"Michael Turner" wrote in message
oups.com...

There is a more-than-slight redolence of obsolete Cold War rivalry in
this comment.
Michael, I was last in Russia, in 1994. At that time, I was at the
Gagarin training facilites, talking to numerous engineers. It that context,
my remarks reflect what they expressed to me concerning their technology and
where it was going. The Russian aerospace engineers are very proud people,
and my observation was their desire to forge ahead of the United States as
soon as they could. Remember, at that time MIR was still the USA's only
hope of getting long term experience in orbit using the shuttle technology.
Having the USSR collapse, and then swallowing the extremely bitter pill of a
humbled space program was very, very, tough for those people. I do recall a
1980's Nat. Geographic based solely on the superiority of the Soviet space
program. Falling before a worthy advisary is one thing, having the advisary
gloat is another.



Well, what about licensing it to them commercially, rather than simply
offering it for free?

The capital for new technological development isn't there. It just isn't.
"No bucks, no Buck Rogers."


Who cares?

I think a great number of Russian engineers care. I think developing,
proving, and implementing is what engineers do best and long to do more of.

So long as Russian
engineers, factory workers and technicians are making 1/10th as much
as their western counterparts, Russia will be the low-cost leader.

Only if they can produce a quality product that will hold up to the
standards being set for long term presence in space. Spacecraft must become
lightweight, durable, and reliable. I think that will be the rule in the
coming (predicted) space age.


Gee, that's a profoundly anti-capitalist sentiment if I ever heard
one.
Yes it was. I'm not endorsing Communism or Socialism; I'm reflecting
upon what I saw and experienced while I was doing research at
Zvezdny-Gorodk.

Khruschev is spinning in his gave, no doubt.

What can I say beyond this? Khruschev loved, relished, everything about his
space triumphs, and thus pumped huge amounts of funding into space
development. He did it for the wrong reasons, I'd say, but his funding made
things happen, both in the Soviet Union and in the United States.

If you've not been into Russia to talk to the people who were there after
the fall of the Soviet Union, your perspective might be different. That
said, I haven't been there in over a decade. My reference might well be out
of date, and I'll be the first t admit it.




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