Waspie_Dwarf Posted July 4, 2014 #1 Share Posted July 4, 2014 Are China's Astronauts Moonbound China has made tremendous progress with its lunar exploration program. It has sent two spacecraft to orbit the Moon and has also landed a robot rover on the surface. Later this year, we expect China to take another step forward with its next robotic lunar mission.For the first time, a Chinese spacecraft will make a round trip. The spacecraft will be launched on a "free return trajectory" which will carry it around the far side of the Moon and back to Earth. As it approaches home, a capsule will separate and parachute to the ground. Read more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OverSword Posted July 5, 2014 #2 Share Posted July 5, 2014 Funny that anyone would need to speculate on what China's plans may be. Are they afraid of losing face if they announce their intentions and mess up or are they adding things on the fly (so to speak)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted July 5, 2014 Author #3 Share Posted July 5, 2014 (edited) Funny that anyone would need to speculate on what China's plans may be. Are they afraid of losing face if they announce their intentions and mess up or are they adding things on the fly (so to speak)? For someone like me, old enough to have been interested in the Soviet Union's space programme, the need to speculate doesn't seem funny at all. The openness of the US space programme, historically, is the exception rather than the norm. The Chinese space programme (like the Soviet Union's before it) is run by the military not by a civilian agency... and it is in the military psyche to keep secrets. The Chinese are slightly less secretive than the Soviets were at their peak. They will at least announce launches in advance. The Soviet Union would usually only announce a launch after it had reached orbit. The Soviet Union would use the name "Cosmos" to hide the purpose of many satellites, military and civilian. Failed missions would also be hidden by the use of the "Cosmos" name. The entire Soviet manned moon programme was denied until after the break up of the Soviet Union. China may be secretive but it gives away more clues than the Soviets did. Edited July 16, 2014 by Waspie_Dwarf lots of typos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted July 16, 2014 Author #4 Share Posted July 16, 2014 China's Fast Track To Circumlunar Mission Earlier in Space Daily, this analyst presented circumstantial evidence for a future Chinese astronaut mission to the Moon. China seems to be planning a circumlunar flight for the near future, which will involve sending an astronaut around the far side of the Moon without landing.An upcoming test flight involving a scaled-down replica of a Shenzhou astronaut descent module adds weight to this theory. China would gain a lot of kudos by launching an astronaut to the Moon and back. This feat has not been performed by the USA in more than 40 years, and has never been achieved by the Russians. Read more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DefenceMinisterMishkin Posted July 16, 2014 #5 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Chicken Chow Mein and Special Fried Rice on the moon Sounds like a plan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted July 16, 2014 Author #6 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Chicken Chow Mein and Special Fried Rice on the moon Sounds like a plan Not into lazy racial stereotyping then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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