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posted by martyb on Sunday April 23 2017, @04:51PM   Printer-friendly
from the in-space-nobody-hears-your-tantrum?? dept.

The Guardian reports on the Tianzhou-1's, China's first automated cargo spacecraft, first mission to the station:

China's first cargo spacecraft docked successfully with the Tiangong-2 space lab on Saturday, the official Xinhua news agency reported, marking a major step towards Beijing's goal of establishing a permanently manned space station by 2022. ...

The Tianzhou-1 cargo resupply spacecraft made the automated docking process with the orbiting space lab after it had taken off on Thursday evening from the Wenchang satellite launch centre in the southern island province of Hainan....

The cargo spacecraft mission provides an "important technological basis" to build a Chinese space station, state media have said. It can reportedly carry six tonnes of goods, two tonnes of fuel and can fly unmanned for three months.

Seems like Cold War era again:

President Xi Jinping has prioritised advancing China's space programme to strengthen national security.,,,

The US Defense Department has highlighted China's increasing space capabilities, saying it was pursuing activities aimed at preventing other nations from using space-based assets in a crisis.

China insists it has only peaceful ambitions in space, but has tested anti-satellite missiles.

2007 - Chinese anti-satellite missile test
1985 - American anti-satellite missile test
Chinese exclusion policy of NASA

Related: China Launched its Second "Heavenly Palace" Thursday Morning [Updated]
China's Shenzhou 11 Docks at Tiangong 2 Space Station
Space Race 2.0: China May Already be Testing an EmDrive in Orbit


Original Submission

Related Stories

Breaking News: China Launched its Second "Heavenly Palace" Thursday Morning [Updated] 17 comments

China is scheduled to launch a space station into orbit in less than an hour. According to Ars Technica:

China will take its next step toward a large space station on Thursday, when it intends to launch the Tiangong-2 laboratory into orbit. The 8.5-ton, 10.4-meter-long facility will launch from the Jiuquan launch center in the Gobi Desert, aboard a Long March 2-F rocket. The launch is set for 10:04am ET (14:04pm UTC) Thursday, and live video is available.

This space station, "Heavenly Palace 2," will be China's second after it launched the similarly sized Tiangong-1 laboratory in 2011. Following this week's launch, China plans to send two taikonauts to Tiangong-2 in four to six weeks aboard a Shenzhou-11 spacecraft. They will live there for about a month, testing out the lab's life support systems and performing scientific research. According to China's official news service, Xinhua, those experiments will involve areas of medicine, physics, and biology, as well as quantum key transmission, space atomic clock, and solar storm research.

China has plans within the next decade to send up an even larger space station. This, on top of plans to establish a moon colony, as well.

Also at Spaceflight Now.

[Update] The launch was a success — coverage at: phys.org and Nature.


Original Submission

China's Shenzhou 11 Docks at Tiangong 2 Space Station 26 comments

BBC News reports that the Shenzhou 11 spacecraft with two taikonauts has successfully docked with China's second space station (their first station, Tiangong-1, was also recently in the news, because it is dropping from orbit).

The Shenzhou-11 spacecraft blasted off from northern China on Monday, and docked with Tiangong 2 at 03:24 Beijing time (19:24 GMT Tuesday).

Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong will be spending the next 30 days in space conducting experiments.

It marks the longest space mission by Chinese astronauts.

The docking took place 393km (244 miles) above Earth and the remotely controlled procedure lasted about two hours, according to state media.

The docking took place in the early hours of Wednesday morning Beijing time.

State television on Wednesday morning carried live video of the docking and arrival of the astronauts, or "taikonauts", which saw them floating through a narrow 1m-long, 80cm-wide passageway into the lab.

The pair "extended greetings to all the people of the nation," while onboard the laboratory, according to the Xinhua news agency.

More links:
http://www.ecns.cn/2016/10-19/230722.shtml

I'm curious why they have only 2 crew this time instead of 3. Maybe they needed the extra space for the food experiments?


Original Submission

Space Race 2.0: China May Already be Testing an EmDrive in Orbit 25 comments

A Chinese newspaper and other sources are reporting that China is already testing an EmDrive thruster in space, aboard the Tiangong-2 space station:

[Researchers] in China have announced that they've already been testing the controversial drive in low-Earth orbit, and they're looking into using the EM Drive to power their satellites as soon as possible.

Big disclaimer here - all we have to go on right now is a press conference announcement [archive.is] and an article from a government-sponsored Chinese newspaper (and the country doesn't have the best track record when it comes to trustworthy research).

[...] But what the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) team is saying also corresponds with information provided to IB Times from an anonymous source. According to their informant, China already has an EM Drive on board its version of the International Space Station, the space laboratory Tiangong-2.

[Continues...]

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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 23 2017, @05:26PM (10 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 23 2017, @05:26PM (#498406)

    All this nostalga for the good old cold war days, seems to really be about need for equal competing powers to get some progress. As much as i dislike rampant commercialism, healthy competition really is a good way to see progression of technology.

    I really was expecting to have 2 or more moon bases by now, with all the same disagreement and brinkmanship that goes on about antarctica. Guess discovery of moon penguins would have helped that along.

    Good on China for bringing it, about time someone gave the 'dominant' power a challenge.

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 23 2017, @05:40PM (9 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 23 2017, @05:40PM (#498412)

      Space tech is hard, takes a while to build up to orbital space station. Too bad we're stuck in our warring nation state mode, if the world worked together we'd totally have moon bases and more by now.

      • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 23 2017, @05:55PM (8 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 23 2017, @05:55PM (#498422)

        You know what also helps space tech? Earth money. China has lots of it, and is willing to spend it on science and engineering rather than useless entitlements.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 23 2017, @06:17PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 23 2017, @06:17PM (#498429)

          Where the hell did China get this "earth money" from? The illegal aliens brought it in from Betelgeuse or something? Along with illegal alien technology? No wonder the chinks are so far ahead of us now. We need to declare war on Betelgeuse, or wherever they came from! Yo, Trump! Make America Great Again!

        • (Score: -1, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday April 23 2017, @06:18PM (1 child)

          by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Sunday April 23 2017, @06:18PM (#498430) Homepage

          You know how Chinese are potty-trained? Their pants have a hole between the legs so they can piss themselves in public.

          India also has a space program, and yet they too shit in the streets. In fact they named a satellite "SCATSAT" because they are that much into scat.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 24 2017, @11:55AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 24 2017, @11:55AM (#498782)

            And how are Americans potty-trained? Thats right, they just shit in their pants, then leave those shitty pants lying around. Don't worry, I'm sure hole technology is coming soon to the US, right after you get decent healthcare.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 23 2017, @06:27PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 23 2017, @06:27PM (#498432)

          But isn't China omg socialist? I thought you couldn't do anything like going to space if you were Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, or Venezuela?

          Are they no longer omg socialist? When did they become Randian bootstrappers?

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 23 2017, @07:10PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 23 2017, @07:10PM (#498458)

          Fuck off you moron.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 23 2017, @11:17PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 23 2017, @11:17PM (#498574)

            Triggered much?

        • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Sunday April 23 2017, @10:44PM

          by kaszz (4211) on Sunday April 23 2017, @10:44PM (#498555) Journal

          They don't have entitlements, it's called "extra money" instead and knowing the party boss of your region ;)

        • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday April 24 2017, @10:41PM

          by bob_super (1357) on Monday April 24 2017, @10:41PM (#499081)

          > is willing to spend it on science and engineering rather than useless entitlements

          And water infrastructure
          And clean power
          And rail infrastructure
          And manufacturing efficiencies
          And road infrastructure
          And Infrastructure in Africa to bring goods to ports, headed for China
          And spaceships/nukes/rockets/carrier-killers/strategic islands/stealth fighters/...
          And urban infrastructure
          And Useless Entitlements, like any good commie-ish country
          And a competitor to the World Bank
          And ...

          Holly shit! It as if China was investing in its future, despite having more entitled people than the US. Maybe after 5000 years they know something about taxation and priorities which the US doesn't?

  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by isostatic on Sunday April 23 2017, @06:49PM (5 children)

    by isostatic (365) on Sunday April 23 2017, @06:49PM (#498440) Journal

    Here's a list of countries that can put a man in space:

    Russia
    China

    • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 23 2017, @07:00PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 23 2017, @07:00PM (#498449)

      Hey, that's the same as my list of countries I never want to visit!

      • (Score: 3, Touché) by Gaaark on Sunday April 23 2017, @07:28PM (1 child)

        by Gaaark (41) on Sunday April 23 2017, @07:28PM (#498470) Journal

        Add the U.S. to that list, and you've got mine! :)

        --
        --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
        • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 23 2017, @08:17PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 23 2017, @08:17PM (#498494)

          Add the U.S. to that list, and you've got mine! :)

          The US is on my list, along with North Korea, and that is pretty much it actually. The others would be nice to visit based on meeting safety and other requirements, but those two are on my "do not visit list". I would love to visit Russia and China, but I don't know the languages, so can't really do a proper tour. Imagine a road trip through Russia though, it would be a once in a lifetime experience, just due to the size alone, let alone everything else! Then you could drop into China as well, and make your way to India too. Mental!

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 24 2017, @03:40AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 24 2017, @03:40AM (#498641)

      You've confused "can" with "allow." The US has amazingly stringent regulations for man-rated rockets. SpaceX could likely put a man in orbit with what they have now, but they are not permitted to do so because they have not competed certification for man-rating. This is not a weakness but a feature. The Indians also likely could field a viable human launch if they wanted, but they, like the Americans, perfer to tread a cautious path.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 24 2017, @12:23PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 24 2017, @12:23PM (#498787)

      Here is the updated version:

      No country can "put a man in space"

      You have been lied to about space. Don't be the last to know.

  • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Sunday April 23 2017, @10:49PM

    by kaszz (4211) on Sunday April 23 2017, @10:49PM (#498559) Journal

    There's a lot of resources to be had in space. And the development needed to make it economically feasible is soon approaching. First come, first serve is kind of what is the rule. So will USA take the initiative again? or be all theory and little show?
    It's kind of embarrassing that private sector is doing a lot more advances than government right now.

  • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday April 23 2017, @11:13PM

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Sunday April 23 2017, @11:13PM (#498572) Homepage Journal

    Not long after the chinese test, an American satellite failed to reach its desired orbit. With the pretense that we were disposing of its highly toxic Hydrazine, we shot it with a missile launched from a US Navy ship.

    I don't really remember the details, but it seems to me unlikely that the hydrazine would have survived reentry.

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
  • (Score: 5, Informative) by requerdanos on Monday April 24 2017, @01:30AM (1 child)

    by requerdanos (5997) Subscriber Badge on Monday April 24 2017, @01:30AM (#498611) Journal

    China's First Cargo Spacecraft Docks With the Tiangong 2 Space Station; US Govt Rejoice (NOT)

    Well, The US Govt should rejoice if anyone can ferry their staff to the space station. It's not like they have any vehicles that can do it.

    As a patriotic American, I was taught in school that the US was the leading space power in the universe, etc.

    Then later I learned...

    First Satellite... USSR
    First Man/Woman/Dog in space/orbit... USSR
    First Space Everything Until Manned Moonshot... USSR

    And, as mentioned further up in the discussion, the Russians, unlike the USians, can ferry humans back and forth from space-locations.

    Glad the Chinese are joining that select club. Thanks guys! 谢谢!

    • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 24 2017, @12:30PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 24 2017, @12:30PM (#498793)

      As a patriotic American,

      As a patriotic American, you fell for this like all patriotic Americans.

      They lied. Church lied too. If you look carefully, you can see objects "beyond" the horizon.

      The surface of the Earth has no measurable curvature. It's a lie, all of it.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 24 2017, @07:34PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 24 2017, @07:34PM (#499013)

    hasn't someone shown the red chinese our kiss ass movies about how wonderful their space program is? Be sure and take that other one where the world depended on them to build that big human boat cuz the shit hit the fan and us americans didn't have enough big mac wrappers to make anything out of it.

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