Wednesday, September 17, 2008
The Russians may be putting more rockets in Cuba — but they likely won't
be carrying nuclear warheads.
Russia Federal Space Agency Anatoly Perminov told the Itar-Tass news
agency that there had been "preliminary discussions" about helping Cuba
build its own space center.
"With our Cuban colleagues, we discussed the possibilities of joint use
of space equipment ... and the joint use of space communications
systems," Perminov said, according to a Reuters report.
Putting a launchpad in Cuba does have some advantages for the Russians.
The Caribbean island is much further south than any part of Russia, and
every space geek knows rockets trying to escape Earth's gravity get an
additional kick from the Earth's own ground speed if they're launched
close to the equator.
But in reality it may just be another way to annoy the U.S.
Russian authorities seem to increasingly miss the Soviet days when their
nation was feared and powerful, and more missiles close to Florida would
be a way to extend their global reach.
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