SinoDefence Forum

Fairthought

walter is right, it is conservation of momentum.

The mass of the bullets times their change in velocity must be counterbalanced by the mass of the space station times its change in velocity. Since the space station is much more massive, its change in velocity is very small. Attitude jets can easily compensate for any spin caused by the gun, and the station may either speed up or slow down depending upon the direction of fire.

By the way, attitude jets expel nitrogen gas. It is inert and lightwweight, as well as being the primary component of air.

The gun idea was abandoned anyway. Soviet satellites were outfitted with explosives triggered by a proximity fuse in the event the US space shuttle tried to 'nab' a soviet satellite or attach an eavesdropping parasite. It should be pointed out the Soviet navy was extremely vulnerable to this kind of Satellite attack. Their ships depended on satellite communications since the 1970's.

patriot

Those Western analysis kept making assumption about China's spending. First they say that our military spends 60 billion three times our stated spending. Now they are saying that we spend three times more on our space program than was stated. Anyone think we really spent that much money.

WEN?

according to the Pentagon's Chinese Military Report china spends 90 billion into is military in 2005. also since china is devoloping Anti Sattilite weapons wouldn't it be better to reaserach that and put them onto our own sattilites. i know it is kinda hard but its worth a try.

Totoro

And rand study put that figure closer to 50 something billion. Bottom line is: no one knows. Even more bottom line () is: it's what you can get with that money, not the amount itself. Which brings me to this question: are those nominal dollars, when us dod says china spends 90 billion? or are they PPP converted dollars? Cause for sure a dollar in china can buy you more value than a dollar in the US.

akinkhoo

It appears the chinese miscalculated the impact of having a manned space program. they were hoping to gain recognition but instead the rest of the spacefaring countries seem unimpressed, only sending congratz but never any shift in policy; in other words, the cooperation china is seeking was simply not there...
<-- rest of world <-- china

i say the leadership of china need understand real world politic and "play the game like a player". USA didn't get respected because of capability, but rather real power. showing off a 5 warship fleet is lame compared to a CVN battlegroup. china should be more humble and build up now rather than showing off it newly found strength like a kid with a new toy. it draws too much attention and cause other to be jelousy while not powerful enough to make it present felt.

oops, going off topic...

walter

Well, it's probably true the US won't invite the Chinese to participate in any of its near- or midterm projects, and infact from the US standpoint, China's ambitious manned (and unmanned) space program provides a bit of needed impetus to US programs for competitive and national pride reasons.

But I wouldn't say China didn't gain recognition or that other space fairing nations were/are unimpressed. Quite the opposite in my mind. I hope China wasn't expecting an immediate invite to the ISS or anything like that, though. I think other countries are probably quite open to the idea of cooperating with China in space including manned missions, but let's be realistic--China's manned program is just at its beginning. They have much to accomplish, and the rest of the world wants to see more than two manned flights before undertaking any sort joint manned space operation with the Chinese. So I would just say to anyone who expected more at this point to be patient. While any cooperation between NASA and China in manned space operations must be approved by the White House (unlikely), the Europeans and Russians would probably be quite happy to have a Chinese visit at the ISS, or, more likely than the ISS visit, cooperate with them in future manned missions. It will happen, but it will take its due time.

Roger604

You greatly miscalculate!!! China is a country that is particularly susceptible to 'morale effects.' By this I mean that when people perceive the country is weak, they jump ship rather quickly. One could argue that every single overseas Chinese (or their ancestors) jumped ship at one point or another. When people perceive the country is strong, they bandwagon and support the motherland again.

If the current pulse of optimism falters, people would resume working for and trying to curry favor with the "old master"... the developed western countries.

Never forgot that China's soft-power is extremely weak. Imagine how much more powerful China would be if we had a true analogue to Hollywood... if we could ship our culture all over the world and have people falling all over themselves to come to China to work at near-slave labor wages.

THIS is what the space program is about: boosting the morale and demonstrating to "the people" what the modernization project has accomplished. People are autonomous, thinking beings... you just can't order Chinese people to "modernize the country" and then keep them in the dark about everything. And then quietly store your strength for the day when you pull a Sun-Tzu.

You could argue that America's REAL strength is built entirely on its PERCEIVED strength. The perception attracts people and capital and that in turn makes the perception a self-fulfilling prophecy.

PLAfan

Really, we haven't been to the moon since 1974. This is a shame. US doesn't plan to go back there until 2020.

When will Chinese technology bring the first Chinese person to the moon?

Sea Dog

It's hard to tell how fast China's space program will progress. And what steps they will take if they choose the moon as a goal. Hard estimates are difficult to assess simply because they've only had two manned flights so far. If you are asking for guesses, I think I'll take 2030 as an estimate.

BTW, the last man to stand on the moon was U.S. astronaut Eugene Cernan (USN) in 1972. The U.S. is currently looking at designing a rocket called ARES-1 that is bigger and more powerful than Saturn-V. President Bush actually set the date for a return to the moon at 2018 as a goal.

LiLaZnMaGiCsCt

I read from a report in Yahoo! News (can't find the link now) that Chinese military academy officials predict that China will reach the moon by 2018-2020.

Sea Dog

If they achieve this, I say good for them. What's interesting is China's next step. Aren't they looking on putting a docking vehicle up to practice rendevouz and docking?

Finn McCool

Space is the future, and there is no better way to get there faster than through competition. Unfortunetly, we (the human race) have lost so much ground in the area of manned space flight that we might lose the will to continue before we actually push the boundries of exploration. That is why I hope the Chinese beat the US to the moon, because it will motivate the US to go farther and thus better all of mankind.

__________________
Battles are won by slaughter and maneuver. The greater the general, the more he contributes in maneuver, the less he demands in slaughter.
-Winston Churchill

Sea Dog

Uh. The U.S. has already been to the moon. The U.S. has already beaten everyone there.

But yeah. You're right. Competition is good. I'm actually hoping for a future of cooperation in manned spaceflight. I actually think we as humans could accomplish alot more in space exploration with shared resources, and a cooperative approach. But I do also think that's a few decades off.

AssassinsMace

One step at a time.

While international rivals make it look that China is in some sort of space race, China should be commended at working at a pragmatic pace.

China should stop complaining about not being included in the International Space Station and just concentrate first on their own. A Chinese space station will make it easier for missions beyond Earth's orbit.

swimmerXC

Why explore space when hardly no country has the technology to send a man to the deepest part of the ocean, we barely know anything about the oceans those scienctist just strached the surface