Comments on: Russia & China negotiating increased cooperation on the Moon https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/russia-china-negotiating-increased-cooperation-on-the-moon/ Thu, 04 Feb 2021 05:35:21 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Jeff Wright https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/russia-china-negotiating-increased-cooperation-on-the-moon/#comment-1108776 Thu, 04 Feb 2021 05:35:21 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=72911#comment-1108776 That might have pushed them into other arms faster though. Marshall almost got its hands on the RD-0120 Energia core block engine that’s similar to the RS-25 SSME. China should use that for LM-9. They already have a better Soyuz in Shenzhou. Had they embraced the hypergolic RD-270, and used nine of them in a R-56 monoblock core-instead of spending decades on their own non-toxics–they could have had an HLLV quickly. With such dense propellants and easier ignition, it could be modified into something like a room-temperature Falcon. With two strap-ons, it would be the most powerful rocket ever.

]]> By: Patrick Underwood https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/russia-china-negotiating-increased-cooperation-on-the-moon/#comment-1108744 Thu, 04 Feb 2021 01:08:11 +0000 https://behindtheblack.com/?p=72911#comment-1108744 Had the Clinton Administration not morphed Space Station Freedom into the ISS, a make-work project for ex-Soviet engineers, the Russian space program would have reached this state in the 1990s.

Not saying that would have been preferable. Just highly likely.

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