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Russia Cancels All Moon Missions Till 2025 (sputniknews.com)

schwit1 writes: Faced with a shrinking budget and poor economic conditions, Russia has once again trimmed back its proposed ten-year space plan for the next decade in space, canceling all Moon missions until after 2025. Russian might now have a giant government-run aerospace corporation, but flying space missions is not really its primary task. Like all government agencies divorced from profit and loss, its primary task is really to provide pork barrel jobs, regardless of whether those jobs do anything useful or not. Thus, Russia will have a very expensive space program for the next decade, but the money spent will not accomplish much of anything new.

135 comments

  1. No story bias here... by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Nice unbiased "story". It's always fun to read the editorials at Slashdot.

    --
    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
    1. Re:No story bias here... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You wouldn't come to this conspiracy site if you didn't want to read posts from obviously biased people with a poor grasp on reality.

    2. Re:No story bias here... by Adriax · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This isn't biased. This is so far tilted towards capitalist supremacy it's almost horizontal.
      It's like a piece of anti-commie propaganda from 1969 got republished with some dates mixed up.

      I'm actually afraid not cheering the article on will result in my username being put on a House Unamerican Activities Committee list.

      --
      I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
    3. Re: No story bias here... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Jeering from the bumblefucks that have to rely on the 'do-nothing' Russian space program to do anything of use.

      Course, it's the American way to poorly attempt to tear down anyone more successful. Doesn't matter if it's the Russian space program, the new Star Wars, or a trashy vampire romance that's seen more success than you nerds will ever see. Gotta bleat because we hates it, yessss.

    4. Re:No story bias here... by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Government exists because it has the most guns

      No matter what, rudimentary game theory guarantees that somebody is going to have the most guns. And by definition, they'll be in charge.

      Better a legitimate government than some warlord, mobster or oligarch.

    5. Re:No story bias here... by MightyMartian · · Score: 2

      Government exists, because no human society over a few dozen members can ever hope to manage their society without it. It isn't some entity separate from society, it is inherent in any large society. Even largely hunter-gatherer societies still have rules, but generally have the enforcement of those rules can be done by the group itself.

      Do you seriously imagine that any large scale agrarian or industrial society could ever manage itself without government? Or are you truly one of those insane wingnut Libertarian Anarchist types who thinks you could so much as build a bridge without some sort of management?

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    6. Re:No story bias here... by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What's interesting is they don't even mention that Russia's rockets are still what we're relying on to get people and supplies to the ISS right now. Yeah, it's not sexy in the least - but they're doing something we currently can't (which is ludicrous)!

      Hopefully SpaceX will be changing that in a few years; but that old saw about "people who live in glass houses" comes to mind...

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    7. Re:No story bias here... by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm actually afraid not cheering the article on will result in my username being put on a House Unamerican Activities Committee list.

      I'm not worried - I've got photos of J. Edgar Hoover in a dress held in several safe locations around the world. If anything happens to me, those images go straight to Woodward and Bernstein!

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    8. Re:No story bias here... by rtb61 · · Score: 2

      I would read that story between the lines. Hmm, spending more on the space program and not many launches. I would consider that a development cycle. Developing new orbit achieving technology costs a lot of money and for commercial and other reasons is kept very secret until the launch or major construction cycle begins but until then all the engineering et al is done in strict secret apart from of course the size of the budget and funnily enough where large portions of that money is not being spent.

      So you will hear about a lot of money being spent, you will just not hear where, until they are ready to say. The more being spent and the less being heard, the greater the advance being made, it is just the way of things. Big things are definitely happening in the various space programs.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    9. Re:No story bias here... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Rockets that are derived from the 50's, with very little else able to be relied on for BEO missions.

    10. Re:No story bias here... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Have you stopped beating your wife yet?

    11. Re: No story bias here... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only after a successful miscarriage.

    12. Re:No story bias here... by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      The article comes across as factual reporting on a subject of general interest, whereas your post is biased.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    13. Re:No story bias here... by The+Evil+Atheist · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You built your own company. Did you also invent your own currency whose value is accepted by everyone else? Did you also invent your own way to handle contract disputes without any legal framework? Do you sell anything that requires things to be transported across roads? Do you use the the phone or the internet to conduct business in any way?

      Funny how you can build your own company from scratch without doing all those other things.

      --
      Those who do not learn from commit history are doomed to regress it.
    14. Re:No story bias here... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      I think they are preparing to take their bits of the ISS independent once NASA losses interest, selling access to the ESA and maybe partnering with China. Once NASA is out of the way they will be free to work more closely with China, which has plenty of money to spend and aligns with their goal of getting to the moon. They see the future as being based around access to three moon and beyond, with orbital space stations being commercial hubs for doing research, tourism and repair missions.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    15. Re:No story bias here... by jandersen · · Score: 1

      It appear that all samzenpus delivers is mindless, right-wing extremism and paid adverts thinly disguised as 'tech articles'. I'm definitely driting in the direction of not bothering reading /. anymore.

      ...pork barrel jobs, regardless of whether those jobs do anything useful or not.

      And what is this? A cheap shot at fundamental research from somebody who hasn't got a clue? Most of the progress in science, technology and medicine since the dawn of time is based on research that would have been seen as wortless waste of time by most of contemporary society - science used to be regarded as one of the arts, ie. pretty and inspiring, but not all that useful.

    16. Re:No story bias here... by Maritz · · Score: 1

      Putin ticks a few of those boxes. He will remain in power until he sees fit to appoint a successor.

      --
      I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
    17. Re: No story bias here... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Oh woe is me, a nugget of truth that calls into question my undying love of Government Program X slipped past the filter!"

      Maybe you need your binkie and a cry room to protect you from hearing more hatefacts?

    18. Re: No story bias here... by stealth.c · · Score: 0

      Money emerges organically as market participants converge on a commodity that is highly marketable, divisible, portable and durable. No need for a government there. For contract dispute resolution, common law emerges iteratively from case precedents and consensus among arbitrators, no need for a legislature. Central planning didn't work for the Soviets and roofing nails, and it's a testament to our resourcefulness that we still hobble by doing it for law and money and health care.

    19. Re: No story bias here... by stealth.c · · Score: 1

      Nice straw man you've got there. Don't conflate government with governance.

    20. Re:No story bias here... by invictusvoyd · · Score: 1

      News :
      Ramblings from obviously biased people with a poor grasp on reality

    21. Re:No story bias here... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not at all. Putin retains Russian democracy precisely because he understands that's never how it worked, it isn't how it worked for Kings and Emperors and it's not how it'd work for him either.

      If Putin is broadly unpopular enough to lose an election despite a few thumbs on scales he's also unpopular enough to wind up dead one way or another. He'd much rather lose power than lose his head.

    22. Re:No story bias here... by andydread · · Score: 2

      Well the only examples I've ever seen where there is no government is Somalia, Waziristan, Afghanistan and the like. Basically what the anti-goverment people fail to forget is that there is a thing called human nature and with the lack of government you have a warlord society.

      If roads and bridges were built based on market needs then only big cities would have roads and bridges.

    23. Re: No story bias here... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      warlords are the seeds of government. they are mini governors.

    24. Re:No story bias here... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hi Roman-Mir,

      As a committed AC poster (no desire to register), I'm curious as to whether or not you have done anything unsavory to get posts starting at 0 (or -1!!!!). Or is your only offense failing to promote force-based governance?

      Also, have you considered a kick-starter to pay for a subscription to post higher? Honestly, I might actually kick into that and I've never kicked anything in my life (figuratively).

    25. Re: No story bias here... by The+Evil+Atheist · · Score: 1

      Who mentioned central planning? Having a government and central planning are orthogonal.

      Money may emerge organically, but it isn't sustained organically. Who ever controls the creation of money BECOMES the government.

      Really? Common law emerges iteratively? Then how come it took an English monarch to create the system of common law? What use is a consensus among arbitrators if one party decides to use physical force if it doesn't like the ruling? We've already been through this in history and the outcome is always the same.

      --
      Those who do not learn from commit history are doomed to regress it.
    26. Re:No story bias here... by The+Evil+Atheist · · Score: 1

      There is no "money monopolization". If you create the money, you BECOME the government. Government isn't a planned takeover of money. Government emerges whenever there is a power imbalance over any kind of resource.

      Contract law is not a private matter. Never has been. The clue is in the name - it is law. It is backed by threat of force if neither parties comply. You offer no evidence, just assertion, regarding transportation.

      So what if you built a *company* from scratch. Your company can't exist without the other groundwork that already exist. Maybe they could arise without government. But so what? The infrastructure you are using DID arise by government, paid by taxes. If you refuse to pay taxes then you are stealing, by oppression, the people who have contributed to its construction and ongoing maintenance.

      --
      Those who do not learn from commit history are doomed to regress it.
    27. Re:No story bias here... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, you can read the history of my comments, I don't flamebait or troll anything but that's normally what I end up moderated as because my opinions are not in line with whatever opinions the moderators hold. I don't see how it is useful to change my subscription to get a higher score, it will end up in exactly the same place 1-2 days later. Thanks for the sentiment of-course.

    28. Re:No story bias here... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since I am limited to 2 posts under my user name I will post as an AC though it's not what I normally do, but moderators here do not want me to be able to post under my own name, so I have no choice in the matter.

      You are simply confused. Money is not what is printed on a piece of paper, money traditionally is something that people value, will exchange for, can store for later and can use for accounting purposes. Money is store of value, unit of account and medium of exchange. Money can be sea shells for all I care but more often than not people chose gold to be their money. Gold is people's money, weight in gold, not a specific type of coin.

      Now, a coin can be minted by somebody, anybody actually. A coin can be minted by an individual, an organization or a government agency. Today governments monopolised printing of currency and declared themselves the monopoly on money creation, which is interesting, because governments very rarely create real money today, they mostly print fiat that is not backed by anything. A weight of gold is money, a minted coin is a recognizable item that is easy for circulation, exchange and account. Paper money of today is nothing at all but control and ability to create inflation by printing it and giving it at a discount to certain connected interests.

      As to the fact that there was great amount of violence perpetuated upon individuals who were born into the system, so their income was stolen to build what you consider to be the 'infrastructure' that for some unknown reason could not be built privately if there was no monopolization and theft by government, well, I think it is a duty of free thinking individuals to disrupt that system, not participate in it, actively oppose it and destroy it in every way possible. That is because the circle of violence needs to be interrupted at some point in time.

    29. Re:No story bias here... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks for the reply. It does reinforce another belief I have that voting should not be - generally - private. We ought to be able to verify that every single last vote is by an eligible voter AND how they voted. I would eliminate voice votes too. Their is tech to better replicate that functionality with accountability.

      Anybody seeking to not have their vote known can simply choose not to cast it. Of course I fear an out of control sheriff, DA or judge may look down on non supporters but odds are good they do this anyway without oversight or our ability to easily connect the dots (votes are very well predictable based on race, zip code, religion, income - so much so that often voter turnout is the biggest variable in an election).

      I might also be happy with a system whereby the voters are 100% vetted as eligible to vote (and require that sponges not vote in the context in which they sponged) and the vote itself is sufficiently obfusicated or encrpyted such that the voter can verify only (that vote was counted as cast) with a take-away stub at the polls or mail-in. If they destroy that stub, recovery could be 99.99%-100% impossible and 99.999999%-100% impractical.

      The mods here vote without accountability (without judgement subject to similar judgement).

      Anywho, thanks for the reply.

  2. In Soviet Russia, moon missions cancel you by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

    Or least they would have if they put any people on their N1s.

  3. Split the costs by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    Why not split the effort with China? One make the launch vehicle(s) and the other the crew capsule and lander?

    1. Re:Split the costs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And those who made a lanch vechicle would end up with new generation of rockets, while the other side would have a metal can?

    2. Re:Split the costs by Gavagai80 · · Score: 1

      China and India can collaborate on the rocket's first stage, Russia can make the second stage, the USA can make the capsule, the EU can make the lander, and Canada can put a robot arm on top. Considering the reliability of good close working relations, the way different parts always work well together in rocket science, and the impossibility of changing budget priorities in any of the countries, it can't fail.

      --
      This space intentionally left blank
    3. Re:Split the costs by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      If they both want big rockets, then split on lander side of things, such as one making the actual lander and the other making the orbiter capsule. I'm sure something can be worked out. My initial suggestion was only a starting suggestion.

    4. Re:Split the costs by slashdot_commentator · · Score: 1

      Or why not do what the US is doing, and merely hiring commercial companies to provide a service based on a technology implemented roughly 60 years ago?

      --
      There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
  4. Always nice to see commonality between old foes by NotDrWho · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Thus, Russia will have a very expensive space program for the next decade, but the money spent will not accomplish much of anything new.

    So, just like the U.S. then?

    --
    SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    1. Re:Always nice to see commonality between old foes by DigiShaman · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Glut in the oil market = no extra money to spend. Tis why Russia is pissed at Saudi Arabia.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    2. Re:Always nice to see commonality between old foes by Tablizer · · Score: 2

      Tis why Russia is pissed at Saudi Arabia.

      You gotta hand it to the Saudi's, they know how to play it for the longer run. High oil prices cause R&D into alternative energy and marginal oil fields. It takes a while to ramp those up.

      Whenever the alternatives and marginal fields are close to kicking in, pull the plug on prices and frustrate investors. Wait a few years and the alternatives fade, giving you a near monopoly. Burnt investors then won't play again in the future, knowing the rug will again be pulled out from under them.

      Rinse, repeat, profit.

    3. Re:Always nice to see commonality between old foes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You might do better without the dumb, reactionary sig, and weird username. We know you're not the Doctor; You're more like the Rani, with no positive traits whatsoever, but a big ego.

    4. Re:Always nice to see commonality between old foes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, the will massage the oil market to higher prices. But Russia has a military that's hell-bent on stopping ISIS. We (the US) arn't going to do fuck-all to start WW III, and Russians might give the Saudi's hell. Iran would love this BTW too.

      It is in the long-term interests of the Saudi's to not piss everyone else off. We'll see....

    5. Re:Always nice to see commonality between old foes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, I'm cheering on the alternative efforts. In the stock market we would call this a "short squeeze". Some overbearing oaf decides to short a stock, selling all in. The price starts to plummet, yet market forces (alternative energy) push it back up forcing the oaf to exit at a huge loss - here's to the Saudi's experiencing that with their silly oil riches and outdated culture.

    6. Re:Always nice to see commonality between old foes by slashdot_commentator · · Score: 1

      Burnt investors then won't play again in the future

      Hardly. Real investors only look at the numbers and probabilities. If the Sauds are counting on being able to raise their oil prices again, in the near future, they've embarked upon a truly stupid strategy. The Wright brothers weren't the first people to attempt powered flight. Alternative power is here to stay, the real question is "when" they will return a profit that justifies the investment cost.

      --
      There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
    7. Re:Always nice to see commonality between old foes by slashdot_commentator · · Score: 1

      I don't think the Sauds are counting on being able to raise their oil prices in the near future.

      I think what happened was that the market underestimated the supply of "light, sweet" crude, and presumed that supply would force oil prices to stay at about $40/barrel long term.

      The Sauds, on the other hand, saw demand for their product disappearing within 20 years, if alternative energy production kept developing at its current pace. They have accepted that they cannot constrain their output in order to favorably affect pricing, because that will wipe out the "value" of oil once oil becomes "replaceable" as an energy resource. Instead, they've decided to "sell" while they still can, even if the price sucks. If their ability to keep providing oil still holds, they will have put off the alternative energy production problem for another 40 years, rather than 20.

      --
      There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
    8. Re:Always nice to see commonality between old foes by NotDrWho · · Score: 1

      Says the AC.

      --
      SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
  5. Aerospace is National Security by Hardhead_7 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Not that the Russian government isn't incredibly corrupt and wasteful, but this is actually probably what you'd want to do. If your economy is tanking, you'd want to continue to put *some* money into aerospace for as long as you could to retain talent and prevent you from having to rebuild it from the ground up later. Maybe not enough to do big ambitious projects, but you'd want aerospace on "idle" for when (hopefully) the economy improves.

    I mean, NASA stopped building big rockets that went to the moon and "just" went into low earth orbit for a few decades, and they're *still* basically back at square one when it comes to building Saturn V-sized engines. Imagine if aerospace had been completely shut down.

    1. Re:Aerospace is National Security by thinkwaitfast · · Score: 1

      NASA didn't build the F1, the Rocketdyne corporation did.

    2. Re: Aerospace is National Security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They always provide a charge number so those people still remain in the program doing little work.

    3. Re: Aerospace is National Security by thinkwaitfast · · Score: 1

      remain in the program doing little work

      I naively asked a question to my manager very early on in my career about what happens to all these people (referring to the hundreds of people around us) after we're finished. He kinda shrugged his shoulders smiled a bit and let out an inaudible laugh.

      Now I just don't care anymore.

    4. Re:Aerospace is National Security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Been a long time since NASA had good German engineers that they stole from the Nazi regime.

    5. Re:Aerospace is National Security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      NASA doensn't build anything. They just suck out taxpayer dollars and give it to the defense contractors.

    6. Re:Aerospace is National Security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It isn't really that Russia's economy is tanking, though it does have problems it is reasonably healthy. Russia has a massive income hole due to the dropping oil prices, something like half the Russian government income comes from Oil, low oil prices mean the government no longer can afford a lot of shit that it normally has no problems with. So even if the Russian economy was massively growing at a rate higher than China's it would still be in a huge hole due to oil prices.

  6. Or maybe by tomhath · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Russia has decided that a manned space missions aren't worth the cost and risk.

    1. Re:Or maybe by tomhath · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Modded Offtopic? Seriously?

      The reality is that manned space missions are a relic of the past.

    2. Re:Or maybe by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      For some reason I read that as "manned space missiles".

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    3. Re:Or maybe by DivineKnight · · Score: 1

      Or our resources are currently being so badly squandered that they are untenable.

    4. Re:Or maybe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It has nothing to do with resources or being untenable. It is simply a pointless waste. To send a person into space requires huges amounts of extra equipment, weight, time, systems just to keep them alive and we are long past the point where a human being is an actual necessity in a space craft. Why send up a human when a set of sensors, cameras and computers can actually do everything they can do but more accurately and efficiently.

    5. Re:Or maybe by slashdot_commentator · · Score: 1

      Because it isn't economical (yet) to develop "general purpose" robots. Machines can "help" mine, but they cannot do it all independent of a human (yet). They also can't economically self-repair (yet).

      --
      There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
  7. Eh by penguinoid · · Score: 1

    Not much point, really, of going to the moon unless we're going to establish a lunar colony. And odds are asteroid mining is a better investment anyways.

    Though it would be nice to be able to go to the moon, if we so choose. And there's probably value in inspiration, too.

    --
    Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
    1. Re:Eh by Coren22 · · Score: 2

      The moon would be a good place to do the refining from the asteroid mining. Some gravity, but not so much it makes it hard to launch, and little atmosphere to worry about contaminating the metals. Doing smelting in freefall would be difficult, as the separation of impurities only works well under gravity.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    2. Re:Eh by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      It would still require fuel to move materials off the Moon. I still think either orbital smelting, or even better, portable smelting that you can move from asteroid to asteroid, is far better than putting smelting and refining facilities on a gravity well that still requires an escape velocity of 2.38km/s.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    3. Re:Eh by penguinoid · · Score: 1

      Doing smelting in freefall would be difficult, as the separation of impurities only works well under gravity.

      In space, you can have as much "gravity" as you want.

      --
      Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
    4. Re:Eh by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Freefall lets you make impossible alloys.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    5. Re:Eh by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 1

      It would still require fuel to move materials off the Moon.

      Two words: Rail Gun.

      The reason I'd bring it up is that, at least in theory, smelting will work the same way as it does on Earth except it's being done on the Moon. Nothing new to learn. Rail Guns for launchers have already been done--there's nothing really new to invent, just design.

      In the case of asteroids, there's some research that needs to be done on how do you smelt in zero G. Can a way be figured out? Sure, but that will take time and effort as well. And once you figure out how to do it, how are you going to get the appropriate materials off the Earth?

      Personally, I don't entirely disagree with you. Yes, what you talk about is better. But Great is the enemy of Good. We can build refining and smelting and building and launching from the Moon so that we can launch these portable smelters from there rather than having to come up with some incredibly light-weight yet amazingly durable metal that we can manage to get out of Earth's gravity well.

    6. Re:Eh by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 1

      For example?

  8. Till? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think you mean til or 'til. If they had a till they could collect money. Which should be simple since people are just lining up to pay for moon rocks, right?

  9. That summary by poity · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You can see from my commenting history that I have no love for Russia, but that summary... what are you trying to pull?

    --
    your thin skin doesn't make me a troll
  10. Pork barrel? by Fragnet · · Score: 1

    On the other hand, the point of this "pork barrel" may be to maintain an aerospace skills base and industrial capability. This is what defence R&D budgets are for and it's why so many pointless systems are paid for and then discarded by the military. A military industrial base in a vital interest.

  11. Keep your opinions to yourself by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Do we really need the juvenile editorializing like you did in the line below?

    "Like all government agencies divorced from profit and loss, its primary task is really to provide pork barrel jobs, regardless of whether those jobs do anything useful or not."

    Really? REALLY? Grow up and get some street smarts. The real world is far different than what you state above.

    Stick to the news until you have a clue how the real world works. Is there waste and port barrel jobs in government? Absolutely. But that's the primary task of all government agencies? Jeesh. /. out to require a basic understanding of high school civics to avoid your kind of childish, pollyanna thinking.

    And meanwhile, the OP ought to spend some time around the countless government agencies and people who work very hard and succeed in making all of our lives better. It would be a real eye-opener.

    Signed,

    First time poster after hundreds of hours over years of lurking.

    1. Re:Keep your opinions to yourself by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you know about the Soviet times, though?
      That's exactly how the union worked. Lots and lots of government supported establishments and jobs with the sole purpose of having jobs.

    2. Re:Keep your opinions to yourself by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Slashdot is US centric. What the OP is basically the style of US news now...sadly.

  12. More sanctions by smooth+wombat · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Faced with a shrinking budget and poor economic conditions, . . .

    This can't be right. Every Russian troll everywhere will tell you there is nothing wrong in Russia. The sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and theft of Crimea are having no effect. Everything is fine.

    Yet these same trolls can't explain why their banks keep failing, why their biggest quasi-bank, VEB, needs $13 billion to keep itself afloat, why every other week another article comes out, such as this one, saying more and more programs are getting cut or eliminated, why pensioners are having their money allowance reduced, or why, based on current projections, Russia will run out of money before the end of 2016.

    Corrupt fascist oligarchs such as Putin will tend to have this effect on a country, especially when the mothers of the Russian soldiers killed invading Ukraine are not allowed to talk about their son's deaths because deaths of soldiers during "peace time" are state secrets.

    The longer Russia keeps invading and attacking its neighbors, the more it keeps trying to bully its neighbors, the longer sanctions will stay. The trolls can whine all they want about the sanctions not having any effect, but the louder they squeal the more one knows they're hurting.

    There's a reason former Soviet bloc countries have embraced the freedoms of the West rather than the repression of Soviet Russia. They know all too well the indignities and injustice served upon them by Russia. Witness the deportations of Tartars from Crimea, the daily raids on Tartar homes to see if there is any "subversive" material, the refusal by the Russians to allow Tartars to speak their own language or have their own schools.

    Russia will suffer until it either dies or changes. Unfortunately the Russian people are too stupid to make change happen.

    --
    We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
    1. Re:More sanctions by Tablizer · · Score: 0, Troll

      But swiping land didn't hurt Israel

    2. Re:More sanctions by xfizik · · Score: 1

      The poor economic conditions are overwhelmingly due to low oil prices. The effect of sanctions is minuscule compared to the oil factor.

    3. Re:More sanctions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Spoken like someone who never went or lived anywhere beyond urban USA.

    4. Re:More sanctions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      On shekeldot.org, any criticism of israel is tantamount to blatant antisemitism and is therefore labeled "troll".

      Shame on you for bringing up a legitimate point, but that which involved jews.

    5. Re:More sanctions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Full of hate toward Russia and little knowledge about outside what MSM told you about!

      And, NO, the Russia's propaganda report all the events of bad economy to their people:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H5X3WYm_3U

      Just watching how Avakov and Yatseniuk was in fight with Saakashvili early this month. And Saakashvili's report on Yatseniuk corruption, etc.
      Don't you know about the 'lustration' law which bans ALL officials worked for old government without judgment.
      Corrupt fascist oligarch Putin have not billion dollars like "democrazy" president Poroshenko, who have more money after the "revolution", who vowed to "against" oligarchs (like himself).

      Ukraine which the West region like Lvov, where Bandera is much worshiped, was part of Poland, which Stalin captured. Other part of the W. Ukraine was the result of expansion of Czars.
      The E. Ukraine was the Russian land before Lenin and Khruschev merged to Ukraine.

      While you so much hate Russia, and Russian people, the Russians seems to be more balanced. Even the so-called "propaganda" machine RT list SpaceX as one of the most breakthrough events in 2015:
      https://www.rt.com/news/327242-top-space-discoveries-2015/

    6. Re:More sanctions by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 2

      It's Tatars, not Tartars.

    7. Re:More sanctions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Sanctions have nothing to do with the poor economic conditions and they do indeed have sweet fuck all impact. Russia is hugely dependent on income generated from oil and gas, There is basically a price war on at the moment as OPEC tries to send shale wells bankrupt (mostly American based producers) by maintaining production levels even with the new wells online, those new shale wells though operate at considerably higher cost so by sending prices down they basically send them out of business and stop others investing, the side effect is oil revenue reliant countries like Russia take a massive hit.

    8. Re:More sanctions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      'the Russia', 'the Russian land' :)

    9. Re:More sanctions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You should apply for a job at the state department, if you don't work there already.

    10. Re:More sanctions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It IS consequence of not admitting schizophrenics HEAR OTHER PEOPLE THINKING and letting them win over people who do NOT hear voices but are the voices.

  13. Trumpisms by kaplong! · · Score: 1

    Like all government agencies divorced from profit and loss, its primary task is really to provide pork barrel jobs, regardless of whether those jobs do anything useful or not.

    Isn't it a bit early to audition for a job with the Trump administration?

  14. Maybe they’ll do some other science? by Theovon · · Score: 1

    Believe it or not, there are LOTS of Russians interested in doing some real science. So I don’t know maybe some people working there will do other useful research with the budget they have? Just a wild thought.

    That being said, they don’t have the same freedoms there as we have in other major European nations, North America, etc. There may a culture of keeping your head down so you don’t get into trouble. It’s not as bad as during the Soviet era, but it’s not awesome either. The oppression is likely to interfere with the science that some are willing to dabble in.

  15. in soviet russia we moon you! by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 4, Funny

    in soviet russia we moon you!

  16. India should take over by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Accomplishing this would entail the development of new technology, and that experience would perhaps enable the Indian government to tackle, at long last, the problem of providing toilets to the more than 500 million Indian citizens who lack such facility.

  17. Citation needed by iamacat · · Score: 2

    I hate Putin, but the links in this story do not support its conclusion. What is the total budget for Russian space program? What other missions are planned? Has anyone quantified waste versus useful work?

    It could be that moon is just not the most scientifically or commercially important target right now and they are focusing on more interesting missions. Obama reached the same conclusion a few years back while INCREASING total NASA budget to focus on Mars exploration.

  18. Re: Always nice to see commonality between old foe by zaphirplane · · Score: 1

    It's not a cost problem, they found the

  19. In related news, by melted · · Score: 2

    I'm also cancelling all my purchases of Italian supercars until 2025 due to budget constraints.

    There's no story here folks. Russia is still flying designs from the late 60s. Even at the height of the Soviet power they did not manage to build a rocket with enough lift capability to take humans to the moon. They sure as heck can't do this now. Their space exploration has been confined to LEO for more than a decade. Old guard has retired and/or died off, the best and brightest are leaving the country in droves. It can't be done there. Shit, it can barely be done over here.

    1. Re:In related news, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And yet we have to pay Russians to fly our astronauts to the ISS! If Russian space program is stuck in the late 60s, how would you describe US manned space program that has been incapable of taking man to space since 2011?

    2. Re:In related news, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, the late '60s, the only time when humans actually did go to the moon.

    3. Re:In related news, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even at the height of the Soviet power they did not manage to build a rocket with enough lift capability to take humans to the moon.

      you might need to have a look at this
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energia

  20. Like CERN? by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    " Like all government agencies divorced from profit and loss, its primary task is really to provide pork barrel jobs". Like CERN?

  21. Re:The United States funds and fully supports ISIS by MightyMartian · · Score: 0

    I keep hearing this conspiracy theory, but all I ever get are links to conspiracy theory sites run by morons and paranoid schizophrenics.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  22. Re: Asteroid Mining by DanielRavenNest · · Score: 1

    You may be interested in this report I'm working on:

    https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/...

    Rather than one or two places, it envisions settling the whole Solar System using networks of self-replicating factories.

  23. Re:a little perspective on the situation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Zdrastvujtie. Nice to see that Russian paid shills are on their watch,

  24. Yea leave space to private industry... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Only commies (*spit*) would be stupid enough to attempt moon missions, using a publicly funded space program - a ridiculous idea, doomed to failure under government inefficiencies (2025? sure it'd take far more than a decade for such a program to get to the moon...) - whereas our Capitalist space industry got us there almost half a century ago now, and the Profit motive will get us back again any day now - USA! USA! Go 'merkins!

  25. Evidence? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Seems like more garbage US propaganda. Who is actually posting this stuff? Is it linked to the US government, or the agencies that it employs to generate propaganda.

  26. flat earth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    flat earth

  27. that's because they're going for by DesertNomad · · Score: 1

    Uranus

  28. Useful != new by xfizik · · Score: 1

    1. New doesn't mean useful
    2. Going to the Moon is not exactly new...

  29. I'm Shocked I Tell Ya by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone that has been following the Russian Space (as opposed to just cheerleading it) should not in any way be shocked by this.

  30. Re:The United States funds and fully supports ISIS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Russia funds and fully supports ISIS.

    See how easy it is to make baseless accusations with absolutely no proof?

  31. Russia is bankrupt by mi · · Score: 0

    Their wars against Ukraine and in Syria (against who knows whom) cost money, which it does not have. Hoping, the oil will remain at above $100 per barrel, Putin spent years entrenching his own position instead of reforming the country. With the oil below $40, their currency reserves are melting and no relief is forthcoming. As Kennedy put it decades ago about USSR — they are trying to maintain a First World military with a Third World economy...

    That such a large country remains so dependent on oil-exports is a crime, for which Putin ought to be flogged — if not smothered with his own pillow. But, thanks to his tight grip on all TV-channels and most newspapers, he remains quite popular.

    Don't expect things to improve soon. People like Musk and Bezos will be on the Moon faster than the likes of Putin.

    --
    In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    1. Re:Russia is bankrupt by loonycyborg · · Score: 1

      Russia as a country has pretty much self-sufficient economy. All this sanctions and currency exchange rate bullshit works like protectionism measure to support local businesses by protecting them from competition with foreign importers, perhaps it was even coordinated between Russia's and US/Europe governments behind closed doors.

    2. Re:Russia is bankrupt by mi · · Score: 1, Informative

      Russia as a country has pretty much self-sufficient economy.

      Yeah, and so does North Korea. Russia does not grow enough food of its own, it can not make its own cars — nor computers. Their sanctions do not support "local businesses" — maybe, they are helping Chinese firms. Russians are increasingly suffering and it will get worse.

      But I was not talking about sanctions specifically. Even without the sanctions they would've been overstretched fighting several wars. Too overstretched for traveling to the Moon.

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    3. Re:Russia is bankrupt by loonycyborg · · Score: 1

      You think firing some surplus soviet missiles is stretching economy in any way? Not nearly as much as world war II and that proved pretty survivable.. But Russia's international policy indeed got more aggressive after Serbia gets picked on just because it's too Orthodox for someone tastes and was USSR's ally in the past, and Syria gets picked on because it is ruled by a more or less secular(by local standards) socialist party, and NATO keeps maintaining occupation zone in Ukraine while Ukraine and Russia should just merge already like West and East Germany.

    4. Re:Russia is bankrupt by mi · · Score: 0

      You think firing some surplus soviet missiles is stretching economy in any way?

      Your attempts to trivialize it are pathetic. It is not just "surplus missiles". Wars are expensive — a single launch of Grad or Uragan costs hundreds of thousands, for example — and your country can not afford them. Not with oil below $40. Heck, you are willing to barter tanks for some bananas already!

      Not nearly as much as world war II and that proved pretty survivable...

      Yeah, sure. Only the loser — Germany — "survived" it much better than the winner for some reason.

      Serbia gets picked on just because it's too Orthodox for someone tastes

      Yeah, it was Orthodox Christianity, that made Milosevic a war-criminal, sure. Dugin much?

      Syria gets picked on because it is ruled by a more or less secular(by local standards) socialist party

      Syria is ruled by an asshole and a son of an asshole. A Russian — used to knowing the election-results before the poll — would not understand.

      But we weren't discussing why you are fighting so many wars. The point is, these fights bankrupt you and the space program is just another thing to suffer from it.

      NATO keeps maintaining occupation zone in Ukraine

      Hilarious. Only Russians zombified by Kremlin TV would make claims of NATO "occupying" Ukraine while it is their own military that is doing the occupation. The only parts of Ukraine currently occupied by a foreign invader are Crimea, and pieces of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Has Russia joined NATO, while I was not watching?

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    5. Re:Russia is bankrupt by loonycyborg · · Score: 1

      I actually want Russian military to occupy Ukraine. It was molested by a bunch of president-thieves and Russian integration would be way better. But Putin's government is direct successor to Eltsin's government. They're just a bunch of Western fanboys. They're not in accord with "west" only due to blatant failure of US and european diplomacy to establish more or less amicable contact with them. This government won't actually occupy Ukraine, they're just another bunch of US puppets that got betrayed by said US but still go through the motion emulating it. Space program is just another facet of this emulation of "west". As relations worsen, desire for such emulation lessens. But Russia itself is culturally part of "west"(nation was founded by a Scandinavian viking possibly from Roslagen, England and many other europian countries have similar history) and would be a good ally for countries like US and Germany in coming geopolitical confrontation with China, if their diplomats didn't fuck it all up. Their blatantly stupid intervention in Yugoslavia and middle east shows some unacceptable double standards. Who cares what Milosevic did when his enemies did the same and only he got singled out because he's Serbian? And all Serbians are made suffer for him alone. And everyone who conducts genocide against people who even remotely were/are affiliated with Russia or USSR(e.g. Ossetians or Serbians) are funded and rewarded by NATO.

    6. Re:Russia is bankrupt by mi · · Score: 1

      I actually want Russian military to occupy Ukraine.

      Sosi huj, moskal'skaja svoloch'. Ruki korotki.

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    7. Re:Russia is bankrupt by loonycyborg · · Score: 1

      Don't worry, it'll happen. Novgorod and Kiev were founding cities of Russian nation and they'll return to one nation state once again. Liberal-Xenopatriot government government under your friend Putin won't be able to delay it anymore.

    8. Re:Russia is bankrupt by mi · · Score: 1

      Kiev were founding cities of Russian nation and they'll return to one nation state once again.

      Well, you better learn Ukrainian then, mraz'.

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    9. Re:Russia is bankrupt by loonycyborg · · Score: 1

      I don't mind it as long as all Russian oblast' are covered by new Ukraine. I merely want unity and Ukrainian equally fits as descendant of language of Rus'. If you're able to unify us I'm with you.

    10. Re:Russia is bankrupt by mi · · Score: 1

      I merely want unity

      Too much blood and tears have been shed over the past two years for this to happen any time soon. Russia will wallow in its own misery, while China eats it up from behind.

      If you're able to unify us I'm with you.

      I doubt, it is in Ukraine's interests. Good fences make better neighbors.

      But we are so far away from the topic now, that I'm ending my participation.

      --
      In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
    11. Re:Russia is bankrupt by loonycyborg · · Score: 1

      What a bullshit demagoguery. Boring template phrases from propaganda pamphlets like 'too much tears'. I'm so disappointed..

    12. Re:Russia is bankrupt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What are you talking about?
      Russia can not make car?
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry_in_Russia

      Nine out of the ten most sold models in Russia in 2010 were domestically produced, with Avtovaz's Lada models topping the list...
      In 2010, Russia was the world's 15th largest producer of cars. The Russian automotive industry currently (as of 2010) accounts for about 2% of worldwide car production

  32. Biased much by onthemightofprinces · · Score: 1

    What the hell is that write-up: Musings of a neoliberal part 451?

  33. Re:The United States funds and fully supports ISIS by manu0601 · · Score: 2

    I keep hearing this conspiracy theory, but all I ever get are links to conspiracy theory sites

    Does a long paper from a Pulitzer-awarded journalist accounts as conspiracy?

  34. Re:The United States funds and fully supports ISIS by rwa2 · · Score: 2

    Thanks for that! Good reading.

    Here's one of the heavily-citationed "conspiracy theory" sites that also does a good job piecing together and presenting the story:
    http://stormcloudsgathering.co...

    TL;DR: ISIS is doing 'Murrica's work with 'Murrican weapons. They're just the latest in a long chain of manipulated boogeymen. This is really the only practical way to drag democracies into foreign wars to keep the non-Western economies down and keep the US$ propped up as the only currency for the international oil market.

    I actually take some comfort in this, because it does a great job explaining how we're #winning.

  35. Re:a little perspective on the situation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Pres. Obama set priorities for NASA administrator Charles Boldeen - "... perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math and engineering."

  36. BRING BACK TACO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Like all government agencies divorced from profit and loss, its primary task is really to provide pork barrel jobs, regardless of whether those jobs do anything useful or not.

    Now that is some quality science.slashdot.org, right there.

  37. Oh, like NASA! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    /mic drop

    1. Re: Oh, like NASA! by stealth.c · · Score: 1

      Actually, exactly like NASA. Even SpaceX would already be victim to this pattern like Lockheed/Boeing if Elon Musk was not maniacally focused on his Get Your Ass To Mars project.

  38. 2 Sides to TFA by vikingpower · · Score: 1

    1) It is poor writing to say things like "...government agencies divorced from profit and loss, its primary task is really to provide pork barrel jobs, regardless of whether those jobs do anything useful or not..." in a slashdot post without giving the slightest data-based foundation for such an (obviously biased) statement

    2) If the news is true, then it may provide some confirmation for the theory that EU sanctions are actually working, which would be good news. Please note my careful phrasing of this hypothesis.

    --
    Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
  39. And in US news, $20B passed, Orion killed! by Thing+1 · · Score: 1

    The 20 billion dollar budget passed, and then they killed the Orion project. So, they'll never know how to get through those pesky Van Allen Belts! And they just found their virtual reality budget. Because, fooling people's eyes is more important than exploring.

    --
    I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.