Right now the Chinese have a three-manned spacecraft named Shenzhou-7 orbiting the Earth to complete a set of tasks that if successfully maneuvered will place China among the world's most advanced nations in regards to space travel. The Shenzhou-7 is completely Chinese, meaning each piece of the spacecraft (minus its docking technology which was imported from Russia so as to be compatible with the International Space Station), its technologies, and equipment including the spacesuit (called Feitian 飞天) are of Chinese design. Tonight is a very big test for the Chinese government and its space program. Project 921 was initiated in 1992 to send manned spacecraft into space, leading to eventual use of a Chinese space laboratory. This second phase of Project 921 includes six tests that will push the project one step further in exploring the capabilities of the Chinese space program. The six tests are as follows:
1. Blastoff:
The launch is the most accident-prone stage of space travel (see: US Challenger 1986), but the Jiuquan launchpad isn't too concerned. They've launched approximately 100 satellites in the past 5 years, all successfully, and the shuttle has been outfitted with 8 contingencies for monitoring its ascent.
2. Transfer the Orbit:
The orbit of the spacecraft will first begin at a close 200km from Earth and eventually move out to 350km from Earth, then it will transfer to a circular orbit at 343km (for smoother descent) and be controlled from Beijing space command center.
3. Saddling up:
The new Feitian suit took Chinese engineers 4 years to design and this will be its first test. Although the astronauts have trained many times using the exact same suit, putting it on in space will be much different. If they make one mistake, it will prove deadly. The entire preparation process will take a grueling 14 hours (and no... you guessed wrong... the astronauts AREN'T women!) Good luck Liu Boming! Don't forget your zipper...
4. Airlock:
To get from inside the spaceship to outside of it, astronauts must pass through an airlock. The airlock prepares them for the pressure difference. The airlock reduces air pressure to zero and upon reentry adjusts for the pressure inside the cabin. If the airlock fails to work, the mission fails.
5. Spacewalk:
Here's the money shot. Just you and space. Who will blink first? During the spacewalk, everything's more difficult. Just moving in the suit is hard enough, but outside in zero gravity, zero pressure, zero everything space...one false move could get you killed...fast. No pressure...
6. Blackout Area:
Upon return there's a blackout area, meaning no communication at all until the astronauts are approximately 40km from the ground. If they can get past this, the mission is a success. Hopefully the landing gear works...
Good luck China. Sounds like a tall order. As the United States increasingly cuts program funding for NASA, China is not only broadening its space program but more surprisingly is using its own technologies, which are being developed rather quickly (by comparison our most recently used spacesuit, the Extravehicular Mobility Unit, took 9 years to develop). We will certainly see increased activity from the Chinese as phase two of Project 921 aims to establish a Chinese presence at the International Space Station and develop a working Chinese Space Lab.
Ok, back to studying.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
The Hangzhou Slideshow!
Here are few pictures from our adventures last weekend to Leifeng Pavilion. Good thing Lola likes to carry a camera...
A view from Leifeng Pavilion
Another view of West Lake from Leifeng Pavilion
A restaurant outside Leifeng Pavilion
A restaurant on the lake
Not too sure what the Japanese architecture is doing on West Lake...
Infamous bridges of the southern China...the land of wet and rice
A view from Leifeng Pavilion
Another view of West Lake from Leifeng Pavilion
A restaurant outside Leifeng Pavilion
A restaurant on the lake
Not too sure what the Japanese architecture is doing on West Lake...
Infamous bridges of the southern China...the land of wet and rice
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Leifeng (Lay Fung) Pagoda 雷峰塔
Today Lola and I took a walk around West Lake in Hangzhou to check out some of the trendy little spots in the city. We started at a place called Grandma's Kitchen (外婆家), at one of the eight spots around town--the 中田大厦 zhong1 tian2 da4sha4 location. The food was pretty tasty but our waitress wasn't too happy. I guess if I worked at a restaurant all day slinging deliciously high-priced dishes to foreign non-connoisseurs and didn't make a dime in tips... I wouldn't smile either...but back the story: The food at Grandma's Kitchen was actually the first nice-restaurant style non-back-alley-purchased meal I've had in Hangzhou, so I left pretty impressed (even if the spicy chicken still had bones :d) From the restaurant we took a long walk to 苏堤 (su1di1), a collection of long skinny islands connected by bridges that cuts across the West Lake. I think we must've walked for two hours from the north end to the south end of the lake. As we approached the south end we could see Leifeng Pagoda in the distance, sitting atop a small mountain overlooking the Lake and the city of Hangzhou.
The story of Leifeng Pagoda, as I read it on the seemingly Google translated Chinese-to-Chinglish version of the stone storyboard posted outside the Pagoda, is one of a collection of "National Legends"--like Lincoln never told a lie kind of stuff. Thousands of years ago, an immortal used to fancy coming down from the heavens to pose as a mortal and interact with them for fun. One day he came down to the lakeside posed as a dumpling vendor. He was selling two kinds of dumplings, big ones for 3 and little ones for 2. All day people only bought the big dumplings, until he sold out. Eventually an old man came by with his son, who was starving. The boy wanted dumplings so the man had to buy a small one. The boy ate the dumpling and then didn't need to eat for three days. The old man became very worried and went to look for the dumpling vendor. The immortal dumpling vendor laughed and picked the boy up by his leg and shook him until he spit out the dumpling which fell tumbling down under the bridge where they stood.
Meanwhile...
Under the bridge was a turtle and a snake. These two had been vying for immortality for years and for the past few days had watched this vendor sell dumplings. They knew he was immortal and when they heard the story of the boy and the dumpling, they knew the dumpling was their chance. They both raced after it when it fell under the bridge. Naturally since the snake was long and fast, the white snake grabbed it first and ate it. As soon as she ate it, she turned into a beautiful woman in a flowing white gown.
As she walked around the lake she ran into a vendor selling animals. She bought a green snake and placed it into the West Lake. With her magic she turned it into another woman just like her so she would have a sister on this earth. Together they studied and practiced living among humans, promising to keep each other company.
Years later the White Lady stumbled upon a handsome young man in a tree. She recognized him as the boy who ate the dumpling so many years ago. They met and fell in love and moved away from Hangzhou to start a pharmacy. The White Lady wrote prescriptions and the man filled them. They helped the poor and had a wonderful life together.
Meanwhile...
The turtle was furious he wasn't able to gain immortality and was constantly looking for a way to gain some power. One day he noticed that the great buddha was sleeping, and the turtle stole the Buddha's grey staff, golden bowl, and robe. He turned into a man and posed as a monk. He found a monastary, but was very evil and drove many people away. Others he forced to study at his monastary, all the while looking for the White Lady to exact revenge.
One day he found the White Lady and her husband working at their pharmacy. The White Lady had just given birth and soon they would have a celebration in the baby's honor. The monk posed as vendor outside selling golden phoenix feather crowns. The man heard the vendor's call and ran outside to buy one for his wife to wear at their celebration. The man quickly returned and gave it to his wife who put it on. Soon the crown began to shrink and squeeze her head until she couldn't stand the pain and couldn't take it off. The White Lady was trapped in the golden bowl in her snake form. The evil monk buried her under Leifeng Pagoda as revenge.
Meanwhile...
The Green Lady heard of her sister's entrapment and came to fight the evil monk. Although the fight had no winner, the two of them fought for many many days and made so much commotion that it aroused the sleeping Buddha. He immediately noticed his grey staff, golden bowl, and robe were missing and called them back to heaven. Without these the monk was powerless and the Green Lady quickly defeated him. The evil monk pleaded to the Buddha for help but since he had done so many evil things the Buddha would not help him and banished him to West Lake. The White Lady was rescued from underneath the Pagoda and used her magic to suck all the water from West Lake, leaving no where for the monk to hide except on the belly of the crabs in the Lake. They say to this day you can still see the impression of the evil monk on the belly of West Lake crabs.
END :)
The story of Leifeng Pagoda, as I read it on the seemingly Google translated Chinese-to-Chinglish version of the stone storyboard posted outside the Pagoda, is one of a collection of "National Legends"--like Lincoln never told a lie kind of stuff. Thousands of years ago, an immortal used to fancy coming down from the heavens to pose as a mortal and interact with them for fun. One day he came down to the lakeside posed as a dumpling vendor. He was selling two kinds of dumplings, big ones for 3 and little ones for 2. All day people only bought the big dumplings, until he sold out. Eventually an old man came by with his son, who was starving. The boy wanted dumplings so the man had to buy a small one. The boy ate the dumpling and then didn't need to eat for three days. The old man became very worried and went to look for the dumpling vendor. The immortal dumpling vendor laughed and picked the boy up by his leg and shook him until he spit out the dumpling which fell tumbling down under the bridge where they stood.
Meanwhile...
Under the bridge was a turtle and a snake. These two had been vying for immortality for years and for the past few days had watched this vendor sell dumplings. They knew he was immortal and when they heard the story of the boy and the dumpling, they knew the dumpling was their chance. They both raced after it when it fell under the bridge. Naturally since the snake was long and fast, the white snake grabbed it first and ate it. As soon as she ate it, she turned into a beautiful woman in a flowing white gown.
As she walked around the lake she ran into a vendor selling animals. She bought a green snake and placed it into the West Lake. With her magic she turned it into another woman just like her so she would have a sister on this earth. Together they studied and practiced living among humans, promising to keep each other company.
Years later the White Lady stumbled upon a handsome young man in a tree. She recognized him as the boy who ate the dumpling so many years ago. They met and fell in love and moved away from Hangzhou to start a pharmacy. The White Lady wrote prescriptions and the man filled them. They helped the poor and had a wonderful life together.
Meanwhile...
The turtle was furious he wasn't able to gain immortality and was constantly looking for a way to gain some power. One day he noticed that the great buddha was sleeping, and the turtle stole the Buddha's grey staff, golden bowl, and robe. He turned into a man and posed as a monk. He found a monastary, but was very evil and drove many people away. Others he forced to study at his monastary, all the while looking for the White Lady to exact revenge.
One day he found the White Lady and her husband working at their pharmacy. The White Lady had just given birth and soon they would have a celebration in the baby's honor. The monk posed as vendor outside selling golden phoenix feather crowns. The man heard the vendor's call and ran outside to buy one for his wife to wear at their celebration. The man quickly returned and gave it to his wife who put it on. Soon the crown began to shrink and squeeze her head until she couldn't stand the pain and couldn't take it off. The White Lady was trapped in the golden bowl in her snake form. The evil monk buried her under Leifeng Pagoda as revenge.
Meanwhile...
The Green Lady heard of her sister's entrapment and came to fight the evil monk. Although the fight had no winner, the two of them fought for many many days and made so much commotion that it aroused the sleeping Buddha. He immediately noticed his grey staff, golden bowl, and robe were missing and called them back to heaven. Without these the monk was powerless and the Green Lady quickly defeated him. The evil monk pleaded to the Buddha for help but since he had done so many evil things the Buddha would not help him and banished him to West Lake. The White Lady was rescued from underneath the Pagoda and used her magic to suck all the water from West Lake, leaving no where for the monk to hide except on the belly of the crabs in the Lake. They say to this day you can still see the impression of the evil monk on the belly of West Lake crabs.
END :)
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Toxic Neon Ice Cubes Exported from China!
So Lola showed me these really awesome ice cubes with lights inside them, and I just wanted to share. At first I thought they were moon cakes (see the posting below)
and really thought things were getting out of hand. The crafty Chinese are always stumping me with their futuristic technology. The other day I heard a plane that sounded like it was about to land on top of me. I look everywhere and couldn't find the thing for the life of me. I'm pretty sure it was invisible... Anyway, these ice cubes have some sort of glow-in-the-dark jelly inside them that emits light in the cold (perfect for ice cubes, right?), but watch out! If you eat them, your belly will glow under the sheets... Brave enough to try it? Check out the auction on the Chinese auction site Taobao
and really thought things were getting out of hand. The crafty Chinese are always stumping me with their futuristic technology. The other day I heard a plane that sounded like it was about to land on top of me. I look everywhere and couldn't find the thing for the life of me. I'm pretty sure it was invisible... Anyway, these ice cubes have some sort of glow-in-the-dark jelly inside them that emits light in the cold (perfect for ice cubes, right?), but watch out! If you eat them, your belly will glow under the sheets... Brave enough to try it? Check out the auction on the Chinese auction site Taobao
Mid-Autumn Festival and Typhoons
Dear all my familial readers whom I've grossly neglected in the recent weeks. I found out today that you can actually put AdSense on your blog and make money from it--now a completely new incentive to keep track of what I'm doing in China. I might start posting some stuff I read in the news here too, so keep watching.. I know you love to read about politics and the economy.
This weekend in the Chinese Mid-Autumn festival or 中秋节 (zhong1 qiu1 jie2). It's a holiday that comes from China's agricultural roots. All I really know about it is they eat moon cakes, which despite their waxy funky candalistic outside features possess quite delicious soft insides with many different flavors...including beef! Even Starbucks over here sells a highly overpriced version that comes in four or five different colors. Green Cake? Seriously, Starbucks.
The weather in Hangzhou is typically really nice, but Lola told me Typhoon Sinlaku just hit Taiwan and is bouncing around China's southeastern coast. Bet you'd never guess it's raining... :)
This weekend in the Chinese Mid-Autumn festival or 中秋节 (zhong1 qiu1 jie2). It's a holiday that comes from China's agricultural roots. All I really know about it is they eat moon cakes, which despite their waxy funky candalistic outside features possess quite delicious soft insides with many different flavors...including beef! Even Starbucks over here sells a highly overpriced version that comes in four or five different colors. Green Cake? Seriously, Starbucks.
The weather in Hangzhou is typically really nice, but Lola told me Typhoon Sinlaku just hit Taiwan and is bouncing around China's southeastern coast. Bet you'd never guess it's raining... :)
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