Soviet faction

The Soviet Union is a prominent faction in Arthur C. Clarke’s 2010: Odyssey Two and its film adaption. Soviet scientists also appear in 2001: A Space Odyssey and its accompanying film.

2001: A Space odyssey
Soviet Russian scientists are seen in Stanley Kubrick's 2001 film, who are waiting to meet with Heywood Floyd to discuss if the "epidemic" at Clavius Base constitutes any threat to Russian operations on the Moon. While waiting, they consider going to the observation deck. The following conversations are heard in the Russian language, but is not in the screenplay; and neither were subtitles provided on the DVD:

2010 odyssey
The Soviet faction operated its space program under the CCCP in 2010. They had undergone a joint Soviet/USA mission to Jupiter, in an effort to assist in the recovery of the United States’ Discovery. They provided the Leonov as the vessel by which to reach the Jovian system. The Leonov’s mobility was driven by seven superheated chemical thrusters for interplanetary travel, called the Sakharov Drive. It was a propulsion system that Arthur C. Clarke chose to name after nuclear physist.