Posted on 08/19/2005 7:56:04 PM PDT by JeffersonRepublic.com
ZHUKOVSKY (Moscow region), August 18 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Space Agency Roscosmos will sell a Soyuz spacecraft, a carrier rocket and launch services to NASA for some $65 million, if the American agency approves the deal, a Roscosmos official told journalists Thursday.
Roscosmos manned flight programs head Alexei Krasnov said the deal, which includes a Russian cosmonaut as shuttle commander, might be changed to take inflation into account.
He explained that Russia's commitments on American astronauts' delivery to the International Space Station would expire in spring 2006, meaning that in April 2006, two seats in the Soyuz would be given to Russian cosmonauts and one would go to either a space tourist, a European Space Agency astronaut or any other candidate who can pay for the flight.
"We hope American shuttles will resume regular flights and we are suggesting that our American partners use Soyuz craft as retrieving units for the ISS crew instead of as shuttles," Krasnov said.
The United States cannot currently buy the craft because of a U.S. law banning airspace equipment purchases from certain countries.
How about we just copy the design like the Russia's did with the shuttle.
Just lease it and return it when we are done with it.
LOL, how true...
On a side note, say what you want to about the Russians, but they have learned about capitalism in a hurry. Supply and demand, baby. :)
The Apollo spacecraft could, if need arose, hold five people. There was only one time it might have been used as a rescue craft. That was during the second Skylab flight. Some attitude thrusters quit working on the service module and it was thought that the crew may have been endangered. Turns out, they had a workaround proceedure and the rest is in the history books.
Jeez,
Throw in a Manhattan taxi medallion and you've got a deal.
My first car was a 1973 Ford Pinto Hatchback.
Way more contemporary technology than the Apollo spacecraft.
Plus, no none ever got "lucky" in the back seat of the Apollo.
"say what you want to about the Russians"
The Russian people are very smart, and they can do amazing thing with very little money.
That's cheap compared to what fat Ted costs this country every year. Of course we have a hundred targets, just thought to start out with a killer of many things - young woman, economy, hope, freedom, pile on.
Conversely, NASA does very little things with amazing money.
I like how they throw a Russian cosmonaut in as part of the bargain. I guess that goes along with the upgraded cd player, the whitewalls and the crushed velour seating.
What was the figure NASA spent make the insulation stick?
And did it stick?
Although you may have to look around to find where it lands, Soyuz has a better survival rate in recent years.
Not very ergo, though, as you illustrate.
If NASA can't figure it out, Russia will take their place.
But WAIT! There's MORE! .....(it also sharpens knives!)...
In the Space business that is a modest amount of money!
Imagine if we had something better than the shuttle....
We had a similar design, the GE Apollo:
http://www.astronautix.com/articles/wastolen.htm
Oh. With the flames at the rear, I thought it was a 1973 Ford Pinto Hatchback...
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