Quote:I can imagine that they would be stalling on using such a device until the last possible moment because Ptichka hates the thing and think it looks absolutely ridiculous.I'm sure she only thinks that because it looks absolutely ridiculous...
Actually, I suspect Ptichka doesn't have one of these. The size of the aerobrake compared to the size of the probe hints that, if it was scaled up to Shuttle-size, it would fill Ptichka's entire hold. And the VVS have better things to carry there. (Such as crew quarters.)
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Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012