Their aeronautical designs are also very, very good. A lot of aeronautical equations are named after Russians, and a lot of numerical analysis techniques as well.
They may not have had the money to do maintenance, but their mechanical design is built to last, baby.
The most brilliant engineers I have worked with are Russians and Germans. And, a lot of Polish engineers I have worked with have stated the same thing, surprisingly.
So, I wouldn't discount them yet.
I thought it would be fun to suggest that she'd like a ride on the Shuttle for a birthday present.
She said "Are you crazy? You'd never get me into that thing. I've seen the plans."
New Scientist had a feature about fifteen years ago quantifying the risk of the shuttle program and predicting that there would be 2-3 catastrophic failures.
No one paid any attention. But still.
"It's a very sobering feeling to be up in space and realize that one's safety factor was determined by the lowest bidder on a government contract."
-- Alan Shepherd Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
