Soyuz vs Space Shuttle...

[JayJayChallenges]

Hello, I asked a few guys in my astronomy-friend circle, all 12 of them knew what the Space Shuttle was, but only me knew what was the Soyuz. Poor poor soviets. Their Soyuz is the only spacecraft ferrying crew now, and that reminded me..

Is the Soyuz or Space Shuttle better? Post your pros and cons!

[lajoswinkler]

Astronomy friend circle... and they've never heard of Soyuz? Weird.

Both have pros and cons. It depends on what you want to do in orbit.

[Godot]

One would guess that the running costs for a space shuttle mission would be lower than that for the Soyuz,

considering the fact that (aside from the external tank) all parts have a chance to be reused in further missions

(after checkup and potentially necessary repairs).

In contrast to the Soyuz, where no part of the spaceship can be reused

And I agree ... an astronomy cicle where noone knows anything about Soyuz is rather strange.

I hope the knowledge of your fellow members with regards to stars and constellations is greater than their knowledge about spacecraft

[Seret]

I'm also surprised that anybody into space isn't aware of the Soyuz. It's been humanity's workhorse space access vehicle for decades. It would be like someone into aircraft not being aware of the 737.

Soyuz and the Space Shuttle were different vehicles, with completely different design goals. It's apples and oranges, comparison is pointless. It's like asking which is better: a truck or a car? The answer depends what you want to do.

[JenBurdoo]

Eh. It's really the difference between Russian and US tech. What engineers call, "the best is the enemy of the good," or the old (false) tale of the expensive orbital pen versus plain ol' pencil joke. The bottom line is that ultimately the Russians have done more in space (OK, at least since 1972, but that's 40+ years), and done it more cheaply and safely. And the Soyuz is STILL kicking around, nearly 50 years after its first flight, while the shuttle has come and gone. So they can only take three people up. They still ended up with seven space stations (vs. the US one) and about three times as many launches. In terms of quality, the shuttle is arguably better -- in terms of sheer quantity (and more importantly, reliability), the Soyuz wins hands down.

And reliability is good if you're flying in space.

Edited January 12, 2014 by JenBurdoo

[JayJayChallenges]

One would guess that the running costs for a space shuttle mission would be lower than that for the Soyuz,

considering the fact that (aside from the external tank) all parts have a chance to be reused in further missions

(after checkup and potentially necessary repairs).

In contrast to the Soyuz, where no part of the spaceship can be reused

And I agree ... an astronomy cicle where noone knows anything about Soyuz is rather strange.

I hope the knowledge of your fellow members with regards to stars and constellations is greater than their knowledge about spacecraft

Actually, my friends and me are more interested in space flight then stars and stuff. One of us has even went in a simulator. Guess who's that? Me. ;0

[JayJayChallenges]

Hmm. Guys, if you wanted to ferry a few supplies and a lot of crew. Which would you choose? About 4 crew; it would be quite cramped in that teeny tiny decent module. Unless they sacrifice one of their own to stay in the Orbital Module to die on re-entry.

[Shuttle]

This question has already been discussed in other threads http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/63633-soyuz-the-underappreciated-workhorse

As far as I understand, Soyuz is an excellent cheap and reliable space taxi that is able to put 3 men into orbit. Shuttle is much more expensive but it also has many unique features such as an ability to bring back large cargo from orbit, robotic arm, big cargo bay that allows to carry out scientific experiments.

However, if you don't use those capabilities, shuttle turns into an extremely expensive space truck.

[razark]

Soyuz can't bring a satellite back from orbit. The design has been in use since shortly after humans learned to get to space, nearly 90% of the manned space flight era, so it must be doing something right. They both fail at the ballroom dance competition, and ovens are a far sight better if you're trying to bake cookies.

So to determine which one is better, you need to define what it is better at.