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The sad truth, of course, is that the Russian ability to produce things that go boom in quantity and deliver it to the battlefield far outstrips the collective
by neilwilson 4y ago
The sad truth, of course, is that the Russian ability to produce things that go boom in quantity and deliver it to the battlefield far outstrips the collective West's capacity.
And that goes back to the different approaches highlighted during the space race. While the US spent millions developing a pen that would work in space, the Russians just used a pencil.
- RichardHesketh 4y agoNeil, you’re peddling a long-discredited trope as if it were truth. Pencils are not used in spacecraft because of the risk of graphite (which conducts electricity) fragments getting into equipment and causing potentially deadly failures. The evidence so far in Ukraine does not support your first statement either.
- neilwilson 4y ago"pencils are not used in spacecraft because of the risk of graphite (which conducts electricity) fragments" They used wax pencils, or crayons as we call them, until they got the space pen technology without spending on it. "The evidence so far in Ukraine does not support your first statement either." The evidence in the Ukraine is that Russia is making ground. Steadily, slowly at the speed of the replacement mechanisms within their production systems. Who's believing the tropes?
- opo 4y ago>...They used wax pencils, or crayons as we call them, until they got the space pen technology without spending on it. It looks like both the Soviet Union and NASA got their pens from Fisher: >...the Fisher pen was developed using private capital, not government funding. The development of the thixotropic ink cost Paul Fisher around $1 million (equivalent to $8.6 million in 2021).[4] NASA – and the Soviets[3][5][6] – eventually began purchasing such pens. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Pen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Pen
- wrp 4y agoGuys...guys...let's not spoil the thread by getting snarky. :-)