Special Challenge 456

“The Trojan Expedition”

In David Barber’s “The Trojan Expedition”:

Why is the spaceship named the Zheng He?
Is it reasonable to suppose that manned space flight will be continued by China? What other nations might undertake it eventually? What countries figure prominently in space travel in Jack and Joe Haldeman’s There Is No Darkness? Why?
Christopher Columbus had to wait seven years for King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to finance his expedition across the Atlantic Ocean. The Castilian crown was busy with the “reconquest” of Spain and wanted to conquer Granada.

If Columbus had been given his ships when he first asked, King Ferdinand might have been able to buy Granada — and anything else he fancied — with South American gold. But it was a high-risk venture: Columbus’ expedition might have been lost at sea or have returned empty-handed. Was Ferdinand’s risk-benefit calculation justified?
From the review article of Jane Jacobs’ Dark Age Ahead:
In the early 15th century, China was foremost in the world in oceangoing trade and exploration. In 1433, the outcome of a political power struggle — the causes of which now seem utterly trivial and only historians know of — caused China’s great fleets to be recalled and its shipyards dismantled. The country turned inward, away from the world.

The retreat led to a cascading economic, intellectual and technological stagnation from which China never recovered. China’s many achievements thus became a historical footnote, and the world was left open to the Europeans.

The author proposes as the story’s description meta-tag: “Whether it was the halting of maritime exploration by the Dragon Throne, leaving to Europe the great discoveries, or Nixon’s abandonment of Apollo, history will decide which emperor was the more short-sighted.”

When the Apollo program was discontinued in 1972, five Saturn rockets were ready and waiting... Was it prudent to calculate that the Apollo missions had achieved their purpose and that the prospect of gain did not justify further expense? Or did the U.S. make the same mistake as China and Spain 500 years earlier?
What elements of satire in “The Trojan Expedition” warn of an impending dark age? What is a dark age?

Responses welcome!