The Atlantic magazine looks at the Russian space programme today

@ Paul, I could say how more advanced Buran was vs. the Shuttle. You could say how it only had one flight and the program had gone nowhere. We'd both be right.

If you look at a lot of the Russian projects and inventions, be it the Cola borehole or the Antarctic station, they place extra value on big dreams and big things, even without much consideration to commercial drivers. By contrast the Americans, who are at least as (and often better) at executing complex scientific and technological projects, would not just get up and do it full-on without a commercial driver. You just won't get the funding. You know where Saturn 5 would be without the Sputnik and Laika and Gagarin and Leonov and the first moon impact and the first photo on the back side on the moon (Russian achievements). Saturn 5 would still be on a drawing board.

So the Americans and the Russians can't really go far without each others. You need both the Russian "Let's go!" and the American financial wisdom to keep going.

Mmm, mass doesn't automatically mean no vibration. If you hang a massive steel girder in midair and rap it, it still vibrates. Also, the thing isn't isn't a monolith. It is constructed in sections which may be able to vibrate semi-independently. Also, now that I think of it, you would get shocks passing through the structure from things bumping together.

Probably the simplest answer is that the camera is on some kind of vibration-dampening mount. Maybe it isn't necessary, but if I were them, I'd use one.