[FPSPACE] CE4 - recoverable rovers 2017-2020

[E.P. Grondine]

Hi - 

The impact of CE1 has provided China with the opportunity to release statements on a number of manned space topics, from the lunar program to Tiangong to the launch complex.

First off, a "CE4" series has now been approved for the Moon:

http://www.moondaily.com/reports/China_To_Land_Probe_On_Moon_At_Latest_In_2013_999.html

With launch from 2017-2020 most likely by CZ5's.

Then there's Tiangong:
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90881/6603285.html

which clears up the naming confusion. 

(For some reason its tough to find the original release - anybody have a copy of it? There is a mention in this report of a manned Moon landing before 2020, but how that fits in with CAPS after 2020 is not clear. The CE4 series seems to have been influenced by Japanese proposals to use robots as predecessors to and along with men in manned Moon missions.)

Then there's the station:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-03/03/content_7528607.htm

In the secondary reports we still see a lot of confusion.

E.P. Grondine
Man and Impact in the Americas

PS 1 - anybody broken out pad and factory utilization for all of this yet?


PS 2 - Thiokol is now playing up Ares 1 first stage re-usability. But Direct's SRBs are the same as those now flown, which are already recoverable. I don't know how much money you save by recovering casings, but I don't think its that efficient, say in comparison to folding wing fly-back liquid first stages.

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