I have been worried for a few days about the absence of Andrei Martyanov, but I need not have cared. He has been working himself up into an almost apoplexic state which has culminated in his latest post…
Why They Hate…. – Andrei Martyanov – Reminiscence of the Future. A diatribe, releasing all his anger and frustration at the antics of the West while at the same time revealing some marvellous and really amazing truths about the significant progress of Russian endeavours.
The anger, while merited, serves no purpose, and, really, those sections of the West which are the most troubling are in fact not worth the effort. They have lost. While Russia has been quietly working away spending thoughtfully and within their means, the West has spent their dollar on frivolous things and got no change. And they have no more dollars to spare in order to catch up. First in the ‘space race’, which is in fact now over, and in which Russia has an unassailable lead. Then in the clamour of uninformed nations to ‘fight climate change’ – the greatest of all follies. As if we, puny beings who cannot work together on anything, could effect any great movement of Earth’s climate, simply by throwing money and effort at such a perceived problem. It is futile to try. Don’t get me wrong. Climate Change is a problem for us humans, and it is not beyond comprehension that our efforts toward our own ‘progress’ have not helped and are likely to have exacerbated the climate situation, perhaps pushing it over the edge or at least bringing it on a little earlier than may have been the case naturally. But to assume that we can in any way slow or stop it from happening, is either sheer narcissism and/or predatory capitalism. In the end, we all live or die, not by our own actions, but at the whim of the nuclear powered heat generator at the centre of our local star system or other cosmic influences we can equally do nothing about.
Hmm… I think I was developing a little rant of my own there. It is very easy to do.
Having released his safety valve with more than adequate character assassinations and deconstruction of Western ‘science’, Andrei calms down enough to present us with the single most exciting video I have seen in ages. I encourage you to watch in awe at Russia’s common sense attitude to science and what it has and is fully capable to yet more achieve. I have taken the liberty to embed the Youtube version of the video he includes in his post. I further encourage you to view it full screen and to frequently pause to get the most out of the English subtitles. I personally found this to be amazing – and that is an understatement. It is apparently No 351, the latest in a series of weekly ‘Space Wednesday’ videos published by Roscosmos.
I want to try to give something of the flavour of what is discussed in that video, since it explains some of the things Andrei was talking about. What follows is a series of screenshots from the video. Please feel free to be amazed.
Having announced that the only feasible fuel option for inter-planetary powered flight is nuclear, Russia is planning a project to circle Jupiter in 2030 using a nuclear powered transport and energy module named Zeus. The declaration of the project, with models and mission plans was made at the recent Roscosmos exposition in Dubai…
2030 is still a long way away of course and much can happen in the meantime.
Some close-up details of the Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle which powered the recently completed MS-18 mission to the ISS.
Finally a word about climate change. Much more is said, but these pics give the flavour and will, I hope, augment what I said above and what Andrei said in his blog post…
Just an end-note, and I am hanging on Andrei Martyanov’s coat tails for this (I hadn’t heard about it before).
Elon Musk – pin-up boy of Western space technology, has nothing to compare with what Russia is doing, and (I can’t help smiling)… passengers on his SpaceX flights had better learn to hold onto their waters for long periods. I can’t stop giggling now… The space porta potties on his flights are reported to have sprung leaks and are off-limits to passengers on the return voyage. Ha-ha-hah.
And he’s the best hope they’ve got.
Not Something Else 
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