Wednesday, April 21, 2004
SOYUZ SOLUTION
A Soyuz ferry successfully delivered the new 2-man crew to the International Space Station (along with a Dutch astronaut who will work there for a week before he returns with the old crew -- in a Soyuz)
Meanwhile, Russian financial problems have caused them to ask NASA to increase caretaker crew service from six months to a one year, which NASA has rejected. Simply subsidizing the tried and true Soyuz assembly line for as long as it takes to get a new, reliable means of transport to and from the station is the obvious answer but that would be too simple and easy for NASA, which always does things the convoluted, difficult and pork-barrel-laden way. The Russians aren't our enemies any more, subsidizing the Soyuz assembly and launch facilities won't help the Russians develop any new military technology and U.S. companies are already using Russian-derived rocket engine technology in some current-generation boosters. Oh well...
GB, THHotA
posted by Greg 7:51 AM
