not trying to glorify the obvious human rights abuses which lead to such amazing monuments of modern engineering but I find it difficult not to be enthralled by the wonderful creations of China of late and look forward to how they compete with a new space station.
Orbital space debris is a real problem. I hope China will be a little more responsible than they have in the past. http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelpaukner/4314987544/sizes... http://www.space.com/3415-china-anti-satellite-test-worrisom... http://www.space.com/20138-russian-satellite-chinese-space-j... In any case, I hope more countries put more space stations up. It would be great for space tourism and other huma…
Flaming remarks. Removed
Orbital space debris is a real problem. I hope China will be a little more responsible than they have in the past. http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelpaukner/4314987544/sizes... http://www.space.com/3415-china-anti-satellite-test-worrisom... http://www.space.com/20138-russian-satellite-chinese-space-j... In any case, I hope more countries put more space stations up. It would be great for space tourism and other huma…
Flaming remarks. Removed
US: 453 / 683 / 3258
Russia/USSR: 86 / 1310 / 2690
China: 40 / 29 / 2690
I am genuinely hoping that this type of thing leads to a cold-war style space race with increased investments into science and technology.
Manned spaceflight in China is a program of national prestige (though that's no different than any other country). But because of China's culture, their government, and the fact that almost all of what they are doing in spaceflight is retreading old ground they have been and will continue to be extremely cautious, moving at a slow pace. China's first manned spaceflight was a decade ago. In that time they've launched a grand total of 5 manned missions. Recently they've accelerated to a rate of about one every year. Meanwhile, they plan to spend the next decade slowly building a larger space station (similar to Mir though with only 3 permanent modules) and developing automated resupply spacecraft.
They aren't trying to trailblaze new eras of space exploration, they're just trying to play the manned spaceflight game to show that they are a country capable of doing so.
Fortunately though there will be considerable competition among private companies in the US, in both launch vehicles and manned spaceflight. Two companies have already developed unmanned cargo resupply vessels (though Orbital has not yet fully demonstrated theirs yet), at least 3 companies are building manned spacecraft for putting crew in orbit, and several companies are working on yet more advanced technologies for sending crews beyond Earth.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Chinese call one of theses lists their constitution.
This is hypocritical. US and the whole Western world is not any better on this.
The US constitution frequently prevents the US government (and US State governments) from enacting laws or enforcing previously enacted laws. This can be good or bad depending on your point of view, but it's a simple fact that in the US we have constitutional rights that are actually pretty potent. Do the police in China have to read people their rights? Guantanomo is a travesty, but it's a travesty precisely because the US Constitution is difficult for the government to ignore.
A more interesting example is many former British colonies, such as Australia, and Britain itself manage to have quite free societies despite having almost no constitutional protections. In China I'd say you don't even seem to have the basic rights people in the English system and its descendants enjoy thanks to the Magna Carta (Habeas Corpus, for example, or the right to a fair trial. Wasn't there just a very high profile case in China where the accused was very vocal one day and then suddenly had nothing to say the next?)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Flaming remarks. Removed
Active Satellites / Non-Active Satellites / Orbiting Space Debris: US: 453 / 683 / 3258 Russia/USSR: 86 / 1310 / 2690 China: 40 / 29 / 2690
Also the number is a bit misleading. Most of the China's debris were probably generated by the ASAT test in 2007, which is not a common case.
Thought I'd comment before the typical anti-Chinese-Engineering brigade shows up. In my opinion, Chinese engineering is a wonder to behold in an era of modern western bureaucracy killing amazing projects. I realise Chinese politics are so far the other way they can be just as bad in different ways, but if China had the same level of bureaucracy as the west their insane Beijing-Shanghai high speed rail link would have…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is hypocritical. US and the whole Western world is not any better on this.
It's only a bit hypocritical. There are actual degrees of hypocrisy! The US constitution frequently prevents the US government (and US State governments) from enacting laws or enforcing previously enacted laws. This can be good or bad depending on your point of view, but it's a simple fact that in the US we have constitutional rights that are actually pretty potent. Do the police in China have to read people their ri…
I don't get this. Did you mean there are 50% hypocrites and 90% hypocrites? And the 50% hypocrites can always laugh it out at the 90% hypocrites, because he/she may think he/she has a moral high ground due to less hypocrisy. Heck, that's mouthful.