8 ms·

The Chinese space program doesn't get a lot of press, but much like the country itself, they've made stunning progress in a short period of time. It's 18 years

The Chinese space program doesn't get a lot of press, but much like the country itself, they've made stunning progress in a short period of time. It's 18 years from their first manned space flight, and here they are successfully building a modular space station, returning samples from the Moon and landing a rover on Mars. They're experimenting with a SpaceX-style reusable rocket, a Mars sample return mission and are planning to land a man on the Moon by the end of the decade, and unlike NASA's plans, they appear serious about it too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_space_program https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_space_program (a mess of current and obsolete programs, but gives some idea of the breadth of their ambitions) Things will get even more interesting next year if India launches their first manned spaceflight as planned. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaganyaan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaganyaan

ilamont 5y ago
It gets a ton of press in the United States. Mars mission, manned launches, and other achievements have been featured prominently by the national broadcasters, the New York Times, and Internet outlets. A few years back there was a movie in which a Chinese space station was featured (based on a Russian template, which figured into the story). What these reports don't have are details. And that's not surprising, because the Chinese government doesn't share many details about its space program, or give any access to media outside of China.
- Clewza313 5y ago
  That used to be the case, but is not so much anymore: for example, Reuters filmed the launch today live. Wenchang spaceport, on China's Hawaii-equivalent island of Hainan, which you can even visit visa-free in pre-COVID times, has become a major Cape Canaveral-style space tourism destination with rocket watchers gathering for launch picnics, streaming live, etc. Today's launch was from the other major spaceport at Jiuquan though, which is the middle of nowhere deep in the Gobi Desert. That said, the Chinese space program has deep military roots and every Chinese astronaut to date is an air force pilot, so we're not going to see NASA-style transparency anytime soon.
  - throwaway4good 5y ago
    I think being an air force pilot is a suitable background for becoming an astronaut. Possibly even a better background than being a billionaire in a mid-life crisis.
  - samsari 5y ago
    >That said, the Chinese space program has deep military roots and every Chinese astronaut to date is an air force pilot Is your implication that the American space programme somehow does not have deep military roots?
    - unethical_ban 5y ago
      No. Rather, the US is farther out from our military-only space roots than China.
    - brnt 5y ago
      NASA was split off in 1958 and made a civilian agency, while the Chinese space programme has not, and probably never will.
  - triceratops 5y ago
    > every Chinese astronaut to date is an air force pilot IIRC most early American astronauts were also military aviators - either air force or navy.
  - throwaway210222 5y ago
    > so we're not going to see NASA-style transparency anytime soon. To what I ask "tell me ALL about your X-37 space plane."
    - NikolaeVarius 5y ago
      Oh yes, the Plane that is operated by DARPA and not NASA.
      - 5y ago
cainxinth 5y ago
Not to downplay their success too much, but doing those things in the 2020s, while still expensive and difficult, is not nearly as expensive and difficult as doing them in the 1990s. And given their propensity for stealing Western IP, would anyone be surprised to learn some of China’s progress is thanks to groundwork laid by Western space companies and agencies?
- Clewza313 5y ago
  Not really, they signed a bunch of deals with Russia to legally import their IP wholesale. For example, the Shenzhou spaceship flown today is a direct descendant of the venerable Soviet Soyuz. (Which is still being flown to the ISS as well.) I know it's easy to think "cheap Chinese copy fnarr fnarr", but so far they have a perfect track record for human spaceflight (and no, even the CCP couldn't cover up a space accident).
  - cainxinth 5y ago
    Yeah, but I’m pretty sure they don’t publicize the use of tech that they pilfered.
    - dragonsh 5y ago
      Probably everyone know “ standing on the shoulders of giants”. Every new discovery is based on knowledge acquired from previous discoveries. What is achieved by USA is also standing on the work of previous great civilizations. Indeed all the knowledge USA today have is built on top of knowledge brought in by those immigrants from their respective society, culture and place. China is not the only country trying space missions. European Union, Japan, South Korea and India has also been trying for years. Besides Russia, USA now China is 3rd country to successfully launch a space station and then take crew to it, despite the sanctions and constant blocking of technology transfer (indeed forgetting the basic tenet of standing on the shoulders of giants). It’s a big achievement for China given they were blocked from ISS and need to re-invent the wheels. Hopefully they will be able to show same innovation and operational capability in space as they have shown in fast speed bullet trains. Personally I hope that humanity can come together to have more collaborations on space, given it will be the only hope if something happens to Earth. Docking of spacecraft with crew is a win for science and another feather in understanding space. Congratulations to all the scientists and people involved in this project, they deserve an applause for the this feat.
swiley 5y ago
Meh, we had a space station pretty shortly after our first manned flights and so did Russia and that's when this stuff was new. Going to space is impressive but this isn't unique or anything.
cameldrv 5y ago
They have made a lot of progress quickly. By comparison, Russia went from first manned space flight to a space station in 10 years, and the U.S. did the same in 11 years. It should also be noted that the Shenzhou spacecraft is a licensed copy of the Soyuz with some updates. The Chinese space station core module Tianhe is likewise a licensed, updated copy of the Russian International Space Station core module Zvezda.

ilamont 5y ago

It gets a ton of press in the United States. Mars mission, manned launches, and other achievements have been featured prominently by the national broadcasters, the New York Times, and Internet outlets. A few years back there was a movie in which a Chinese space station was featured (based on a Russian template, which figured into the story). What these reports don't have are details. And that's not surprising, because the Chinese government doesn't share many details about its space program, or give any access to media outside of China.

Clewza313 5y ago
That used to be the case, but is not so much anymore: for example, Reuters filmed the launch today live. Wenchang spaceport, on China's Hawaii-equivalent island of Hainan, which you can even visit visa-free in pre-COVID times, has become a major Cape Canaveral-style space tourism destination with rocket watchers gathering for launch picnics, streaming live, etc. Today's launch was from the other major spaceport at Jiuquan though, which is the middle of nowhere deep in the Gobi Desert. That said, the Chinese space program has deep military roots and every Chinese astronaut to date is an air force pilot, so we're not going to see NASA-style transparency anytime soon.
- throwaway4good 5y ago
  I think being an air force pilot is a suitable background for becoming an astronaut. Possibly even a better background than being a billionaire in a mid-life crisis.
- samsari 5y ago
  >That said, the Chinese space program has deep military roots and every Chinese astronaut to date is an air force pilot Is your implication that the American space programme somehow does not have deep military roots?
  - unethical_ban 5y ago
    No. Rather, the US is farther out from our military-only space roots than China.
  - brnt 5y ago
    NASA was split off in 1958 and made a civilian agency, while the Chinese space programme has not, and probably never will.
- triceratops 5y ago
  > every Chinese astronaut to date is an air force pilot IIRC most early American astronauts were also military aviators - either air force or navy.
- throwaway210222 5y ago
  > so we're not going to see NASA-style transparency anytime soon. To what I ask "tell me ALL about your X-37 space plane."
  - NikolaeVarius 5y ago
    Oh yes, the Plane that is operated by DARPA and not NASA.
    - 5y ago

cainxinth 5y ago

Not to downplay their success too much, but doing those things in the 2020s, while still expensive and difficult, is not nearly as expensive and difficult as doing them in the 1990s. And given their propensity for stealing Western IP, would anyone be surprised to learn some of China’s progress is thanks to groundwork laid by Western space companies and agencies?

Clewza313 5y ago
Not really, they signed a bunch of deals with Russia to legally import their IP wholesale. For example, the Shenzhou spaceship flown today is a direct descendant of the venerable Soviet Soyuz. (Which is still being flown to the ISS as well.) I know it's easy to think "cheap Chinese copy fnarr fnarr", but so far they have a perfect track record for human spaceflight (and no, even the CCP couldn't cover up a space accident).
- cainxinth 5y ago
  Yeah, but I’m pretty sure they don’t publicize the use of tech that they pilfered.
  - dragonsh 5y ago
    Probably everyone know “ standing on the shoulders of giants”. Every new discovery is based on knowledge acquired from previous discoveries. What is achieved by USA is also standing on the work of previous great civilizations. Indeed all the knowledge USA today have is built on top of knowledge brought in by those immigrants from their respective society, culture and place. China is not the only country trying space missions. European Union, Japan, South Korea and India has also been trying for years. Besides Russia, USA now China is 3rd country to successfully launch a space station and then take crew to it, despite the sanctions and constant blocking of technology transfer (indeed forgetting the basic tenet of standing on the shoulders of giants). It’s a big achievement for China given they were blocked from ISS and need to re-invent the wheels. Hopefully they will be able to show same innovation and operational capability in space as they have shown in fast speed bullet trains. Personally I hope that humanity can come together to have more collaborations on space, given it will be the only hope if something happens to Earth. Docking of spacecraft with crew is a win for science and another feather in understanding space. Congratulations to all the scientists and people involved in this project, they deserve an applause for the this feat.

swiley 5y ago

Meh, we had a space station pretty shortly after our first manned flights and so did Russia and that's when this stuff was new. Going to space is impressive but this isn't unique or anything.

cameldrv 5y ago

They have made a lot of progress quickly. By comparison, Russia went from first manned space flight to a space station in 10 years, and the U.S. did the same in 11 years. It should also be noted that the Shenzhou spacecraft is a licensed copy of the Soyuz with some updates. The Chinese space station core module Tianhe is likewise a licensed, updated copy of the Russian International Space Station core module Zvezda.