[FPSPACE] NASA wary of relying on Russia

[Edwin Cameron]

Thank you, Kir,  
   
  I have included the whole entry which you wrote, but moved your 
  final comments and questiions up to the top.  It is a pity that
  even with official cooperation between the United States and 
  Russia that there ramains so much distrust on both sides.  The 
  engineers and scientists from around the world could most likely 
  work in harmony if there were no politicians.
   
  The Russians that I have met are no different from people from 
  across the globe.  The Russians are not evil, but maybe the empire 
  was.  Americans, likewise, are not evil, but the fears of American 
  politicians to lose significant superiority in space could revive many 
  elements of the Cold War.  As one of many who studied Soviet and
  Russian space in the highest levels of American intelligence, this 
  view makes no sense.  While America may have been able to build
  some very sophisticated space machinery to do a job, so have the 
  Soviets and Russians.  As a young man in the intelligence game, I
  was repeatedly told that the Russians could not do this thing or that 
  because their technology was so inferrior to ours.  In fact, it became 
  a quest and a challenge to me to point out how far these "Russians" 
  were ahead of America in meeting purpose and goal with respect to 
  missiles, rockets and space machines.  Not one US Shuttle could fly 
  two orbits and land with no astronaut aboard.  The USSR could produce 
  large crystal Gallium Arsenide long before the US, and perfected many 
  Titanium processes which have still not been equaled.  The list of things
  could go on and on where technology transfer was TO the US.  So, where 
  is this significant superiority -- taking license plate pictures from space? 
  When the Russians had a need, they met that need.  When America 
  had a need, most often they studied it until the need had passed or had 
  morphed into something that could do everything, but didn't work.  Do you 
  remember the space station called Freedom?  Of course going to the 
  Moon was a great achievement, but what has happened since.  America's superiority certainly is not in maintaining obrital platforms, or keeping a 
  manned presence in space for what ever the reasons.
   
  Perhaps it was outspoken realization of this, more so that anything else, 
  that caused me to lose that most exciting intelligence job.  But, I for one, 
  want to thank the Russians and the N1 for putting a dozen men on the Moon.  
  I thank the Russians also for keeping ISS alive in the face of their own 
  economic disasters and recession.
   
  If the cooperation which was sought by Dr. G.I. Severin and Professors from 
  Moscow Aviation Institute had been accomplished in 1990, and again sought in 
  1991 by engineers and constructors such as Dr. V.K. Karrask, I have no doubt 
  that Energiya would have already made trips to the Moon, and would be preparing 
  either to go to, or return from, Mars.  Instead, now America is decrying its own 
  near-sightednes, afraid that someone else, perhaps even China, may take a lead 
  that may never have been real or significant in the first place.
   
  Just the humble opinion of a "disgruntled" former intelligence officer and rocket 
  scientist!  Have a wonderful day.  And, thanks again, Kir!
   
  Edwin Neal Cameron
   
  ----- snip -----
  So, what?  Do not pay "the Russians" and work your problem.  If you
don't like it then do it better if you can!

Are "the Russians" evil?  Are they still?  Why are they and why are
they still?  "The Russians" make their best to help "the Americans" to 
  cover their ass.

But the story is really funny for the now very moment...

Kir
  ----- end snip -----

   
  Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2008 06:17:02 +0300
From: "Kirill Simon" <kirill at safebox.ru>
Subject: Re: [FPSPACE] NASA wary of relying on Russia
To: <fpspace at friends-partners.org>
Message-ID: <003701c88194$17ae4920$ba00160a at new>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

> NASA wary of relying on Russia
> Moscow soon to be lone carrier of astronauts to the space station
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23512686

This article and statements there are really funny in terms of
unforeseeably expected result!  Nice!

> 'Serious threat to our national security'
> NASA Administrator Michael Griffin calls the situation his
> "greatest regret and greatest concern." For most of the
> five-year gap, he said, "we will be largely dependent
> on the Russians, and that is terrible place for the United
> States to be. I'm worried, and many others are worried."

Wow!  Really...?!  Where were you, guys, in the days prior to?

> Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), chairman of the subcommittee
> that oversees NASA, went further. "This is a very serious
> betrayal of American interests," he said. "This will be the
> first time since Sputnik when the United States will not
> have a significant space superiority. I remain dumbfounded
> that we've allowed this serious threat to our national
> security to develop."

So, what?

> "Is there a risk that we won't succeed? Yes, there is,"
> said Musk, co-founder of the PayPal online payment
> system. "But if the United States doesn't provide any
> competition to the Russians, then they have a monopoly
> on crew transport to the station and they can dictate their
> terms. Do taxpayers really want all that money to go to
> Russia, rather than to an American company with
> American workers?"