...The Russians Just Used A Pencil

[Danoff]

So the saying goes that NASA spent millions developing a pen that could write in space without needing gravity to draw the ink down. The Russians just used a pencil. Ignoring the fact that Russia did eventually buy space pens from NASA because of the dangers of broken pencil tips floating around, and also ignoring the fact that NASA designed the space pen as a replacement for the pencil - which is what they were previously using...

...ignoring all of that, Russia tried to use a pencil again. They just launched a sample-return mission to Phobos called Phobos-Grunt. The price tag for this? $163 million. NASA requires several times that to ORBIT Mars, let alone land on Phobos and return a sample. The price tag for this mission at NASA would be over a $1 billion easy... maybe 2.

So how's it going? They haven't left Earth orbit yet because their upper stage failed to ignite.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15631472

I have very mixed feelings about this. From the point of science, I'd love to see a Phobos sample-return mission succeed. I'm all for exploration of the solar system, and a Phobos sample-return is exciting to say the least. I also know for sure that it can't be done reliably for that kind of price tag, and I don't want NASA to get pressured to dangerously cut mission costs and start failing just because of a lucky shot.

I'm still pulling for Phobos-Grunt. But I have to say that I'm somewhat relieved that they're struggling, because I don't want to see the US space agency chase the Russians down this road. With the US budget being a big ticket item on everyone's mind, I could see that happening.

 

[Famine]

Apropos of nothing, this thread's title is truncated horrifyingly on the forum main page

 

[homeforsummer]

Phobos is a nasty place:

Anyway, I didn't think that even space pens were necessary in space and that regular pens worked equally as well? In the absence of gravity there's nothing to draw the ink away from the ball, which is the problem you'd have writing upside-down on Earth, for example.

Apropos of nothing, this thread's title is truncated horrifyingly on the forum main page

 

[PeterJB]

Russia's space travel history has been pretty disastrous lets be honest. Most of their space probe have either missed the target entirely, crashed into it, or in the case of the Venera spacecraft, been crushed under Venus' extreme atmospheric pressure and then melted by the heat!

NASA only just worked out how to make an orbiter leave it's orbit and embark on one round another object. Landing an unmanned spacecraft and then expecting it to return home again will not work.

 

[DK]

I'm actually reading a book on Russian history right now, and there's a decent bit on the space programme, and I found out that they removed safety equipment in order to fit more than 1 person in their space capsules.

 

[DQuaN]

NASA only just worked out how to make an orbiter leave it's orbit and embark on one round another object. Landing an unmanned spacecraft and then expecting it to return home again will not work.

Not exactly. In the 70's the soviets successfully returned samples from the Moon with probes and many agencies have collected samples from space and returned them so Returning one from Mars or one of it's moons isn't that far off.

 

[Tornado]

Phobos is a nasty place:

Are Russian Cosmonauts Berserker Packin' Men-and-a-half?

 

[Azuremen]

Apropos of nothing, this thread's title is truncated horrifyingly on the forum main page

The main reason I clicked the link is because of that truncation

 

[Alex.]

THE RUSSIANS JUST USED A

Missile?
Nuclear Weapon?
Bomber?
Blender?

 

[Dennisch]

THE RUSSIANS JUST USED A

Missile?
Nuclear Weapon?
Bomber?
Blender?

Pencil?

 

[Alex p.]

I'm actually reading a book on Russian history right now, and there's a decent bit on the space programme, and I found out that they removed safety equipment in order to fit more than 1 person in their space capsules.

Typical Russian mentality.

They're still masters at money/value though.

 

[Danoff]

They're still masters at money/value though.

...maybe. My first thought when I heard that the upper stage didn't ignite I was this:

 

[prisonermonkeys]

So how's it going? They haven't left Earth orbit yet because their upper stage failed to ignite.

Considering that their entire space-race program consisted of terrified human being strapped to glorified bottle rockets, does this really surprise you?

 

[Danoff]

http://politics.slashdot.org/story/...icial-implies-foul-play-in-mars-probe-failure

So the mission is over, time to blame the Americans?!?