China to launch 3 astronauts to space lab

[bananas]

Source: MSNBC

China will launch its first manned mission to an orbiting space laboratory in mid-June, according to state media reports and the country's human spaceflight agency.

A Long March 2F rocket will launch three astronauts aboard a Shenzhou 9 capsule for China's first manned space docking at the mini-space station Tiangong-1. The space lab module has been circling Earth unmanned since its launch last year.

<snip>

Since its first flight, China has launched two more manned missions, the two-man Shenzhou 6 flight and three-person Shenzhou 7 mission. Last September, China launched the Tiangong 1 module — a prototype for a future space station — into orbit. That launch was followed in November by the unmanned Shenzhou 8 mission, which successfully docked a capsule with the space laboratory twice during the test flight.

The Shenzhou 9 mission will mark China's first human spaceflight to an orbiting module. Earlier this year, space program officials said the mission could also mark the first launch of China's first female astronaut, but a final decision on that is pending, Xinhua reported.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47749798/ns/technology_and_science-space/#.T9O55s30d74

[davidpdx]

1. With the way Chinese make things

There's a 60% chance it will not make it. Someone needs to teach them not to spit in space like they do in their own country.

[Posteritatis]

3. You know this will be their fourth manned flight, right? (nt)

[davidpdx]

14. No, I didn't know that

I thought this was there first. It sounds like it is going to be the first time in their space station then.

[freshwest]

5. A stat a while back said China has a number of people with high IQs as our entire country.

That's not the entire population of China of course, but it's a lot of brain power and it's unlikely they're not going to use it for this and other projects. We simply don't know what their abilities are in general, since we mostly don't speak or read their language.

As far as spitting on their own country, if you're referring to their own people or the environment, it may be because their elite intend to leave, IDK. It appears that the elite of much of the world are just as destructive as other global powers.

With as much wealth as they've now made off us, and by slave labor in China and elsewhere, they can afford to have a few rockets fail. We had a sad record for many years with rocket launchings and have had our share of space disasters.

We just don't know enough about how they view the world and their place in it, to do much more than speculate on the motives here. Space stations have been international collaborations for many years such as the joint USA/USSR ones.

As Westerners, we may disdain their human rights record, but they look down on us. too. And we have committed things in our military operations abroad.

I hope they don't fail, don't lose any lives in the effort, but it is part of the desire of humanity to find things out and it will not be denied.

[davidpdx]

15. You are probably right on IQ

The current generation coming out of college in China are very lazy and arrogant. I think the previous generations probably were hard working given how much China has prospered over the last 15-20 years. Most of students (I live in China) are about nothing except their iPhones and try to do as little as possible. I have some really great students (and the irony is most of the good students are girls) who work hard and try to learn. The ones that are arrogant really piss me off though.

[freshwest]

18. Is it their family connections that make them arrogant? Are they already wealthy, and expect they

Will get the best jobs no matter how hard they try, like the Bush boys? It sounds like that to me. I'm not sure if they have kept to something like the Japanese model of requiring high grades to get in the university, or at least they used to require that.

It sounds like you have great insight to what's going on there. Tell us more when you get the chance. Thanks.

[davidpdx]

23. Arrogance and cheating

Yes, most of my students come from well off families who can afford to spend the extra money to send their kids to a school where they are taught by foreign teacher (at least part of the time) in English. The student's scores at our universities tend to be very low which is why we specialize in the bottom of the barrel students. Not all of them are bad, but the few good ones are not enough to make you stay sane for long.

I had to deal with six students cheating yesterday during an exam. It's well within my right as a teacher to fail them in the course as the worst consequence. I choose to fail them on the exam instead and write a letter to the dean of the department. The sad part is three of the students will still get a B- grade despite the cheating. The grading scale is what I would describe as very weak. An A is 86 or above, A- is 80 or above, B+ is 77 or above, B is 73 or above, and so on with 60 being a C- and 50 being a D.

Students graduating are having a tough time finding jobs, so I have to think connections (who you know or who you are related to) would come in handy.

I'm out of here in a week thankfully headed back to Korea. Korea has its own problems, but is not near as bad as China.

[freshwest]

25. Glad you're getting back to Korea. I know a few people from there that I like a lot. But those grade

scoring numbers... Wow. When I was in school, anything below 70 was failing. And the other scores were much higher, too so that is sort of strange.

Wealth is not always based on ability or hard work but that's what we keep getting told by the GOP. Inherited wealth is getting to be a problem and the reason it was discouraged for a long time.

It doesn't lead to the best results and gives no respect for those who are really working hard. I'm glad you have good students to help you make it through the rest. Still, it's a great opportunity you have, to be there and experience these countries up close. I envy that, it would not have been possible years ago.

[davidpdx]

26. I try to look at it as an experience

But it has been largely negative. It took a long time for me to get use to Korea and that's probably why I'm more comfortable there. I do have a few coworkers who I have developed as good friends and a couple of students who I will want to keep in contact with. I even tried to play match maker between a Chinese student and a Korean student. It goes to show Asia has influenced me.

[Boxcar Willie]

7. Xenophobia much?

Chinese = spitting? Really?

[MADem]

8. Right church, wrong pew.

The xenophobia came when the poster suggested that the thing wouldn't work (they've done it before, already).

The spitting? That is entirely accurate, if a bit snarky (I think their astronauts are smart enough to know not to spit in zero gravity without a "phlegm bag&quot . If you've ever been to China the practice of spitting and nose-picking is quite noticeable and off-putting to non-locals--the government in some localities is taking steps to try to curb the practice:

http://www.freakonomics.com/2010/01/08/a-chinese-spit-crackdown/



Of course, a lot of that spitting might be down to more than culture--air pollution might play a role to some extent.

[Boxcar Willie]

9. I understand

it just seems strange that spitting is the first thing that came to his mind.

[MADem]

10. I don't know the guy--maybe he's just off the boat from Shanghai or something...???

Of course, he'd probably have a better knowledge of the Chinese space program were that the case!

[Boxcar Willie]

11. Joke as you will

but I want to go on record and say:
I for one would like to welcome our new "Moon base having" overlords


this post will help my "future" great grandchildren to get to good college.

[MADem]

12. If only we'd listened to NEWT!!!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/05/snl-newt-gingrich-moon-colony-cold-open_n_1255630.html

[davidpdx]

17. You are partially correct

I've been in China for 9 months, Korea for 7 1/2 years, but was not aware of their program. As to the way they make things, the apartments and buildings in China are made poorly and often have major defects. Korea had a similar problem a few decades ago until a major disaster took place causing better standards to be passed.

[davidpdx]

13. Actually I live in China

I've seen it done in buildings.

[DVDGuy]

20. A very broad brush

Well I was born in China, and I too have seen it done, but you're very close to crossing a line (if not crossed it already) that should never be crossed here at DU of all places, when you appear to apply a derogatory trait to an entire population, even to their highly trained, professional astronauts.

I wonder what you have to say about other developing nation's space programs, say India's, since I'm sure there are some derogatory traits you can easily apply to them too.

Or is only China "fair game"? Why? Because they live under a government you don't agree with (have you considered that they may not agree with the government either), and somehow that makes it okay to dump on their culture and achievements?

I know a lot of people in China that may not agree 100% with their government, but nevertheless are proud of the nation's achievements, such as the Olympics and the space program. And no, I've not seen any of them spit in public.

[davidpdx]

24. I certainly have no love for the Chinese

and I find them arrogant.

That said I wasn't aware of the fact they had developed a program and admitted that in another post.

In terms of building things, they may have nice pretty buildings in Bejing and large cities where they spent lots of money, but most of the other buildings are made very poorly (personal experience)

They do have a problem with spitting as I have seen them do it(as does Korea where I have lived for many years). I was not born in either of these countries, but have direct experience living there. The noise in China is also something I find extremely irritating.

If you want to try to blackball me for sharing my experience go ahead.

[may3rd]

2. China's Heavenly Palace

?1304659748

[davidpdx]

16. That is a pretty big station for one country

It makes me wonder how long before these types of stations have offensive or defensive weapons on them.

[Posteritatis]

19. It's in the same neighborhood size-wise as Mir was. (nt)

[MADem]

21. I swear there was a restaurant down the street from me a few years back by the same name! nt

[octothorpe]

4. Good luck to them....

How are their planned moon missions going? Would be cool for any humans to revisit the moon and set up a base.

[DavidDvorkin]

6. They appear to be planning a moon landing around 2025

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/dec/30/china-manned-moon-mission-lunar

[Franker65]

22. Back to the Moon

Well in fairness, it is about time somebody went back to the moon. Space exploration has gotten quite boring since the USSR collapsed.