China...
Back in the day of the internet's infancy, used to be that I would let accommodations to hughes employees. One day I was told of how China could give a rats arse about human life. Basically the way I recall their tale was that they had prepped a satellite for flight. Then while watching the lift off, they observed the rocket malfunction and change course to earthbound, striking a village on the other side of the valley. The launch was from one mountain and crashed into the mountain across the way...Well today, when internet access is old hat, I looked up what the quasi official story was,
Quote:
Xichang Space Launch Center offers better access to geostationary orbits than Jiuquan. It was built 40 miles north of Xichang City in 1978. Its first launch was in 1984. Xichang launches Long March space rockets. The local population lives near the launch pads. When the first Long March 3B rocket crashed in 1996 on a hillside a mile from the launch pad, six persons were killed and 57 injured. When a Long March 2E exploded in 1995, debris killed six and injured 23 in a village five miles downrange.
The hughes boys conveyed the total lack of Chinese concern for human life to me that day. Dang. 15 years later I confirm what I had heard first hand.
Another big difference in mindsets is evident from the lack of the term, 'Clean Room' in the Chinese space flight lexicon.
What strikes me about the flick this thread addresses is the prevalence of traffic cameras in China. Wow. I thought we had the market cornered here in the good ole, big brother, US of A. When it reality it is apparently another example of us catching up with the mindset of those that ... oops eminent aup violation... 
Happy Sunday!
