Russia who? Is that the nation that has fleets of of the world's most technologically advanced warships rotting in Artic harbors?
Posted on 01/29/2004 12:07:40 PM PST by ambrose
Russia Space Boss Slams U.S. Mars Plans
Thu January 29, 2004 11:18 AM ET
By Sonia Oxley
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's top space official on Thursday slammed as unrealistic U.S. plans for manned missions to Mars and said the emphasis for space exploration should be completion of the International Space Station (ISS).
Yuri Koptev, head of Russian space agency Rosaviakosmos, distanced himself from President Vladimir Putin's comments this week that Russia could work with the United States on President Bush's ambitious plans.
He was particularly critical of Bush's plan for designing a spacecraft capable of carrying astronauts to the space station, the moon and Mars, saying he did not understand how this could be done since each destination had different needs.
"Yes, we can agree that certain elements could be used. However, there cannot be a universal spacecraft as is being suggested at the moment," he said. "I don't think we will work together on this project."
He dismissed Bush's ideas as being an eye-catching ploy linked to his campaign for re-election.
He said the 16-nation ISS was Russia's priority and called for construction work there to be completed within the original timeframe of the next two years, despite building being delayed for almost a year since the United States withdrew its shuttles.
"We are insisting on the execution of the decision taken at the end of 2002 in Tokyo, which says the construction of the station should be finished within 1.5-2 years," Koptev told reporters, referring to a meeting between the leaders of space agencies involved in the ISS.
He also said he wanted to boost the number of astronauts on the station to six as soon as possible, but did not explain how this would be done. Currently a two-man crew is stationed on the orbital platform.
DELAYS
The building of the space station has been delayed since last February when the United States withdrew its shuttles -- the only craft capable of delivering large sections of the station to the ISS for assembly.
It grounded its entire fleet after its Columbia craft disintegrated on re-entry, killing all seven astronauts on board. Space officials have said they expect the shuttle to return to service in September.
For the past year Russia has been the sole supplier of manned and cargo ships to the station. On Thursday it launched a Progress cargo ship, delivering food, fuel, water and scientific equipment to the outpost.
Koptev said the European Space Agency could play a key part in the station, when its new cargo ship -- the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) -- makes its scheduled debut journey to the ISS by September.
When Bush outlined his space plans earlier this month, he said shuttles would be retired in 2010 once the space station was complete.
Koptev said Bush's plans to send humans back to the moon and then on to Mars were simply connected to his election campaign as had been the case with previous U.S. presidents.
"We understand that to a large extent our U.S. colleagues came up with these plans as part of a pre-election campaign," he said, adding funding was the primary barrier.
In other words, he will be enjoying his retirement soon.
Russia who? Is that the nation that has fleets of of the world's most technologically advanced warships rotting in Artic harbors?
Sorry, you've delayed and bungled it so much we've lost interest. Meantime, kindly return all the American made components to us. AND YOU'RE DARNED RIGHT WE'RE NOT WORKING TOGETHER ON THE NEXT PROJECT! ARE YOU NUTS?
Of course.
We're [US Taxpayers] footing the bill of designing and constructing the portion of the space station that Russia is responsible for. They basically have their name on it....nothing more.
Nasa has been yanked from it's PC mission to fly astronauts into space so they can jerk off in international unity and been focused by GW to do what they should'vebeen doing for the last twenty years: Handling America's business in space.
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