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gaetanomarano.it
ghostNASA.com

Erm?

What kind of thread title is that?

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'The eye can only see what the mind is prepared to accept'

it redirects to a curious image without talk of it

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gaetanomarano.it
ghostNASA.com

And the point is?

Well, it is definitely a Chinese Long March rocket, probably a CZ-2F. The only thing I find curious about the picture is that the building looks remarkably similar to the VAB, only much smaller.

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Webmaster, Rocket & Space Technology

Title edited. I think it behooves a thread originator to provide a descriptive title for the thread so that people can decide whether it's worth checking out.

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Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.

And, personally, I'd respect articles more if their titles communicated content, rather than than sport attention-seeking punctuation marks like the recent (something like) ( ) ( ) ( ) EggCEV ( ) ( ) ( ) example. Pretend you're titling scholarly mini-papers, not marking up a men's-room wall. Thanks.

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I've been reading alot of threads on the Chinese Shenzhou but not much on its next generation rocket
here are some discussions on Shenzhou
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/content/?cid=4348
http://www.newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2565
Shenzhou 5 Returns Safely to Earth
http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/i...showtopic=1526

From what I've heard Chang Zheng 5 or LongMarch-V would be medium-Heavy ( able to place 20 plus tonnes in LEO), while CZ-6 or LM-6 would be their very heavy lifter launching up to 70 tonnes in LEO. The Chinese have 4 launch pads, Xichang, Taiyuan, the Jiuquan for manned flights and the new Hainan Spaceport ( also known for the spy plane incident between the US and China ) would be suited for the new CZ-5 Heavy ELV it was currently under expansion but construction has also been postponed many times.
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Ch...pace_Port.html
Perhaps they are waiting to see how thier next Shenzhou missions go before they start building a new Heavy Launcher

.

many talk of the chinese space program only as a "game" for a "newest rich country" that "wants only to show its ability with rockets"

but I don't agree with that opinions

the chinese VAB is a curiosity but (also) a good example of "how China does things" (when they want) and "how serious they are about their space program"

they WANT to launch manned vehicles?

well, they BUILD (first) a (NASA looking) VAB!

I think that (despite to-day's "old" vehicles) China will be the most serious challenger in the space exploration and business (and, probably, the winner)

China may reserve many surprises to us (and to the bigger countries) since they don't reveal (near) nothing of their future space programs

so, we can't know if, inside chinese space engineers computers, already runs some new ChinaAres, ChinaOrion, ChinaLSAM, etc...

.

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gaetanomarano.it
ghostNASA.com

Hmm..

Juan Pablo Montoya on the other hand, does know what the winner means .

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To the regular visitor of internet bulletin boards it is clear that it's an excellent idea your parents get to choose your real name.

Not in F1...

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If you're careful enough, nothing bad or good will ever happen to you.

a (possible) "winner" in the (new) "race" you prefer:

- land on the moon

- TV show/audience

- political prestige

- business and commerce leadership

- exploration "quality" (more missions, more hours, more rocks, more astronauts)

- etc.

.

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gaetanomarano.it
ghostNASA.com

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

Given the 24 hour news cycle in the US, the odds are we'll be watching EVERY landing that happens, when they start happening again.

Political prestige will be better manifest by doing it better, rather than faster. Besides, despite the rapid onset of the Chinese program, and the enduring capability of the Russian program, we've got a minor edge over them.

Over China: We've got the hardware maturity to support it. I've not a doubt that China will independently put a man on the Moon, the kicker is, they've got a lot of steps between where they are, and where they need to be to do it. They haven't had their first real setback yet, so its hard to say what their government will do WHEN that setback happens. (Not if, when, statistically you can't go forever without something catastrophic happening.)

Over Russia: We can afford it. Russia may be floating on money because of the bloat in oil prices, but now that its coming down below $70 a barrel, and matters in the Middle East settling back into something resembling the usual raucous business as usual, I wouldn't count on extending that run of luck at the oil well floating them for long. Aside from which, given the recent rumblings of the old bear in Putin's presidency, I'm willing to bet we'll see something of the inefficiency of a paranoid state run operation settle in, if matters aren't corrected soon.

NASA is not a business. Most of what NASA does is not bottom line friendly, they do the proof of concept work underwritten by the taxpayers, which gives them the luxury of "do it right, even if its not cheap". Not that this is always the case, in practice, but in theory, they've got the mandate to be a little extravagant in cost, if it means it works right, safely, every time it flies. (They tend to buy themselves a LOT of trouble when they step away from that mandate and start getting cost conscious.)

This is not a function of being there first. Mission endurance is a matter of hardware performance. Even so, we've still got a massive lead in this area because of the tons of lunar material brought back by Apollo.

That we know about...

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If you're careful enough, nothing bad or good will ever happen to you.

ahem, what about the Long March that exploded and destroyed a village? No astronaut got killed in that accident, but that's about it for the positive side.

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To the regular visitor of internet bulletin boards it is clear that it's an excellent idea your parents get to choose your real name.

You don't have to be to know...

(don't try to combine this with "I think, therefore I am". Your head will explode. Too late.)

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To the regular visitor of internet bulletin boards it is clear that it's an excellent idea your parents get to choose your real name.

but MANY countries wish to print (first) that lunar-shirts...
but not with the same audience between the (new) first landing and the #2-up landings
(maybe) China will do it better AND faster
the moon missions need a capsule... China and Russia already have them... Orion needs 9+ years to fly (if the Ares-I will work...)
that still remains a very good price for a country that has so much of it
not the business of the space agencies... the business and commerce of the countries, aerospace industry, etc.
not (only) "first", but "more"
I don't know IF and WHEN China will land on the moon, but (I'm sure) ALL its hardware will be reliable and (many times) cheaper
then, the "higher quality" will come from more missions with more astronauts and more exploration & science hardware

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gaetanomarano.it
ghostNASA.com

How are you sure?

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Webmaster, Rocket & Space Technology