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I probably should have called it SN-8's recent and last flight. But yes, that was amazing. The gimbal action when they cut out the second engine - jeez.
They're still using disposable rockets like the Indians and europeans. Tough luck. The future of space belongs to Starship!
Well, it was only a matter of time:
"China's new carrier rocket, the Long March-8, made its maiden flight on Tuesday, the country's space agency said, the first phase of a strategy to deploy launch vehicles that can be reused.
The Long March-8 series is part of China's endeavours to develop reusable rockets, potentially lowering mission costs and paving the way towards commercial launch services."
Docking in lunar orbit took place 54+ hours after lunar liftoff. How is that 'quick'? The Apollo missions saw docking achieved within less than 4 hours of lunar liftoff. [the three successful Soviet sample-return missions were direct moon-to-Earth returns]
I'm not saying it should have been accomplished faster. But it wasn't 'quick' by any actual metric.
I do look forward to their (or anyone's) crewed lunar program.
Docking in lunar orbit took place 54+ hours after lunar liftoff. How is that 'quick'? The Apollo missions saw docking achieved within less than 4 hours of lunar liftoff. [the three successful Soviet sample-return missions were direct moon-to-Earth returns]
I'm not saying it should have been accomplished faster. But it wasn't 'quick' by any actual metric.
I do look forward to their (or anyone's) crewed lunar program.
Really? You are going to look at the time for this? The fact that they are doing this is the issue. No other country is doing what China is doing right now.
They have high ambitions - they have a Mars rover landing on Mars in Feb 2021 (though much less advanced than our rover).
They have ambitions to land a man on the moon and an orbiting space station, and I think you can guarantee they will make it happen.
Really? You are going to look at the time for this? The fact that they are doing this is the issue. No other country is doing what China is doing right now.
They have high ambitions - they have a Mars rover landing on Mars in Feb 2021 (though much less advanced than our rover).
They have ambitions to land a man on the moon and an orbiting space station, and I think you can guarantee they will make it happen.
There you go. You’ve just answered your own question. They are currently attempting to land their first rover on Mars (that could still fail). The US has already had several successes in that area and the latest one was also launched last year that comes equipped with a drone.
They just recently collected samples from the Moon. Congrats, the US already did that 50 years ago. Meanwhile Japan just collected samples from an asteroid and so did NASA.
Sending humans on the Moon? Congrats, the US already did it 50 years ago on 6 different occasions and are planning on going there soon. Elon Musk already has his eyes set on Mars.
Building an orbiting space station? Welcome to the club. The US and USSR/Russia have been at it for 40 years.
That’s not to say that none of those feats are worthy of commendation and they are positive developments for the Chinese space program, but at this stage they’re hardly groundbreaking.
That’s not to say that none of those feats are worthy of commendation and they are positive developments for the Chinese space program, but at this stage they’re hardly groundbreaking.
It’s the difference between “is it possible” and “how do we do it”.
The Soviets and the Americans (and for uncrewed, the ESA) are the only ones that have faced the first question. The second question is an engineering exercise.
Wow, returning lunar samples to Earth, how earthshattering. Let's see, we did that over 50 years ago? Yep, China is so competitive with us (LOL). So what, they're going to land humans on the moon, tomorrow?
It’s the difference between “is it possible” and “how do we do it”.
The Soviets and the Americans (and for uncrewed, the ESA) are the only ones that have faced the first question. The second question is an engineering exercise.
I think it's fair to say that the engineering is the hard bit.
Liquid-fuel rockets have been around for near a century (had to Google that, I thought Goddard was earlier), Tsiolkovsky applied the equation before that. We knew it was possible - or, rather, that there was nothing inherently impossible about it - for a long time. The devil is in the details, and that's engineering.
Wow, returning lunar samples to Earth, how earthshattering. Let's see, we did that over 50 years ago?
With a direct-return approach. China copied an Apollo-style lunar rendezvous - unmanned. The US couldn't do that 50 years ago. Unmanned docking and payload transfer? That's pretty hardcore.
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