Comments by "Alan Friesen" (@alanfriesen9837) on "The Space Race" channel.

@timothymcgee871 You and those like you are small-minded pathetic gits. The current Chinese regime has done more for humanity than any other current regime with the possible exception of that of the United States. By all means root for America, but don't hate on China, unless you're a jerk.
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That helicopter is great and I'm glad to see it got off the ground. Mars' atmosphere is so thin I had strong doubts about its ability to do so. It will work better in thicker atmospheres. On Mars it can probably barely lift itself even when constructed of the lightest materials. Nevertheless, that could still have some utility.
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Centrifugal artificial gravity is not lifetimes away. If near-Earth gravity is necessary for gestation, it's achievable currently, so long as you have enough space, materiel, and energy to erect a large centrifuge.
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Elon Musk is many things—some of them not so wonderful—but I don't think he's a con artist. I think he makes every attempt to deliver on his promises.
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Hopefully China won't be as much of an ass about this as the United States is, though they would admittedly have every right to.
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@kennnone151 I'm not so sure we don't steal technology. If the U.S. is behind in a field (and there are a few where that is the case) and we're not stealing when we have the opportunity to, then I'd like a word with our intelligence agencies because they're not using my tax money effectively.
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@youngz13o It's still kind of sneaky because only China knows what it's hardware is doing back there. I'm not sure that's a bad thing.
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Iris Chang's "Thread of the Silkworm" describes the life of Qian Xuesen, the father of Chinese rocketry, trained at Cal Tech, employed at JPL, worked on the Manhattan Project, and deported to China during McCarthy's red scare. It's a great story
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@pgabrieli Why? The Uighurs in China aren't a problem. It's their clueless advocates outside of China that don't know their ass from a hole in the ground.
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@lilBabyBornInCalifornia I've been to China on a couple of occasions, though not as a reporter. The worst that I've seen happening to reporters in China is that their visa might not be extended and they may have to go home. This usually occurs after a reporter has accumulated a catalog of hit pieces where information is manipulated into anti-Chinese propaganda. China is actually remarkably tolerant of unethical foreign correspondence manufacturing muck in search of a Pulitzer. My sense is that Russia is less accommodating to reporters who are either out to undermine the government or who just inadvertently shine too much light on the dark places that the powerful operate in clandestine comforts, and North Korea is downright dangerous for anyone asking any kinds of questions. Your implied criticism in these two countries, as far as I know, is justified. Mexico's situation in certain states is also quite dangerous, but for completely different reasons. There, the enemy of the press is not so much the government as it is the lawlessness within the drug-trafficking regions and the powerful outlaws that operate their narco-fiefdoms unchecked.
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