VT, you DEFINATELY need to get out more! The proposed Kliper is far less advanced than the CEV. The Kliper can't go to or return from the moon. The winged version of Kliper can't even make orbit on paper yet and if it missed the runway on its first and only pass, well sorry tovarich! The pure biconical version lands with parachutes and airbags like the CEV (Even the winged version will need a stabilizing parachute durring reentry.) It combines the worst features of a lifting body and a capsule! (Large exposed heat shield, unsuitable for direct lunar reentries, not a whole lot more cross range compared to the CEV) Still I hope to see it flying. Competition is good for progress and they need to upgrade from the Soyuze just as we need to upgrade rom the shuttle (and by upgrade I'm refering to the CLV/CaLV combination--twice the payoload of the shuttle, lower costs and greater safety for just launching humans.)<br /><br />If you want mass transit move to the big city. I'm willing to bet that New York's MTA, Metro North, PATH and LIRR systems come close to rivaling the rail system of all of Germany combined. Remeber, Europe is physically a much smaller place than the US. And much older and more settled. Rail didn't catch on in Europe until barge and cart traffic were so overloaded and condtions in cities were so crowded and congested that it was the only viable chioce. Most palces in teh US haven't reached taht point yet, but its changing. You seldon hear people WANTING to put in any new highways anymore--contrast this to the 50s when building highways was the epitome of "progress".<br /><br />As far as Rusians on the moon by 2012--doubtful, but encouraging that people are even dreaming about it. The US was a lot further away from landing a man on the moon when Kennedy announced it as our goal than the Russians are today, so who knows.