Must have been quite something to go where nobody had gone before, with no clear idea what the effect would be on the human body or if the return to Earth was survivable. The capsule was tiny and there wasn't much he could do if things went badly wrong.
Modded overrated huh? So someone doesn't think that taking that incredible risk, being the first human to experience weightlessness even though at the time the effects on humans were unknown, is overrated?
Are we still fighting the cold war or something? Oh wait, we actually are in the midst of communist panic again so maybe that's it...
Modded overrated huh? So someone doesn't think that taking that incredible risk, being the first human to experience weightlessness even though at the time the effects on humans were unknown, is overrated?
More to the point, there is a bond between those who have faced the same risks even if they are on opposite political sides due to geography, political systems, etc. even during the cold war.
This season of For All Mankind has more Soviet characters in it. They are portrayed in a very stereotypical way. Miserable, just doing their job like it's a coal mine or something with no interest in space or flight. Contrast with the Americans who are doing it for mankind, who were born to fly and explore.
They also portrayed the Buran as a knock-off of the Shuttle, when in fact it was quite different and the engineers were actually reluctant to have it look superficially so similar but in the end conceded
The intention was for Buran to be much closer to the STS that it ended up being. That they were forced to make technological changes because of being unable to replicate the US approach (such as huge solid boosters, for example) completely is an entirely different matter.
This was a virtual carbon copy of the US Space Shuttle, namely a delta-wing orbiter with three LOX/LH2 main engines in the back and strapped to the side of an external fuel tank. Sadovskiy's team even went as far as studying the use of large solid-fuel rockets.
The ultimate OS-120 concept ditched the large SRBs alternative but kept the rest of the US design (only later it evolved into the OK-92 which moved the engines to the core tank).
This is a fascinating site. I like the alternate and variant designs. The one that looks like it is supposed to go on top of the stack ala Dyna-Soar looked interesting.
Into the unknown (Score:5, Insightful)
Must have been quite something to go where nobody had gone before, with no clear idea what the effect would be on the human body or if the return to Earth was survivable. The capsule was tiny and there wasn't much he could do if things went badly wrong.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Modded overrated huh? So someone doesn't think that taking that incredible risk, being the first human to experience weightlessness even though at the time the effects on humans were unknown, is overrated?
Are we still fighting the cold war or something? Oh wait, we actually are in the midst of communist panic again so maybe that's it...
Re: (Score:2)
Modded overrated huh? So someone doesn't think that taking that incredible risk, being the first human to experience weightlessness even though at the time the effects on humans were unknown, is overrated?
More to the point, there is a bond between those who have faced the same risks even if they are on opposite political sides due to geography, political systems, etc. even during the cold war.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
This season of For All Mankind has more Soviet characters in it. They are portrayed in a very stereotypical way. Miserable, just doing their job like it's a coal mine or something with no interest in space or flight. Contrast with the Americans who are doing it for mankind, who were born to fly and explore.
They also portrayed the Buran as a knock-off of the Shuttle, when in fact it was quite different and the engineers were actually reluctant to have it look superficially so similar but in the end conceded
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Energia had been in design since the 70s. I don't think they every had SRBs in mind for it.
Re:Into the unknown (Score:2)
This was a virtual carbon copy of the US Space Shuttle, namely a delta-wing orbiter with three LOX/LH2 main engines in the back and strapped to the side of an external fuel tank. Sadovskiy's team even went as far as studying the use of large solid-fuel rockets.
The ultimate OS-120 concept ditched the large SRBs alternative but kept the rest of the US design (only later it evolved into the OK-92 which moved the engines to the core tank).
Re: (Score:2)
This is a fascinating site. I like the alternate and variant designs. The one that looks like it is supposed to go on top of the stack ala Dyna-Soar looked interesting.