Comments on: China outlines its next five years in space

By: LocalFluff

LocalFluff — Wed, 28 Dec 2016 08:47:55 +0000

China is still using hypergolic launchers and copies of Soyuz and Salyut for human space flight. I suppose we will see new launchers and spaceships soon. Sounds like they need a Saturn V class launcher.

By: wayne

wayne — Wed, 28 Dec 2016 04:14:42 +0000

that should have been “Orion314”

Tom Billings– interesting stuff!

By: wayne

wayne — Wed, 28 Dec 2016 04:04:37 +0000

Have to agree with Orion123 on the Chinese-Communist;

The Communist Party of China controls everything, including the People’s Liberation Army.
They consider themselves in the “primary stage of socialism,” where they employ what Marx characterized as centralized “capitalistic modes of production.”
–But in typical communist fashion– those are all just words that mean less than nothing.
Very little free-market economics is in play, no matter what they call it. It’s only in the West where we overlay our notions of capitalism onto them.

By: Tom Billings

Tom Billings — Wed, 28 Dec 2016 03:54:12 +0000

It is interesting that this encouragement of private activity is happening at the same time that Xi has locked down the Party and PLA organs of power for himself. He realizes that the “consultative leadership” started by Deng Xiao Peng has run its course, and ended in vast amounts of consultative corruption inside the State. He is making efforts through his one-man rule to reduce that corruption, but still sees 2 threats in such rule.

Xi seems to know that the State will not produce the dynamic wealth-producing society needed by Chinese, and by the Chinese State, whatever it is called. Thus, from an economic viewpoint he needs to encourage entrpreneurs, or see State power as starved as it was in 1976, compared to the US. The highly visible Space sector is a good place to make it clear that a Chinese citizen *can* strive and succeed beyond anything in their history.

In addition, he knows the problems of one-man rule include the need to make young men feel that the State is *not* what is keeping them from succeeding in life, as happened so often in Chinese history, inducing rebellion. The Space sector’s high visibility can do much to bleed away precisely the “dangerous” young men who would organize revolts, into the settlement of the Solar System. If Xi succeeds in this, he can both run a State hierarchy accountable enough to himself that he can reduce corruption, and at the same time give young men a place where they can become “Great” outside the hierarchy he controls, without disrupting his hierarchy.

There is actually precedent on a smaller scale for this in Chinese history. Highly competent generals, who were otherwise a threat to the throne, were sent to the western frontiers with orders to protect the trade routes and extend the boundaries of Chinese civilization, to feed the troops yet farther West of each colony. Thus, we had Chinese settlements in Sinkiang by 750 AD. The interesting question is whether Xi can succeed in planting Chinese successes, without those succeeding so well out there deciding to come back to run things here.

By: Orion314

Orion314 — Wed, 28 Dec 2016 02:32:03 +0000

BTW, the ChiCom govt exists, far from name only. At the drop of a hat, they could “nationalize private business(es) without firing a shot. Something the USG could do in name only. Once corporations over there become the absolute power, then that will be the end of the Commy
label.Not there yet, witness the Military buildup..always a boost for govt power building.

By: Orion314

Orion314 — Wed, 28 Dec 2016 02:20:13 +0000

I’ll be the first to guess site of the ChiCom Farside Lunar lander probe:
Latitude: 10° S – Longitude: 117.5° E, Southwest of Delporte and North of Izsak
. ref : ZOOM-AS15-P-9625.jpg – NASA, Apollo 15

Just saying, that would be my choice…..