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> Due to the end of the Space Shuttle program, Soyuz is now the only spacecraft capable of carrying a crew into orbit So I'm guessing the Shenzhou program does

> Due to the end of the Space Shuttle program, Soyuz is now the only spacecraft capable of carrying a crew into orbit So I'm guessing the Shenzhou program doesn't count? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhou_(spacecraft) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhou_(spacecraft) (Yes, I know the OP goes on to say "and used for flights to the ISS". Still irritatingly inaccurate.)

kens 7y ago
Thanks for the comment; I've removed the offending sentence. (edit: cstross is right and doesn't deserve downvotes.) Wikipedia says "Soyuz has served as the only means for crewed space flights in the world since the retirement of the US Space Shuttle in 2011", so I guess that's wrong? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_(spacecraft) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_(spacecraft)
- daveslash 7y ago
  Thanks Op. How did you come into possession of this clock? Edit: And does it still work?
  - kens 7y ago
    CuriousMarc [1] bought the clock at a space auction. We hope the clock still works. We plan to power it up and get it working, but first I needed to reverse-engineer the circuitry to figure out how to power it. [1] https://youtube.com/curiousmarc https://youtube.com/curiousmarc
    - egdod 7y ago
      That’s wild. How much did it cost?
- mschuster91 7y ago
  The Chinese program is China only, unavailable to the rest of the world - Russia in contrast sells to everyone, meaning that "the world" only has Russia as provider.
oldgradstudent 7y ago
Isn't Shenzhou a Soyuz derivative? You could say it makes the original statement unintentionally true.
- cstross 7y ago
  Interestingly, Shenzhou isn't a Soyuz derivative -- it's significantly larger and has other divergent features (its orbital module can allegedly stay docked to another vehicle even after the crew capsule detatches for re-entry). Source: http://www.astronautix.com/s/shenzhou.html http://www.astronautix.com/s/shenzhou.html As I understand it, China is excluded from treaties governing cooperation in crewed spaceflight that go back to the Apollo-Soyuz link-up and include other third parties such as ESA and Japan: this locked them out of the ISS program. So they had to develop their own space station, too.

kens 7y ago

Thanks for the comment; I've removed the offending sentence. (edit: cstross is right and doesn't deserve downvotes.) Wikipedia says "Soyuz has served as the only means for crewed space flights in the world since the retirement of the US Space Shuttle in 2011", so I guess that's wrong? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_(spacecraft) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_(spacecraft)

daveslash 7y ago
Thanks Op. How did you come into possession of this clock? Edit: And does it still work?
- kens 7y ago
  CuriousMarc [1] bought the clock at a space auction. We hope the clock still works. We plan to power it up and get it working, but first I needed to reverse-engineer the circuitry to figure out how to power it. [1] https://youtube.com/curiousmarc https://youtube.com/curiousmarc
  - egdod 7y ago
    That’s wild. How much did it cost?
mschuster91 7y ago
The Chinese program is China only, unavailable to the rest of the world - Russia in contrast sells to everyone, meaning that "the world" only has Russia as provider.

oldgradstudent 7y ago

Isn't Shenzhou a Soyuz derivative? You could say it makes the original statement unintentionally true.

cstross 7y ago
Interestingly, Shenzhou isn't a Soyuz derivative -- it's significantly larger and has other divergent features (its orbital module can allegedly stay docked to another vehicle even after the crew capsule detatches for re-entry). Source: http://www.astronautix.com/s/shenzhou.html http://www.astronautix.com/s/shenzhou.html As I understand it, China is excluded from treaties governing cooperation in crewed spaceflight that go back to the Apollo-Soyuz link-up and include other third parties such as ESA and Japan: this locked them out of the ISS program. So they had to develop their own space station, too.