4 ms·

Why is it such a big deal this time? Don't the Russians fly to ISS all the time?

djhworld 6y ago
Few reasons, it's been 9 years since the last crewed spacecraft took off from American soil. Second reason is this is the first time the spacecraft has been built and run by a commercial company (spacex)
- hansoolo 6y ago
  For me (as a European) it is mainly exceptional because of the SpaceX effort. It just appeared to me as if it was something America was proud of, because they invented space flight or something, which they didn't. It's just never "celebrated" anywhere when the Russians fly to space over and over.
  - s_y_n_t_a_x 6y ago
    America is proud because SpaceX is an American company that has made this possible while being commercially viable. It's a testament to American capitalism. It's something to be very proud of. It's the next step in the space age. This paves the way for many more companies and ventures.
  - vikramkr 6y ago
    It's an awesome example of american capitalism giving us back the ability to put people in space. It's the first steps to true commercialization of spaceflight, with travel driven by tourism, colonization, resource extraction, amd R&D, which is a much more sustainable way to maintain space exploration. And probably most importantly, everything else sucks right now. Coronavirus, widespread protests and race riots. We need a win, and this is a pretty solid one.
saberdancer 6y ago
It's a capability NASA lost and is not close to achieving, it's a feel good story for USA, it's a really nice thing to improve competition in crewed launch space allowing NASA to go further with bigger missions (Moon and Mars).
- hansoolo 6y ago
  Feel good story nails it imo. Not just for the US, for the "West" it seems...
pbhjpbhj 6y ago
Yes, it seems they do - I assume that the fact all other countries relied on Russia for the last decade to ferry astronauts and cosmonauts to ISS doesn't fit with the narrative of them being the sworn enemy of the West?
- hansoolo 6y ago
  Yup, exactly my thoughts...

Few reasons, it's been 9 years since the last crewed spacecraft took off from American soil. Second reason is this is the first time the spacecraft has been built and run by a commercial company (spacex)

hansoolo 6y ago
For me (as a European) it is mainly exceptional because of the SpaceX effort. It just appeared to me as if it was something America was proud of, because they invented space flight or something, which they didn't. It's just never "celebrated" anywhere when the Russians fly to space over and over.
- s_y_n_t_a_x 6y ago
  America is proud because SpaceX is an American company that has made this possible while being commercially viable. It's a testament to American capitalism. It's something to be very proud of. It's the next step in the space age. This paves the way for many more companies and ventures.
- vikramkr 6y ago
  It's an awesome example of american capitalism giving us back the ability to put people in space. It's the first steps to true commercialization of spaceflight, with travel driven by tourism, colonization, resource extraction, amd R&D, which is a much more sustainable way to maintain space exploration. And probably most importantly, everything else sucks right now. Coronavirus, widespread protests and race riots. We need a win, and this is a pretty solid one.

saberdancer 6y ago

It's a capability NASA lost and is not close to achieving, it's a feel good story for USA, it's a really nice thing to improve competition in crewed launch space allowing NASA to go further with bigger missions (Moon and Mars).

hansoolo 6y ago
Feel good story nails it imo. Not just for the US, for the "West" it seems...

pbhjpbhj 6y ago

Yes, it seems they do - I assume that the fact all other countries relied on Russia for the last decade to ferry astronauts and cosmonauts to ISS doesn't fit with the narrative of them being the sworn enemy of the West?

hansoolo 6y ago
Yup, exactly my thoughts...