In the absence of the shuttle, there is still the old trusty Russian space program to count upon as they prepare to send a mission to the ISS. It worries me somewhat that their launches take place in Kazakhstan, which is a potential cauldron of terror activity, much like its neighbour Uzbekistan. Oh well, what can you do?
With the U.S. space fleet sidelined, Russia's non-reusable rockets are the only means of delivering astronauts and cargo to the space station.It seems pay-load is the big issue. If NASA ends up grounding it s shuttle fleet, then it's time to go back to something like the saturns. The irony is that maybe they should have been pursuing that course all these years. Meanwhile, like an injury prone superstar player, the shuttle struggles on its comeback trail.
But burdened with the task of getting astronauts to and from the space station, the cash-strapped Russian space agency has had to put on hold construction of its own segment of the international space station and some commercial projects.
And with the Soyuz only capable of carrying limited cargo loads and three astronauts at a time, the assembly of the space station has slowed considerably.
- Art Neuro