Chinese Lunar Probe Lands Successfully 250
Posted
by
timothy
from the remote-control dept.
from the remote-control dept.
China's Chang'e 3 moon probe made its intended landing earlier today, setting down softly in the moon's Sinus Iridum, as reported by Reuters. From the article: "The Chang'e 3, a probe named after a lunar goddess in traditional Chinese mythology, is carrying the solar-powered Yutu, or Jade Rabbit buggy, which will dig and conduct geological surveys. ... China Central Television (CCTV) broadcast images of the probe's location on Saturday and a computer generated image of the probe on the surface of the moon on its website. The probe and the rover are expected to photograph each other tomorrow. ... The Bay of Rainbows was selected because it has yet to be studied, has ample sunlight and is convenient for remote communications with Earth, Xinhua said.
The rover will be remotely controlled by Chinese control centers with support from a network of tracking and transmission stations around the world operated by the European Space Agency (ESA)."
Collaboration - YAY! (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm happy that the ESA is willing to let the Chinese to use their transmission infrastructure. This way hopefully more science will be done.
Re:They have the money to do this (Score:2, Insightful)
The WSJ and the other wall street minions have been saying that since 1990.
Not really since 1990, but for awhile, In every bubble in history the predictions of collapse were wrong every time, except one.
Re:They have the money to do this (Score:5, Insightful)
What about money? We have resources lying around the country already - both human and material. We have the ability to do it all over again, any time.
What we lack, is backbone, initiative, the dream, the drive, the balls. Our leaders today are less than men, and there seem to be no real men to run the worthless bastards out of power.
Money. Money is important, in it's own right, but money doesn't control our ability to aim high. That ability is only governed by our lack of courage.
Re:Kicking up the lundar dust (Score:5, Insightful)
Not even the English can claim a continent, right?
Anyone can claim any damned thing they like. If they are the only people around, they get to set the rules. If China puts a crew up there, with orders to confiscate the US flags already there, and replace them with Chinese flags, WTF are we going to do about it? Run to the United Nations, to whine and snivel?
Re: They have the money to do this (Score:2, Insightful)
Backed by private investors and tycoons, I fully expect that America's next moonshot will be lead and funded by SpaceX. Not NASA.
Re:Kicking up the lundar dust (Score:4, Insightful)
Greatest humanitarian stories? (Score:4, Insightful)
The rise of China is one of the great humanitarian stories in history
I think it's great the Chinese were successful at landing on the moon, but... greatest humanitarian stories in history??? Do you remember just how many TENS OF MILLIONS of people died [paulbogdanor.com] during the communist takeover and resulting purges? Or the famines?
Re: They have the money to do this (Score:5, Insightful)
For guys my age (I turned 50 last week), the first Moon walk was a pivotal event. July of 1969... I was 6 years old, and my father was a squadron commander in the 318th Fighter Squadron flying F-102s, and I lived on Cherry Hill on the Air Force base in Anchorage Alaska. We all watched the first steps taken on the Moon, and as the son of an Air Force fighter pilot, there were high expectations for me. I remember when pilots where heros. Everyone expected even greater things from my generation.
We totally let them down, at least in terms of space exploration. I blame politics, and to some extent NASA (though mostly because of politics). I also have my hopes pinned on commercial efforts like SpaceX. We were on the Moon in 1969, while people in China were still starving. I'm glad China has revived some of the dream, and I hope they do well. In the meantime, our generation gave birth to personal computers and cell phones, so it's not a total loss, but there never was another OMG moment like the Moon walk.
Re:Kicking up the lundar dust (Score:4, Insightful)
China is cashing in on that debt quite often, buying up american businesses and the physical assets associated with.
Trading land for trinkets is a time honored american tradition.
Re:They have the money to do this (Score:5, Insightful)
Your leaders, sir, have been put there by voters.
No, they've been put there by the people who get to choose who's on the ballot, mostly by throwing tons of money to ensure one of their kind of people wins. You can hardly blame the voters when they're given a choice between Tweedledum and Tweedledumber.
Re:Greatest humanitarian stories? (Score:4, Insightful)
greatest humanitarian stories in history??? Do you remember just how many TENS OF MILLIONS of people died [paulbogdanor.com] during the communist takeover and resulting purges? Or the famines?
I think the GP was referring to the post-1980 era, which really was a great humanitarian story, especially compared to the 30 years preceding it. The Economist magazine uses phrases like this all the time, and there's never any question about what they're referring to.
Nothing else comes to mind post 1980??? (Score:4, Insightful)
I think the GP was referring to the post-1980 era, which really was a great humanitarian story.
Oh yeah, that was Awesome! [wikipedia.org]
Sorry, but pairing the term "China" with "Humanitarian" just doesn't jibe with any period of time you care to name. Any lifting of the Chinese people has pretty much been accomplished by their own efforts, not the Chinese government...
Re:They have the money to do this (Score:2, Insightful)
Thank you Chinese government troll.
There have been plenty of economic collapses over the years, and in every case SOMEONE has predicted it.
Re: They have the money to do this (Score:4, Insightful)
consists of Russian technology
So what? If the Chinese want to build an aircraft should the reinvent the airfoil as well, so that it doesn't "consist of US technology"? Really? Technology progresses by building on what went before, if it works you use it and you add to it. It's just bizarre that I keep hearing this same stupid non sequitur every time the topic of the Chinese space program comes up. "They're using Soviet/US/EU technology!" Big fucking deal.
Re:Cost and Benefit (Score:3, Insightful)
" What we are is re-tooling for the future."
Yes, I can see that the United States is re-tooling. And, there is little if any room permitted for exploration or expansion.
Have you looked very seriously at the bulk of non-terrorism related legislation and treaty making lately? It's all about carving up the "intellectual property" biosphere among big corporations. Take a look at the neoconservative movement, which represented a moderately large part of conservative people and corporations. Their basic dream, was to have all the men, women, and children of the world working directly or indirectly for Wall Street.
Legislation related to terrorism tends to support that biosphere. Hacking into a corporate computer today is equated to terrorism. Reverse engineering some code is illegal, and can be deemed a criminal offense.
We live in an introspective society, dedicated to two goals: The accumulation of wealth in very few pockets, and preservation of the status quo.
Needless to say, I don't like what I can see of our future.