I agree with a lot of this. The one exception I would like to mention: I as an American am impressed by Sputnik, Laika, Strelka and Belka, Yuri Gagarin, Valentina Tereshkova and a whole host of steps in the space race that I believe is why we are where we are today in space exploration and satellite technology. They aren’t leading the pack now but they were, maybe recklessly, for a good chunk of the beginning.

*as an achievement in the past 80 years if that wasn’t clear what I meant. ✌️

[–] Gloria@sh.itjust.works 11 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

As mentioned above: those time lasted for 5-8 years, was 70 years ago and was a achievement by the soviet union, not russia. When the brightest minds from poland, ukraine and kasakzhan come together, great things can be achieved. Russia alone was never and will never achieve goals like that on their own. Unions can achive big things when well educated people from different cultural backgrounds come together like in the US or EU. Imagine what a pacified, organized annd educated middle east Union from Egypt over Teheran to Kashga could come up with. Maybe in the third quarter of this century. Or in the next century.

[–] skydivekingair@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

Yeah I guess I was talking about the USSR responding to the “they won the war” and last 80 years I thought you were using Russia/Soviets interchangeably until the fall of the Soviet Union.

[–] hydroptic@sopuli.xyz 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Tereshkova is a piece of shit imperialist and Putinist (there's a reason she's sanctioned by the EU and US) who was sent to space to further the Soviet political agenda and not due to actually being good at anything. Her only merit was being shot into space on command, she was never exceptionally good at anything

[–] skydivekingair@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

She doesn’t have to be good, it showed that women can go into space and was yet another benchmark the Soviets achieved first. I’m not saying who or how they did it was particularly heroic, just that it was humanity’s first steps into the stars.