Abstract
The Soviet Union was once the most powerful nation in space, but taking on its role at the end of the Cold War, Russia has fallen behind the United States in space affairs. However, under President Vladimir Putin Russia has been sending messages that it is ready to rejoin the top club. But words are cheap –while going to the Moon is not!
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Notes
- 1.
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
- 2.
In March 2018 the boss of the construction company responsible for building the site was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
- 3.
See for example [1].
- 4.
1989 population totals: Russia 147 million, Ukraine 52 million, Soviet Union total 287 million.
- 5.
There are at least three different weights that are pronounced “ton.” For brevity, I use the word “ton” to signify a weight of 1,000 pounds (about 2,205 pounds) instead of “tonne” or “metric ton.” Note that in the United States and Canada, “ton” usually means 2,000 pounds, while in the rest of the world it usually means 2,240 pounds.
- 6.
Sunkar is a Kazakh word that means “falcon,” which Russian officials say relates to the importance of falconry in Kazakh culture, not to the SpaceX Falcon rockets.
- 7.
Federatsiya in Russian.
- 8.
Did not finish.
- 9.
Mainly through ESA, an international agency not legally tied to the European Union but representing pretty much the same countries.
- 10.
Its peak altitude when fired operationally was about 80 kilometers.
- 11.
The boundary of space is a subject of debate, with some experts proposing a value of 80 km (50 miles), see [5].
- 12.
The first cost about $450 million (despite lacking some functions such as the ability to provide a breathable atmosphere for the crew cabin), the second about $230 million.
- 13.
ISRO: Indian Space Research Organization.
- 14.
Estimates being offered by Indian space agency officials six months earlier were about double these figures.
- 15.
GSLV: Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle.
- 16.
In 2016 India became the world’s fifth-largest military spender, ahead of France and the United Kingdom.
- 17.
The Fobos-Grunt mission to Mars.
- 18.
India imports from U.S. companies have gone from close to zero to more than $15 billion worth since 2007.
- 19.
For example Satya Nadella (Microsoft CEO), Padmasree Warrior (Cisco CTO) and Shantanu Narayen (Adobe CEO).
- 20.
VSSC = Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. Indian scientist Dr. Vikram Sarabhai (1919-1971) is widely regarded as the father of the Indian space program.
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Norris, P. (2019). Russia and the Rest. In: Returning People to the Moon After Apollo. Springer Praxis Books(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14915-4_12
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