Mongols in Space

I feel like this often happens. I vanish for a while, only to return saying "I won't be able to post as much," and then blammo three posts in two days.

On the heels of the Mobicom-3G thing, we also have this little story about Mongolia's Orbinet (apparently part of the MCS conglomerate-thing) buying satellite bandwidth from Canada's Telesat. [Satellite Today] Unfortunately, I'm not a subscriber to that website, so I can't read the whole article, but I'd suspect it's mostly about how both companies are pleased with themselves and the work they're doing in developing Mongolia. Since I can't read it, I'm going to babble a bit about Mongolia's space-history.

Yes, Mongolia has history in space.

Mongolia has had two Cosmonauts (emphatically not astronauts, being trained by the USSR): Maidarzhavyn Ganzorig and Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa.

As fate would have it, Ganzorig was Gürragchaa's backup and never went to space. Gürragchaa, on the other hand, spent well over a week orbiting the Earth in 1981 and was later Mongolia's Defense Minister. When I was in Dornod province in 2008, I saw a very small monument to his flight as part of a larger symbolic graveyard (whose exact purpose wasn't clear to me):

(I haven't uploaded a picture here in a long time, so remember you can click on it to see a larger version. Also, the Mongolian word for "cosmos" is сансар, with "in the cosmos" being сансарт, which you can see written below the Red Star.)

Mongolia has for some time now been part of Intercosmos, the Warsaw Pact space cooperation organization, and Intersputnik, a very large IGO for satellite communications.

As if that wasn't enough, just south of the border in Inner Mongolia is China's busiest spaceport, the Jiquan Satellite Launch Center. Jiquan is also where China launches its own taikonauts.

Granted, essentially all of Mongolia's activities in space have been dependent on its Soviet/Russian and Chinese neighbors. But still, for a small country that most people know better for its felt tents and horses, this is pretty good. One can only hope that someday there will be more.

I would love to see a second Mongolian astro/cosmo/taiko, or even Sansarnaut head to space. For now though, that's just a dream.

UB3G

I just have to ask, Чи намайг одоохондоо сонсож чадах уу?

Or, can you hear me now? (Pretty sure that I got that right. I'm a bit out of practice lately.)

Anyway, Mobicom is apparently getting a 3G network in Mongolia. Being a de facto Luddite for anything made after about 2005, I have yet to hear a satisfactory explanation of what 3G means, but I'm given to understand that this is a big step into the future for Mongolia's telecom infrastructure.

Soon you'll be able to walk around downtown UB and watch streaming video on your iPad at the same time.

It's also yet another huge piece of Chinese investment in Mongolia-the-Country. The winner of the contract is apparently Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell, the Chinese subsidiary of Alcaltel-Lucent. Is it just me or does Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell sound like just the kind of horrible MegaCorp that haunt the boardrooms of darker scifi works like Blade Runner and Shadowrun and the rest of cyberpunk?

Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell: Bringing you the U.S. House of Representatives and the Mongolian Ikh Khural since 2010.

(Of course, I exaggerate... I think.)

Zud

Hello readers! Supposedly there are at least 11 of you. I hope all of you have been well!

I admit it's been a while since I posted, but between exams, the holidays, and the new semester I have been busy. I don't know how often I'll be able to post in the near future, but I'll do what I can.

At any rate, today I wanted to draw your attention to a natural disaster on the steppe. Admittedly it pales in scope and impact compared to the horrible earthquake in Haiti, but for individual Mongols it can and will be devastating.

Mongolia is already notoriously cold, but every so often the country gets hit with a winter so staggeringly cold that the Mongolian language has a special word to describe it. It is called a Zud. When a summer drought is followed by a colder-than-average winter, livestock herds are shattered, people die in their tents, and livelihoods are ruined.

This year's Zud is "white," meaning the country is covered in heavy snowfall. For a comparatively arid country, this is pretty bad. (Though admittedly the so-called "Iron Zud" sounds a whole lot worse.)

In the long run, this will mean worsened poverty, increased internal migration, more overcrowding in Ulaanbaatar as refugees relocate there, and a severe blow to both the national economy and traditional nomadic culture.

For the moment though, if you're there, stay safe, stay warm, and if you can stay inside!

Tavan Tolgoi Delay

In a move that surprises no one, the selection of winner in the Tavan Tolgoi bidding process has been delayed until an indeterminate time next year [Reuters].

And once that happens, then they get to make an Investment Agreement.

And once that happens, then they get to send it to Parliament.

This could take a while.

The True Cost of Gold

I know I talk a lot about how awesome mining will be for Mongolia's economy.

I often gloss over the dark side of this industry: the destruction of the environment and the consequences that brings for public health.

Today, this post from a fly fishing blog showed up in my news feed.

In it, is a sobering yet beautifully shot National Geographic piece about mining and the environment in Monglia. It's short, but still worth watching. It also hints that "Western" miners are more inclined to undertake environmental protection measures than their Chinese or Russian counterparts. I suspect that this is true, but I can't say for sure.

Anyway, enjoy the clip. The second one is a very short thing on the Taimen fish, also worth watching:

Mongolia Becoming Like America?

Firstly, certain Mongols are taking on very Protestant attitudes towards the form of Buddhism practiced in the country. Things like "original Buddhism didn't believe this," "the clergy has a reputation for corruption," and "class oppression." Might we see a truly Mongolian Buddhism arise in the next century? My hunch would be probably not, but who knows. The connection here is that America is something of a hotbed for Protestantism. Most English-speaking former colonies of Great Britain are like that, but perhaps America especially.

Then there's Mongolia's athletes stomping the crap out of Japan's. Sure it's Sumo and not Baseball, Basketball, (American) Football, or any of the sports played over here. But it's a start.

Then there's the spooky energy conglomerate looking to claim a stake in both coal and oil. Yeehaw. Just like Texas right?

The Eyes of Truth Watch the Mirage in the Matrix

To get from Altan Urag and throat singing to Keanu Reeves and the Matrix, you don't even need all six degrees.

Start here, with the Altan Urag version of a classical Mongolian song [Mongolian Music]:



Then go to this song, by a certain European group [YouTube]:



Then stop at this trailer for one of the awesomest movies ever [YouTube]:



Your journey might start sooner than you think.