Chinese Astronauts Return From Their Space Station After Delay Blamed on Space Debris Damage (apnews.com) 29
"Three Chinese astronauts returned from their nation's space station Friday," reports the Associated Press, "after more than a week's delay because the return capsule they had planned to use was damaged, likely from being hit by space debris."
The team left their Shenzhou-20 spacecraft in orbit and came back using the recently arrived Shenzhou-21, which had ferried a three-person replacement crew to the station, China's Manned Space Agency said.
The original return plan was scrapped because a window in the Shenzhou-20 capsule had tiny cracks, most likely caused by impact from space debris, the space agency said Friday... Their return was delayed for nine days, and their 204-day stay in space was the longest for any astronaut at China's space station...
China developed the Tiangong space station after the country was excluded from the International Space Station over U.S. national security concerns. China's space program is controlled by its military.
China developed the Tiangong space station after the country was excluded from the International Space Station over U.S. national security concerns. China's space program is controlled by its military.
Duh! (Score:4, Insightful)
China's space program is controlled by its military.
Like NASA is ever allowed to do anything without permission from the Pentagram . . .
Re: (Score:2)
For decades all the US astronauts were ex military test pilots too, and of course a lot of military rockets/missiles were used in the early days. Most of the rocket tech was derived from Nazi weapons.
They have been letting women fly from the get-go too.
Re: Duh! (Score:2)
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Right. And to be clear, I'm not saying that's a bad thing. Maybe those scientists should have been punished for their part in the atrocities, but making something actually useful from those weapons was a good thing.
Re: Duh! (Score:2)
Chinese National Space Administration (Score:2)
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) is the national space agency of China. Headquartered in Haidian, Beijing, it is responsible for China's civil space programs and international space cooperation. The CNSA is a national bureau under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.[2]
You might wonder where the AP got its information and where the "fact checkers" are.
Re:Chinese Manned Space Agency (Score:4, Informative)
he China Manned Space Program (CMS) is a space program developed by the People's Republic of China and run by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) under the Equipment Development Department of the Central Military Commission
So the AP is correct. There is a general in the line of authority as commander of the Department. The program's director is a civilian engineer.
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It's just how they organize it. You wouldn't say NASA is a military organization because its funding is authorized by congress that also authorizes military spending, or because the president is also the Commander in Chief.
Some countries maintain the fig leaf of separate military and civilian space programmes, but that's all it is. For example the Space Shuttle was designed around military payload needs, and regularly used to deploy military satellites.
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It's just how they organize it. You wouldn't say NASA is a military organization because its funding is authorized by congress that also authorizes military spending, or because the president is also the Commander in Chief.
No, I'd say NASA is a military organization because it exists first and foremost to support our military. Anyone who believes differently has proven their vulnerability to gaslighting. Our spaceflight projects all have direct military applications.
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I'm curious, what military application does Voyager serve?
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I'm curious, what military application does Voyager serve?
Communications development.
If it doesn't have military applications then it doesn't get funded.
Keeping it going costs peanuts compared to the PR.
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Wow, only 18 years ago, just like it was yesterday. Then the Pentagram did a similar test a year later, but that of course was just hunky-dory.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
It seems notable that in the recent UN Security Council vote to ban nuclear weapons in space that the Untied States was the only country opposing a joint Russian/Chinese amendment to ban **ALL weapons in space, which indicates that we almost certainly have non-nuclear weapons on orbit already.
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Re: Karma's a bitch (Score:2)
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Because China and Russia keep their word, just like Trump does.
China opened the door. The US had to respond in kind, if just to make a point.
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The US was doing weapons tests in space before China even got past the KÃrmÃn line. That's some Israeli level arbitrary cut-off dating there.
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Their officially acknowledged 1985 test was a response to the 2007 test that China carried out? Really? How does that work? (Of course the tests in the 1970s were secret so they don't count.)
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the return capsule they had planned to use was damaged, likely from being hit by space debris."
Probably from Ukrainian drones the Russians have shot down, that stuff seems to fall everywhere and start fires every time.
Having a Plan B (Score:2)
Wow, they have a Plan B in case of things going wrong, what a concept!
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Wow, they budget for a Plan B! Who ever imagined such a thing?
Hey remember that PRC is responsible for debris (Score:2)
Hey remember that PRC is responsible for debris in 2007 by blowing up a satellite on purpose. They have no excuses.
Everyone launching shit into space better have a goal to clean up space, or any of those billionaires wanting to go to mars are going to ... you know what never mind, let them have launch accidents when they decide to leave.
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Hey remember that PRC is responsible for debris in 2007 by blowing up a satellite on purpose. They have no excuses.
I was thinking the same thing. Maybe this will prompt them to clean up their act and be a better steward.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
And the US is responsible for doing the same thing in 1985 and 2008 (plus their unacknowledged tests from the 1970s). The US is also responsible for blocking multiple UN agreements against putting weapons in space. The much ballyhooed vote against putting nukes in space only came about after China and Russia attempted to prohibit **ALL** weaponry on orbit (which implies that we probably already have stuff up there).
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Plus their launch vehicles leave a lot more debris than western or even soviet/russian launch vehicles.
https://spacenews.com/chinese-... [spacenews.com]
Call Safelite (Score:2)
More Karma (Score:2)
Hopefully the debris was from the mess they made themselves a while back...