They catch on quick, don't they?

Seems like the Russians are embracing the concepts of capitalism in new ways all the time. According to BBC News, Russia has announced that it will no longer ferry US astronauts to space for free. It has been doing so for two years. From 2006 the US will be expected to pay.

It should not come as any great surprise, really. With the shuttle grounded and NASA getting little to no support from the current administration, and the astonauts up there having to ration supplies, it's clear that the ISS is only linked to Earth by the Russians. You want an astranaut in space? You must pay, comrade. Rocket fuel ain't cheap you know. You want to eat while you're up there? That'll be extra. Still think you can get to Mars comrade Bush? Bwah hah hah hah....

Before anyone get's their unmentionables in a twist, they have stated that they'll wait to see if NASA meets its May deadline to get the shuttle program going again.

And they won't be asking for dollars (since Nasa is cash strapped anyway, and the dollar ain't what it used to be). So they are looking into bartering for the man hours they currently owe for other work.

America's response hasn't been made clear yet. Personally, I can't wait to see it.
File this under "Lessons refused to be learned" : You can't go it alone.
posted by Manchild at 1:20 PM