Putin has just discovered the scale of his latest miscalculation

“Rusdia has been left in the stone age of technology with no hope of ever catching up. Their war places don't even dare to go into Ukraine airspace, or they would be shot down immediately, whereas our jets (fighters and bomber) can go anywhere without even being seen. China is trying to copy, but by the time they do, we'll have the next generation warplanes already flying. Russia can't even copy, since they are persona non-grata anywhere our technology appears”

You drunk or on drugs?
None of that is true.

The Russians just developed the technology before anyone else, and again America was reduced to begging the Russians for rides to the SpaceStation on Soyuz from 2011 to 2020, that's a good 9 years. At high cost.

We had the space shuttle, a resuable space plane which made the Russian methods seem antiquated. It took a communist, Obama, to ground our shuttles. That's the only reason that we became dependent on Russia for our astronauts. But, we now have much better ways to get into space than Russia,

BTW, first men to space were actually Americans in the X-15..

Notice that the U.s. was already doing hypersonic flights in the 1950s, and that the speed was over 4,500 mph and that the altitude was above what's considered "space". Anything above 62 miles is considered to be 'outer space'.

The North American X-15 flew to a peak altitude of 354,200 feet (67 miles or 107.96 kilometers). This altitude record for a winged aircraft has not been surpassed to this day. The X-15 was designed to study hypersonic flight and was launched from a B-52 bomber at around 45,000 feet. This video shows the X-15 taking off from a B-52 and climbing to high altitudes:

The X-15 program was a joint effort between NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and North American Aviation. The aircraft reached speeds exceeding Mach 6 (over 4,500 mph). Its primary goal was to investigate the challenges of hypersonic flight and reentry into the atmosphere, providing valuable data for future space programs like the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle programs. This video explains the X-15's design and how it reached high speeds and altitudes:

A few key details about the X-15's flights:

Peak Altitude: 354,200 feet (67 miles, 107.96 km).

Mach Speed: Reached Mach 6.72 (4,520 mph).

Launch: Launched from a B-52 bomber at 45,000 feet. Fuel: A combination of ammonia and liquid oxygen, lasting less than two minutes.

Record: The X-15 still holds the altitude record for a winged aircraft.

“BTW, first men to space were actually Americans in the X-15..”

Nope.
Grok:

The X-15, a rocket-powered aircraft developed by the United States, was not the first spacecraft to reach space before the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union’s Sputnik 1, launched on October 4, 1957, was the first artificial satellite to enter orbit, marking the first human-made object to reach space. This event is widely recognized as the beginning of the Space Race.

The X-15 program, however, achieved significant milestones later. Between 1960 and 1962, pilot Robert White made 16 flights in the X-15, becoming the first to fly a winged vehicle above 50 miles (80 kilometers), which the U.S. considers the boundary of space. These flights occurred after Sputnik 1 and other Soviet achievements, such as Yuri Gagarin’s orbital flight on April 12, 1961, aboard Vostok 1, making him the first human in space.

Crash landed and failed to communicate. How does that count?

The Beagle still reached Mars, something that Russia still hasn't accomplished. It does count because with every problem or failure, lessons are learned and improvements will come. Not too many new technological advancements are successful on the first try.

All done with stolen technology from the U.S. and Europe.

Still true.

Keep telling yourself that?

The truth is worth repeating and remembering.

They got ahead of Europe by stealing Europe technology.

The Russians and Chinese are pretty good at stealing and copying from others. I guess that's something they can take pride in, since they do it better than anyone else. Chuckle.

All done with stolen/copied technology from the U.S. and Europe and S.Korea and Japan.

Still true. Nope

Facts can't be denied r>
Through hard work, sweat and innovation. The Chinese produce a third of the world's engineers every year. It shows.

Well, when you are going to copy and steal others' technology, you do need your own engineers to understand what was copied and stolen, and even to reverse-engineer.

The only reason DeepSeek was heard about, is because it was done with cheaper and slower hardware.

Still true.

DeepSeek and other Chinese AI companies stunned the world with their stunning performance, which is what counts at the day. Sheer performance.

Getting something to perform on slower and older hardware, is not something that should be admired.

The rest of the world will use the newest AI software iteration and the newest and fastest and best hardware. The DeepFAKE stunt was not going to make any difference. Even the Chinese won't be using it going forward.

Again, the Chinese are currently ahead of Europe in space. AI, even in cars and of consumer consumer electronics.

The Chinese don't develop new technology. They copy and steal and buy what they need or want. We have even sold them some of or best technology like missile and rocket tech. Clinton sold them missile technology for campaign contributions. China copied smartphone tech from companies such as Apple, and also copied PC tech when IBM sold them their PC division, now known as Lenovo.

The Russians have been ahead of Europe in space since they were the first to go to space and Europe has never caught up.

No need for that when America was willing to share their space tech. The EU became dependent on American's defense umbrella, and they also became dependent on America's advancements in smartphones and PCs and other teck. Japan and S.Korea are also ahead of Russia and the EU in overall tech development.

When America was forced to retire the exploding Space Shuttle, they had to rely on the Russian Soyuz to get to the SpaceStation

The shuttle was not retired because it was exploding. It was terminated by a clueless president who wanted to save the money and redirect it towards social programs. That was Obama, your kind of president and admirer of Putin, just like YOU. because the Europeans had nothing that could take astronauts to the SpaceStation.

You're making it up. The Europeans were not in the business of taking astronauts to space or the space station. The U.S. was doing it all, and your president Obama took away the means that was shuttling men into space.

Nice try at rewriting history, but no dice.

“The Chinese don't develop new technology. They copy and steal and buy what they need or want.”

The Chinese DO develop new technology.
The Chinese currently have their own independently developed SpaceStatin and have rovers on the moon and on Mars.
Europe doesn't have any of that.
But Europeans can sure shout and boast....about nothing.

“The shuttle was not retired because it was exploding”

It was.
Two massive explosions killing all 14 astronauts just about did it for the Shuttle.
Plus it was too expensive to run.
SpaceX Dragon is currently far cheaper to run, and so far much safer, with ZERO accidents/deaths

woodpusher: "Ukraine is getting destroyed and may not survive as a nation state post-conflict."

Sure, according to Russian propaganda.
According to Russian propaganda, its "Special Military Operation" was actually completed in three days and what's happening now is just anti-terror operations against unreconstructed guerillas supported by NATO.

But why would any sane person believe such nonsense?

2023 Destruction in Bakhmut:

The destruction in Ukraine will take about $1 trillion to set right, of which around $300 billion will come from Russia's frozen assets.
That will be a very good start towards putting Ukrainians back on their feet.
The balance can come over many years from things like tariffs on all Russian exports and imports.
$20 billion per year over 35 years will cover the balance of Russia's $1 trillion war reparations.

As for Ukrainians, they are a functioning constitutional republic currently operating under martial law -- so with elections suspended until war's end, as did the Brits & French during both World Wars.

According to polls, Pres. Zelensky's popularity soared to 90% in 2022 and has since fallen to around 60%.
Those same polls show Zelensky's potential political rivals at well under half of Zelensky's numbers.

However, it's worth remembering that when WWII ended in 1945, Brits defeated their wartime leader, Winston Churchill, for reelection -- thus suggesting that war heroes are not always the best peacetime leaders.

Regardless, as of today, Zelensky still appears to be the leading candidate for reelection, once the war is over.

In the meantime, Russia has never had an honest election, and in recent times they've stopped even pretending -- it's all just stage-managed election theater for Russia.

How long can Russia's economy withstand Western sanctions and Ukraine drone strikes on critical military infrastructure?
I suspect a very long time, and in the meantime, Russians are still suffering around 1,000 casualties per day, along with over 100 military vehicles & major weapons, and that is a huge butcher's bill for the Russian people to demand payments-in-full from their masters in Moscow.

Rusdia has been left in the stone age of technology with no hope of ever catching up.

So true. And the sanctions are making things so much worse. Russia is now a dependent country: dependent on Chinese technology and Chinese/N.Korean/Iranian weapons, as well as N.Korea also supplying bodies to the meat-grinder.

Their war places don't even dare to go into Ukraine airspace, or they would be shot down immediately,

That's so sad. But, it happens to aggressive countries which then lose the ability to keep up with the rest of the world.

whereas our jets (fighters and bombers) can go anywhere without even being detected.

OMG! That's so Amazing!!!

China is trying to copy, but by the time they do, we'll have the next generation warplanes already flying.

Incredible!

But, I've heard they're being called the F-47 and B-21 and the SR-72 and all ready to deploy soon. All with super-duper stealth technology, which makes then invisible to all radar. "Sneaky" Americans!

Russia can't even copy, since they are persona non-grata anywhere our technology appears?

Russia needs to get more people like the Clintons and Bidens into the White House or into congress, who would then be able to get and sell the technology to Russia and China.

You drunk or on drugs?

Yeah. My drugs are called "reality and sanity'. As opposed to what you take, which is 'insanity and alternate-reality'

None of that is true.

Everything I said is absolute truth, and easily verifiable.

For example, you can look up "NGAD" (next generation air dominance' in Google and/or YouTube.

You need to get your nose out of Putin's @zz and start looking at what the real world looks like.

The Russian 'Mars lander' was successful, but a flop at the same time.

In 1971, the Mars 3 mission included a lander with a small rover called PrOP-M. While the lander successfully touched down, it lost contact with Earth shortly after, and the fate of the rover is unknown. Therefore, it was the first spacecraft to land on Mars, but it didn't have a successful, long-term surface mission.

So, we've had space junk orbiting out planet, and we also have Russian junk of Mars' surface. Russian pollution on Mars . The Martians are not happy.

The U.S. has landed multiple rovers on Mars. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has managed the first five successful Mars rover missions: Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity, and Perseverance. The most recent, Perseverance, landed in Jezero Crater on February 18, 2021, according to NASA.

Tha Martians are now doing like the Chinese and Russians: copying and stealing the American technology in those rovers. ;)

The European Space Agency (ESA) has sent multiple missions to Mars, including the highly successful Mars Express orbiter and the ExoMars program, which involves both an orbiter and a rover.

Obviously, the Europeans know how to send successful missions to Mars, while the Russians only manage to send space junk there.

Grok:

"The ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover, developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) in collaboration with international partners, was intended to be launched to Mars but has faced significant delays. As of July 18, 2025, the rover has not yet been launched and is not on Mars. Originally planned for a 2020 launch, the mission was postponed to 2022 due to technical issues and then further delayed due to the suspension of cooperation with Russia's Roscosmos in 2022 following geopolitical events. ESA restructured the mission, securing new partnerships, including with NASA, to replace Russian components like the Kazachok lander. The current target launch date is in 2028, with an expected arrival on Mars in 2029, as per ESA’s updated plans.Thus, Europe does not currently have a rover on Mars. The Rosalind Franklin rover is still in preparation for its future mission to search for signs of past and present life in the Oxia Planum region. For the latest updates, you can check ESA’s ExoMars program page or recent discussions on X."

So Europe does NOT have a rover on Mars. The original plan for Europe to get a rover on Mars was a joint effort with Russia whereby the Europeans were basically stealing Russian technology. That was cancelled after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, so now the European grifters turned to NASA. NASA has had a rover on Mars for years and even a helicopter on Mars.

China?
Oh yes China has a rover on Mars.
Grok:

“China successfully landed the Zhurong rover on Mars as part of its Tianwen-1 mission, managed by the China National Space Administration (CNSA). The rover touched down in Utopia Planitia on May 14, 2021, making China the second country after the United States to operate a rover on Mars.”

So US, China have done it, but Europe continues to make a lot of noise but are yet to land a rover on Mars.
Chuckle.

The X-15, a rocket-powered aircraft developed by the United States, was not the first spacecraft to reach space before the Soviet Union.

That's not what I said about the X-15. What I did say that, it was the first to reach space with a human onboard. Sputnik was not occupied by a human; the X-15 was, and it did occur before Yuri Gagarin went into space.

So technically, the U.S sent a human to space first.

The X-15 program, however, achieved significant milestones later. Between 1960 and 1962, pilot Robert White made 16 flights in the X-15, becoming the first to fly a winged vehicle above 50 miles (80 kilometers), which the U.S. considers the boundary of space.

Joe Walker, a NASA research pilot, was the first civilian pilot to exceed 50 miles in altitude. He achieved this milestone on March 25, 1960, flying the X-15 rocket plane. His flight was a precursor to even higher altitude flights later that year.

So, if 50 miles above the ground is the accepted boundary that defines 'space flight', the X-15 with Joe Walker, was the first 'manned space flight'.

“So, if 50 miles above the ground is the accepted boundary that defines ‘space flight’, the X-15 with Joe Walker, was the first ‘manned space flight’.”

The Kármán line is the widely accepted boundary between Earth's atmosphere and outer space, set at an altitude of 100 kilometers (62 miles) above sea level. This definition, proposed by Hungarian engineer Theodore von Kármán, marks the approximate point where aerodynamic lift becomes ineffective for aircraft, and a vehicle must travel faster than orbital velocity to remain aloft, effectively entering space.

We had the space shuttle, a reusable space plane which made the Russian methods seem antiquated.

Still true.

Except it EXPLODED twice killing all 14 astronauts on it. And was super expemsobe to run,

If explosions were the reason for cancelling the space shuttle program, then, we would have also canceled all rockets that were used to take men into space, because, there were many more explosions of them than with the shuttles.

Again, there were ZERO accidents in the 9 years US astronauts used the Soyuz as their sole means of getting to the SpaceStation.

We still had to pay the Russians for the flights.

Obama canceled the shuttle only because he wanted to redirect the funds towards social programs. Democrats do the redirecting of military funding for the same reason, social programs. that is why we lost a lot of our military preparedness, and which Trump has had to rebuild.

Unfortunately, once the shuttle programs was canceled there was no way to recover it. But, guess what??? We are now trying to build a reusable shuttle. If it was wrong 20 years ago, why do it again? Just like all things that have a tendency to blow up and/or burn, the new shuttles will have the same problems. and rockets have the same issues, no matter what country is building and using them.

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