Posted on 03/17/2007 11:43:10 AM PDT by Names Ash Housewares
Rewriting history?
Hey guys, first place only counts if you do something with it. The Chinese discovered gunpowder, used it for fireworks and probably wished they had done a bit more applications work by the time of the Boxer Rebellion.
We should have colonies up there, Americans should be launching deep space with an electro-mag rail gun, tourists should be flying with strap-on wings in low gravity atriums. Does anybody read Heinlien anymore?
The Chinese are ambitious if nothing else. First, second, nevermind. Whoever DOES something with it first will be remembered. That's why Columbus Day is a holiday and Lief Erickson is an historical footnote.
Someone please tell me, why in the world would we be wasting money on such an endeavor?
Yup, and all the guys that got us there are either in their graves, or across the hall from my nana at the nursing home.
"Whoever DOES something with it first will be remembered. That's why Columbus Day is a holiday and Lief Erickson is an historical footnote."
Bingo and BTTT!
China will probably beat NASA to the moon by five years. They would have no intent of claiming the moon or allowing a Chinese business to claim any part of the moon since they just used the Treaty to deny the claims of the Lunar Embassy.
Exactly...."other than the fact THAT WE'VE ALREADY BEEN THERE FREAKING DONE THAT!"
sheesh!!!!! Now they're going to BEAT US? What is worng with the freaking language these days? Does anything mean ANYTHING anymore?
True, China is 40 years behind the USA, but so is the USA.
Think of it like writing a book...you sit down with a story in mind, but often, if you're good, you wind up producing brilliant literature that you never would have even conceived of if you hadn't sat down to write the book in the first place.
I agree. Repeal the Treaty and let private business develop outer space resources.
. . . Hmmm. Trying to think of something. Can we get back to you?
Oh FGS!
Other than SOLID STATE COMPUTERS and ICBMs and anti-missile diefense and the ABL and GPS and the farthest flung deep space probes that will ever be sent sub-lightspeed.....yeah, the USA pretty much will never be remembered for anything in space.
The chinese, though, after launching a couple of spam-in-the-can 1963-type shots, oh, they own space, right?
I predict that a willy nilly advance to the moon by the chinese will result in some of the first lunar graves. I'll bet you dollars to eggrolls.
How do you figure the US is 40 years behind the US?
If someone explained the current manufacturing going into the carbon-fiber 787 in 1975 they'd haul them off to jail for disclosing military secrets!
Let's review, cursory, the Chinese aerospace talent:
Commercial Aircraft---not a gd single one! Buys lots of Boeing.
Fighters- knocking off some russian disasters. J-9 this!
"Anti Sat" technology - consists of launching another satellite in an identical orbit and letting them run into each other. Uh. If you can launch a single satellite, then you can demonstrate "asat" capability...duh.
Manned program - Wheeeee! Three spam-in-a-can-shots! Right?
But you're right, compared to China...yeah....we're no more advanced than we were in 1967.
ben there...done that.
So far the Chinese have been relying on hardware purchased from Russia. They're going to find it difficult to purchase off the shelf parts to get them to the Moon.
Do not underestimate China.
Your trade deficit dollars at work.
Do not underestimate USSR. They have the missile advantage remember?
I don't underestimate any country....but I -did- overestimate China's hi-tech industry in 2004 when I thought I'd better go work over there for a while and see where my job was going to end up.
After 4 months of working there, and after 15 years of working with them vs. Turkey and Poland, the Chinese had very much better watch their asses. They may have you spooked, but they're even more vulnerable than Ahmafoolamybad.
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