) (06/07/91)
In article <1991Jun5.203448.11619@zoo.toronto.edu>, henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes: > In article <6353@ns-mx.uiowa.edu> jlhaferman@l_ecn12.icaen.uiowa.edu (Jeff Haferman) writes: >>On a very recent Soviet (I think) space flight, wasn't there a female >>aboard from a country other than the Soviet Union? ... > > Yes: Helen Sharman, the British cosmonaut who made a short visit to Mir. > -- Hey you guys in the USA who still think of communism as the biggest threat since button flys ;) !! don't you find it slightly embarrasing that your #1 ally at the UN for the last forty years, ally in WWII and the first country to offer substantial help in Operation Desert Storm, as well as one of the main supporters of NATO (which if you will remember is not a "keep europe safe" campaign, but a first line defence for you people) would have to sedntheir first person into space, not with our allies that we have fought beside, but with the very country that we have been preparing to fight against for the last X years ??????? Don't you think that the penny pinching and shi* quality planning of congress and NASA (respectively) is just ever so slightly nauseating, when we ( as part of ESA ) have had (for example) our part of the freedom space station ready to roll for quite a time now. I remember a science program "tommorow's world" talking about it as far back as 1982 !!! This is really just distilled flame, which I have been collecting up for the last while.... I understand that, as I am not a US taxpayer, I can't really comment on how congress spends it's budget, but there has been a lot of talk over here of "the peace dividend".... some of that would help get some of the great projects back on their feet..... (freedom, mars, moon base etc) Theora. ps> the comment about shi* quality management... It's true! in >NO OTHER< competitive industry (including extremely dangerous environments like the oil platforms in the North Sea) is so much time, money and effort wasted on studying This-useless-little-side-effect-which-will-tell-us-bog-all,rather it is spent on the tools and equipment needed to get the job done. pps> Before you flame, consider this. do you know what the russians have been doing on Mir? they have been growing silicon crystals. Not just little crystals, that scientists can cut up and say "yes, it's definetly silicon", but crystals that can be used by the semiconductor industry. >VERY VERY VERY< high quality crystals. ata arate of one per flight. when you add this to the fact that the russians are offering a flight opportunity to >ANYONE< who can come up with the hard cash, you will see that the russian space program (or at least the manned section of it) has almost payed for itself, and will soon start to make a profit. Reply please. I look forward to hearing from you. T. -- sig (made it through the ethernet alive!) ================================================================================ Theora Jones Strathclyde University, SCOTLAND || " I can fly higher than an CABP10@uk.ac.strath.vaxa (somewhere on JANET) || Eagle, with you as the CABP10%vaxa.strath.ac.uk (elsewhere, hopefully) || wind beneath my wings " CABP10%vaxa.strath.ac.uk@ukacrl (just might work)|| 8:-) 1990 A solution to the worlds problems: Kei and Yuri! || "Lets be MAWS!"-DP3.2 ================================================================================
jabishop@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu (Jonathan A Bishop) (06/08/91)
cabp10@vaxa.strath.ac.uk (Theora Jones, In Person!) writes: >pps> Before you flame, consider this. do you know what the russians have been >doing on Mir? they have been growing silicon crystals. Not just little >crystals, that scientists can cut up and say "yes, it's definetly silicon", but >crystals that can be used by the semiconductor industry. >VERY VERY VERY< high >quality crystals. ata arate of one per flight. when you add this to the fact >that the russians are offering a flight opportunity to >ANYONE< who can come up >with the hard cash, you will see that the russian space program (or at least >the manned section of it) has almost payed for itself, and will soon start to >make a profit. It most certainly has NOT paid for itself! The Soviet program is not as ambitious as it was several years ago for economic reasons. The purpose of the Kristal module is to generate revenue, but it is not profitable yet, andd the solicitation of rides does not suggest this. If anything, it reflects a great need for hard currency. It reminds me of the Glavkosmos posters distributed a few years ago offering launches on Energia and Buran. Look how successful they were. -------- jabishop@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu "I'm with you, LEM, though it's a shame that it had to be you. The mother ship is just a blip from your train made for two. I'm with you, boys, so please employ just a little extra care. It's on my mind, I'm left behind when I should have been there." --Jethro Tull, "For Michael Collins, Jeffrey, and Me"
ccoprmd@prism.gatech.EDU (Matthew DeLuca) (06/09/91)
In article <1991Jun7.140903.11829@vaxa.strath.ac.uk> cabp10@vaxa.strath.ac.uk (Theora Jones, In Person!) writes: >[D]on't you find it slightly embarrasing that your #1 ally at the UN for the >last forty years, ally in WWII and the first country to offer substantial help >in Operation Desert Storm, as well as one of the main supporters of NATO (which >if you will remember is not a "keep europe safe" campaign, but a first line >defence for you people) would have to sedntheir first person into space, not >with our allies that we have fought beside, but with the very country that we >have been preparing to fight against for the last X years ??????? The British lady who went up to Mir went courtesy of a private organization that funded from private contributions, not from the government. As such, I (and the U.S. government, and everyone else) couldn't care less who she flys with or why. NATO isn't a 'keep Europe safe' project? Of course it is. Granted, it is in our best interestes that Western Europe (and the %#$&*( French, too) remain free, but that doesn't change the fact that it keeps you guys out of trouble. We've gotten enough Americans killed because of European wars in the past; a successful (as NATO has been) deterrent program can be valued in lives, not just dollars. As far as the U.S. goes, we could just hole up here behind our oceans and not worry about the rest of the world...but we're a buch of nice people and put our asses on the line to keep the rest of you free. > Don't you think that the penny pinching and shi* quality planning of congress > and NASA (respectively) is just ever so slightly nauseating, when we ( as part >of ESA ) have had (for example) our part of the freedom space station ready to >roll for quite a time now. I remember a science program "tommorow's world" >talking about it as far back as 1982 !!! The Columbus module is sitting in a hangar, ready to go up? And Hermes (justified in part as a space station resupply vehicle) is sitting on an Ariane, ready to launch? I think not. Besides, the space station project was started up in 1984...I'd be impressed if you had the module ready to go in 1982. >This is really just distilled flame, which I have been collecting up for the >last while.... I understand that, as I am not a US taxpayer, I can't really >comment on how congress spends it's budget, but there has been a lot of talk >over here of "the peace dividend".... some of that would help get some of the >great projects back on their feet..... (freedom, mars, moon base etc) You're more than welcome to comment on U.S. policy and policymaking, and as long as Ted Kaldis doesn't subscribe to this newsgroup I doubt anyone is going to complain. I might question the validity of your comments, though, since a lot of what you said above was in error... As far as the peace dividend goes, be patient. I don't know what Great Britain is planning, but we're reducing our armed forces considerably by 1995, particularly in Europe. Should be interesting, seeing how Europe reacts to a German-dominated continent...I'll just hope that the remaining American presence keeps you out of trouble. >pps> Before you flame, consider this. do you know what the russians have been >doing on Mir? they have been growing silicon crystals. Not just little >crystals, that scientists can cut up and say "yes, it's definetly silicon", but >crystals that can be used by the semiconductor industry. >VERY VERY VERY< high >quality crystals. ata arate of one per flight. when you add this to the fact >that the russians are offering a flight opportunity to >ANYONE< who can come up >with the hard cash, you will see that the russian space program (or at least >the manned section of it) has almost payed for itself, and will soon start to >make a profit. Silicon crystals? Nice, but it's not going to pay for anything. Part of the problem is that in a centrally-planned and controlled economy such as the Soviet Union, there is no real measure of 'cost', 'profit', or 'loss'. Since rubles are worth nothing on the international market, and most other currencies are, the Soviets can be considered as making a profit every time they do *anything* for a foreign customer that nets foreign currency. Should be fun seeing what happens when the Soviets finally get a real economy, where cost and profit can be measured in real terms. >Reply please. I look forward to hearing from you. Been a pleasure. :-) -- Matthew DeLuca Georgia Institute of Technology "I'd hire the Dorsai, if I knew their Office of Information Technology P.O. box." - Zebadiah Carter, Internet: ccoprmd@prism.gatech.edu _The Number of the Beast_
erics@sco.COM (eric smith) (06/12/91)
cabp10@vaxa.strath.ac.uk (Theora Jones, In Person!) writes: >This is really just distilled flame, which I have been collecting up for the >last while.... I understand that, as I am not a US taxpayer, I can't really >comment on how congress spends it's budget, but there has been a lot of talk >over here of "the peace dividend".... some of that would help get some of the >great projects back on their feet..... (freedom, mars, moon base etc) But Theora, didn't you hear George Bush? "There will be no peace dividend." After all, we couldn't interfere with Business as Usual ... ----- Eric Smith | If the automobile had followed the same development as erics@sco.com | the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get erics@infoserv.com | a million miles per per gallon, and explode once a year CI$: 70262,3610 | killing everyone inside." Robert Cringely/InforWorld