The end of the space era of the USSR

This photo was taken in the courtyard of the Space Research Institute, the one where our company rents a certain amount of space. They do not give up from a good life. The lunar rover lies in a container in the courtyard, closed from prying eyes. There are about 30 such containers, and who knows what lies in the rest.
It’s generally sad to come to work there. When you see a well-fed, healthy man with a twinkle in his eyes, a non-Moscow tan in the middle of winter, and clothes from GANT actively articulating and clutching Nokia Scirocco to his ear, this is one of the tenants. When you see an old man barely waddling along long corridors, in patched-overclad clothes and with sad eyes - this is an employee of the institute.

Where is all the money for science allocated by Medvedev and Putin? Why are there no young employees with a fanatical gleam in their eyes, rushing with disheveled hair and with papers in their hands, full of great discoveries, along the same corridors?
And the old people leave. Once or twice a month, a photo appears in the lobby near the elevator with a black ribbon and a meager A4 obituary. Source .

A small digression.

During the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Artek pioneer camp in 2000, a capsule was opened with a message from the pioneers of the 1960s to the 2000 Artek camp. The message was signed by 1,200 Artek residents from all the republics of the Soviet Union, then it was put into a capsule and sealed in a metal rocket, which was stored on Artek Kostrovaya Square for 40 years. At the solemn line, the missile was sawn and a “letter to the future” was extracted from there. Pioneers of the 1960s suggested that in 2000 all the peoples of the earth live in peace, people fly to the moon, and Artek already has its own cosmodrome. While reading the messages, the veterans of Artek who were present on the line cried ... Source .

Forgive us

Children of the past, hopelessness of the present, oblivion of the future - forgive us.

We summed up your dreams, and instead of building spaceships, they built real estate, blowing up a bubble of added value to unimaginable sizes.

Instead of creating a cold fusion reactor, we pumped out non-renewable natural resources and sold them to potential enemies of our competitors.

We mutilated the excellent education system by introducing a pro-Western exam in the domestic manner - in a ruthless and merciless way.

But this is not the worst. The worst thing is that we and our children will not be able to leave a letter of the future. What will we leave there?

- Want to be a top manager?
- I want to work in Gazprom?
- I want to be a gangsterpoliceman , I'm sorry I'm confused.

There is no purpose. This is the worst thing ...