Re: Obtaining Human Space Flight status

Space Cadet schrieb:
Currently there are only three nations that have shown human
spaceflight capablities:
US,Russia & China. If for some reason if became an economic
imperative to have human Space flight ablity, what other Nations are
close to reaching this status?
EU? Would be my first guess, the Araine 5, should be cable of
launching a crewed capsule,

That's what it was *designed* for. The mini-shuttle it was supposed to carry was cancelled. There are initiatives to develop a crewed and reentry-capable version of the ATV, which is the automatic ISS supplier that rides Ariane; I reckon Europe could field an "austere" manned spaceflight capability within two years if absolutely needed. If you just need to put someone in orbit and can bring him/her back with some other craft, it could probably be done right away - you could just strap him into an ATV in a spacesuit and fill up with some styrofoam flakes.

but is it safe enough to do so? Would
Japan also be a contender?

You bet.

mawa
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