re: The Russian problem is...
So you prefer the Russian approach -- a handful of well-timed stunts to impress the weak-minded, but an impenetrable gender curtain for women trying to get into space on their own merits and skills?
You know why Savitskaya's spacewalk lasted 3 hrs 35 minutes? Because planners had read in Aviation Week that NASA's scheduled spacewalk for Kathy Sullivan would last 3 hrs 30 minutes. And you actually were favorably impressed by the Savitskaya stunt? I guess you qualify for Moscow's "target audience" <grin>.
Jim O