# I Wonder If They'll Take Chopsticks? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 2, 2004, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-if-theyll-take-chopsticks/272509 "2004-11-02T07:26:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-if-theyll-take-chopsticks/272509/1 "2004-11-02T07:26:49Z")
[Be interesting to see how well they work in space.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3971869.stm) > [@](#): > > China’s second manned space flight will carry two astronauts into space and will orbit the Earth for five days. > > The country’s space authorities made the announcement about the mission, which is scheduled for next year, at an air show in China’s Guangzhou Province. > > Mission scientists said they have been working to optimise the performance, safety and reliability of the spacecraft, named Shenzhou VI. Maybe this will light a fire under NASA’s ass. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-if-theyll-take-chopsticks/272509/2 "2004-11-02T07:30:26Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > [Be interesting to see how well they work in space.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3971869.stm)Maybe this will light a fire under NASA’s ass. For what? We walked on the friggin’ moon almost forty years ago, and regularly send up multi-day shuttle missions. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-if-theyll-take-chopsticks/272509/3 "2004-11-02T09:26:29Z")
> [@Ilsa\_Lund](#): > > For what? We walked on the friggin’ moon almost forty years ago, and regularly send up multi-day shuttle missions. We haven’t regularly sent up multi-day shuttle missions since the inception of the shuttle program, and we haven’t sent up _any_ missions since the _Columbia_ disaster. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-if-theyll-take-chopsticks/272509/4 "2004-11-02T14:35:30Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > We haven’t regularly sent up multi-day shuttle missions since the inception of the shuttle program, and we haven’t sent up _any_ missions since the _Columbia_ disaster. I’m a big supporter of the space program, but what exactly would we do with regular manned space shots? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2004, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wonder-if-theyll-take-chopsticks/272509/5 "2004-11-02T17:59:40Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I’m a big supporter of the space program, but what exactly would we do with regular manned space shots? It’s not so much the manned side of things (though those are important), it’s the fact that cheap space launches open up many more possible opportunities for us. It becomes less expensive to put things up like weather sats, comsats, probes, etc. There’s also the [military aspects](http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/higher_ground_030402.html) of space as well.