7 thoughts on “Russia to Deflect Asteroid from Earthly Collision – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
task-attention.png
Comments are published at the sole discretion of the owner.
 

  1. This really isn’t fair to the Russian space program, Richard. They’re one of the few agencies in the Russian government that wasn’t totally brutalized by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the resulting chaos, and I’d trust them as much as the American space program to deflect an asteroid.

      1. I think those comments are down on your usual standard. The former Soviet Union led the way in space exploration all the way until they lost the biggest prize to a much wealthier opponent. Russia is planning to build telescopes succeeding Hubble – the Spectrum-Ultraviolet telescope “which will surpass Hubble in some aspects” (Boris Shustov, director of the Astronomy Institute at the Russian Academy of Sciences), the Spectrum-Radioastron and the Spectrum-X-Ray-Gamma. The Russians are the only people who can rescue the crew of a damaged Shuttle (the ISS inspections of which may mean that Hubble has been abandoned?)

        There is some danger in this Russian plan, it could break up the asteroid and make it more difficult to deal with – but I can only see benefit in what we’re hearing so far. Leave them build the heavy lifter and offer them a better diverter f we’ve got one – they’re more cooperative than some people we can think of.

  2. Actually, I have to agree with Andrew. Look at the Soyuz record. If I had to go into space, I’d take a Soyuz before I took a Shuttle. Sure, it’s almost 50 years old, but it’s a reliable workhorse, and I don’t think they’ve ever lost one.

    Sometimes simple and tough is better than complex and fancy.

  3. What’s that famous line from the movie ‘The Right Stuff’? (great movie, btw), in the scene with LBJ and top Nasa and U.S. military brass sitting around the big table together and the Wernher von Braun character says in a bit of Cold War bluster, “our Germans are better than their Germans”, referring to the German rocket scientists who pioneered the American and Russian space programs. Yeah, I don’t know. I’m with Andrew and Canada Guy, generally heard good things about the Russian space program & agency. As for technical acumen, well, it’s hard to picture the Russian equivalent of Porsche or Ferrari, so maybe you have a point.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Share via
Copy link