Will China beat US to Mars ?!?!

[Indus]

It seems very possible. China's space program seems much more efficient in terms of time and money. I lost the article that gave the exact monetary figures, but China launched a man into space w/ a fraction of the cost US did (inflation taken into account) and had fewer trials before going. NASA say they need $150 billion to put a man on mars. China say they can do it for $15 billion. Not to mention w/ a communist gov't you can invest as much of the budget money as you want w/o peoples approval.. in a democracy where 60% of Americans dissapprove "wasting" money on doing manned mars mission it could be easier for China to do it.

[farina]

Its possible but American's have the upper hand because of the rover spirit. They can learn about the planet and send their men accordingly whereas china does not have that advantage. Sending men in without learning about the place would be very risky, unless China does not care if they return or not.

[ullu]

As much as I would like to see china take the lead in going to mars i am tempted to say that USA will be the first to land a man on mars because of its past sucesses in space.

[Winter]

As much as I would like to see china take the lead in going to mars i am tempted to say that USA will be the first to land a man on mars because of its past sucesses in space.

I agree. China hasn't fully acquired anything on the level of the US space establishment, NASA and assorted. This establishment could probably do practically anything for the US in near space, including fully initiating a manned mission program to Mars right now. All it needs are the objectives and the funding to make things move...But that's where the obstacles lie...Right now, the US doesn't need to do everything in near space, and no one can do anything without the attached budget. Therefore nothing much is going to happen, for now. :roll

[Su_37]

Well , China just started , don;t mention their Recorts fails to lift off . only US companies help them to improve thier Rockets , Moreover China don;t have much capabilities to put man on moon .

China don;t even have much confidence in its first launch that it can even show in TV live , and give every details before.

In contrast US space Programe is much more advance and far ahead then china etc . They know about space and its Compliancy . u can say it is 50 years more advance then china .

regarding Mars , US send its prove but China still planning to send probe to MOON by 2010. and by 2015 US will send man on MARS and China is still figuring out about MARS environment , etc etc ..

[Soldier]

At least there is a very well appreciated start by China. More they try, nearer the goal. Will take time but should be able to do just fine. Everyone has to start somewhere and then build upon it.

[gf0012-aust]

At least there is a very well appreciated start by China. More they try, nearer the goal. Will take time but should be able to do just fine. Everyone has to start somewhere and then build upon it.

Exactly, the bottom line is that they are having a go themselves. That is something to be proud of.

It is pointless arguing "who will beat who". China needs to take her time to do this, rushing it just to score an emotional victory could end up with dead astronauts - thats not worth the cost.

[dabrownguy]

But I want mars now!

[corsair7772]

China's thinkin abt goin 2 Mars when it doesnt evn have aircraft carriers and proper AWACS? naaaaa the US will get there. But its not a matter of who gets there first. The soviets launched the first man in space didnt they? evn though their opponent were none other than the techno-experts:NATO+USA

[elkaboingo]

are they even planning on putting a man on mars. probably not.

[corsair7772]

not the chinese....yet but the US...dont u read the news?

[Indus]

not the chinese....yet but the US...dont u read the news?

I'm talking about a manned mission.. I should have clarified.

There's no doubt China will be the world's next superpower. If they can accomplish this feat (man Mars) they would give US a run for #1.. By then, around 2030, China will already have a bigger economy than US, there will be a much smaller disparities b/w the militaries, and w/ China on Mars.. oh man, I dont think US would want to mess w/ China.. US should put the smack down before China gets too advanced.

[Winter]

not the chinese....yet but the US...dont u read the news?

I'm talking about a manned mission.. I should have clarified.

There's no doubt China will be the world's next superpower. If they can accomplish this feat (man Mars) they would give US a run for #1.. By then, around 2030, China will already have a bigger economy than US, there will be a much smaller disparities b/w the militaries, and w/ China on Mars.. oh man, I dont think US would want to mess w/ China.. US should put the smack down before China gets too advanced.

Personally I don't think the US should 'smack down' anything or anyone but in all likelihood they're still gonna beat China to the Red Planet.

:frosty

[elkaboingo]

sorry corsair, i was referring to china. i dont think they intend to go to mars, or atleast not in the next 50 years.

putting a man on mars is just a show of power. i think china is more interested in building power than showing it off (at a large cost)

[Soldier]

not the chinese....yet but the US...dont u read the news?

I'm talking about a manned mission.. I should have clarified.

There's no doubt China will be the world's next superpower. If they can accomplish this feat (man Mars) they would give US a run for #1.. By then, around 2030, China will already have a bigger economy than US, there will be a much smaller disparities b/w the militaries, and w/ China on Mars.. oh man, I dont think US would want to mess w/ China.. US should put the smack down before China gets too advanced.


I do not think US can mess with China right now even. US policy-makers understand very well the result of messing with powerful countries like China from where American soldiers can come in body-bags. Not to say China is more powerful then US but China has a many times bigger stomach to suffer losses and US experience is throw out when it sees its own killed.

[Winter]

I do not think US can mess with China right now even. US policy-makers understand very well the result of messing with powerful countries like China from where American soldiers can come in body-bags. Not to say China is more powerful then US but China has a many times bigger stomach to suffer losses and US experience is throw out when it sees its own killed.

There is nothing to suggest the US is or should get into a bloody conflict with China...You raise the 'bigger stomach' issue to absorb losses like it's a special thing...So I guess the US has the 'little weaker' stomach then...Well, quite frankly I'm fine with that. At least they are a country sensitive to losses...

If the US experience is to 'throw out' when it sees it's own killed then by all rights they would've abandoned Iraq and left it to dogs half a year ago. :roll

[Soldier]

Winter, You can not be justified in comparing Iraq to China. Come on, you know what I mean. You have always done better then that. And I never said that there is a reason for US to go on war with China. I was only adding up.
As to Iraq, the losses are mounting now but then who cares. President Bush is busy doing favor to his Oil buddies.

[Winter]

Winter, You can not be justified in comparing Iraq to China. Come on, you know what I mean. You have always done better then that. And I never said that there is a reason for US to go on war with China. I was only adding up.
As to Iraq, the losses are mounting now but then who cares. President Bush is busy doing favor to his Oil buddies.

I was highlighting the fact that you commented that the US could not accept losses before bailing out of a situation (you quoted a US-China war). I mentioned Iraq as it is a current issue now where the US is taking serious casualties (you yourself just mentioned the losses are mounting) therefore is a viable if loose example, yet is not 'throwing out' until they finish the needed post war work (set up elections, repair infrastructure, etc).

[Awang se]

USA is a country which it's peoples has a proper awareness and strong voice in determining the course of the country. the peoples vote can decide the rise and fall of the presidents. Indeed the president will have to bow to the voice of the peoples in some extent, less he will fall. A massive casualties in a war that has nothing to do with them will be view as unneccesary waste of lives by the US people and they will demand that the troops shaould go back home. But if there is any situation which threatens the US directly, for exampled if China attack US, then you will see a true strength of the US. All that we see so far is only the tip of the spear, a small portion of the whole US military might. Remember WW2. The US fought a war in two front, the Atlantic and the pacific, and won. US give a considerable strength to it's allies in Europe and yet still retain a level of supremacy in the Pacific.

[gf0012-aust]

USA is a country which it's peoples has a proper awareness and strong voice in determining the course of the country. the peoples vote can decide the rise and fall of the presidents. Indeed the president will have to bow to the voice of the peoples in some extent, less he will fall. A massive casualties in a war that has nothing to do with them will be view as unneccesary waste of lives by the US people and they will demand that the troops shaould go back home. But if there is any situation which threatens the US directly, for exampled if China attack US, then you will see a true strength of the US. All that we see so far is only the tip of the spear, a small portion of the whole US military might. Remember WW2. The US fought a war in two front, the Atlantic and the pacific, and won. US give a considerable strength to it's allies in Europe and yet still retain a level of supremacy in the Pacific.

What a lot of people tend to forget that when the US is drawn into war, once they waken they will visit absolute destruction on their enemies. When war is not absolute, they have been averse toi takemn casualties, but that is completely different from their willingness to react with absolute venom if necessary.

As Awang se says, they have a capacity to wage full scale conventional war "en majeur" on two simultaneous fronts. No other country has the economy ot the hardware capbility to wage such a war at a force on force level. At the same time they can keep their economy running and have the advantage of having war reserve assets as well.

We haven't even discussed their capacity to wage a disconnected war, or a nuclear war, or any other variety of opportunities where they bought space based comms assets into play.

[Red aRRow]

This is a discussion about China Vs. USA to the red planet....NOT China and USA battling it out in a war. :cop

[Khamosh Mujahid]

This is a discussion about China Vs. USA to the red planet....NOT China and USA battling it out in a war. :cop

If you had read the "signs" carefully, you should've seen statements by US senators and other politicians that all this scientific research makes US the one and only kind to have control over space and it is also "morally correct" to do so against other worldly evils...

:eek

[Gremlin29]

I think the US would win a race to Mars with China without question. There is currently no other ogranization in the world that compares to NASA. Does this mean China is a "bad country" or "inferior"? Absolutely not. In fact, the Chinese are quite industrious and intelligent and have all of the needed components to build a highly successful space program that could rival or even eclipse NASA.

[Indus]

This is a discussion about China Vs. USA to the red planet....NOT China and USA battling it out in a war. :cop

For the US, this is an all out war to not let anyone get ahead of them in anything, including establishing a presence on Mars. If that means finding a pretext to going to war with China (i.e. if China moves on Taiwan) than that's what they might use in the not so distant future. In this next century, whoever controls space will pretty much control the world.. and not to mention will establish the rites of passage to control Mars.
For China, they are just trying strive for excellence and compete with the most advanced countries b/c they are capable of it. Not to mention to trying to limit US hegemony.

[Gremlin29]

I have to disagree with you on the US wanting a pretext to war with China Indus. In fact I can say without doubt that China is the last country on Earth that the US would want to fight for a multitude of reasons. I do agree that whomever gets control of space will control the planet, but more of in an economic sense than a political sense.

[ullu]

I think the US would win a race to Mars with China without question. There is currently no other ogranization in the world that compares to NASA. Does this mean China is a "bad country" or "inferior"? Absolutely not. In fact, the Chinese are quite industrious and intelligent and have all of the needed components to build a highly successful space program that could rival or even eclipse NASA.

Agreed. China doesn't have the base and institution like NASA to land man on Mooon, mars is to far fetched. Maybe in another 15-20 years China will have enough experience to go for the man mission to mars.

[Winter]

Agreed. China doesn't have the base and institution like NASA to land man on Mooon, mars is to far fetched. Maybe in another 15-20 years China will have enough experience to go for the man mission to mars.

That's if China maintains it's strong heading, of course...As long they don't fade or hesitate like NASA after the Apollo program had been completed and just continue with a few probes, a couple manned pleasure orbits, etc...The sky's the limit. : )

:frosty

[Indus]

Agreed. China doesn't have the base and institution like NASA to land man on Mooon, mars is to far fetched. Maybe in another 15-20 years China will have enough experience to go for the man mission to mars.[/quote]


THat's what I'm saying. The US goal is to have a man on Mars by 2030. DIdn't you hear that in the news - Bush's speech. If China does it w/i 20yrs they will have beat US.

[Winter]

Agreed. China doesn't have the base and institution like NASA to land man on Mooon, mars is to far fetched. Maybe in another 15-20 years China will have enough experience to go for the man mission to mars.


THat's what I'm saying. The US goal is to have a man on Mars by 2030. DIdn't you hear that in the news - Bush's speech. If China does it w/i 20yrs they will have beat US.

China won't have man of Mars in 15-20 years time...if anything, that's when they'll initiate the years-long program to go...

[gf0012-aust]

Australian scientists believe they have found evidence that life once existed on Mars.

They have found that microscopic fossils of primitive bacteria-like organisms in a Mars meteorite match characteristics of bacteria found in mud in Queensland.

The research is published today in the Journal of Microscopy.

One of the scientists, Dr Tony Taylor from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, says he expects his work will spark intense debate.

"The fossils that we have in the meteorite are the original material - the only difference is that you need a very high-powered electron microscope to image them, to see them and basically whenever we find these fossils here on Earth, no one ever questions they were made by bacteria," he said.

"The only difference is that it was in a meteorite from Mars."

Dr Taylor says he has found enough evidence of life on Mars to warrant a manned mission to the red planet and that more samples must now be collected from Mars for further investigation.

"We've now got enough evidence to warrant a sample retrieval mission and I believe it's going to be a matter of developing the technology to get authentic pieces of Mars back here on Earth where we can subject them to the really high-tech high resolution instruments that you can't possibly put on Mars," he said.


http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1033640.htm

This should motivate a few more people about going to Mars.

[WebMaster]

Swiss too have passion for mars :arrow: :

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/29/1075088098938.html

[gf0012-aust]

What would be an interesting combination is the swiss UAV using a new UAV artificial intelligence programme developed by the DSTO in Australia.

If they are looking at autonomous control then it could be a marriage of convenience.

[WebMaster]

Looks like from the Article you posted GF, that Aussies are also interested in Mars. It would be a good oppurtunity for SFIT and DSTO to get together and help us learn more about closet planet to earth! :idea2 Perhaps help NASA in the process as well. :)

[gf0012-aust]

I've already emailed a copy of that article off to people I know - just in case they weren't aware of what the swiss are doing. its a funny environment sometimes, these groups sometimes find out what is happening through the media. a little strange but unfortunately true at times.

[WebMaster]

Say, they don't have any means of communication between them incase something of mutual interest comes up? Strange!

[gf0012-aust]

lol, yeah, thats why the US military developed the internet - so that scientists could talk to each other.

I've been on a couple of projects where weapons technology developed in one country was unknown in another, and yet there is a "sharing treaty" in place. The funny thing was that the technology was common knowledge with the weapons guys but was unknown to the boffins.

just goes to show how even the smartest orgs can make "human" mistakes.. ;)

[Aussie Digger]

The US will get to Mars first if they want to. If Dubya comes out and states unequivocably that the US WILL get there first and then backs up the speech with the necessary resources, like JFK did (when he said the US WILL get to the Moon first), no-one else could possibly beat America there. Whether it's a high priority or not will determine who gets there first. Cheers.

[The Watcher]

Dubya isn't as interested in Space as he is in Oil, etc. If he gets reelected, his main focus would be Iraq and how to get out of it. That speech about Mars, etc. was just a political JFK wanna be ploy!

For china to go for Mars, first it must land a man on Moon and prove its expertise in space.

[Red aRRow]

Yeah Watcher is right. This American president really tries to be a showman. He just wanted to rustle up some emotions to get some votes in return. Typical politician.

[Khamosh Mujahid]

But US has the dough and the technology which sadly China lacks!!! :eek

[Roger Smith]

But US has the dough and the technology which sadly China lacks!!! :eek


I second KM views!!!!! ;)

[Ameer Kiani]

Of course, if there was a race, the US would win. It's common sense. At the present at least. But the US' complete supremacy is no more. In 20 years, China could be more of a competitor to America than the Soviets were during the Cold War.