I mean, CNSA hasn't done anything particularly new or revolutionary in terms of space travel. It's a lot of LEO stuff with reused Soviet gear that isn't anything that hasn't been done before. It's a faster timetable than the west but it's not like the US or Soviets in the 60's.
Honestly, this video only showed how well designed the Soyuz was that even many decades later, only incremental improvements were needed rather than a fundamental change to the core design.
They made a few improvements but at the end of the day, it's just a redesign of a LEO capsule. Their lunar work is interesting but the program isn't doing much that hasn't already been done.
"Doing so much better" is overstating it IMO. I believe that, the way things are going now, China's space capabilities will overtake America's sooner or later, but they're still playing catch-up at the moment. The lunar sample return is a big win but the Americans got the first moon rocks in 1969 and since then multiple other space agencies have returned rocks from the moon and even some comets. Getting the first Mars sample return is possible, since both the Chinese and American plans for this are slated for the early 2030s, and IMO if achieved would signal China finally surpassing America's capabilities.
Please be forced to ask China for help it would be so fucking hilarious.
China's space program is doing so much better than the west, it's not even close, btw.
Reminder that US congress made NASA cooperation with China illegal, but that didn't stop us from having the fucking audacity to request access to lunar samples acquired by Chinese missions.
I mean, CNSA hasn't done anything particularly new or revolutionary in terms of space travel. It's a lot of LEO stuff with reused Soviet gear that isn't anything that hasn't been done before. It's a faster timetable than the west but it's not like the US or Soviets in the 60's.
That's selling things a little short.
Honestly, this video only showed how well designed the Soyuz was that even many decades later, only incremental improvements were needed rather than a fundamental change to the core design.
They made a few improvements but at the end of the day, it's just a redesign of a LEO capsule. Their lunar work is interesting but the program isn't doing much that hasn't already been done.
"Doing so much better" is overstating it IMO. I believe that, the way things are going now, China's space capabilities will overtake America's sooner or later, but they're still playing catch-up at the moment. The lunar sample return is a big win but the Americans got the first moon rocks in 1969 and since then multiple other space agencies have returned rocks from the moon and even some comets. Getting the first Mars sample return is possible, since both the Chinese and American plans for this are slated for the early 2030s, and IMO if achieved would signal China finally surpassing America's capabilities.