The following link is to a story about the financial situation with the Soviet space program. In the article is a photo of the Soyuz TMA-13 being transported by rail to the launch site:
http://www.universetoday.com/2008/10/25/russian-spacecraft-producer-no-more-money-for-soyuz/
The next link is just the photo:
http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/soyuz_train.jpg
Is that an Alco (or a Russian “bootleg” copy) and its characteristic smoke plume ? Spaceships dependent on 50+ year old technology ?? Thanks for sharing !
Im really surprised that the person was allowed to take a pic like that in Russia …
Wow, That thing is huge [:O] I can’t recall ever seeing a load that big before.
Notice it’s on jointed rail [:O] !
But also notice the landscape,there isn’t any.
That thing must be heavy to have a pusher on the rear.
I once hauled an entire smoke stack for Sunoco chemicals in Haverhill Ohio.
It was on about 10 flatcars,with the one in the middle having a swivel device that held the center,and allowed the rest of the stack to swing away from the rest of the flatcars.
That looked like Marvin the Martian’s spaceship from an old Looney Tunes cartoon.[alien]
Let me axe you this: Suppose this little ploy pays off, and the US govt ends up loaning the $$$ for future flights, under the rationale that it was the only way to assure continued access to the ISS.
And suppose these thugs reneg on the loan, and the Russian Gov’t shelters them. Would you endorse the idea of invasion to recoup the loan proceeds?
Are you suggesting something along the lines of a preemptive strategic nuclear attack on Russia’s military and industrial infrastructure, and then seizing control of their government?
Multi stage rockets powered by combustion and alco roadswitchers (and knockoffs) are SUCCESSFUL machines that date back 50 years. When NASA drops the Shuttle for the Orion capsule and its rocket booster, maybe they can order up a bunch of modernized RSD units for the Cape![:)]
Actually, I was trying (abstractly) to point out how futile collection would be, if we got suckered into a loan.