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Spy Gave Space Shuttle Secrets To China

news.bbc.co.uk — A Chinese-born engineer is found guilty of passing secret information about the US space shuttle programme to China.

Who dugg this? Made popular Jul 17, 2009

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  • CamZak, on 07/17/2009, -6/+90You wan space shuttle like 'mericans? We make it cheapah, just as good! Look at fine quality, you buy?
  • Wreckage, on 07/17/2009, -2/+58Considering how much money we owe China, we should just call it even.
  • agentweldon, on 07/17/2009, -3/+55spy's sappin my sentry
  • Brad324, on 07/17/2009, -0/+37Are you sure this "Space Chuttle" is authentic?
  • JYoungest1, on 07/17/2009, -4/+33hahaha his name is Dongfan
  • stilesja, on 07/17/2009, -1/+22You know its interesting you say that. That could certainly be part of a government plan to reduce a large chunk of debt to China. Convict an old chinese dude of Spying on the space shuttle having stolen "Billions or even Trillions" in research. Then tell China we don't owe them X amount because of the value of the stolen research.

    I know you were mostly joking, but that is a legitimate scenario.
  • jftitan, on 07/17/2009, -2/+23I resent the pile of junk comment, because that pile of junk has been the main method for the USA into space. It IS time to upgrade though.

    I respect our aged pile of flying bricks with wings!
  • KnightMareInc, on 07/17/2009, -3/+23that engineer is a spy
  • otterp, on 07/17/2009, -3/+18But.. but.. but... China is our friend.
  • skidork, on 07/17/2009, -2/+17I don't think a 73-year-old will be spending decades in prison. Not saying he doesn't deserve it, though.
  • stubear, on 07/17/2009, -2/+17You apparently missed the part that said he's been doing this for more then 30 years. I know, clicking the link to RTFA is asking a lot, reading past the headlines is really pushing it and getting through the first intro paragraph turns away all by the bravest diggers. 30 years ago the Space Shuttle plans were not public. Beyond that, the technology in those plans opens doors to other military technology the Chinese would not have otherwise had.
  • richlw, on 07/17/2009, -1/+16I'm not your friend, buddy
  • RogueGenius, on 07/17/2009, -4/+18Space Shuttle secrets? Who cares!

    Next they will steal the Big Mac Secret Sauce and I'll be asked to care.
  • UselessTrivia, on 07/17/2009, -1/+15Ummm...it's a publicly funded program. The entire set of plans for the shuttle can be requisitioned from the Library of Congress.

    I don't know why they needed a "spy". They could have just given 20 bucks to some dude with a library card.

    Not saying there isn't any proprietary information within NASA...but by and large that stuff is public domain.

    When Russia was building a "shuttle" design I heard a comment from NASA along the lines of "They really didn't need to try that hard to copy the shuttle. If they'd asked we probably would have sent them whatever they asked for."
  • lolwatermelon, on 07/17/2009, -0/+14I'm not your buddy, pal.
  • martalli, on 07/17/2009, -0/+13Do the Chinese really want to make knock-offs of a 40 year old shuttle design?
  • Donotsurf, on 07/17/2009, -0/+12I'm not your pal, guy.
  • gweedo767, on 07/17/2009, -1/+11That Pinto has flown 100+ successful flights. Put the most important Great Observatory into orbit and allowed for it to be repaired and upgraded multiple times. It has made the construction of the ISS possible and more. Is it perfect...no...is it a "POS", no.
  • lolwatermelon, on 07/17/2009, -1/+11China will grow LARGER.
  • thinkb4utype, on 07/17/2009, -1/+11The USSR made a copy of the Space Shuttle after they figured it was more expensive to use than the throw away launchers we already had. They concluded we were building it for military uses, and they needed a similar vehicle to counter it. For their own space program, they stayed with the 3-man Soyuz/Proton combination which costs a fifth of a Shuttle launch.
  • rocknog, on 07/17/2009, -0/+10That engineer's a bloody spy!
  • stilesja, on 07/17/2009, -0/+10(its just thousand island dressing!)
  • nonpareil, on 07/17/2009, -3/+12Honestly, if they use it to put a man on Mars or a station on the moon sooner than the U.S., more power to 'em. At least the knowledge would be PUT TO SOME DAMN USE.
  • Irishsmurf, on 07/17/2009, -2/+11SENTRY DOWN
  • erhanaltay, on 07/17/2009, -2/+11I don't mind sharing space research with the EU but China is still far from a liberal democracy. When they get their act together and join the rest of the civilized world, they can get a seat at the grown up's table.
  • Jektal, on 07/17/2009, -1/+10Of course, it's made by SANA after all.
  • villainousT, on 07/17/2009, -7/+15This plus the space shuttle is ancient. We should be giving away information on that pile of junk.
  • garryw, on 07/17/2009, -2/+10Designed in 1968-1970, let them have it.
  • SteelChicken, on 07/17/2009, -2/+10Your ignorance is astounding.
  • Ophie, on 07/17/2009, -0/+7Gentlemen!
  • TheOther1, on 07/17/2009, -0/+7Yea, but we don't have a Mustang yet...
  • Peach3s, on 07/17/2009, -12/+19Sure its bad to steal but shouldnt we all be working towards the same goals? its not called the international space station for nothing.
  • sitykat, on 07/17/2009, -1/+8The problem is that with China, they'll most likely use that stolen information to improve not only their own space program, but more grave of a concern, (at least to the U.S.A.) their military technology. Many people in the Western world fear having to fight China one day. The less of our technology they have the better is the general idea, and that is why this is such a big deal.
  • RealmDown, on 07/17/2009, -2/+8Stupid spy is still a spy.
  • sleestakslayer, on 07/17/2009, -1/+7I NO WAN NO TROUBLE! I NO WAN NO TROUBLE!
  • jftitan, on 07/17/2009, -0/+5with kitty chow mixed in.
  • otterp, on 07/17/2009, -0/+5NASA technology was originally derived from and fed back to military technology. I guarantee that space R&D still feeds back into the military.
  • moduc, on 07/17/2009, -3/+8In China, if he spy for the US, he may face death penalty.
    Maybe a same treatment needs to be done to deter spy on the US.
  • mattw, on 07/17/2009, -0/+5Why? We spent billions of dollars on research for the Space Shuttle. China has gotten rich off of selling us crap, why should we let them just have this for free?
  • inactive, on 07/17/2009, -0/+5Digg, how I loathe/love you.
  • bigteebo, on 07/17/2009, -0/+5It's got NASA guts! Talk to my wife..
  • BotchaMcCoola, on 07/17/2009, -0/+5Unusual. Most crooks at Boeing work for the Pentagon or their little helpers the politicians and war lobbyists.
  • Hillsfar, on 07/17/2009, -0/+4Um... No. You are a stoopid stooge of the Repooblican poopaganda machine.
  • scubaninja, on 07/17/2009, -0/+4The processor in your desktop or laptop these days is probably a lot more susceptible to cosmic rays and other outer space radiation than the humble 386.
  • wolfkeeper, on 07/17/2009, -0/+4He is actually right: 14 dead in Shuttle versus 4 for Soyuz.

    The average death rate for Shuttle per flight is worse than Soyuz over the entire flight history, and with the latest versions of Soyuz that seat 3, nobody has *ever* died (nobody in over 30 years).

    It's mainly because Soyuz is a conservative design with useful safety systems. Shuttle is higher performance, but relatively small mistakes will kill you when you're flying it, there's no major safety features like launch escape systems.
  • bluehouse, on 07/17/2009, -0/+4SHHHH!!! We don't want the Chinese to know there's this thing called "outer space" and we can travel to said "outer space" in our "space shuttle"
  • Dochirin, on 07/17/2009, -2/+6Taking into account the number of successful flights and accidents across it's history, the space shuttle is the second most successful space vehicle just after the Soyuz.

    Next time have a clue about what you're talking about.
  • 13373h4X0r, on 07/17/2009, -0/+4Did they steal the secrets of the awesome "O-ring", or of the foam tiles that can be knocked out by falling ice during takeoff?

    Wait... Fake Neapolitan space ice cream with MELAMINE?!? IT'S "GO" TIME ! ! !

    [Enraged, teeth-gritting, puffed-up-chestified, vein-throbbing, wild-eyed, furious, super-patriotic, super-expensive, merciless button-pressing commences...]
  • caseycoold, on 07/17/2009, -0/+4And you're retarded. The reason the processors are old is because they are reliable. The amount of redundant systems on those things is ridiculous. And with everything old and simple, you can knwo for sure there aren't any bugs in the system. Look at the specs for writing code for the shuttle (last job involved it). The requirements are crazy. What would be easier to make 100% reliable: tetris or Starcraft 2?
  • RagManX, on 07/17/2009, -0/+4I suspect the unwillingness to share much is because the same research and technology behind space travel is also useful in military venues, and we don't want to help others improve their military capabilities. That's just a guess, though.
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