Hey Russia !
 

Could we catch a ride?

NASA announced Tuesday that it signed a contract with the Russian space agency to shuttle US astronauts to the orbiting International Space Station.
The 335 million dollar contract extension is for the "transportation, rescue and related services" of US crew bound for the ISS in 2013, NASA said in a statement.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php...show_article=1

Soyuz is a very reliable ride too....

Would be nice if Russia could help develop a new shuttle.

They had the Klipper idea but needed ESA investment which France I think vetoed. I think it was more to do with French pride than anything else.

Must be the cheapest option one would presume :hmmm:

Nah...Top Gear will do it for free. ;):DL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyowOsXd_ZE

Russia needs money hand over fist so I highly doubt Soyuz flights will be denied any time soon. Tho we do need to start work on a replacement shuttle.

LOL :DL

I think the Soyuz is a fantastic system, and when I say that we really need to get past it I don't mean to disrespect it. But we really DO need to move space science forward. It bothers me that as of this year, Soyuz will again be the "premiere" system for working in space - a 45-year-old system that is essentially riding atop a 55-year-old "7" series ICBM. The big, big selling point of space exploration for me is not saving money and cutting corners - it has to advance science and engineering with technology that will later be transferable for more down-to-earth uses. If we're not pushing the envelope at all, I think we're really limiting not only what we can do in space exploration, but what space exploration can do for us in the long run.

Odd thing is, up until earlier this year, we were working on a replacement.
:nope:

:salute:

JFK must be spinning in his grave right now. :nope:

Soyuz = Awesome.

Seriously its the only spacecraft currently in service that was designed to travel to the F*ing Moon!

Oh yea an their were plans for an Soyuz space fighter as well.

Plus it was the spacecraft used to service the only [Emperor Palpatine] fully armed and operational battle station [/Emperor Palpatine] built by humans.

Sure glad the United States "won" the space race. :shifty:

The "Replacement" was no shuttle it was a POS that lied to the public with its "Safe Simple Soon" nonsence in my opinion.

We need a horizontally launched shuttle.

The Soviet space programme was a perfect example of brilliant engineering, polictical sycophantism and infighting and incompetence....

Thought not all at the same time.....

Saying thay they came up with some great stuff. Korolev was a genius.

Chelmoi was smart but was more politically astute which in some ways caused a few problems as funding was split amongst the chosen few and not directed in a specific manner.

This is a good site,

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/index.html

It was a government project. On time, on budget, or working. Pick two or less.

Meanwhile, can you post your designs for said horizontally launched shuttle? I know a few people who would love to get a look at it.


Granted, the Constellation program wasn't the greatest thing in the world. It did have problems. But it was a hell of a lot better than having nothing.