Greg D. Moore (Strider) wrote:


Let's see, what have the Russians done? Killed a couple of crews and
floated around the Earth quite a few times.

Their interplanetary science program is tiny compared to what we've done.

Compared to the US, they really haven't done that much more and in many
ways have done a lot less.

And yet everyone holds them up as the paradigm of things done right.

Simply compare the number of manned flights for example.

The shuttle alone has flown more times than all Soviet and Russian manned
missions combined.

I have great respect for what the Russians have done, especially on a budget
much smaller than NASA's. But they shared very little of that experience
until the US made overtures to them to include Russia in the ISS. The US
is sharing what we learn with the world, rather than shrouding it in
secrecy.

Mike Ross