[elteemike]

Our astronauts have to hitch a ride with the Russians to get to our own ISS...

Navigating the solar system is the least of our space related problems right now and for the forseeable future...

How about our own way to get into LEO first before we worry about navigating to the outer planets?

[cloudmountain]

I wouldn't trust a Russian space ship these days.
They get too much of their stuff from China. I don't trust the Chinese to NOT substitute bad stuff for good stuff.
Besides, the Russians are BROKE. My husband and I visited Russia for a few weeks in 2008. It was a poor, sad place.
We visited Sweden and Finland too. It WAS weird wearing sunglasses at 10:00 at night. Mind you the sun stayed on the horizon moving from east to west, but always flat on the horizon. Weird.

If their nights are as LONG as their days during the winter, and they are, I can EASILY understand why they drink. DEPRESSING to live in the dark for so long.

I never saw so many drunks (all men) in my LIFE as I saw in Finland, Suomi, as they call their own country.