[fidotron]

As others have pointed out at the time she absolutely did get attention. What the modern UK has memory holed is just how bonkersly pro-Russian it was in the 90s; everything from Tetris, Newton handwriting recognition, software generally, rockets, materials, nanotech, new gas supplies, having Abramovich buy Chelsea and the result being practically all the upper middle class exploring Russian (and ex Soviet) connections for investment. The former USSR was then what Qatar etc. are today. It does seem plausible that she fell into that hole along with everything else.

[nephihaha]

I wouldn't call the UK pro-Russian exactly. A lot of people were relieved the Cold War was over and many people did feel things would get better. There has been an attempt to reverse that, to the point that Tchaikovsky concerts were getting cancelled a few years ago which is ridiculous. Then you had Louise Mensch claiming Russia had produced nothing of cultural worth... A pretty outrageous statement whatever you think of their governments. In retrospect, Yeltsin's government was very corrupt and Russia's economy was demolished, which I think led us to where we are today. Soviet space achievements have definitely been airbrushed out.

Back in the seventies and eighties, there was definitely a pro-Soviet element in play as well as a pro-American one. It was often low key, but you could see it in the BBC sometimes, and definitely in the Labour Party. Yuri Gagarin did a successful tour of the UK which has been largely forgotten about, including visiting mining towns etc. Even someone as right wing as Patrick Moore was friendly with people from both the eastern and western space programmes, and helped the USSR with lunar mapping