But Itogi wrote that if the competition promoted rapid industrial growth during the Cold War, it was now producing diametrically opposite results.
According to the magazine, the U.S. is convinced that it is the only country capable of solving problems both on Earth and in space. When it comes to unmanned probes, this snobbery is justified, as the U.S. is ahead of both Russia and Europe, not to mention Japan and China. But it clearly has problems with manned missions, especially space expeditions that need practical experience. The same cannot be said of Russia. Its manned programs were the main beneficiaries of the Cold War space race.
The development of an international craft to rescue astronauts is at the top of the space agenda. The Americans are not yet technically ready to build one, whereas Russia is not prepared to pay for rescuing other countries' astronauts.
It would be less expensive for the U.S. to entrust the Russians with the development of a rescue ship than to build it from scratch. But NASA still fears that the Russians will manage, using U.S. taxpayers' money, to come up with something else that will give Russia the edge over the U.S. once again.
NASA is gradually cooling on the International Space Station project. At any rate, calls to stop financing or, at least, to cut the American contribution, have come from that quarter. But this way leads nowhere. And this is true not only for the U.S. and Russia, but also for any state with space ambitions.
There are various types of innovation projects: some can be tackled single-handed, but others require effective international cooperation. Endeavors to go beyond Earth and return fall into the latter category.
