Chinese Moon Probe Ventures Into Deep Space 167
hackingbear writes "After completing its 6-month moon survey mission, China's second moon orbiter, Chang'e-2, was found to be in excellent condition and has abundant fuel left, and so it set off from its moon orbit into deep space, heading toward Lagrangian point L2 about 1.5 million kilometers away from the earth, or about 4 times farther out than the moon. The orbiter left its moon orbit at 5:10 p.m., according to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence. The probe is expected to perform exploration at L2. It is the first Chinese spacecraft to venture beyond the moon and establish the country's capability in deep space exploration."
Re:Translation: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:China's expanding in space... (Score:4, Insightful)
That education and the pursuit of knowledge is a GOOD thing, not just for "intellectual elitists."
Re:China's expanding in space... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:China's expanding in space... (Score:2, Insightful)
"The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, Herschel Space Observatory and Planck space observatory" (Wikipedia)
Re:China's expanding in space... (Score:5, Insightful)
That's because the US makes a big effort not to kill civilians, not to plunder and destroy everything but rather protect and rebuild. If they shifted to WWII era conquest and occupation you'd see profits - and roughly as much resentment as against the nazis (hello Godwin). The smart weapons are ridiculously expensive compared to just bombing the fuck out of everything. If they stopped giving a shit about protecting civilians and only protected themselves, answered all attacks with massive force, terrified the civilians into cooperating with them rather than Al-Quaeda you'd see costs plummet and profits soar. So it's not that war can't be profitable, just not the way the US is running them now.
Re:Space Travel: Unfit for Humanity (Score:4, Insightful)
The resources required for such an undertaking may exist here on Earth in one form or another, but those resources are too direly needed by the planet's current population to allow it all to be seized up in some dream works that are not guaranteed to produce any positive results.
The inventions brought to us by the space programs of the past are just that -- inventions, not discoveries. There is no cosmos full of advances in textiles, communications, and soft drinks waiting for us to grab it all up.
I choose "ever onward" over "let's stay in our caves, where it's warm". For one, there are vast, valuable resources right here in our solar system. Perhaps one day, we'll be able to profitably harvest them. And perhaps we'll invent a few things along the way, such as advances in textiles, I mean propulsion, materials, and control systems. And with those advances in science and engineering, perhaps we'll send something to another star some day, at a reasonable cost as well.
If anything, we might feel sad at the wealth of new things we have in our lives brought to us by the space program, because it means there are fewer things left to be invented in the future, therefore we face a less valuable future in space program commodities enrichment.
Anyone who unwaveringly insists that there are infinite worthwhile inventions for humans (or infinite ways to improve upon what commodities do exist) has as much sense as an inbred dog and need not read further (for objective truth is wasted upon them).
And if anything, pretty much anyone in the past who thought we had reached the pinnacle of knowledge in one field or another, has been proven wrong time and time again. Sure, it doesn't make much sense to send a probe to another star now. But anyone who unwaveringly insists that there will never be a mission to another star (or profits to be derived thereof) has as much sense as an inbred dog and need not comment further.