Zoom and Zoosh! (or Nice Girls Don' t Like Big Space Rockets)

[dolorous_ett]

Today China sent her second manned rocket into orbit.

The Shenzhou VI, sitting on top of a Long March Rocket, blasted off from the Jiuquan Space Centre in the desert at 9am local time - about 2 in the morning where I am.

Last time, China's media really wasted a golden opportunity to rustle up a bit of national pride (normally they never miss a trick - especially where anything to do with the miliatry, technology or one-upmanship over other nations is concerned. Sometimes to the point where you really wish they'd just shut up for a bit). I can only assume there was doubt in some quarters about whether or not the thing would actually fly. But fly it did - and though the President said he was very pleased and they'd all done splendidly, and there were a few other half-hearted attempts to celebrate after the event, no-one's heart was really in it.

This time, the press have pulled out a few more stops. Some of my Chinese friends actually found out about the iminent launch from their own media rather than the BBC. The countdown was televised live, there were onlookers, and there were real reports much sooner. Whether or not this will galvanise the Chinese people into squeeing about big rockets and space I can't yet say.

I'm cheering them on. With all its faults, this is a pretty impressive acheivement. And yes, before you ask, I am aware that China has a lot of other problems, it has been pointed out to me that the Chinese government is not always kind or fair, I am aware that space is an expensive hobby for rich nations, I do realise that the Chinese space programme is run by the military (not that the US or Russia have a military presence in space, oh no)... and so on and so on.

I also realise that for a lot of people, space travel is somehow nasty and macho. If you're a woman you should go and nurture something, not get involved in big bangs and explosions, especially not Communist ones. Go and worry about the environment, sweetheart, why don't you?

But you know what? I don't care. Space is vast and huge. It's full of amazing stuff. We don't know much about it, and if we don't go out into it, there's a lot we never will know. It's also a very hostile environment for humans, and the hard work and technology that go into putting even one person into space and keeping them alive are breathtaking. Whatever you think about the Chinese government, it's a damn impressive acheivement. And in my view, anything that puts a bit of new impetus into the rather moribund attempts of the other two space powers to go out there and take a look has to be good news.

So, Godspeed Fei Junlong and Nie Shenghai. A safe journey to you, and a happy return.

______

Finally, a couple of recs for the few of my f-list who might possibly like this sort of thing.

If anyone wants a really good, non-idealised warts-and-all story of space travel that somehow makes these people seem even more heroic, I would recommend Voyage by Stephen Baxter (an engineer who nearly became an astronaut so he knows what's what) - the story of how the voyage to Mars would have been if we'd made it there in the 80s. All the more poignant because it never actually happened.

And finally, a link to some pretty pictures of the launch, courtesy of the BBC.

Comments

[bufo-viridis.livejournal.com]

Somebody recalled an old "poem", made up during first Russian space-flights. Very free translation:

We go! And up he went,
And only heart still feels bitter pain,
That but one Gagarin flew into the space
And not the entire USSR.

Yes, I'm mean :)

And no, they didn't "waste the opportunity" first time: as you said, there was a possibility of failure, and what a loss of face, if we make "blow a cow" about it and it turns out to be a failure...

And now for something completely different: have you noticed how dry the air above Gobi is? Almost no condensation below the exit flames.

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

Witty poem. Ouch!

I don't think I'd argue with you about the wasting of propaganda opportunities before the first Shenzhou went up. Especially as by the sounds of it there were "rumours" that a spaceship had gone up the previous year - and then nothing - so people thought the thing had crashed.

What I do find stranger is that the government didn't make more noise once Shenzhou and Yang Liwei were back on Earth, safe and sound. Still, it is possible that not everyone shares my enthusiasm for large rockets and big explosions. Especially as science fiction was banned for quite a long time in China.

I didn't notice until you mentioned it about the exit flames. But you're absolutely right.

[catkind.livejournal.com]

Cool!...I think... That's the thing with any sort of blue-sky research, I guess, it's taking money away from more urgent problems, but often pays off in the end. Space travel more so than most - more resources, more time until it could conceivably be useful. But who knows? If there's any hope of escaping from the finiteness of resources on this planet, it's awfully tempting to say it has to be tried.

Hmm, don't entirely recall Voyage, but I was reading Space recently, also very impressive, and heroic in a frighteningly long-sighted sort of way.

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

Yes - I'm very fond of Space too but it's on an altogether larger scale than Voyage.

The wonder of Baxter's two almost-real-life space books - Voyage and Titan (in which the last remaining vestiges of Shuttle technology are canibalised to make up a one-shot manned mission to Titan - with the inevitable tragic consequences) is that while you see the hugeness and glory of space, you also get a lot more about how ill-designed we are to be there, and how much human stupidity and politicking get in the way of sending the right people out there. And yet... it's still glorious.

Thanks for replying to the post anyway - was convinced I was going to get a no-show, or else a lot of very snide replies.

And above all, how great to meet a fellow-reader of Stephen Baxter!

[bufo-viridis.livejournal.com]

you're right.. Hm, maybe some internal tension? Like the fraction, which doesn't like these costly manned flights and prefers additional threescore of missiles aimed at Taiwan not wanting the other guys getting too much publicity?

[dolorous-ett.livejournal.com]

Internal strife's always a good one. Explains just about anything, that does, especially where the military's concerned.

And as for the Taiwan Question... well, I overlooked it, as I tend to do. I find it really hard to remember that there really are people out there who think an invasion's really a)practical b)a good thing - and then I get terrified when I remember that there are - all that bloodshed and scorched earth, and for what at the end of it?

Yet another reason to sublimate all that aggression into something harmless like scientific manned spaceflight.