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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 islan

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.
  - throwaway210222 5y ago
    The X-37 began as a NASA project in 1999, before being transferred to the United States Department of Defense in 2004. Sigh.
Iv 5y ago
I can't find a single picture of the exterior or the interior of the space station. Not a single, actual, picture.

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.
- throwaway210222 5y ago
  The X-37 began as a NASA project in 1999, before being transferred to the United States Department of Defense in 2004. Sigh.

Iv 5y ago

I can't find a single picture of the exterior or the interior of the space station. Not a single, actual, picture.