back to article Hold my vodka, comrade – I got this: Ruskies blast supplies to the ISS

Astronauts on the International Space Station will cross their fingers and toes that Friday's resupply mission doesn't suffer a similar fate to the last three attempts. On Friday at 05:55 UTC, a Progress 60 capsule filled with supplies is expected to blast off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan atop a Russia-built Soyuz …

  1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
    Coat

    Bring incense!

    Im am invoking the Ghost of Korolev!

    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

      Re: Bring incense!

      Ok, who is the downvoting bastard!

      1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

        Re: Bring incense!

        Ok, who is the downvoting bastard!

        The ghost of Werner von Braun.

  2. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

    Terminology

    SpaceX's one wasn't a snafu - it was a mission gone FUBAR...

    1. Martin Budden Silver badge

      Re: Terminology

      Agreed, it was not a normal situation for SpaceX (or for the other two failures either). Their normal situation is everything going according to plan.

      1. Harvey Trowell

        Re: Terminology

        So SNNAAFU then, the additional NA meaning "not at"?

  3. Gene Cash Silver badge

    Note that this is not using the newer Soyuz 2-1A launcher, which proved a little incompatible with Progress. This is using an older version of the booster.

    I'm kind of concerned at the Russian's handwavy "nothing to see here, comrade!" supposed fix to the 2-1A problem. There is something fishy with the "absolutely no details" story. I guess if it's good 'nuf for NASA, though..

    1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      Why are you concerned or surprised

      Norhing surprsing. Cold war is back by all means. We will see and hear even less as we go along.

  4. x 7

    so if this one goes bang, how do they decide which of the three plays the traditional role of the cabin boy when lost at sea?

    1. ZSn

      Roger the cabin boy? Or eat him?

      Cap'n Pugwash.

      1. x 7

        both possibly, though that Italian bird who flew back a few weeks ago would probably have been better tasting on both counts

      2. arnieL

        Tom, actually... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Pugwash#Tom_the_Cabin_Boy

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Spuds?

      Why don't they just grow some potatoes?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Spuds?

        Irelande, douze points!

  5. James 51

    Where's that space elevator when you need it.

  6. ecofeco Silver badge
    Coat

    In space...

    ...no one can hear you starve.

    Mine with the melted candy bar ------------------->>

  7. Allan George Dyer
    Joke

    "Pass my vodka, comrade – I got this"

    FTFY. Everyone knows vodka is rocket fuel.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I wonder

    If the younger generations know why some people insist on using the term "comrade" (tovarisch) when talking about Russians?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I wonder

      Well, I hear there is a Cold War Reenactment on the books, so they have an occasion to learn the hard way.

  9. JeffyPoooh
    Pint

    Vodka

    They're so used to tipping over, that it's perfectly natural to them to deliver the rocket in a recumbent position, stand it up, slap its face, and tell it to get back to work.

  10. Jimbo in Thailand
    Facepalm

    It just boggles the mind!

    Someone please tell me why NASA suddenly retired the Space Shuttle fleet with no proven replacement in sight! Did I mention dependable?

    On a lighter note, the current astronauts may still have plenty of food left, but when the toilet paper runs out it's going to get very interesting.

    1. Shannon Jacobs

      Re: It just boggles the mind!

      Two disastrous failures in 135 missions is not highly reliable. Big dumb boosters are much more cost effective for routine payloads.

      1. BristolBachelor Gold badge

        Re: It just boggles the mind!

        and once they worked out what the shuttle was really like, the ONLY thing it was allowed to be used for was to take up huge ISS sections that couldn't be taken up any other way (and one Hubble servicing mission). It was absolutely FORBIDDEN to use the shuttle for crew rotation or supply missions because it was by then it was known just how dangerous it was.

    2. Kharkov
      Facepalm

      Re: It just boggles the mind!

      Why did they replace the Space Shuttle? Way too expensive & not safe enough about covers it.

      ...with no proven replacement in sight? That's the state of American politics for you. NASA made it clear that the Shuttle couldn't keep going so the Senate/Congress knew that if they forced it, and the Shuttle had an oopsie, then they'd be the ones getting the blame so they allowed NASA to retire it and...

      Immediately defaulted to their usual operating mode of "Let's get lots of money coming to my district for space stuff (for very undefined values of 'space stuff') and what happened? The Ares project, and the Altair lunar lander, which was also known as 'Apollo on Steroids' which would have been very expensive while achieving nothing. Not that politicians objected to that, as long as no-one could hold them accountable for it, but Obama wasn't interested in continuing a boondoggle that was started under Dubya.

      So bye-bye Ares (and Altair) and hello, SLS! Another heavy-lift launcher that's really expensive with no defined program to serve or mission to perform but hey, no worries! After all, the money is still flowing to the same old companies/States/Congressional Districts so who cares if it's too expensive to actually use?

      And proof for this? Congress is actually trying to cut funding for the Commercial Crew Program because it's a little behind schedule (apparently paying less for something makes it better and quicker to enter service, who knew?) while helpfully (!) pointing out that SLS can, if called upon, deliver crew to ISS. Using SLS for this is like buying something on EBay and finding that whatever it was, was shipped as the SOLE CARGO on an otherwise completely empty container ship because, well, we had a container ship and we had to use it for something. And, oh, you don't mind paying the shipping fee, do you?

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: It just boggles the mind!

      so long as the fans keep turning for the toilets

    4. Gobhicks

      Re: It just boggles the mind!

      The short circuit in the rear seat panel which killed Commander Powell continues to be faulty. Uh...Storage Area 9... And because he's sitting next to it, it continues to bother Pinback. Storage Area 9 self-destructed last week, destroying entire ship's supply of toilet paper. That's all.

  11. Omniaural

    Earth - Grounded

    My tin foil hat was blown off by a particular gust of wind around the time of the SpaceX launch and I picked up some garbled broadcast over my fillings.

    After a lot of indistinct chatter I clearly heard the phrase "k'ch b'rar!" at around the time the Space X launch failed which, if you know anything about these things, translates from High Galactic as 'Fire!'.

    Clearly, after finally landing on Mars and landing a probe on a comet, the Intergalactic Council of Peace' has decided that we're making too much progress in exploring our system again. These recent failures are no accident and there is obviously an ICP Warden ship cloaked in orbit somewhere who are trying to frustrate our progress and set us back another few decades until our nation's leaders grow up a bit more.

    As I put two and two together, to make 2 squared, I could only sigh and hope that one day everyone else would realise that we are being held back by short-sighted government elites from taking our place alongside our extra-terrestrial brothers, sisters and gurags.

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