[FPSPACE] heated circumlunar debate

[cpvick]

The Chinese are still working on the Long March-5 not expected to be
flight test until 2007-2009 time frame. Accordingly it should be
available for unmanned missions by 2010 even though it will probably be
used for that from the start. Manned flight rating with that accordingly
would not be expected until 2012-2014 for a lunar circumnavigation
mission which would be a single launch as Phillip S. Clark has correctly
noted. This of course assuming everything goes right early in the
unmanned flight tests through 2010 and afterwards.

-----Original Message-----
From: fpspace-bounces at friends-partners.org
[mailto:fpspace-bounces at friends-partners.org] On Behalf Of Robert Law
Sent: Saturday, August 13, 2005 7:38 PM
To: DSFPortree at aol.com; kgottschalk at uwc.ac.za;
fpspace at friends-partners.org
Subject: Re: [FPSPACE] heated circumlunar debate

 I think prestige  is  driving this and could make it happen  and I hope
it happens !  the Russian's face being left behind by both China and the
U.S.  it will take the Americans 10 years to be in a position to get
back to the moon however the Chinese  could do a cis lunar flight with
shenzu with in that period  with a rendezvous and docking planed for
shenzou 8 and 9 this could open the door to a cis lunar flight. by
docking to an earth departure stage.
 
The Russian's could do this first and put them ahead of both China and
the US who will still be stuck in Leo in 2008  it would be a big boost
for Russia.
 
Robert

DSFPortree at aol.com wrote:
Keith:

> This debate has sometimes had an unnecessarily acerbic tone of
> voice! 

It's all in good fun - at least for me. Can't speak for anyone else.

Don't worry about the tourist market. If this were about tourism, we'd
be 
fiercely debating some other aspect of spaceflight right now, not this 
circumlunar plan, because this circumlunar plan would be going nowhere.
No, this is 
about a Russian prestige bid, a national project. The tourism thing is,
well, not 
exactly incidental, but not the main thing. So, one needn't worry about
the 
illogic of this from a marketing standpoint - though your points are
good ones.

David

David S. F. Portree
Science writer & historian
dsfportree at aol.com
Flagstaff Arizona USA

DSFP homepage
http://members.aol.com/dsfportree/dsfp.htm

Romance to Reality: moon & Mars plans
http://rtr.marsinstitute.info
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