Saturday, October 18th, 2008
As MySpace continues to struggle in China, a country with 250 million Internet users, major changes are in store for the company
Fox News Corporation Founder Rupert Murdoch and wife Wendi Deng and a splash screen from MySpace.cn Michael Buckner/Getty Images, MySpace.cn
By Bruce Einhorn
Rupert Murdoch hasn’t enjoyed much success in China. Quotas on foreign films hinder the efforts of Murdoch’s Twentieth Century Fox to make inroads in Chinese cinemas. Government control of the TV industry has largely kept News Corp. (ticker: NWS.A) subsidiary Star TV, the Hong Kong-based Asia satellite TV operator, on the sidelines of the world’s largest country. And rampant piracy and illegal Internet downloading mean News Corp. can do little to cash in on the popularity of shows such as Prison Break.
That’s why expectations were so high for the launch of MySpace in China. Unlike the movie and TV industries, the Chinese Internet business is open to foreign investment. China has the world’s largest online population, with more than 250 million using the Net; many of them are students or people in their 20s, prime users of MySpace in other countries. Murdoch’s wife, Wendi, was born and grew up in China and took an active role in launching a local version of News Corp,’s social networking service (SNS), MySpace.cn, (BusinessWeek, 6/26/07) in the country in April 2007.
Murdoch’s bad China luck isn’t changing, though. MySpace China, a joint venture among News Corp., venture capital firm IDG-Accel (a partnership between Boston-based IDG and Accel Partners from Silicon Valley), and local investment firm China Broadband Capital Partners, doesn’t have much to show for its effort. “MySpace.cn has not become a Tier 1 SNS site in China,” said Beijing-based market researcher BDA China in an August report. The company is an also-ran in the Chinese SNS scene, dominated by local names such as Qzone, Xiaonei, and 51.com, and was hit last month by reports in the local and international media of a management shakeup, including the departure of Luo Chuan, who had left Microsoft (MSFT) China to be MySpace China’s CEO.
Rethinking the Business Model
While denying Luo has departed, an executive at one of MySpace China’s shareholders confirms that some major changes are in store. Zhou Quan, managing director and general partner at IDG Accel, which owns 10% of MySpace China, says executives are in the midst of rethinking the business model. Luo, he says, continues to work at MySpace China “almost full-time” and is taking an active role in discussions regarding the company’s future direction. “There will be a total plan, not just a change in CEO,” says Zhou. “They will come up with a new strategy.”
Other people involved with MySpace China declined to comment. China Broadband did not respond to requests for an interview. A U.S.-based spokesman for MySpace referred questions from BusinessWeek to the China operation. “We are not in a position to comment on the reports regarding our CEO,” said MySpace China spokesman Yitian Zou in an e-mail. “The company and business are doing well.”
There’s certainly a big gap between MySpace China and its Chinese rivals, though. According to BDA, MySpace China hopes to have 10 million registered users by the end of the year. In contrast, market leader Qzone, owned by Shenzhen-based instant-messaging giant Tencent Holdings, already has 105 million registered users. Another Chinese SNS operator, 51.com, has 95 million.
An Eroding Advantage
When it entered the market, MySpace China could count on a cash advantage thanks to its deep-pocketed owners, but that edge is eroding because of big investments in local SNS operators. In July, for instance, Giant Interactive Group (GA), a Shanghai online game operator, announced plans to invest $51 million in a 25% stake in 51.com. In April, Japanese Internet power Softbank led a group of investors that paid $430 million for a 35% stake in Beijing-based Oak Pacific Interactive, which operates Xiaonei, an SNS site that resembles Facebook and focuses on China’s student population.
As the local players become stronger, some in the industry are dismissive of MySpace China and its high-powered backers as paper tigers. “Everybody knows it’s a U.S. brand,” says Brad Greenspan, former CEO of eUniverse, where MySpace got launched, and now chairman of BroadWebAsia, a West Hollywood (Calif.) investor in Chinese Internet sites. “If you want to spend time on a site that’s about you, it’s harder to pull that off with a U.S. brand. It just doesn’t feel authentic.” In China, SNS “is entirely a local game,” boasts Joseph Chen (personid=7924927), chief executive of Xiaonei owner OPI. Not only are Chinese users reluctant to switch to a newcomer but many young Chinese students without strong English skills don’t even know how to spell the name MySpace. “You tell a typical kid in China who has never heard about MySpace and ask the person to spell it, 90% of the time the kid has no clue,” says Chen.
Such criticism is not merited, argues IDG-Accel’s Zhou. The MySpace China business “is on track,” he says. Zhou also points out other SNS operators aren’t having an easy time of it, either, as they continue to struggle to find a business model that works. “Even in the U.S., Facebook and MySpace are still trying to figure out how they can monetize their social resources,” he says. “MySpace in China is thinking of a new way to do that.” According to Zhou, the company expects to have answers about what that new way will be soon.
Einhorn is Asia regional editor in BusinessWeek’s Hong Kong bureau.
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Friday, October 10th, 2008
With a bold digital cinema deal inked and dozens of releases coming, the scramble to convert theaters is on.
By Carolyn Giardina
Oct 8, 2008, 08:07 PM ET
Has 3-D reached its tipping point? With a $1 billion deal announced last week between the major theater chains and five studios to convert more than 15,000 U.S. screens to digital projection, hopes are high that a slew of new 3-D-enabled theaters will follow. But that is far from certain, and any delay in installing could curtail releases for the coming onslaught of 3-D films.
“It’s definitely a critical time,” says Doug Darrow, marketing manager at Texas Instruments, which makes the chips that power digital cinema projectors. “While 3-D is greeted with excitement and anticipation, there’s also a level of concern — albeit optimistic — that the output will be there when the content comes.”
The numbers back up that sentiment. Only about 1,000 screens in the U.S. are currently digital 3-D-ready. This is about the same as when “Beowulf” opened last November and not nearly enough to provide the desired screens for the dozen 3-D titles slated to open in 2009, not to mention the 30 or so in the pipeline beyond that.
The question that exhibition and distribution execs are asking as they gather at ShowEast in Orlando on Monday is: Will there be sufficient screens to handle the 2009 slate?
“There is an urgent need for (conversions) to happen,” says Cary Granat, co-CEO of Walden Media, which released “Journey to the Center of the Earth” this summer on 2,811 screens. Only 854 of those were equipped to handle 3-D, yet they accounted for 57% of the film’s $21 million opening weekend. “We were thrilled with boxoffice for ‘Journey,’ but we certainly left money on the table,” Granat says.
While studios, exhibitors and other stakeholders all express support for 3-D, they differ on how much a priority conversions should be and, more important, who should pay for them.
In order to show any digital 3-D films, a theater first requires a digital cinema installation. These are generally financed on a “virtual print fee” model, through which studios contribute an agreed fee per screen, per movie, to offset exhibitors’ installation costs, which can run as high as $100,000 per system.
The deal announced last week between Universal, Paramount, Disney, Fox and Lionsgate and Digital Cinema Implementation Partners — a joint venture owned by AMC Entertainment, Cinemark USA and Regal Entertainment Group that represents 14,000 screens in the U.S and Canada — could result in 3,000 digital conversions within the next year or so, with many more to follow. Warner Bros. and Sony, which at press time were not yet parties to the deal, are expected to contribute on the virtual print fee model.
The addition of 3-D systems in many of those newly converted digital theaters is planned, although a timetable and financing scheme are far from clear.
In addition, Access Integrated Technologies — the integrator for the majority of digital installations in North America — is developing a “Phase 2″ program, which follows a recently completed effort that put nearly 5,000 digital screens in North America. Its CEO, Bud Mayo, cheers the DCIP deal. “We think it’s a catalyst for the industry,” he says.
And smaller theater owners, nervous about being left out of the 3-D party, are pursuing their own conversions. The Cinema Buying Group — a buying program of the National Association of Theatre Owners for small and independent theater operators — has inked a deal with AccessIT to integrate its 600-plus members in the U.S. and Canada. The move represents more than 8,000 screens, the majority of which are expected to fit into Phase 2 deployment — if funding comes through.
Internationally, key D-cinema markets include China, with roughly 700 screens; the U.K., with roughly 300; and France, Germany and Korea, all with 150-190 each.
Imax could also play a major role. The large-format chain is beginning a transition from 70mm film to digital projection and plans to convert its global base of 300 theaters, in addition to accommodating more than 200 new orders.
The revenue upside for 3-D is clear. Estimates suggest that exhibitors can charge a 20% premium on a ticket for a digital 3-D (non-Imax) movie. Like with “Journey,” 3-D versions also tend to outperform 2-D on a per-screen basis. And 3-D films are viewed as less susceptible to piracy.
This is why studio toppers like Disney’s Dick Cook and DreamWorks Animation’s Jeffrey Katzenberg can’t say enough about 3-D. Katzenberg in particular has gone on a hiring binge to prepare for planned 3-D versions of all DWA films going forward.
There are drawbacks, however. Buzz Hayes, Sony Pictures Imageworks 3-D producer of stereoscopic 3-D films, estimates that the added cost of producing a 3-D version of a computer-animated film is typically 8%-15% of the below-the-line costs, while a live-action 3-D feature would be closer to 15%-25%.
But the few digital 3-D releases have generally demonstrated the additional expense is worth it. Disney’s 3-D “Hannah Montana/
Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour” opened at No.1 on only 683 screens and went on to gross $65 million domestically.
The “Hannah Montana” movie also demonstrated that 3-D production tools and techniques are advancing. The concert film was posted in 11 weeks and carried a production budget of less than $7 million.
At the same time, many in the studio world remain cautious about devoting too much attention and expense to a format that hasn’t proven itself in the mainstream market yet.
“Universal Studios supports 3-D,” Universal’s vp cinema technology, Wade Hannibal, told a crowd at the Hollywood Post Alliance Technology Retreat earlier this year. “That said … we must balance the short-term competitive advantages of 3-D against the long-term industry advantages of a full-scale D-cinema conversion.”
Still, filmmakers as varied as James Cameron and Robert Zemeckis have embraced the format, although new converts must learn everything from how one shoots and posts to how to factor time and costs into the equation.
“Now that mainstream filmmakers are jumping in with total enthusiasm, there is an education process that needs to happen,” says Steve Schklair, founder and CEO of 3ality Digital, a Burbank-based 3-D technology developer and service provider.
Schklair believes that if 3-D is to avoid becoming a passing fad, the education process must focus on achieving consistently high-quality images that do not induce headaches. “The larger technological issues have been solved,” he says. “(But) badly photographed
3-D images have the potential to actually be painful to watch.”
Adds Phil McNally, global stereoscopic supervisor at DWA: “The biggest thing to overcome right now is 100 years of experience in 2-D filmmaking. We’re all trying to perform on a NASCAR level when we have our learner’s licenses.”
To that end, organizations, including the DGA, American Society of Cinematographers, Visual Effects Society and Siggraph, have been hosting member events about 3-D filmmaking.
Efforts are also under way to create technical standards.
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, a standards-setting body, has already published some 3-D guidelines and is working on more. Some theatrical 3-D recommendations have been presented to the community by studio consortium Digital Cinema Initiatives.
And many believe the studios will commit even more to 3-D production when they see a greater opportunity for the home market.
“(Studio) production commitments are often based on the here and now, instead of thinking about how much value there is to this 3-D product in the future,” says Vince Pace, president of Pace, a 3-D production service company.
The first 3-D-ready TV sets have already started to roll out, and “glasses-free” sets are in development. But while the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers has started an initiative to create 3-D mastering standards for content viewed in the home, these standards are at least 18 months away.
In that time, the format could also go mobile. For example, director Randal Kleiser and inventor Michael Mehrle started a company, Neovision Labs, whose technology is designed to enable the viewing of stereoscopic 3-D content on mobile devices without special glasses.
“I can see 3-D becoming much more pervasive than we are thinking now,” Cameron says. “Are we looking at a situation maybe 10-15 years out where most laptops are sold with 3-D stereoscopic screens, most monitors are stereo compatible, and most DVD players can run stereo content?”
Cameron believes 3-D is here to stay. But some support the format while also warning against overhype.
“Let’s agree to stop saying that 3-D will be the savior of the theatrical business,” Universal’s Hannibal told the HPA retreat crowd. “Theaters need to compete on the basis of long-term quality of service, not on the temporary uplift that 3-D may grant.”
Matthew Belloni contributed to this report
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Sunday, October 5th, 2008
October 5, 2008
The new Bentley Brooklands is named after a racetrack located in Surrey, England, Bentley Azure’s coupe sibling is all you’d expect from a company that makes cars for the ultra-rich: super-luxurious, extra-powerful, unique and of course, handmade. Powered by the most powerful Crewe-built V8 engine ever produced, the Brookland’s twin-turbocharged 6.75-litre unit develops 530bhp and 1.050 Nm of torque. Even if you have the dough though, you’d better hurry up and sign-up for one as the Brookland’s production will be strictly limited to just 550 cars with deliveries expected to start in the first half of 2008.
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Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
NASA’s Phoenix lander discovers ice crystals in clouds about two miles above the planet. ‘Nothing like this has ever been seen on Mars,’ says one scientist.
By John Johnson Jr., Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 30, 2008
The latest forecast on on Mars calls for morning fog and swift-moving clouds — along with light snow.
The surprising weather report was part of the latest scientific findings from NASA’s Phoenix lander, which has been taking measurements at the Martian north pole since May 25.
At a press briefing Monday at NASA headquarters in Washington and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, scientists said the discovery of snow on Mars was made by an instrument that shined a laser into clouds about two miles above the ground, revealing the presence of ice crystals.
“Nothing like this has ever been seen on Mars,” said Jim Whiteway, the lead scientist for the Canadian-designed Meteorological Station aboard the Phoenix lander. In coming weeks, he said, scientists will be searching for evidence that the snow actually falls on the ground.
Even before Phoenix landed, scientists knew water-ice, along with ice made of carbon dioxide, accumulated on the ground in the northern latitudes during the harsh winter, when temperatures plunge to minus 184 degrees Fahrenheit. But the discovery of snow in the atmosphere above the pole was a surprise.
Also on Monday, the scientific team revealed that chemical measurements have detected calcium carbonates in the soil, the major ingredient of chalk, and clay-like materials that on Earth form only in the presence of water.
Much of the soil shows evidence of past interaction with water, yet it is far too cold, even in the summer months, for water to remain in liquid form. The scientific team is racing to understand such anomalies before Phoenix succumbs to the winter, probably in mid to late November, according to Phoenix project manager Barry Goldstein.
When Phoenix landed, it was late spring on Mars. The sun remained up almost all day, allowing Phoenix’s solar panels to collect plenty of energy to run its various instruments, which include a robotic digging arm and two chemistry labs. Now, with winter approaching, the sun is below the horizon about four hours of each Martian day, which is about 24 hours, 40 minutes long.
As temperatures plummet, Phoenix also must use more and more energy to operate the heaters that keep the instruments warm.
Goldstein said a “Lazarus” capability was designed into Phoenix. So it is theoretically possible the lander could rise from the dead next year, when spring returns. But he was doubtful. “It’s going to get a lot, lot colder pretty soon,” he said.
NASA, as well as the scientists operating the mission, have pronounced the $428-million mission a success. Besides analyzing the soil, it has dug down to the ice layer lying only inches below the lander. The discovery proved past measurements from orbiting NASA spacecraft showing vast quantities of ice underground at the pole were right on the money.
Still, scientists have not accomplished one of the most crucial goals of the mission, finding complex organic molecules that could indicate the planet was once, or still might be, habitable for some simple life forms.
Complicating the task is the failure to place ice samples into one of the eight ovens attached to the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analyzer, or TEGA, which cooks samples up to 1,800 degrees and sniffs the gas given off to unmask the chemical composition.
The tiny ovens have proved too small to accept large samples, while pouring in smaller samples has been made difficult by the clumping of the soil and the tendency of the ice to stick to the scoop.
William Boynton, the lead scientist for the TEGA instrument, said four of the eight ovens have been used so far. If there are any organic chemicals in the soil, “it is not much,” Boynton said.
“The best I can say is we are still looking,” he said.
The mission, originally designed for 90 days, was extended once by 30 days. On Monday, NASA announced that it was further extending the mission indefinitely, which means until the lander dies.
Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, the lead scientist for the mission, said the team is going to try something new in the last weeks of Phoenix’s life.
The lander carried a microphone, which was designed to listen to the roar of the descent engines as the craft settled onto the Martian surface.
The microphone was not used then. Now, Smith said, the scientific team intends to turn on the microphone “and listen to Mars for the first time.”
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Sunday, September 28th, 2008
Spacewalker Zhai Zhigang was the first to emerge and was helped to a nearby folding chair, where he was greeted with flowers and applause and said he was “proud of his motherland.”
Sunday, September 28, 2008
By Emma Graham-Harrison
BEIJING (Reuters) - Three Chinese astronauts landed safely back on earth on Sunday after a 68-hour voyage and space walk that showcased the country’s technological mastery and were hailed as a major victory by its leaders.
Their Shenzhou (”sacred vessel”) spacecraft parachuted down to the steppes of northern Inner Mongolia region at dusk. Doctors rushed to open the capsule and check the men as they readjusted to gravity and recovered from the punishing re-entry.
Spacewalker Zhai Zhigang was the first to emerge and was helped to a nearby folding chair, where he was greeted with flowers and applause and said he was “proud of his motherland.”
Premier Wen Jiabao told the nation minutes later that the three were heroes for their efforts, which put China in an elite club of three nations that have managed a space walk.
“The complete success of the manned Shenzhou VII is a great stride forward for China’s space technology,” he said, adding that the country’s efforts were focused only on science.
“Chinese people have ceaselessly sought the peaceful development and use of space technology,” he said. China’s rapidly advancing program has raised disquiet among Western governments and in Japan that it may have military ambitions in space, especially after conducting an anti-satellite missile test last year.
Zhai’s brief but historic outing in a Chinese-designed space suit that cost $4.4 million capped a year in which the country has both coped with the tragedy of the devastating Sichuan earthquake and reveled in the Beijing Olympics.
The ability to conduct a space walk is key to a longer-term goal of assembling a space lab and then a larger space station, and maybe one day making a landing on the moon.
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Sunday, September 28th, 2008
September 27, 2008
By Daisuke Wakabayashi
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A security hole in Adobe Systems Inc (ADBE.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) software, used to distribute movies and TV shows over the Internet, is giving users free access to record and copy from Amazon.com Inc’s (AMZN.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) video streaming service.
The problem exposes online video content to the rampant piracy that plagued the music industry during the Napster era and is undermining efforts by retailers, movie studios and television networks to cash in on a huge Web audience.
“It’s a fundamental flaw in the Adobe design. This was designed stupidly,” said Bruce Schneier, a security expert who is also the chief security technology officer at British Telecom.
The flaw rests in Adobe’s Flash video servers that are connected to the company’s players installed in nearly all of the world’s Web-connected computers.
The software doesn’t encrypt online content, but only orders sent to a video player such as start and stop play. To boost download speeds, Adobe dropped a stringent security feature that protects the connection between the Adobe software and its players.
“Adobe is committed to the security of all of our products, from our players to our server software. Adobe invests a considerable amount of ongoing effort to help protect users from potential vulnerabilities,” it said in a statement.
Adobe said it issued a security bulletin earlier this month about how best to protect online content and called on its customers to couple its software security with a feature that verifies the validity of its video player.
An Amazon spokesman said content on the company’s Video On Demand service, which offers as many as 40,000 movies and TV shows on its Web site, cannot be pirated using video stream catching software.
However, in tests by Reuters, at least one program to record online video, the Replay Media Catcher from Applian Technologies, recorded movies from Amazon and other sites that use Adobe’s encryption technology together with its video player verification.
“Adobe’s (stream) is not really encrypted,” said Applian CEO Bill Dettering. “One of the downfalls with how they have architected the software is that people can capture the streams. I fully expect them to do something more robust in the near future.”
HOW IT WORKS
The free demo version of Replay Media Catcher allows anyone to watch 75 percent of anything recorded and 100 percent of YouTube videos. For $39, a user can watch everything recorded.
One Web site — www.tvadfree.com — explains step-by-step how to use the video stream catching software.
Amazon.com’s Adobe-powered Video On Demand service allows viewers to watch the first two minutes of a movie or TV show for free. It charges up to $3.99 to rent a movie for 24 hours and up to $14.99 to download a movie permanently.
Amazon starts to stream the entire movie during the free preview — even though it pauses the video on the Web browser after the first two minutes — so that users can start watching the rest of the video right away once they pay.
“It’s the traditional trade-off, convenience on the one hand and security on the other,” said Ray Valdes, analyst at research group Gartner.
However, even if a user doesn’t pay, the stream still sends the movie to the video catching software, but not the browser.
Amazon’s Video On Demand is the Web retailer’s answer to declining sales of packaged movies and TV shows and the growth in demand for digital content that can be viewed and stored on the Internet.
Unlike Amazon, videos from Hulu.com, NBC.com and CBS.com are already free although the TV programs are interrupted by commercials. However, the stream catching software separates the commercials and the program into two separate folders, so people can keep the programs without the advertising.
Hulu.com, a video Web site owned by News Corp’s (NWSa.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Fox network and General Electric’s (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) NBC Universal, was the big networks’ answer to YouTube, the popular video-sharing Web site where many users began uploading TV shows and other content owned by media companies.
The networks scrambled to post videos on their own sites in a bid to capture another stream of advertising revenue from a growing audience, but they have struggled with how best to show commercials which fund the programing when played on the Web.
YouTube, which started the online video boom before being bought by Google Inc (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) for $1.65 billion in November 2006, has also struggled to cash in on its popularity even though its user base continues to mushroom.
DESTROYING BUSINESS MODELS
One possible solution would be to protect the video with a digital rights management (DRM) system. A Seattle-based company called Widevine Technologies has a DRM system that can encrypt online videos using Flash.
“The fundamental problem here is that Adobe’s lack of technology is not allowing the business models to be preserved,” said Widevine Chief Executive Brian Baker.
The lack of content protection, according to Baker, threatens all the business models used today to fund video on the Web.
Apple Inc (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which sells movies and television shows at its online iTunes store, uses its own DRM technology called FairPlay, but it only works for video bought on iTunes.
Forrester analyst James McQuivey said he doesn’t believe the video stream catching technology will entirely derail the advertising-supported business model used by the networks for online video.
“It’s too complicated for most users,” said McQuivey, noting that file-sharing services like BitTorrent already exist but only a small percentage of people use them.
“People want something easy to find and easy to use.”
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Saturday, September 27th, 2008
by Xinhua writer Wang Xiuqiong
BEIJING, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Hu Jintao asked Chinese taikonauts what it was like walking in space in a conversation with them after the trio successfully realized the country’s first-ever space walk on Saturday.
”How did you feel like in space after exiting the module?” asked smiling Hu, who was talking on a phone that connected him at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) with astronauts on the spacecraft Shenzhou-7.
”I felt superb,” answered Zhai Zhigang, who carried out about 25 minutes of extra-vehicular activity (EVA) about 343 km above the earth after floating out of the Shenzhou-7 cabin on Saturday afternoon.
”The process of taking on the Feitian spacesuit went smooth,” said Zhai, looking confident and radiant on the screen at the BACC. “In the vast space, I felt proud of our motherland.”
Hu congratulated the astronauts on the successful feat and encouraged them to carry on efforts to fulfill the mission.
”The thing I most want to know is how are you feeling now and how is your work going,” Hu asked the trio.
”We feel well,” said Zhai. “We conducted the space scientific tests as planned and the EVA went smoothly.”
Hu hailed the spacewalk as a sign of the country’s progress in space scientific technology.
”You have made outstanding contribution to our country’s space project,” said Hu. “The country and the Chinese people are grateful to you.”
At 4:43 p.m. (0843 GMT) on Saturday, Zhai slipped out of the orbital module of Shenzhou-7 in a head-out-first position, wearing a 4-million-U.S.dollar homemade Feitian space suit.
China’s first-ever spacewalk marked a remarkable progress in the country’s ambitious space program, which will eventually lead to the establishment of a permanent space station.
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Thursday, September 25th, 2008
Three astronauts will be launched into orbit tonight. The mission is seen as a step toward building a space station and increasing China’s prestige on the world stage.
By Mark Magnier, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 25, 2008
BEIJING — China is scheduled today to launch its most ambitious space mission, including the program’s first spacewalk, as this increasingly confident nation stakes a claim on the heavens while impressing people on Earth.
The Shenzhou 7 is slated to blast off from the Jiuquan launch pad in Gansu province this evening, with the walk scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Friday, ground operations head Cui Jijun said, state media reported.
The nation’s third manned mission will carry three astronauts, or taikonauts, as they are known here; mission leader Zhai Zhigang will make the expected 40-minute spacewalk, which will be broadcast live.
Experts said this mission is the next logical step toward an expected Chinese space station and possible future moon landing. Having put people in orbit and returned them safely, China is planning spacewalks, then rendezvous and docking operations, and subsequently deployment of a relatively modest space lab followed by a more permanent space station.
“It’s a step-by-step development of their capability designed to have humans work in space, and this is a perfectly logical step,” said John Logsdon, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University. “The world will be impressed by the spacewalk.”
Analysts said that though the mission has little obvious strategic or military benefit, it sends a signal to the world and particularly to regional space rivals Japan and India.
“It’s mainly for prestige,” said James Andrew Lewis, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “And regionally, China is wiping the field. India and Japan not only haven’t gotten their first guy in space, now China is doing a walk.”
China has made much of the fact that the spacesuit its taikonauts will use, dubbed the Feitian after a mythological flying god, is made completely with Chinese technology. But experts say the suit, reportedly developed at a cost of $23 million over a seven-year period, closely resembles the Orlan model Beijing purchased from Russia.
In fact, both garments may play a role. According to the official New China News Agency, the mission’s second in command, Liu Boming, will don the Orlan to assist and presumably be on call as the Feitian-clad Zhai walks in space.
U.S. and European Union export restrictions on sensitive technology mean China has often had to adapt Russian technology or develop homegrown solutions.
Zhai will be tethered to the spacecraft rather than use a self-propelled jet pack of the sort employed in U.S. missions. He is not expected to perform any complex tasks. Chinese media refer to his “tightening bolts,” but this may be to provide him with something to do while the camera rolls.
Compared with NASA, which has been hurt by lackluster public support, pinched budgets and high-profile accidents, China’s Shenzhou program enjoys broad horizons. The program is a source of enormous pride among ordinary Chinese. And China’s leadership sees it as an important way to unify the public and strengthen support for the ruling Communist Party, according to some political analysts.
China’s program has often been shrouded in secrecy. “We still need to work on transparency,” said Jiao Weixin, Earth and space sciences professor at Peking University. “I don’t think it’s necessary to make it so secretive.”
However, as China has met or exceeded expectations with its space program, its confidence has increased. Launches are now routinely televised live.
Although spacewalks are not a new feat — Russia and the United States first performed them decades ago — the maneuver remains risky given the complexity of air locks and the harsh space environment.
One of the more interesting aspects of the mission will be the launch of a small satellite designed to travel alongside the Shenzhou 7 and transmit images of the craft back to Earth. This is a potentially tricky operation given the proximity of the two objects and may be a warmup for future rendezvous and docking missions.
“At that speed in space, it’s not easy to do,” said Eric Hagt, China program director with the Washington-based World Security Institute.
“This will be the first time they really take pictures of a Chinese astronaut in space,” he added. “You can imagine the flags everywhere. . . . Post-Olympics, this is another accomplishment. It’s a public relations event.”
China has been methodical in crafting the building blocks of its increasingly ambitious Shenzhou program and has never suffered a fatality. But the danger of live broadcasts and enhanced public relations strategies, as NASA has learned the hard way, is that all the attention can backfire if something goes wrong.
China’s eventual goal of building a space station dovetails with a bid to expand its influence on the world stage, signaling that it is playing in the big leagues with Russia and the United States.
“A lot of countries have satellites,” Hagt said. “But if you have a space station, it says, ‘We have a serious claim in space.’ ”
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Friday, September 19th, 2008
118 WallyPower is a 118-foot luxury yacht with a maximum speed of 60 knots (70 mph, 110 km/h) produced by Wally Yachts.[1] The yacht is narrow and angular in design with black glass housing, driven by three Vericor TF50 gas turbines generating 16,800 hp, each driving a Rolls-Royce Kamewa water jet, two steerable outboard and a non-steering booster on the centerline. The steerable water jets also have a diesel engine input for a 370 hp Cummins diesel, and are thus Combined Diesel and Gas Turbine (CODOG). One 118 WallyPower has been constructed, and is in the Mediterranean as of 2008.
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Friday, September 19th, 2008
By Tim Culpan
Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) — The organizer of a telecommunications industry conference sponsored by Qualcomm Inc. and Intel Corp. moved the event to Beijing from Bangkok because of political unrest in Thailand.
“While we maintain that Bangkok is currently stable enough to play host to the Mobility World Congress we recognize that the situation could change at any moment and we feel it is prudent to act now to enable everyone to plan their visit to the Congress with confidence and security,” organizer Beacon Events Ltd. said in a statement posted on its Web site.
The, conference, which was to have taken place Oct. 13-17, has been rescheduled for Nov. 24-28 in Beijing, the organizers said.
New Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat is expected by endorsed by the king today as his supporters prepare to protest against opponents tomorrow in the Thai capital. Street clashes on Sept. 2 sparked by anti-government protesters left one man dead.
To contact the reporter on this story: Tim Culpan in Taipei at tculpan1@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: September 17, 2008 20:53 EDT
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