Progress 44

The launch failure of the Russian Progress 44 cargo mission earlier this week has some U. S. officials concerned about relying on Russian technology to carry American astronauts into space. The launcher involved in the failure is an unmanned version of the rocket used to launch manned Soyuz capsules, and the mishap is the latest in a series of failures of various Russian launchers over the past several months.

That said, the Soyuz, on its record, is the safest spacecraft yet built, which also means its launcher has been extremely reliable. In any case, if astronauts are to fly to ISS over the next few years, the Soyuz is the only game in town. That's due to nothing the Russians did, but to the failure of U. S. policymakers to properly plan a transition beyond the space shuttle.