Brazilian Rocket Explodes on Launch Pad 546
steman writes "BBC News Online says that 16 people have been killed and a Brazillian space rocket was destroyed in an explosion in Brazil. It seems that the space race is heating up again, with many countries getting involved such as China, Europe and Japan to name just three. Will the future of space exploration be dominated by names other than Russia and the USA?"
Since when... (Score:5, Insightful)
Furthermore (Score:5, Insightful)
Europe has sent things up into space for quite a while now...
Re:Furthermore (Score:2)
This so called 5th generation of the Ariane carrier rocket is as much a 5th generation as windows 95 is the 95th version.
Re:Since when... (Score:3, Informative)
But as far as I know none of the countries has its own space program, they cooperate in the European Space Agency [esa.int].
Re:Since when... (Score:5, Informative)
Who belongs to ESA? ESA's 15 Member States are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Canada has special status and participates in some projects under a cooperation agreement. As can be seen from this list, not all member countries of the European Union are members of ESA and not all ESA Member States are members of the EU. ESA is an entirely independent organisation although it maintains close ties with the EU with whom it shares a joint space strategy.
Re:Since when... (Score:4, Informative)
Although they don't have manned launch vehicles of their own, they work with the Soviets and with NASA. Their highest profile manned project is their work on the International Space Station [esa.int] - both in terms of supplying space hardware and astronauts. Their most notable unmanned project is the groundbreaking joint-NASA SOHO [estec.esa.nl] sun observation probe.
Upcoming projects of note: a manned Mars [esa.int] mission is in the (very) early planning stages.
It seems as though international cooperation should be the *only* way to go when it comes to grand plans such as reaching Mars. If NASA, ESA, China, India and the Soviets all put their differences aside and pulled together - humanity could become a truly spacefaring species within our lifetimes (graduating from a "type 0" to a "type 1" species that has mastered interplanetary travel [where type 2,3 = extra-solar and galactic travel).
Re:Since when... (Score:2, Interesting)
Apart from the fact that European Union != Europe, I would like to stress the fact that there are a lot more countries that have space programs and astronauts.
Shameless plug for my country: Here [spacefacts.de] you can read about a Romanian astronaut. :-)
Re:Since when... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Since when... (Score:2)
Re:Since when... (Score:5, Funny)
Because, yes, Slashdot is too American-centric.
Re:Since when... (Score:3, Funny)
Now what about 53, 54, and 55? Afganistan, Iraq, and Liberia or France, Germany, and Japan?
Re:Since when... (Score:5, Interesting)
If I were a German of turkish origin, my experience would be totally different. German or French border police would have picked me up, would have checked my passport and maybe my pockets.
Under these circumstances, it might be arrogant to say ist but for me as some kind of WASP, Europe has become one country.
If you take it from a legal perspective, there is more evidence. About 50 per cent of the new laws in 'the German part of Europe' are more or less ratifications from European ones.
Well, and nobody can take away my optimism that this European Constitution [eu.int] will come into effect soon. (Actually, this is not the first European Constitution but this is the first time they call it that way).
Re:Since when... (Score:4, Interesting)
The visa process is another matter though. I hate to have to prove my EU-entry-worthiness each and every time I want to travel there. A visa from Germany is the hardest to get but I think that has more to do with number of turkish immigrants there than racist policies.
Re:Since when... (Score:3, Interesting)
This would be a good point if I had declared Europe as one *nation* rather than one *country*.
Go back 50 years in history when the German constitution was made. The free state of bavaria did not agree to this constitution - claiming the same as you did. From 'their' perspective, they did not have anything in common with people from northern Germany.
Not yet (Score:2)
Yes and no (Score:5, Informative)
In some ways, a country like the UK has less independent power than Texas, as the EU regulates particularly economic matters more than the federal US government
In most ways, conversely, the EU member states are more independent than US states (e.g. they each have their own army - UK did not need EU approval to send troops to Iraq)
The interesting point is that there is no limit to the power that will be centralised in the EU, and an assumption that every few years a new round of treaties will centralise power further. The treaties are full of the phrase "Ever Closer Union", and explicitly prevent seccession. (To the best of my knowledge, the equivalent question in the USA was, um, unclear until 1861-65).
Obligatory plug (though my membership lapsed some years ago): UKIP [independence.org.uk]
The Republic of Texas.... (Score:3, Interesting)
as it was an independant Republic prior to becoming a state.
It can also split itself into up to 5 states.
There have been some interesting studies done (usually someones final year project in college) that makes it appear Texas would be a very powerful country in its own right if it did secede.
I don't believe those still apply to Texas (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:The Republic of Texas.... (Score:3, Insightful)
You seem to be ignoring that whole 1861-1865 bit.
"It can also split itself into up to 5 states."
It can't just split up all by itself for
Re:The Republic of Texas.... (Score:3, Interesting)
Leaving the Union (Score:3, Informative)
The new EU constitution [eu.int], due for adoption next year if things go right, explicitly guarantees member states the freedom to leave the Union:
Article 59: Voluntary withdrawal from the Union
1. Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the European Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements.
2. A Member State which decides to withdraw shall notify the European Council of its intention; the
Re:Yes and no (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Yes and no (Score:5, Insightful)
I shouldn't really rise to this troll, but...
There are a good number of different reasons for the EU to exist. In the first place, it was set up, with American support, to lock in wavering european countries to capitalism in the face of the Eastern Bloc. Remember that Italy and France, for instance, had very large and powerful communist parties from the post-war period up until the fall of the USSR. Holding them in a free trade area was intended to prevent them joining the communist bloc.
The second reason was to prevent or control any ambition to territorial ambition by Germany. The Germans were as keen as anyone on this: they did, and to a considerable extent still do, see the EU as safeguarding them from going down the same path as in the 1930s
A third reason, in more recent years, has been to build a new superpower to prevent the world from becoming American dominated. This is a particular obsession of the French. Britain has never been much interested with this - having been a superpower previously, Britain is not particularly keen on being a bit-part player in a new one. If you want to describe Britain's unwillingness to define its whole foreign policy in terms of starting a new cold war against a country that on most things it more or less agrees with as "lack of backbone", so be it.
On the same point, I don't think it makes any more sense to describe the Blair govt's support for the Iraq war as "bowing [to] the US", as it does to describe France's opposition as bowing to Iraq. Both governments made the decision based on what they thought was right and what they thought was in their national interests. In my opinion, both of them were wrong, but that is two other arguments.
It is important to note that many British people are much more distrustful of, and feel much more threatened by, the France-Germany axis than by the USA. I have no inside knowledge of how Danes or Poles feel, but in the case of the eastern European countries, I wouldn't be surprised if they saw the USA as their strong ally against threats from Russia, and France/Germany as weak and unreliable.
Lastly, it's important to distinguish between popular opinion from government policy. UK opinion was never very supportive of the Iraq war, but Tony Blair in my opinion geniunely belived he was bringing rightness and justice to the world (God help us!). On the other hand, I think you would find popular opinion in Germany opposes European monetary union and closer EU integration, but the political establishment has other views.
Europe is a continent (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Europe is a continent (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Europe is a continent (Score:2)
But I make the argument that the EU is quickly approaching being a country made up of seperate states in the same way that the US is.
So by that logic you could say that Europe is a country, or possibly soon to be one.
Yes I know I am bending the logic a bit. But give me 20 years. It is coming.
Re:Europe is a continent (Score:2)
Re:Europe is a continent (Score:2, Insightful)
BBC was one of the few news broadcasters who provided a dissenting view on the war on Iraq. While CNN and FOX were showing footage of their gung-ho "in-bedded" reporters going in with the invad... eh, liberating troops, BBC was actually analyzing the righteousness of the war and paying attention to the civilian casualties. This, of course, provoked childish "Baghdad Broadcasting Corporation" quips from the US and pressure from the UK government, which only serves as a proo
Offtopic: not a country - yet (Score:3, Interesting)
However, the slip was understandable in this case given that for the purposes of space exploration and research Europe acts as if it were a single country through the ESA.
Also, calling Europe a country is really just extrapolating based upon current trends. EU member states have given a surprising amount of sovereignty away to the union as a whole, and the current setup looks like it invites a gradual erosion of national sovereignty in favor of centralized power.
Of c
Re:Offtopic: not a country - yet (Score:4, Insightful)
There are a lot of resistence towards too much integration in Europe; not surprising, what with the large cultural, political and linguistic differences. If Europe ever coalesces into one state, it will take quite a lot more than one or two generations. More likely, this will never fully happen.
Re:Europe is a continent (Score:2)
Derek
Europe is NOT a continent (Score:2)
The whole "Europe is a continent" thing is just an old wives tale of its formerly ignorant and barbaric natives ( whose own Asian ancestors had walked across the Asian continent to get there in the first place) that simply refuses to die.
Europe is simply a manmade socio-political region.
KFG
Re:Europe is NOT a continent (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Europe is NOT a continent (Score:5, Informative)
It has to do with plate tectonics. If it's a large thickened section of the earth's crust "floating" on the mantle, and it moves around as a single independent unit, then it's a continent.
Like, WTF? (Score:5, Insightful)
But now, a Brazilian launch vehicle explodes, on the pad no less (think Challenger, only a bit sooner) and all those 16 dead people merit are one measly link, a couple of phrases in a slashdot heading (half of which is speculation about the future of missions to space from an unbelievably US-centric viewpoint) and not much else. Like, what the fuck?
Re:Like, WTF? (Score:2)
Re:Like, WTF? (Score:4, Insightful)
Aren't national days of mourning (by their definition) national? And this is completely different from Challenger. Challenger was a shuttle meant to carry people into space. This is a rocket that carries satellites. Sure, it's horrible that people die, but there were technicans, not astronauts (no sex, no story...).
Furthermore, I fail to see how the speculation in the original post is "US-centric." The very idea is that other countries (China, India, Brazil) are going into space. The US had a nice space program in the past. See the connection.
Lastly, your "one measly link" comment. What links do you have that show extra information not covered in the BBC article?
Re:Like, WTF? (Score:2)
I think the point that you're missing is that people died . It doesn't matter that they were merely technicians. The original post seemed a tad insensitive to this fact. They could have been janitors that were cleaning up around the place at night, and they still would have deserved a little more respect.
Re:Like, WTF? (Score:3, Interesting)
It seems to me that the next 22 characters, completing the sentence you part-quoted: " (no sex, no story...)" suggests rather strongly that Lshmael, far from missing the point, hit a very clean bullseye.
Here in the UK, we regularly get news along the lines of "something trivial happened in Lancashire, something fairly dull happened in Kent, some minor stuff went down in Dyfed, and in other news, 12,000 people died in a disaster on another continen
Re:Like, WTF? (Score:3, Insightful)
Millions more die from starvation around the world because they live in countries where the equitable distribution of food isn't a concern to those in power.
Yes, it's tragic that these people died in an accident in Brazil. I feel a great sence of sorrow for them and their families. Yet, lets not forget that these individuals who we're making such a big deal over are but a drop in
Re:Like, WTF? (Score:5, Insightful)
Interestingly, about as many people (~20) died in this Brazilian accident as died in the history of NASA events (17), according to this article [foxnews.com].
So, stemen is saying, in effect, Brazil just lost as many people as (or more than) NASA ever did, but let's ignore that and ridiculously speculate about the USA's future potential for space dominance.
Sweet.
Re:Like, WTF? (Score:3, Interesting)
I think this shows just why no other country has gotten as far along in its space program as the USA, and no, it's not just blind luck.
All the usual "hey, let's bash an entire nation of 300 million just because one guy made a silly submission to some geek website" bashing cannot replace the fact that the US did (most of) it first, and did all of it best.
And no, I'm not an American.
Re:Like, WTF? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Like, WTF? (Score:5, Insightful)
They probably didn't read Slashdot.. but those were our peeps that went down.
That's the way to think about it.
p.s. and no there will be no 8 hour special on any channel about what happened or who died. For one it happened in Brazil..... for another, the news media (and the general populace) doesn't give a rat's ass about the technicians.
Re:Like, WTF? (Score:3, Insightful)
There probably will be an 8 hour special, in Brazil. There was probably not an 8 hour special in Brazil about the loss of our shuttle. That is to be expected, not trashed. Its not unusual for a country to spend more time focusing on the loss of their own citizens. Because the US and Russia have the most experience in space, and pull off more missions, its not THAT unusual if they get more press, fair or not, its
Re:Like, WTF? (Score:5, Insightful)
Funny, that. A lot of people who feel the same way about those who perished in Manhattan a couple of years ago.
It was attitudes like yours that persuaded those people that they had it coming.
Go figure...
Re:Like, WTF? (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't doubt it. The problem is that attitudes like yours seems to be what shapes American foreign policy these days.
Consequently, you shouldn't be too surprised when people feel that Americans are only any good for making dramatic statements to the world about how we're not gonna take it any more.
After all, a large section of the world actually *does* care what happens to Americans.
They'd like to see you all dead.
Re:Like, WTF? (Score:3, Informative)
There is a pride concern for Brazil. They have an enormous opportunity, and they know it, as they sit on the equator, and have the best ch
Re:Like, WTF? (Score:2)
Ah. Of course you know that the US civil service is comprised of liberal career government workers for the most part, and that the neo-conservative warmongering assholes in this administration have boosted funding for next generation space exploration technology, like nuclear electric rocketry. And Americans are supposed to be ignorant. You can't even get your digs co
Re:Like, WTF? (Score:2)
Not good FORGIVE ME I can't help it. (Score:2, Funny)
A sincere appology from a fool. (Score:3)
Space=Power (Score:4, Insightful)
columbia (Score:5, Insightful)
Sorry, but mankind will never achieve anything in space if we're not willing to sacrifice lives and money to get there. I salute the brave men and women with the courage and the talent to go, especially these Brazilians who have the balls to keep trying these dangerous satellite launches under a new space program.
Sympathies (Score:4, Insightful)
These things are essentially big bombs. No matter how many tests people do, there is always the slight possibility that something like this can happen. Hopefully they'll be able to find the cause and work on that for their next launch.
Competition is a good motivator, and hopefully this will motivate other countries to go up into space.
Re:Sympathies (Score:2)
Making Big Bucks? Don't think so. Boeing, Lockhhed-Martin, Iridium and any other commercial space venture you care to name are losing money in a big way.
Perhaps nationalism would be a better motivator.
Sympathy (Score:5, Insightful)
What Space Race? (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm hoping the Chinese have some serious success in their announced manned space program. Perhaps that will incentivize the U.S. to get off their butts and start doing some serious exploration.
Grr.... (Score:2, Funny)
(Look it up.)
Re:What Space Race? (Score:2)
We've seen satellite failures, such as Iridium, and few economic sucesses. Delta, while benefitting as a government-subsidized military platform, is also uneconomical.
There is little comparison to manned space flight -- a publicly-funded, nationalist agenda -- to commercial space. If the Chinese achieve success in manned space flight, we'll never know how much it cost the public (communism has a poor track record for economics and accounting).
Re:What Space Race? (Score:3, Interesting)
With China, India, and Brazil able to launch satellites, that's even more suppliers, and therefore potentially less business for Boeing. Tho
The short answer. (Score:5, Funny)
Not with exploding rockets they won't.
space race heating up is a good thing (Score:2, Interesting)
In the long run, the US and Russia alone cannot run the International Space Station....they just cant afford it. This will give other nations a change to chip in.
Ofcourse this being /., there will be a barrage of posts saying that China, Brazil, India, etc. should concentrate on feeding their people and improving huma
Space Station (Score:2)
Re:Space Station (Score:2, Insightful)
The United States has contributed an inordinate amount of time and treasure for that White Elephant, as is the usual case with anything International.
Derek
The cause! (Score:4, Funny)
while filling up the tank?
Yes (Score:4, Insightful)
In a word: yes.
We see more and more countries involved in space exploration. USA and Russia are not the only players anymore.
Russia is out of money so they can't have ambitious project.
USA are founding the NASA less and less. This is a pity. Maybe this will change in the future. If it happen, USA will make a comeback in space exploration
Now many countries want to do space exploration and are willing to trow money in it. This is a good thing because this will speed up the space exploration race. But USA will now have competition not only from russia but from many country.
What will be real great is when there will be private corporation involved in space exploration. Anyone could think of a business model involving space exploration?
Re:Yes (Score:2)
Boeing is losing money on Delta IV, to the tune of $1.1 billion in second quarter, 2003 charges. And they are pulling it from the commercial market. This project is subsidized by the US government for military launches.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/15boeing/
And commercial projects (privately or governmentally-funded) will compete how?
21 Dead (Score:2, Informative)
progress (Score:2, Interesting)
Condolences to the people killed/injured and their families, and hoping they did not die in vain and the Brazilian Space Program and all others will continue.
Cause (Score:2, Funny)
A good sign (Score:2, Insightful)
I personally bet on Who Gets There First.
Space Race? (Score:2)
Europe is in Space for Decades (Score:5, Insightful)
History of Ariane 4 [esa.int]
Space is Truly the Next Generation (Score:2)
Congratulations to Brazil (Score:2, Insightful)
Humanity will never reach space unless it is attempted by multiple nations. Their technicians should be on the roll call of heroes who died to give us Space. I envy them what they did with their lives.
Some info on current space missions... (Score:5, Informative)
This question implies that space exploration in the past was dominated by the two superpowers. From a manned spaceflight perspective, this implication is quite correct; but from an unmanned perspective, it is rather inaccurate. Over the last three decades, a large proportion of the activity in unmanned space exploration has been undertaken by countries other than two superpowers. And let's not forget that, unlike most unmanned misisons, the moon race was about politics, not science.
Looking towards the future, quite a bit of the exploration of our solar system involves both USA/Russia and other countries, either in collaboration or in competition. Particular missions to keep an eye on include:
So, we can see that there is a lot going on at the moment in the field of space exploration. Over the past few days, I've been watching HBO's "From the Earth to the Moon", and its made me regret that I wasn't alive during the space race. But, on reflection, there is plenty going on right now to get excited about!
Re:Some info on current space missions... (Score:2)
Give me the New Age of Imperialism. Imperialism will lead to WWIII, as we try to take more than "our fair share".
-Austin
lots of space (Score:2)
Why would the addition of new spacefaring nations exclude others? There is plenty of room in space. It is not a zero-sum game - successes do not have to come at the expense of others. Let all who have the desire to reach for the stars do so.
Re:lots of space (Score:2)
I also hope that those who are fre
Re:lots of space (Score:2)
Matter is finite, but even the quantity in our solar system dwarfs that of the Earth. Plenty of room in this system for the near term - and I measure the near term on the scale of a thousand years - and there's a whole galaxy beyond that.
learning curve... (Score:2)
if you look at the history of the russian space program there are examples where they we
Re:learning curve... (Score:2)
I don't understand your post at all. What they are trying to do is to put satellites in orbit.
it's a shame... (Score:5, Insightful)
everyone remembers the name of those "brave american explorers", but everybody forgets those "poor bastars down there".....
and yes, I live in Brasil.. BRASIL
- Orgulho de ser Brasileiro!!! - Ouviram do Ipiranga as margens placida de um povo heroico um brado retumbante...
Disgusting (Score:5, Insightful)
Shuttle Columbia breaks up [slashdot.org], killing 7. Several Slashdot articles, tons of coverage. Department: "we grieve".
Brazillian rocket explodes [guardian.co.uk], killing 21. A single slashdot article, small articles in the world press. Department: "try, try again"??
Have some respect, FFS.
It's a satellite launche vehicle (Score:4, Informative)
It is a rocket to boost satellites to orbit, a scientific and commercial endeavor, since being close to the Equator make the Alcantara base in Brazil a good launch site.
More on english:
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200308/23/eng20
More on Google News:
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe
Thanks,
a Brazilian.
just a little of information (Score:5, Interesting)
Personal Reflection on Brazil (Score:5, Interesting)
There were many times people would come up to me, seeing that I was an American, and try to strike up a conversation and learn about who I was and were I came from. American music groups and movies are heard and seen throughout Brazil, (in addition to many local groups and productions that are outstanding) and a very common second language to learn in the public schools is English. I ended up meeting several High School English teachers, several of whom wanted to practice their English skills with me (all while I was trying to practice and learn Portuguese).
I will agree that the U.S. government policies toward Latin America in general are simply terrible and show a very strong colonial attitude (as in Latin American countries are treated as though they are colonies of the USA...I do know better). There is also a very strong tendancy of US foriegn and trade policy being set up to compete with Pacific Rim countries, Europe, and the Middle East, and Latin America in general gets screwed over because of the overly broad policies set up due to its relations with other world powers.
For Brazil in particluar, historically it has been a very faithful ally of the USA, and was the only Latin American country to send soldiers into battle during WWII (they had a couple of major engagements in northern Italy against the Third Reich...well, major for Brazil, and would have been headline international news if it weren't for other battles elsewhere at the same time). The Brazilian military is still quite friendly with the US military, but that fact politically in Brazil is more of a liability than an asset right now.
One particular issue I remember back during the Reagan Administration was in regards to shoe import tarriffs. There were a bunch of shoe manufacturers in New England in the 1980s that were having a really hard time competing against international manufactuers, especially because making shoes requires quite a bit manual labor to produce each shoe. Rather than admitting that paying $20/hour for unionized labor (and everything else that brings up...just don't think I'm anti-union however) and considering they are compeating against countries that have laborers that earning less than $10 per day, the shoe manufactures tried to substantially increase the import tarriffs to something like 300% tax on imported goods.
At that time about half of the shoes sold in America were made in Brazil. What actually happended was that no only did the price of the imported shoes go up (the desired affect), but the price of the domestic shoes also went up. Demand for shoe purchases dropped almost overnight, and huge numbers of shoe factories in Brazil shut down for more than a decade, sometimes permanently. Of course these shoe workers were pissed at US policy. And this was something that, to be honest, most US citizens didn't really care about anyway, and would prefer the cheaper shoes as well, even if they did come from Brazil. BTW, those American shoe companies that "needed" that tarriff protection: they closed up shop anyway, or moved production to some place like Malaysia or Singapore.
Another incident that I had while living in Brazil: I had lived in Brazil for almost two years and had over time aquired a pretty good suntan (seasonally too, because summer is between December and March), as well as some more local clothing. I was walking in downtown Sao Paulo with a native-born Brazilian and mistaken for a local myself. A Texan with a traditional 30-gallon cowboy hat, 150 lbs. overweight, wearing blue jeans (Levi's), a bolo tie, and a huge 10 lbs. belt buckle with the words "Don't mess with Texas", came up to me and said something that I considered rather insulting in English. Then he said something like "Why can't y'all learn how to speak a real language". I can't remember exactly what he asked, but even tho
$6.5-million Rocket (Score:3, Funny)
That's the coffee tab for NASA for a month.
Can anyone enlighten us on how it's possible to have a credible space program based on rockets that cost 6.5-million dollars?
Re:Europe's a country now? (Score:2)
Re:Why (Score:3, Insightful)
"Other countries" (read: the rest of the populated world) wish to develop space programmes because of the huge benefits one brings to the economy and scientific development of the country envolved. Amongst the fact that a space programme gives a country's citizens something to hope and dream about.
Not to "feel on par with the USA".
For fuck's sake.
You did not read history (Score:2)
Russia and USA researched and developed much of today's rocket and space science. Other nations are now trying to not only join the space race, b
Re:Whiny Europeans.. (Score:2)
Re:Hahaha.. pathetic.. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Brazil (Score:2)
Re:Brasil - MY country (Score:2, Insightful)
I am a true Brazillian
I know the truth about Brazil
yes, we have flaws, but we have strenghts too.. our space program is the most cost efective EVER.. we spent a fraction of what other countries have spent and accomplished great things
we don't have money to toss around like those world dominators up there... so we have to do it right, because we can't make mistakes
accidents happen... and I WILL NOT LET YOU BLAME YOUR FLAWED PERCEPTION OF MY COUNTRY BE THE
Re:Brazil (Score:4, Interesting)
That said, I guess, from my experience, I have some authority to disagree with some points from your posting.
Brazilians are more disorganized, yes, mostly. But one thing about Brazil that cannot be forgotten: It's a multi-faced country.
While some areas, like some north-eastern cities can be [almost] as poor as most African coutries, other cities like Sao Paulo mix some beggars with extremely wealthy people. Well, they don't really mix, as they live two worlds apart. The poorest people can't possibly grasp the life of a rich one. And that's the problem.
Social distribution is very bad, and that leads to a big distortion. Not an easy problem to solve.
Anyway, I know of an American company that, despite all red tape, prefers to hire Brazilians than Americans, because they think Brazilians are more hard working. So, their oppinion differs from yours.
But why does it differ ? Maybe you have had contact with just one "type" of Brazilian. You may be aware that inside Brazil the "paulistas" (those from Sao Paulo) are known for working hard.
Sao Paulo reminds me of NYC. Just with more homeless, more trash on the pavement, more violence (due to social distortion) but's that's basically it. Most people in Sao Paulo are hard workers. It's actually Brazil's economic capital. Lots of choppers there. Its helicopter fleet one of the biggest in the world, second only to Tokyo.
You said you live in Rio. So you had most contact with happy-go-lucky cariocas. I'm not saying all hard-working Brazilians live only in Sao Paulo, just making a generalization. Generally speaking, paulistas tend to work more than cariocas. Of course there are exceptions.
And, yes, there ARE buzzcut, Coke-bottle bi-focal, white button-down Oxford, pocket protector wearing, STRAIGHT-LACED, ANAL RETENTIVE, NO SOCIAL LIFE HAVING NERDS in Brazil. Think about ITA, one of the hardest universities in Brazil. It has a very hard entrancy test, in wich there's about 70 elite candidates per vacancy. The ones that manage to join ITA are trully nerds. BTW, ITA stands for Instituto Tecnico da Aeronautica, and they did help building this rocket.
For more info about Sao Paulo (in English), please read
http://www.fragilecologies.com/jul09_97.html [fragilecologies.com]
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/saopaulo/285
http://www.skyscrapers.com/re/en/wm/ci/101076/ [skyscrapers.com]
Re:Interesting commentary on the article (Score:5, Interesting)
After the war, those engineers ended up in the USA and started building bigger/better missles, with an undisclosed, but miserable, rate of failure. Eventually they sort of got it under control, and the Mercury and Gemini programs were launched with much fanfare, and a pretty decent success rate.
The apollo program followed, and there were 2 failures during the apollo program. The first burned on the pad resulting in the loss of the crew. The second failure was on apollo 13. Ingenuity, hard work, duct tape, and luck, prevented a loss of life during that mission. Overall, the combined failure rate for the 3 programs was in the range of 5 %.
During the same time period, the Russian program progressed with it's own set of problems. It's to late in the evening to go try dig up numbers, but it's a reasonable guesstimate that thier failure rate was on par or higher than the equivalent in the USA at the time, 5% or so.
The space shuttle program has been ongoing for 20 odd years, with it's own set of failures. Statistically speaking, the mission failure rate for the shuttle is on the order of 2%.
The data is pretty conclusive. Playing with rockets is dangerous stuff, they do blow up once in a while. The trend is pretty clear, the technology is improving, and the next generation of space launchers should be able to achieve a mission failure rate of sub 1% on current trends.
We live at the bottom of a very deep gravity well, and there is a price to pay in escaping that well. It's not a good day to hear/read about another failure, but, as long as folks keep looking up, they will keep trying, and, eventually, somebody will come up with a more reliable propulsion method that is capable of escaping our gravity well, without strapping folks on top of many tons of high explosives, and lighting the fuse.
Technology has a tendancy to mature very rapidly during times of war. The trend on launch vehicle reliability suggests that it'll be another 2 generations before it's an item we can take for granted, like an airplane today. Cant help but wonder if the political landscape will break that trend, like it did for the trend in aviation development between 1939 and 1945.
Re:Why is space race strategicly important? (Score:2)
World War II rolls around - the Japanese, and the Americans (the only ones really involved in the Pacific War) devote most of their time and resources to building up their Air Force. Why? Becuae airborne warfare was new, the next generation of warfare. What's next? We've already conquered the land, sea, and air. Space is the only logical conclusion. Build up your Space Defenses - or suffer the wrath of the Americans. I do not support American Mi
Re:Brasil has no right to a space program (Score:3, Funny)
$862 billion (1995 est.)