China and the Moon

RudyGarmisch

RudyGarmisch

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Staff member
China just launched a rocket today. Its payload, a spacecraft carrying some probes and sensors, will orbit the earth for a bit and then launch out into space... to go orbit around the moon. China is the only country in the world besides the US and Russia to put up astronauts in space, and has declared that they want to land men on the moon... thoughts? Implications for our government and economy?
 
i think we need to get our asses back there. i would love for us to continue going there after so long with all the new technology we have. and i don't mind china there. cmon, crab rangoon and low gravity? sounds like fun.
 
Personally, I see space travel as a tremendous waste of money. Instead of putting billions of dollars into sending a few people into an uninhabitable area of almost no value, we could actually be doing something productive for people who need help down here on earth. But that's just my take on it; there must be some logical reason why we're spending so much money on it.
 
well, that old US mentality of "lets get up there and challenge every nation" will kick in and we'll be sending guys to the moon again. it's pointless, and it's bound to happen.
 
Interesting point, I see where you're coming from.

Although, I suppose there are factors as simple as humans continuous need to understand absolutely everything to stuff like potential uses of resources from the moon/asteroids/other celestial bodies. The study of astronomy alone has unknowingly (to most) been involved (even essentially) in society for thousands of years, though, from Earth. Obviously.

As for affecting the government, I don't really think it will. Unless some sort of selfishness or competitiveness kicks in and they are like "Eff you, you can't do that only we can!"
 
for going back there, look up the constellation program, or the ares rockets

trust me, we are well on our way back up there
 
Right now space travel may hold no significance except to science, but it may be helpful at some point. It will never be a valid investment of time and money if we dont get it figured out. The first cars were just like that, only for the really rich. Now look at it. Not sayin space shuttles are the next cars, just that space travel will never live out any of its potential without these initial stages of it.
 
I know there's quite a few ways to learn from it and we certainly benefit from the research, but does the gain really justify the cost? I kind of look at this as a prime example of taking curiosity a little too far. There's no denying that what we get from space travel is good, the money could be put toward more pressing problems. Once we get things sorted out down here I'm all for it, but until then I'm going to be skeptical. It's like building a $5 million house on a crumbling foundation to me.
 
The way I see it, the world is never going to be free of problems. There is always going to be a war or a calamity that this money could potentially be better spent. Call me crazy, but from what I've seen, there are a lot of opportunities out there for our species if we can establish a permanent residence out there. Yes, the immediate payoff is hard to see, but all in all, I could easily argue that a simple moonwalk is progressing our species further in terms of a 'greater good', if you believe in such things.

This is exploration. Sure, we could send probes everywhere, but if we ever want to sucessfully take our species out and become independent of this planet, we're going to need to take lots of small steps. We arent just going to plan out a whole moon colony and consider it feasible if our last landing was 40 years ago. So, yes, we do need to take these small steps if we are ever going to hope to survive permanently in space.

 
Personally I would like to see trillions of dollars into the space program than into a war that kills thousands.
 
The moon was really white and bright last night. I wish there was snow near me, I could have gone moonlight skiing.
 
I totally agree with you. But let's not turn this into a war debate, that will go nowhere. I was just thinking that we could take a fraction of what we're spending on the space problem and say, greatly curb starvation in an entire country. Obviously we will never even come close to stopping everything bad in this world with just money, but I think the level we're at right now is unacceptable. A lot of money doesn't get us far in space, but a little money can do a great things in the right places on earth.
 
yeah the Chinese will be thinking the same thing until they land and step out and then one of Alan Shepard's golf balls clocks them upside the head.
 
Let me take a shot in the dark and guess that you believe our government blew up the WTC.

I agree with the Aenigma tool fan up there, I think it is a big waste of money. I guess building those ships does provide jobs and work for U.S. workers though. I just don't see the info gathered as important, but ya never know what will be impotant in the future. I just think it is like medical science in that we will be revamping many of these theories in the years to come. Lots of space info seems like speculation.
 
I do not believe we landed on the moon, but I dont think that 9/11 was a gov't conspiracy. There is a way to prove if we made it to the moon, and we'll find out when China sends this satelite to orbit the moon. If they come back with photographic evidence, ie. lunar module tracks, flag, or the biggest thing would be the base of the lander, which was left behind every time bcause it contained the charge that blasted the thing back up to the shuttle. 

So yeah. If they come back with pictures of that stuff, then I'll shut up. That is, unless our gov't interferes with their project just to cover their own ass. Untill then there's no definitive proof. .
 
Said footprints were left in the lunar 'soil' which is made from what we call "sandblasting" by micrometeorites. Basically they are sand-sized particles from space which get burned up as they enter our atmosphere (and that of surrounding planets) but "rain" directly onto the surface of the airless moon. Thus, the micrometeorites pulverize the surface rock of the moon (a very very slow process) which is why there is a layer of powdery "soil" on the moon's surface for astronauts to leave their footprints in. Technically, the footprints will be there for millions of years before they are erased by sandblasting. There aren't storms, per se, on the moon because that would mean there is an atmosphere, so that wouldn't actually be completely understandable m'boy. And anyway, Apollo wasn't the only thing that studied the moon guys, there's plenty of other space telescope or probes that have photographed the surface of the moon and researched. For the sake of astronomy and what we study and believe, we did land on the moon; yes there is a possibility that the video was staged etc. blah blah I've heard it all, but in astro-physics we credit Apollo for having landed on the moon. There were other things left behind such as reflectors which we use to measure the distance to the moon at specific points and so on... I won't get into that.
 
Wow you are a hardcore conspiracy believer aren't you. You are already thinking of ways to refute any evidence that they may or may not find. Your statement alone should prove something to yourself about your own biased opinion.
 
This is a good statement to prove my point about our limited knowledge. Are you saying there is nothing or no way in the universe or on the moon that could have erased that proof??
 
It is political dick-waving by China to show their power in the modern world.

Nothing more.
 
Unless of course a larger meteorite crashes into the moon in that exact location and wipes it out. But it's not very likely. In fact, let me quote an astrophysics textbook that I'm using:

The moon is a desolate and nearly unchanging place. Rare impacts may occur in the future, but we are unlikely to ever witness a major one. Little happens on the Moon, aside from the occasional visit of robotic spacecraft or astronauts from Earth.

 
i knew someone would bring up the moon conspiracy! to be honest, i rather enjoy talking about it

i believe we landed on the moon, without a doubt. But we have to question these types of things.

A lot of the conspiracy ideas may sound good, but upon investigation they lose it.

Just one example, like you said, the flag waving. People came up with that one because the whole flag is clearly visible, when we all know a flag droops down. NASA thought that out, there was a bar at the top of the flag, because what would be the point of it if the flag couldn't even be seen? (little side fact, the flag from Apollo 11, the first one placed up there is actually knocked over. they spent billions training and sending them up there, but not once told them to place the flag a little ways away from the lunar lander (LM) so that when they took off, it wouldn't knock over the flag)

Ha, and i saw someone comment about Al Shepards golf ball. Supposedly since he couldn't get a good swing in the suit, it really only landed a few feet away, but off the sight of the TV camera, so he claimed it went "for miles and miles"
 
You guys sound like there's nothing useful that's ever come out of the space program. Ever use a microwave? A ziploc bag? Purified water? Radar? Cell phone? Digital TV? Have a CAT scan? An MRI? A pacemaker? A personal computer? Hell, anything with a solid state circuit in it?!

Guess where all this technology originated.

The space program is perhaps the only US government program to ever pay for itself. The returns to the economy in terms of technology, jobs, medical advances, etc are incalculable.
 
he hit 3 golf balls, 1 handed because the suits arnt very mobile. first one topped it and went a few inches. the second he "sliced" according to mission control and it only went a few feet. the third ball that went "miles and miles and miles." was a good swing and connection, estimated to go anywhere from 200 to 400 yards.
 
Hmmm, let's see, China is talking about possibly putting a man on the moon sometime in the next 20 years. That is something we did almost HALF A CENTURY ago. I wouldn't be so worried about a countryin 20 years trying to match the technology we had a half a century ago.
 
I completely agree. It was cool the first time to see if it was possible, but we have so many other issues that need attention on earth.
 
I'm failing to see how this has anything to do with space. Columbus was trying to find an alternate route to India, not sailing around the world because nobody had been there yet. There was a tangible, reasonable goal at the end of his quest, but you can't really say the same thing about the space program. Sure, people have mentioned inhabiting other planets etc, but is that realistic or even self-sustainable? I know the point you're trying to make, but you're comparing apples to oranges here.
 
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