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Mir 2

Posted by michael on from the empire-strikes-back dept.

FortKnox writes: "Just when you thought you heard the end of it, Russian engineers unveiled plans for the Mir2. Fortunately, the Russian government has no plans to put this on the agenda. Why can't we all just build the ISS like good little countries??" Taking the Russian space budget into account, this seems unlikely to occur any time soon. But it's nice to dream...

2 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. Why have more than 1 space station. by Alpha+State · · Score: 4
    Fortunately, the Russian government has no plans to put this on the agenda. Why can't we all just build the ISS like good little countries??"

    I don't know what this guy has against Russia, but I can think of a few reasons why having more than 1 space station would be good.

    Firstly, one thing mentioned in the article is orbital inclination. There are things you can only do from certain orbital inclinations and heights, like observe parts of the earth and other celestial bodies, launch and retrieve probes and satellites and examine solar particles. So 2 satellites can do things that 1 can't.

    There may also be experiments which can be performed using 2 stations, for example using interferometry.

    It will also be good for advancing space technology, especially if one of the countries with the most experience in space launches another station. The fact is Russia will not be able to do all it wants to with the ISS because it is only a partner. I'm sure MIR2 would also be much cheaper than the ISS, more people would be able to perform experiments on it.

    Russia is also far more open and cooperative these days, so all space agencies would learn a lot. If we are ever going to send people to mars or for long missions elsewhere we are going to need to know a lot more than we do now.

    Finally, I can't be the only person who wants more money to be spent on space exploration. The governments of the world seem to be adept at rationalising funding for the military, spying on other countries and harsher law enforcement but when it comes to advancing the human race they decide it has to be economically viable.

    It's 2001, weren't we supposed to have acheived much more by now? Our industrial production and economy is supposed to be a geometric progression, where are all the things we should be able to acheive with all our wealth?

  2. You're laughing now... by Flying+Headless+Goku · · Score: 5

    ...but Russia's economy could turn around in an instant. The people are quite enthusiastic about capitalism, they just haven't quite worked it out yet, and they have a lot very bright, well-educated people in a huge country with great natural resources.

    To paraphrase R.A. Heinlein, they're broke on paper, but they have real wealth, and the latter can always fix the former.

    Don't be surprised if this thing goes up in a couple of years.
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