Iowa astronaut Peggy Whitson is downplaying reports she and her crew were nearly killed during last weekend's fiery return to earth aboard a Russian space capsule.

The Soyuz came down hatch-first, not using the heat shield on its belly, and fell at a very steep angle, subjecting the crew to extreme G-forces which Whitson calls "dramatic," at more than eight times the pull of gravity.

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They landed nearly 300 miles off-target in Kazakhstan. She says: "It wasn't the search and rescue who got us out of the capsule. It was just some guys that had seen it and drove in. They probably saw the fire and drove in toward the scene." The Beaconsfield native says her first breath of fresh air after being on the space station for six months wasn't exactly fresh. "There was a little bit of a burning odor," Whitson says, laughing. "What was nice was feeling the winds on my face and actually, I heard some birds, so that was kind of surprising."

Nasa- thousands of $$$ on research for a space pen
Russians- Pencil

Nasa- thousands of $$$ on research for a space pen
Russians- Pencil

*sigh*
The space pen was marketed to NASA and was developed by a third party business. Pencils unfortunately have the risk of leaving bits of graphite/broken pencil tip floating about inside the craft which could short a circuit if they land in the wrong place or simply get in an astronauts eye.

*sigh*
The space pen was marketed to NASA and was developed by a third party business. Pencils unfortunately have the risk of leaving bits of graphite/broken pencil tip floating about inside the craft which could short a circuit if they land in the wrong place or simply get in an astronauts eye.

INTERNET IS SERIOUS BUISNESS

Er, but it's a flawed analogy, because the Russians didn't have simpler, more effective technology. If I recall correctly, they had many disasters resulting from lack of funding, poor engineering, etc.

*sigh*
The space pen was marketed to NASA and was developed by a third party business. Pencils unfortunately have the risk of leaving bits of graphite/broken pencil tip floating about inside the craft which could short a circuit if they land in the wrong place or simply get in an astronauts eye.

If the russian space program is so amazing, why didn't they go to the moon? Oh. Because it's not.

and stole most of their designs (and really, this isn't limited to their space program)

Why do nerds love russia so much?

Yeah I don't get this as well. Moreso Soviet Union crap. It's dead, people!

Get out of my thread.

Please explain this analogy and exactly how it works.

...
pot calling the kettle black

in this case the kettle is silver... the soviets already had the early beginnings of a space program going prior to WW2

we had jack crap until after sneaking german scientists into the states after WW2

we still won...