Launch News Getting disappointed with Kourou flights ...

llarian

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I must be getting old. To me it's getting to be what is the point of watching launches from Kourou? The last few that I have seen have been at night with the launcher going through cloud after a couple of thousand meters and the video going straight to graphics after only a couple of minutes. Nothing to see or to get excited about.
 

Urwumpe

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I must be getting old. To me it's getting to be what is the point of watching launches from Kourou? The last few that I have seen have been at night with the launcher going through cloud after a couple of thousand meters and the video going straight to graphics after only a couple of minutes. Nothing to see or to get excited about.
Exactly, it is as reliable and boring as taxes. Which is pretty much, what was the plan. The fun now starts in space.
 

WolfAngriff

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Hello. I agree. ESA is realy bad with communication. When SpaceX launches something, it's like a video game, it's a show. When NASA launches something, it's an event, a dream coming true, something epic. I get YT recommandations for NASA's events, SpaceX's events, ULA's events, ROSKOSMOS's events, and what about ESA ? Even ELECTRON is way better. JWST is an incredible opportunity to speak about Ariane 5, the Kourou space center, the whole adventure of the European space program. The informations about NASA's, Space X's things come to me easily. But i have to search informations about GAIA, Insight, etc. And when i hear people, scientists, engineers, directors, crying on the radio about people ignoring whta's happening for ESA, i just want to shout out loud to them : MAKE US DREAM ! Stop being serious and boring, be epic, be fun, give inspiration, dreams, adventures ! ESA is at least 30 years late in communication. So sad ! So frustrating !
 

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Yes, americans are very far from dull science
 

llarian

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I don't expect empty flash coming from ESA. However, being European born I would like to see hope, dreams and success coming from European exploration. I think we have all seen nations rise to the top of science and engineering, only to fall from sight. There was a time that the Middle East led us in the sciences (albeit centuries ago) so it is wonderful to watch The Emirates reach for the skies again. China was once very great and went silent for a long time. It still plays things without much fanfare so I hope their efforts with Shenzhou bear fruit.

I want to see more of the Ariane flights because it is the one launcher that just seems to leap off the earth (when compared to others).
 

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Perhaps they should invest in live onboard cameras instead of a few recycled clips.
 

Sbb1413

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I think we have all seen nations rise to the top of science and engineering, only to fall from sight. There was a time that the Middle East led us in the sciences (albeit centuries ago) so it is wonderful to watch The Emirates reach for the skies again. China was once very great and went silent for a long time. It still plays things without much fanfare so I hope their efforts with Shenzhou bear fruit.
Yeah, the epicentre of sci-tech is changing over the centuries, from India, the Middle East and Europe to North America and East Asia. It is possible that the cycle of this change is about to complete at the middle of this century.
 
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4throck

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China has improved public communication, especially now with the Tiangong station. They've installed 360 cameras on the outside:
The speed they are building it (automated dockings) and the tech level are really good. For example, the HD camera on the robotic arm requires a decent communications bandwidth.
 

Sbb1413

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China has improved public communication, especially now with the Tiangong station. They've installed 360 cameras on the outside:
The speed they are building it (automated dockings) and the tech level are really good. For example, the HD camera on the robotic arm requires a decent communications bandwidth.
When I saw this video directly from YouTube (I have subscribed to this channel), I thought at first that it is taken from the ISS and the robotic arm is none other than Canadarm2. However, seeing the video title, I found that the video is taken from the recently-launched Chinese space station known in media as "Tiangong" (although I dispute this media usage, as there were two other single-module stations called Tiangong 1 and Tiangong 2 respectively, I will call the station "Tianhe" after its first module). I can't believe that our neighbour country China has progressed so much in technology in past 20 years.

Edit: I found a six-month old thread about the Tianhe station at here (skipped to the latest post to avoid skipping the infamously long wall of posts by Soheil_Esy). Feel free to discuss about the station there and keep this thread on topic.
 
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steph

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I wouldn' say JWST was dull, although I didn't watch the launch itself. There was quite a lot of stuff on my newsfeed, including on-site photos etc. But yes, it wasn't ESA posting, but photographers etc, who had permission to more or less mill around the place as they were prepping the launch.
 

N_Molson

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A good launch site has to be close from the Equator, and equatorial climate is very very wet and hot... Which, near the Atlantic, gives low, dense clouds pretty much everyday.

Also there's no seasons, which contributes to the "dull factor"... Rainy clouds and heat pretty much all the year around.
 
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