The 10 non-Russian modules have been in vacuum for a quarter century and have done just fine despite facing more debris than in interplanetary space. So yes, this aspect is well tested. This stuff is literally part of the reason why the ISS exists in the first place.

▲

threwrfaway 3 hours ago | parent [-]

The hubris of forgetfulness; to think that until Elon showed up the West couldn't even put a person in space anymore.

The Soyuz, the MIR, the human space records, the Venera program, closed cycle rockets, all have no equivalent in the West. Even their version of the shuttle was superior (it flew 100% autonomously).

I don't like Musk, but he single handedly saved the Western space programs.

▲

bobim 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I didn't realize Buran flew, and flew autonomously. Impressive for the times.

▲

sigmoid10 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

This sense of national pride based on long past achievements will always be bewildering to me. Do you really think a country that is actively engaged in a full scale open land war and whose economy is in shambles is able to maintain (much less build) a venerable space program? Elon might have saved the American tax payer from the senate launch system jobs program, but the majority of the global space industry is and always has been in the west. Russia has been an afterthought since the collapse of the Soviet Union. And it shows in everything they have done in space since.

	▲	cpursley 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Well, they managed to rebuild their launchpad ahead of schedule and launched this big boy not long ago: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/... They've also got some new passenger jets certified and about to enter production (MC-21 and SU-100).