Chris Hadfield on Russian technology

Uploaded on December 17, 2012

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Chris Hadfield on Russian technology

2012-12-17 - CSA astronaut Chris Hadfield describes the strengths of the Russian Soyuz spacecraft that took him to the International Space Station on December 19, 2012.
(Credits: Canadian Space Agency, National Film Board)

Chris Hadfield: All technology is old, it's just the applications of it that are new. And for me the Soyuz is a wonderful example of that in that they've taken a proven technology and all we do is we slowly improve it. You don't need to reinvent it every time. The expression “Reinventing the wheel” applies. The wheel is a wonderful design. We don't need to reinvent it every time we build a car. And the Soyuz is a great proof of that. This is a safe and reliable, and proven way to leave the Earth. And each successive Soyuz is different. Each one has small changes. The role of the astronaut is to learn those differences, all the small technical changes and be ready to apply them.

It's an excellent spaceship with a long good track record. And it is one of the very few vehicles on Earth that is capable of reliably and repeatedly safely taking people to space and back. One small modification can continue to improve it.

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