It did run fine the first time :) then the next 4 launches failed. My hope is that sanctions and bright pepole leaving russia has made in hard to launch nukes. We will see.

Every asteroid that hit earth landed where a crater is. It’s like they’re attracted to craters somehow.

That's what stress could do to you.

I think specifically the parts that get modern Google Earth style 3D mapping are always shot from airplanes, I looked it up a long time ago when I was wondering why I couldn't see our new address in 3D.

I have no sources at hand to share, but I'm sure more detailed information is easily ducked or binged or whatever you fancy.

But you can look at Dublin, for example. Compare the light green and dark green parts: https://maps.app.goo.gl/NJn5DhpW85ym9yCa7

I then compared it to San Francisco and New York, which are even higher resolution.
In rural areas the resolution seems to get lower again.

That's correct. Google Maps imagery is not satellite data, it's airplane photos.

The comment I replied to was talking about spy tech, I was pointing out that the photos were from a commercial satellite, whose specs are likely well known.

Oh, my point wasn't that they were treated WELL, especially not considering the arbitrary nature of the Soviet state apparatus. My point is that the Soviets, as a society, considered those to be prestigious and worthy careers, and pronounced that very loudly. Like how the US culturally puts a high value on military veterans in reaction to the horrific behavior towards troops returning from Vietnam, making respect for modern veterans essential in decent society, but practically speaking, the government still treats them like shit. By contrast, the modern Russian Federation doesn't give a single good goddamn about engineers and scientists, and often actively scorns them.

The nice words and shit treatment are hypocritical, but as anyone who's ever been scorned for their choice of career will tell you, it's still better than shite words and shit treatment.

1. "We are who we pretend to be, so we must be careful who we pretend to be." The stated values of a society are very often violated, but that they are stated usually influences behavior in that society.

2. The Sovs definitely put a lot of effort into telling engineers and scientists that they were HEROES OF SOCIALIST LABOR and emphasizing the same to the general population. Engineers and scientists were socially valued professions. A scrap of paper in congratulations or a bit of metal and a ribbon may not be much, but as Napoleon once noted, men will do a lot for that little bit of recognition. By contrast, modern Russia has adopted a very 'thuggish' attitude towards academics, especially from state media, and it is oligarchs and ultranationalists who are glorified instead.

3. In Soviet society, really only military officers and higher government functionaries had it better than scientists and engineers. "You get the nice apartment, access to the good stores, and a little dacha in the countryside" may not be much by Western standards, but treatment is relative to the society in which one lives - scientists and engineers were getting the good upper-middle class life. Modern Russia says "You can make as much with a doctorate as some idiot in a real country with an associate's" and siphons the rest off for megayachts. Not very inspiring.