Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Sino Supercomputer, Drones, GPS & Mars Rover

It is not only on the dollar financial front that the U.S. is getting shellacked. The shellacking it is encountering on the supercomputer, drone and GPS fronts, American pioneering cutting-edge frontiers are heartbreaking ─ and un-American. America’s leadership in the supercomputer technology has been hijacked by China with its new fastest supercomputer in the world ─ the Tianhe-1A that can perform a mind numbing 2.57 quadrillion calculations per second.

The supercomputer is a key research tool in such fields as climate change, product design and weapons development. Any wonder the U.S. is concerned? It is an expensive and serious national security issue for both countries. China is rapidly catching up with the U.S. in the supercomputer installation business. So why not work together on joint aspects that are not security threats in the interest of building mutual trust and respect?

China’s ability to build drones and get a satellite to Mars, and launching satellites that can show people how easy it is to get around on earth, without getting lost and not using GPS, ends America’s role as the sole provider of global GPS services. China is challenging America not only on earth but in the skies.

Unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly known as drones, are considered the future of military aviation and could one day replace the fighter jet. China has developed more than 25 different models that is causing anxiety in the Pentagon because “when deployed, will expand the PLA Air Force’s options for long-range reconnaissance and strike.”

By 2012 China will also have more than a dozen satellites capable of covering the Asia-Pacific region and by 2020 it will have complete global coverage with 35 satellites which will give China strategic independence and another commercial gold mine. The GPS was a navigation revolution comparable with the invention of the compass, except that it is controlled by one power. America is no longer the world’s sole traffic cop in the sky at the dawn of the new space age.

Giving America a run for its money on earth and the skies is not enough for China. It is also reaching out to the moon. China’s lunar probe Chang’e-2 that was launched October 1, 2010, sent dramatic photos of the moon’s surface and areas proposed for China’s first unmanned soft-landing around 2013, which will carry a moon rover and a telescope. The telescope has attracted international attention because it will be the only lunar-based telescope and could lead to new astronomical discoveries.

1 Comments:

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