

China triumphs in space and sea - sparknlaunch
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-18575550

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EvilTerran
Why did you post two links to what's effectively the same story, within a
minute of each other?

(the other: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4156153>)

And both of them with gratuitously editorialised titles, at that.

<http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html>

 _Please don't do things to make titles stand out, like ... adding a
parenthetical remark saying how great an article is.

You can make up a new title if you want, but if you put gratuitous editorial
spin on it, the editors may rewrite it._

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objclxt
Well, it was front page news - in China. I think internationally there are
equally (if not more) important stories happening right now. Manned space-
flight isn't a new concept...readers may not be that interested in it.

There were a multitude of important stories happening on Sunday outside of
China: Egypt democratically electing its first president, for example. Editors
make a call on which stories readers will find most interesting. The front-
page is what sells the newspaper.

It is not as if the story was _ignored_ \- I think most Western news sources
gave it coverage (certainly the ones I read did). But I also think in many
countries right now other domestic and international issues (the Arab Spring,
the Eurozone Crisis, the US election, etc etc) are of far greater interest to
the public. And that's what sells newspapers / gets hits.

~~~
ralfd
The cargo mission to the ISS by SpaceX made more splash. At least online and
at blogs or wired/reddit. I guess the commercial aspect and underdog status
made it more reliable for readers than rooting for Chinas ambitions.

But I think you are right, the story of Chinas successful start was not
ignored by mass media. It just was not front page material.

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dbaupp
It would be really nice if competition with China in these endeavours prompts
a second space race (faster that just the SpaceX et al are going currently).
Put some real life into plans to get humanity permanently into space, not just
in Earth orbit.

Although, there is the risk that space becomes militarised, which would
probably be worse that the current situation: scientific satellites would be
at risk, especially Earth-observing ones, and we would have a second Cold War.

~~~
ajuc
China could do the trick that USA used to defeat USSR. Namely - start a new
space/technology/military race, and use its bigger industrial base to ensure
USA defaults.

But USA would probably just accept it lost the race, and not bankrupt.

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Mordor
Still can't workout how the Tiangong-1 managed to dock with Jiaolong. Those
crazy Chinese :-)

