Russians were first in space.  Americans were so far behind they had to fake moon landings to save face.

Before Elon Musk and Space X the International Space Station relied on Russian Soyuz to get astronauts to and from ISS. 

Still, i don't think these things matter and only people like you Mike even care about them.

i doubt Russia will launch nukes at anybody, although it is always a good idea not to live next to any potential target of a nuclear attack.

i remember after 911 working in Manhattan on relocating a bank datacenter out of NYC to secure it from nuclear attack and thinking - what about me ?  i am still here LOL.

i'm not in Manhattan now but i am within biking distance of a couple of air force bases that are legitimiate targets.  

i should move out of here LOL.