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Russia's Moon And Mars Exploration Ambitions Hobbled By A Lack Of Money (phys.org)

MarkWhittington writes: Phys.Org reports that the ambitions of the Russian Space Agency continue to exceed its financial wherewithal to carry them out. A Russian rocket is due to launch the first element of the European ExoMars program, which consists of the Trace Gas Orbiter and the Italian-built Schiaparelli lander, in March. Both are due to arrive at Mars in October. After that, Russia's space exploration plans are a bit hazy, hobbled by a lack of money.

66 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. So... by pushing-robot · · Score: 4, Funny

    Basically like everything else in the world?

    --
    How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
    1. Re:So... by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      There's actually more than enough money to do many things in this world. What is lacking is simply the will to commit oneself to it.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    2. Re:So... by slashping · · Score: 2

      Still, there is not enough money to all those things at the same time. Choices will have to be made.

    3. Re:So... by peragrin · · Score: 1

      Forcing your will and projects on others is exactly how revolutions get started.

      American economy beat Russian economy as there wasn't one person deciding things, but distribution system based on need as determined who could pay for it. While not a perfect system, it allowed flexibility and growth far beyond other systems. It drove down cost of manufacturing while increasing distribution.

      By forcing one goal, you alienate those who don't believe in that goal. The last American president who pushed us to one very expensive goal paid for it with his life.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    4. Re:So... by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      Did Apollo force things onto others? Are there many important people-killing projects in the US right now, standing in the way of decarbonization, funding of useful peaceful scientific and technological research, or space exploration?

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    5. Re:So... by peragrin · · Score: 1

      Actually Apollo forced a lot of excessive spending, it was tolerated because it also enhanced people killing, and pushed scientific knowledge.

      Also people killing projects are a nessecary evil. Not everyone gets along. Some will force their will on others through violent means. Just look at how Isis controls it's villages after it takes over. You have to fight against the worst of people.

      Also those people killing projects often come up with peaceful uses afterwards. The US Navy wants to convert sea algae into jet fuel so carriers need smaller resuply vessels. If you can't see the civilian value of that then nothing will change your mind. However civilian case for paying for that research doesn't exist yet.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    6. Re:So... by murdocj · · Score: 1

      I wish I had points to mod you up as you deserve.

    7. Re:So... by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      We already know how to synthesize hydrocarbons; we don't need US Navy research for that. And a civilian case for paying for that research exists: not wiping out most of mankind with climate change. Which makes it a fine example of yet another case of weak spirit.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    8. Re:So... by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      (This disappeared from my comment for some strange reason) Also, wasn't ISIS more or less a US creation? Invasion of Iraq, Camp Bucca, etc.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    9. Re:So... by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      Considering that by the time Apollo was being developed, Polaris and Minuteman were already operational, I'd retract the ICBM angle. Having said that, military R&D has definitely helped but I was talking about such clusterfucks as those several most recent conflicts. Not much progress from blowing up some Afghan goats.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    10. Re:So... by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Money is most certainly not "the problem" of this planet. As far as I can see, there are only choices between stock traders (wages) and farmers (third world) or ordinary people (workers, employees).

      Money is the very least thing to consider, especially if you know that 1% of the world population legally owns 99% of the "wealth" of the planet.

      Ah, you did not know that? And I might be off by 10% ... oops, my fault, 10% in both ways: 11% of the planets population own 89% of the planets wealth. Does that look better?

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    11. Re:So... by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      Money is an illusion, a false created premise meant to facilitate the exchange of goods and services. This how now been totally corrupted by psychopaths who should be in prison, where made up money is now a resource, seriously making up pretend money is supposedly a planetary resource the illusion fabricated by the psychopaths in charge.

      The exploration of space and humanity becoming a galactic species, should not be about the allocation of illusions it should be about the allocation of resources, real resources, can those real resources be allocated to humanity becoming a galactic species or not. The flip side being, should we pretend money is real as controlled by psychopaths so we can remain mud monkeys for all time focused on our genitals and nothing else (don't think that is the focus of main stream media, the banking sector, the military industrial complex, egoistic delusion, strutting and preening and pathetic sexual gyrations, they kill for fun because it gets the sick fuckers off).

      It ain't meant to be about funny money, it is meant to be able the worthwhile allocation of human and planetary resources. We have just become such a sick society we are locked into delusion that are extremely difficult to break.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    12. Re:So... by slashping · · Score: 1

      Money is an illusion

      Money can be traded for resources or labor, neither of which are illusions.

      The exploration of space and humanity becoming a galactic species

      Those are two completely different things. A bit of puttering around in the solar system isn't going to turn us into a galactic species. In fact, without discovering a magic propulsion system, we will never be a galactic species. And our best (albeit tiny) bet of finding such a magical propulsion is doing raw science right here on Earth, not by trying to walk around in the inhospitable deserts of Mars.

  2. Gofundme by p51d007 · · Score: 1

    Surprised they haven't resorted to the way ever other person does...GoFundMe. ;)

  3. Re:NASA is headed in the wrong direction by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

    Killing people in other lands...especially oil lands...is a massive money loss. Didn't you ever read Dune?

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  4. Funding wont be a problem by invictusvoyd · · Score: 1

    All they need is another cold war .

  5. Re:NASA is headed in the wrong direction by Nutria · · Score: 1

    Sell us your shit for a reasonable (for even very unreasonable cartel-set values of "reasonable") price, and stop attacking the people who *do* sell us their shit for a reasonable price.

    I mean really: if there was ever a time to invade a country, it was when crude was $140/bbl. But we didn't.

    --
    "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
  6. Same here by frovingslosh · · Score: 1

    Lack of money has also delayed my trip to the Sun.

    --
    I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
    1. Re:Same here by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Go at night so you don't need expensive sun-shades

  7. Re:NASA is headed in the wrong direction by SuricouRaven · · Score: 4, Informative

    This issue has been known since The Art of War. The first chapter can be summed up as two rules which Sun Tzu stresses are of far greater importance than any battlefield tactics:
    1. Don't get into a war unless you are confident you can win in.
    2. Even if you're confident you can in it, don't get into a war unless you are confident you can win it quickly - because war is horrendously expensive, and a prolonged campaign may leave your treasuries empty and people in poverty even if you are victorious in the field.

    He was not an advocate of the fair fight.

  8. Re:NASA is headed in the wrong direction by Rei · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Seriously? Right now, when Amnesty International is complaining that Russia is committing some of the most egregious war crimes that the world has seen in decades, you're going to complain about the US killing people? The US, the country that sat out the whole conflict until Daesh started committing genocide, and has thusfar resisted pressure from all of its allies in the region to send in ground troops or even establish a no-fly zone?

    Really?

    Sometimes the double standards amaze me. The US takes out one MSF hospital in Afghanistan and the world is aghast and enraged. Russia takes out four hospitals in a single day, including coming back to double-tap an MSF one later in the day, adding to the near obliteration of the hospital system they've nearly conducted in Syria thusfar. And most people's reaction? Crickets.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of the US. I was out there protesting both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. But seriously people, the hypocrisy here can be cut with a knife.

    --
    The War of 1812... the good 'ol days when the federal government actually tried to save New Orleans.
  9. russia to the moon by johhny+ijsser · · Score: 1, Interesting

    They dont have money to go to the moon but they have money to fund war

    1. Re:russia to the moon by tomhath · · Score: 1

      Because the money they do have comes from oil producing regions uncomfortably close the the war they are funding.

    2. Re:russia to the moon by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      They dont have money to go to the moon but they have money to fund war

      You sure you're talking only about Russia now?

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    3. Re:russia to the moon by sycodon · · Score: 1

      Russia has untold amounts of conventional weapons left over from the cold war.

      Up until recently, their biggest cost would be for Jet fuel. Now it's just the cost of feeding their poorly paid troops.

      --
      When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    4. Re:russia to the moon by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      Up until recently, their biggest cost would be for Jet fuel.

      Is that really the case? Surely their internal prices for oil products are still the same. About the most accurate characterization of their new situation is that they don't lose export money now by not exporting fuel and by burning it in their own vehicles.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    5. Re:russia to the moon by antdude · · Score: 1

      We need war on the moon. :P

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  10. No Russian Goods In Stores. by zenlessyank · · Score: 1

    Hard to make money when you don't make anything regular consumers want. I don't need an ICBM or a tanker full of oil. How about some furniture or other household goods, or clothing? I would buy Russian goods if they were viable and available.

    1. Re:No Russian Goods In Stores. by AchilleTalon · · Score: 1

      You don't drink vodka?

      --
      Achille Talon
      Hop!
    2. Re:No Russian Goods In Stores. by zenlessyank · · Score: 1

      Not anymore. Some folks just aren't made to consume alcohol and I am one of them. Always starts out good, then somewhere along the line I blackout and then I need to start another thread about it. At least I figured it out before I became a road stain. I admit I kinda forgot about the Vodka, BUT, the point still stands. They need to make some goods.

  11. Re:Bernie Sanders by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1, Funny

    Doesn't need any money. He will build a free university on Mars for all black and brown people. And it'll be free.

    You've got it all wrong. Donald Trump is going to build a rocket to Mars. And he's going to make the Martians pay for it!

    --
    "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
  12. Re:Bernie Sanders by NEDHead · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    If I could build a wall around Trump, I would pay for it!

  13. they can at least send people to space station by sittingnut · · Score: 1

    russia may be broke to do space right, but at least they are still able actually send people to space, unlike some other countries.

  14. Re:NASA is headed in the wrong direction by smooth+wombat · · Score: 2, Informative

    If they need more money they need to focus on killing people in faraway lands and none of this silly exploration.

    Russia is already doing just that in Syria. Every day Russian war planes deliberately target civilians opposed to Assad's dictatorial regime. This past week Russia deliberately targeted several hospitals in Syria.

    Russia has tried to claim it's upgrading its weapons systems, but every time they do they come out the next month with downward revisions on the money available to purchase such weapons or put the programs on hold due to the corruption inherent in their society.

    --
    We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
  15. Military by one_red_eye · · Score: 1

    That's because they're busy trying to reconquer the Warsaw Pact.

  16. Re:NASA is headed in the wrong direction by sycodon · · Score: 1

    " civilians opposed to Assad's dictatorial regime"

    So...rebels?

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
  17. [Citation needed] by wwalker · · Score: 1

    Deliberately targeting civilians? Deliberately targeted hospitals? Corruption inherent in their society? Propaganda much? Care to provide any credible source of any of your claims?

    1. Re:[Citation needed] by TechnoCore · · Score: 1

      Putin wet dream is to destabilize and split EU. The weaker the EU, the easier it will be for him to retake the rest of the eastern Europe. Creating more refugee streams up into Europe sure is a way towards that. And trust me, that man would do anything, including bombing civilians to achieve his goals.

  18. Same thing here. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1

    All my plans for world domination is hobbled by the same thing. Lack of money.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  19. Re:NASA is headed in the wrong direction by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

    The U.S. 2015 figure is 16.3%, or 20.4% if veteran's benefits are included. How much are you being paid to be a liar?

    The three leading candidates - Sanders, Clinton, and Trump - are all mentally defective. We're screwed.

    --
    Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
  20. Re:NASA is headed in the wrong direction by slashping · · Score: 1

    Russia wouldn't have to step in and help Assad if US led forces didn't try to topple him.

  21. Mother Russia, I have a date. by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

    May I have 2 billion rubles for gas?

    --
    Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
  22. Re:NASA is headed in the wrong direction by zedaroca · · Score: 1

    The US, the country that sat out the whole conflict until Daesh started committing genocide

    From the Global Intelligence Files in 2011, about the US financing anyone available to fight against Assad (read terrorists/"rebels"), and being interested in a big humanitarian disaster. Quotes from the e-mail:

    they said without saying that SOF teams (presumably from US, UK, France, Jordan, Turkey) are already on the ground focused on recce missions and training opposition forces. One Air Force intel guy (US) said very carefully that there isn't much of a Free Syrian Army to train right now anyway

    So there were no rebels to train, but they were there and training them anyway.

    the idea 'hypothetically' is to commit guerrilla attacks, assassination campaigns, try to break the back of the Alawite forces, elicit collapse from within

    They dont believe air intervention would happen unless there was enough media attention on a massacre, like the Ghadafi move against Benghazi. They think the US would have a high tolerance for killings as long as it doesn't reach that very public stage.

    Also, there is a very interesting interview with the former head of the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency):
    Who is to blame for the rise of ISIL (for some reason, I only get the "an error occurred" message, so here is a link to the most important part: Former DIA Head Concedes US Deliberately Backed Extremists in Syria).

    They are discussing a 2012 report by the DIA informing that by supporting terrorists, the US would end up supporting Daesh during the interview. Here is the DIA report, heavily redacted (it's just three pages out of seven pages).
    You should at least watch the 5 minutes video before saying that the US sat on the conflict again.

  23. Re:NASA is headed in the wrong direction by murdocj · · Score: 1

    Uh... no rebels to train? Seems like half of Syria was lost to Assad before the USA ever got involved. Who was fighting then, unicorns?

  24. Re:NASA is headed in the wrong direction by zedaroca · · Score: 1

    The point of the post is that the US is involved from the beginning. Try reading the email from 2011, it's a quote of what the airforce guy says. I even made it bold for retards.

  25. Re:NASA is headed in the wrong direction by murdocj · · Score: 1

    so the guys who fought against Assad were... USA? Huh? Try thinking once in a while.

  26. craigslist? by porky_pig_jr · · Score: 1

    Can't they just beg for money on craigslist, like everyone else does?

  27. Re:Invade Crimea and Ukraine, or go to Mars? by slashping · · Score: 1

    Going to Mars is a toy project that has no relevance to daily life of ordinary Russians. Invading Crimea does.

  28. Re:NASA is headed in the wrong direction by KeensMustard · · Score: 1
    Civilians.

    "They don't like me" is not an excuse to kill people. Your people don't like you? Hmm. Jee. I dunno. Maybe you aren't a good leader then.

  29. Re:NASA is headed in the wrong direction by slashping · · Score: 1

    A country's leader only has a small influence on the course of a country. Blaming all your woes on the leadership, and then sending the country into chaos isn't always a good solution if things aren't going well.

  30. Re:NASA is headed in the wrong direction by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

    Bush II managed to screw up both of them, by looking at the war as a simple military contest without considering the subsequent expense of occupying territory with a hostile population afterwards. Sun Tzu had a great deal to say on how to fight a guerilla war against a force with superior numbers, but I don't recall him saying much on defending against the same tactics beyond 'try not to get into that situation.'

  31. Re:NASA is headed in the wrong direction by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    but I don't recall him saying much on
    As only one of his books is that famous, my suggestion is to re-read it.

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  32. Re:NASA is headed in the wrong direction by guestapoo · · Score: 1
    Wow, such a strong words.
    Now seeing the details of these claims: MSF stops sharing Syria hospital locations after 'deliberate' attacks - The Guardian

    Hospitals in opposition-held parts of Syria are refusing to share GPS coordinates with Russian and Syrian authorities because of repeated attacks on medical facilities and workers, Médecins Sans Frontières and humanitarian workers on the ground have said.
    “Given the number of hospitals that have been bombed since the war started, they do not think [giving GPS coordinates] is going to protect them, rather the opposite,” another official said.

    Don't let the title fool you. The WHOLE article does NOT have a word, or phrase suggest that they STOP provide GPS coordinates to Russia AFTER the incident. In fact, as the quote, they have never provided the data.
    Further details:
    http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-g...

    The charity, also known by its French acronym MSF, says repeated attacks against health facilities during Syria's five-year civil war have led medical staffers to ask the group not to provide the GPS coordinates of some sites. This was the case of the makeshift clinic run by the charity in the Syrian town of Maaret al-Numan, which was hit four times in attacks on Monday, killing at least 25 people.

    OTOH, the Kunduz hospital was the brightest lit building, with flag were easy recognize AND they provided GPS data, and they repeats the claim that "the strikes continued for half an hour after U.S. and Afghan authorities were told the hospital was being bombed" .
    After that, tanks entered and destroyed the evidences.

    While no-one know which was Russian or Syrian bombing or "other" airforces (remember the airstrike that killed numbers of SAA soldiers, no one know who did this).

  33. Re:NASA is headed in the wrong direction by guestapoo · · Score: 1

    Score:4 Informative, without any information, and full of dis-informations.

    Tiger Forces complete the east Aleppo encirclement: 800+ ISIS fighters trapped

    https://twitter.com/PetoLucem/...
    https://www.almasdarnews.com/a...

    Al-Nusra Front Confirms Deaths of 300 Terrorists in Syria's Aleppo
    http://sputniknews.com/middlee...

    WOW, the title Syrian war: Russian-backed offensive in Aleppo has killed 500 people this month, Observatory says
    http://www.abc.net.au/news/201...

    But actually, by at least 500 people, including 89 civilians, have been killed since the Russian-backed offensive on Aleppo province began earlier this month
    Now, do your homework!

  34. Re:NASA is headed in the wrong direction by _merlin · · Score: 1

    Look how well the Arab Spring ended in Libya.

  35. Re:NASA is headed in the wrong direction by DahGhostfacedFiddlah · · Score: 1

    You mean a general low-level chaos killing thousands instead of a civil war killing hundreds of thousands?

    Yeah, it's a nightmare alright.

  36. Keep plans for later by manu0601 · · Score: 1

    They can clearly afford to spare the plans for later. Once Saudi Arabia will have driven North America's tar sand business to bankrupt, they will rise oil prices again, and Russia will have money for space exploration.

    1. Re:Keep plans for later by Xest · · Score: 1

      "Once Saudi Arabia will have driven North America's tar sand business to bankrupt, they will rise oil prices again, and..." ...and North America's tar sand business will become financially viable again and the infrastructure to exploit it such as roads, and pipelines, will already be in place meaning it'll be cheap to start back up!

      Really, the only way out of this is economic diversification. Until exploitable oil available decreases prices are never going to go back up because to keep those North American tar pits closed the price can only really go up a little bit - it's going to have to stabilise at $50 - $60 for the foreseeable future to keep those other sources of oil suppressed and that can only last until Russia and Saudi's own oil reserves don't start to drain and end up becoming ever more expensive to exploit meaning they're not able to produce any cheaper than North American tar sands and fracking.

  37. Putin is not stupid by manu0601 · · Score: 1

    That makes no sense to invade a country where most of the people hates you. Even if war is easily won, you face fierce resistance from the population or you trigger a civil war. In either case it gets difficult to reap anything. Putin is not stupid, I can bet money Russia is not going to invade Estonia.

  38. Re:Invade Crimea and Ukraine, or go to Mars? by Gavagai80 · · Score: 2

    A large percentage of the residents of Crimea were already Russian citizens, so it obviously had relevance to them.

    --
    This space intentionally left blank
  39. Re:NASA is headed in the wrong direction by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

    I read it a few years ago, I probably forgot that part of it.

  40. Re:Invade Crimea and Ukraine, or go to Mars? by slashping · · Score: 1

    Still, going to Mars would have mattered much less.

  41. Re:Invade Crimea and Ukraine, or go to Mars? by tlambert · · Score: 2

    But nice attempt at astroturfing it as if it weren't an annexation. The United Nations does not recognize the 2014 referendum as valid.

    It was an annexation with popular support. For what happens without said support, see Donbass.

    You can't just move a bunch of people into an area, annex it without permission of the government from whom you are annexing it, and then call it "annexation with popular support". Otherwise, there are a few European countries well on their way to Syria declaring them "annexed with popular support".

  42. Re:NASA is headed in the wrong direction by wwalker · · Score: 1

    Ok, I decided to go against the /. tradition and read the linked article. "Most egregious war crimes" my ass! The Sky News link is a total propaganda piece. With images of crying children and "war crimes" claims liberally thrown every couple of paragraphs. So then I went to the source: https://www.amnesty.org/en/lat...

    Here are the quotes in the Amnesty source regarding bombing hospitals:
    "The briefing includes evidence suggesting that Russian authorities may have lied to cover up civilian damage to a mosque from one air strike and a field hospital in another."

    So, it wasn't "hospitals", it was one single *field* hospital. Basically, a bunch of tents in a field. Just like a military or training camp would look like from the air. Did it have any identifiable signs of being a hospital? And would ISIS try to use the same to hope to protect its own camps perhaps?

    "A witness to an attack just a few metres from Sermin field hospital in Idleb said the attack appeared to have been carried out by a more sophisticated plane as they did not see or hear the plane before the missiles were dropped."

      So they don't even have evidence it was Russia, since they didn't see or hear the plane. Does Russia even have stealth bombers?

      So from bombing a bunch of tents in the desert by possibly Russian planes we end up with definitive "most egregious war crimes". Wow.

  43. Re:Invade Crimea and Ukraine, or go to Mars? by tlambert · · Score: 1

    You do know that Sevastopol was a jointly-administered Ukrainian-Russian area with officially deployed Russian troops, don't you?

    I was aware. Soldiers stationed in an area where they are non-citizens, and their families who are non-citizens, should not be allowed to vote on such things. This is the reason the United Nations does not recognize the 2014 referendum as being valid.

  44. Re:NASA is headed in the wrong direction by KeensMustard · · Score: 1

    A country's leader only has a small influence on the course of a country.

    If Assad orders planes to drop barrel bombs on Syrian cities, is he responsible for the deaths caused?

    Blaming all your woes on the leadership, and then sending the country into chaos isn't always a good solution if things aren't going well.

    He can always, you know, not be the leader. If he chooses to persist in pretending to lead, whilst killing folk who have the temerity to suggest that he can't be their leader unless they agree to it, the fact that he didn't choose to step down when a sane and decent person would have makes him completely responsible for the deaths he ordered.