🚀 go-pugleaf

In <1993Jan28.143841.25475@cc.ic.ac.uk> atae@crab.ph.ic (Ata Etemadi) writes:

>This sort of pseudo-nationalistic attitude probably goes a long way 
>toward nurturing bad will between your respective countries. I would 
>very much doubt that you know anything at all about the Russian space 
>effort. 

Gosh, no.  And worse, I've just come back from listening to
Harry Stine and Art Bozlee, who know even less.


>For your information most people consider their launch 
>technology as approx. 10-15years ahead of the USA. Hence why they can 
>fly canned borsht.

Uh, huh.  Well, the Soviets/Russians have been flying canned foods
for the last 20 years.  In fact, they've been flying the same
launchers for the last 20 years.  Once they have something
that works, they don't throw it away the we do, and they're
perfectly satisfied with off-the-shelf food because they don't
have the kind of money to throw around that NASA does.
 

>Space-qualified has a very precise meaning namely, in the case of 
>the ESA, the component has to meet the criteria detailed in ESA PSS 
>01-701 etc.. which are part of a multi-volume set (I think its
>only 12 or so volumes :-)

Naturally.  If you don't have 12 volumes of requirements, 
you can't justify the staff it takes to write 12 volumes
of requirements (much less read them). 


>>Given a reliable, low-cost space transportation system, 1 and 2
>>become much less important.  And if you have a rotating space
>>station, with artificial gravity and earth-normal or near-normal
>>atmosphere, 3 ceases to be important as well, and you can buy
>>just about everything off the shelf.

>The components will STILL have to pass vibration, outgassing and
>ECM tests. Given beam transport technology, we could all go on 
>holiday on Mars with Mr Spock et al.. :-)

Funny, I've never had an airline ask me if my equipment was
"air-qualified," much less subject it to vibration, outgassing, 
or ECM tests.  That's the difference between a transportation
system and an expendable artillery shell.  

Or do you think the airlines are using beam technology, too?