Grumpy cosmonaut

“Race to the Moon”, Newsweek/MSNBC. Starts off with a none-too-flattering remark about Sergei, much to his admirers’ indignation! (This author included!) As the article goes on, it seems that Sergei is (not surprisingly) unhappy with the chronic underfunding of his country’s manned space program, which is bad for morale. (He isn’t the only cosmonaut who is – see 14/1 entry.

For a space hero, Sergey Krikalev is something of a grump. Krikalev holds the world’s record for time spent in outer space – he has logged an incredible 803 days, including time on Russia’s Mir space station back in the 1980s, when the International Space Station was still a distant dream. Between flights, Krikalev works at Energiya, which makes some of the biggest and most reliable rockets in the world. Despite these accomplishments, however, Krikalev, like many of his colleagues in Russia’s space program, seems to spend much of his time complaining about a lack of funds. He may have a point. Energiya’s glass and concrete offices outside Moscow are drab 1970s retro. Salaries at Energiya average a mere $400 a month, though Krikalev, at the top of the scale, gets $1000.

This legendary stinginess is the bane of Krikalev, and Russia’s ace in the hole. Although it lost the moon race in the 1960s, since then Russia’s space program has made a habit of performing heroic deeds on a shoestring – in many respects besting its well-heeled U.S. rival. While NASA struggled with its unreliable and fabulously complex space shuttle, Russia was racking up the mileage with its simple, durable Proton boosters – even during the chaotic years following the Soviet Union’s collapse. Now, despite Krikalev’s complaints, Russia’s space program is emerging from the lean years.

(Comments at CollectSPACE on the article)

Some brief summaries from Novosti Kosmonavtiki №603:

Colonel-General Vladimir Popovkin of the Space Forces (Космические войска) said that an officer from the Space Forces could go into space in five years to carry out “experiments in the interests of the military department.” One Space Forces officer has already done a short flight: Yurii Shargin. C-G Popovkin also thinks that Russian manned spaceflight should have a “national idea.” The Space Forces are now at 100% strength in staffing levels.

He also said that Svobodny Cosmodrome is to be closed, or at least not used for rocket launches. (There seems to be some confusion about this as it is not officially confirmed?)

(Svobodny Cosmodrome to closed in 2007 at NASASpaceflight.com)

On 30 December 2006 Michael Fradkov, the Chairman of the government of the Russian Federation, signed the order №1860-P which approved the prospective financial plan of the Russian Federation for 2007-2009. According to the plan, the financing of Federal Space Agency activities in 2007 is stipulated in volume of 32 985 322,3 thousand roubles, in 2008 – 34 327 724,8 thousand roubles, in 2009 – 36 903 201,1 thousand roubles. From these sums it is supposed to allocate for national defense 4 103 067,6; 3 758 094,0 and 3 861 377,5 thousand roubles accordingly, and on national economy 28 818 454,7; 30 486 976,2 and 32 951 892,0 thousand roubles accordingly. The rest of the means allocated from the budget to the Federal Space Agency, will be spent for housing-and-municipal construction (55 800,0; 60 654,6 and 65 931,6 thousand roubles accordingly) and on social policy (8 000,0; 22 000,0 and 24 000,0 thousand roubles accordingly). In spite of the fact that in the budget of the Federal Space Agency financing works in the field of national defense, not all of money which Russia spends for military space is stipulated. Some amounts “are buried” in the budget of the Defence Minister.

Mars reality show

Mixed messages on Russian space tourism at Personal Spaceflight; commentary on this article, “A journey to space is not a jaunt to the Caribbean”, at RIA Novosti. It is a bit hard to figure out the author’s opinion in the second article, though he remarks:

I am no judge of the future tourist’s professional training or the value of his scientific program “in the interests of several space agencies.” But one thing is clear: the Russian-U.S. manned program, which just now pulled out of its critical nosedive with tremendous pain, and which is the only one in the world except for China’s, badly needs experienced and practiced professionals rather than amateurs.

As I have said many times before, Russia should prioritize sending up its own professional cosmonauts rather than space tourists. Roskosmos seems eager to fly up the paying guests of other countries, but this is demoralizing for its own cosmonauts (the Cosmonaut Group only has two flight opportunities a year – one seat per Soyuz flight).

Another article at RIAN (29/12/2006) reports that five volunteers were chosen for the Mars-500 experiment, to begin later this year. No names have been released yet. Be interesting to follow this and see how the crew cope with being locked up for a year-and-a-half! Maybe I should have volunteered (I have spent years as a semi-recluse already) but my embarrassing lack of any qualifications would preclude this. It sounds like it will be a real endurance test, though! And it will hopefully be more successful than the previous experiment in 1999 (Sphinx-99), described in this James Oberg article, “Violence and Sexual Assault in ‘Space’ ”.

The International Space Station Heads of Agencies met at ESA Headquarters on 23 January to review the status of the program. (Mr. NASA Watch was of the opinion it was a Yawn from Paris.)

NASA Cassini Image: The Greatest Saturn Portrait …Yet at Spaceref. Russia, sad to say, has never achieved anything like this.

James Oberg asks, “What suit do you wear to a spacewalk?” at MSNBC.com, looking at the advantages and disavantages of the U.S. and Russian Orlan spacesuits on the ISS. The U.S. EMUs have more technological advantages, such as live helmet cameras, but are somewhat more complicated to put on.

Worth visiting is Ivan Safronov’s Space Video Archive, with lots of videos and films to download. One is the Nedelin disaster video (a screenshot is below, with the arrows pointing to the burning people fleeing) on the Unique Footage page. Russian Space Web has a page about the disaster (as does Wikipedia), which I think is still the worst in the history of rocketry.

A more recent disaster was the Brazilian rocket explosion in 2003 where 21 people were killed (incinerated).

A launch, and a reprimand

Progress M-59/24 P (24th Progress to the ISS) launched successfully on 18 January at 02:12:15 UTC. There are some nice snowy scenes (well, they look nice during a sweltering Australian summer) at the Energiya site of the launcher being rolled out to the launchpad on the 16th. I wish Energiya would post high-resolution versions of their photos! There are some also posted at the NASA Human Spaceflight Gallery: JSC2007-E-03078, 03079, 03080, 03801, 03802, 03803, 03804.

There was a portrait of Sergei Korolyov on the side of the Soyuz rocket as part of his 100th birthday celebrations (what would have been his 100th birthday). If he were still alive today, I wonder what he would think of the current Russian space program? Probably not much! I think he would be very annoyed at the rather dismal state it is in (though it is somewhat better than it was ten years ago). It is a pity he died so prematurely (during an operation).

(And “Darth Vader” mentioned it too ;-). More Sergei articles (his name is pronouced Korolyov, in Russian Королёв (like Sergei Krikalyov’s surname) (Korolyov means “king”, appropriately enough!):

• “Celebrating Korolyov”, The Space Review.
• “Ambitious Goal Of Sergei Korolev” and “Russia Celebrates 100th Birthday Of Space Pioneer”, Space Daily.

Energiya president Nikolai Sevast’yanov was reprimanded by Roskosmos (По поводу «приступов лунатизма», “On the matter of ‘Lunar assaults’ ”) for his somewhat overenthusiastic proposals in the past year about going to the Moon!

Roskosmos has regretfully corrected the rhetoric, repeated by a number of mass-media, by the president, the general designer of Energiya N.N. Sevast’yanov, regarding the as yet-unformed program of Russia on flights on the Moon.

Roskosmos, together with other interested departments and organizations, works above a definition of the strategy of development of domestic astronautics, including in the piloted area. However, it is premature to speak about the existence of national decisions on the development of the Moon and other planets.

The desire of the parent organization Energiya to accept the most active participation in realization of such decisions will be necessarily accepted in attention as soon as decisions on a lunar theme are formulated.

More at Space Daily: “Russian Space Agency Irked By Moon Program Debate”. Perhaps though Roskosmos should be more ambitious – it would interest people more than the current rather limited program.

Mentioned in Novosti Kosmonavtiki news №602 is this new site, Федерации космонавтики России (Russian Cosmonautics Federation). But on following the link – yikes! The site design looks like something from ten years ago, complete with a garish animated starry background (reproduced below, in case they [hopefully!] change the design). The designer should pay a visit to Web Pages that Suck and take note!

Also from Novosti Kosmonavtiki news №602:

19/01/2007/00:08 RKK Energiya will develop a variant of the Soyuz spaceship for returning cargo from orbit

The Rocket & Space Corporation Energiya is preparing for Roskosmos a proposal for the creation of a variant of the Soyuz spacecraft, the РКК Energiya president, Nikolay Sevast’yanov, told journalists on Thursday. “Considering, that from 2010 the American shuttles will stop flying to the ISS, we are preparing the project “Reusable/revolving cargo Soyuz” (грузовозвращаемого «Союза»), explained N. Sevast’yanov.

As he said, the need for an additional vehicle for returning cargoes from an orbit will increase, as by 2010 the Station will be completed and will begin functioning at a high capacity, and on it the quantity of experiments will increase. It will be necessary to return results of experiments to Earth.

According to N. Sevast’yanov, the reusable cargo variant of Soyuz will differ in that the cosmonauts’ seats and other equipment will be removed. These Soyuz will then be able to return to the Earth in an automatic mode with up to 500 kg of various cargoes, reports Interfax.

Unhappy cosmonaut

There was a posting at NASASpaceflight.com with a link to some NASA PDF documents, the one of interest to me being a huge publication about the ISS – a 182 MB download. I did download it (yay for broadband!) and it is worth it! Lots of technical diagrams of all components (including diagrams of the insides of the Russian modules, which I have been wanting for years). The download page is here at the NASA Technical Reports Server. It seems to be the same book (SP-2006-557) mentioned in postings at CollectSPACE and NASASpaceflight.com.

Unfortunately a LOT of computer memory/RAM is needed to open and view it – my 512 MB is barely adequate and the PDF slows my computer down so much after a while it is almost unusable! I did manage to view most of it, but what a struggle! Looks like I will have to add more memory sometime this year. They should have divided the document into several small PDF files.

[Update: you can download the document in separate PDF chapters at Spaceref.]

There is an interview with cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov in Novosti Kosmonavtiki magazine №1 2007 (issue 288), in Russian: «Рассказывает командир МКС-13 Павел Виноградов» (“ISS-13 commander Pavel Vinogradov tells”), in November 2006. Near the end of the interview he makes it clear he is not happy with the current state of the Cosmonaut Group and the Russian space program, which can be summed up as moribund. Actually he echoes much of what I have been saying. I could not make sense of parts of the computer translation (my Russian is very poor anyway), so I will paraphrase most of what he said:

There is nothing for the new cosmonauts to fly as all the third seats are sold to foreigners; he does not understand Roskosmos’ policy on this at all. It is a worthless policy. The tourist flights could be delayed until they could build extra Soyuzes and fly them up on short visiting missions. He feels that the Russian manned space program is at a dead end. The agreement with the Americans to provide six crew places at the Station means that the required Soyuzes are being build now, and at NASA’s insistence they are the older versions as they do not wish to fly in the modified ship. When the Americans begin constructing their new Orion ship, Russia will be stuck with their old ships and not be neccessary to anybody.

Roskosmos does not support Energiya’s initiative to update the Soyuz, or create a new transport system and the Klipper.

Now we try to assemble crews from inexperienced cosmonauts. Yurchikhin will fly with Kotov. Feodor, though he flew on a shuttle, practically did not see our segment and he will be the Expedition commander. The next crew: Sergei Volkov has spent about 10 years in the group. Of them, only Lonchakov has flown. It seems to me that it is necessary to change the system of general preparation of cosmonauts, and for this purpose there must be more funding. What is now happening at TsPK is incomprehensible. Simply unbelievable! It has completely ruined our preparation! The people who could train as cosmonauts are simply not present! Thank God, the old men are still going... It is all different and all bad. And it is no better at Energiya. I had the impression, that at Energiya the majority works to work, instead of for the sake of results. Nothing advances. No ideology, which, of course, should motivate Roscosmos. When the MOM (Мinistry of General Мachine Building) existed, everything was clear. Now, as weeds from under asphalt, ideas make their way from the bottom and are cut off at the roots...

There are no cosmonauts in any management positions of the piloted program to represent those in the Cosmonaut Group. In comparison, NASA has astronaut representatives in six out of eight posts in their management.

In the previous six months of 2006, the relations between Roskosmos and Energiya took a turn for the worse. N.N. Sevastyanov, whom A.N. Perminov at first supported, broke away and refused to support the Roskosmos program.

In five to six years the Americans will tell us “good-bye”. In fact they now tolerate us only because they need the time in order to create the “Orion”. Then we will be left with our 40-year-old Soyuz... Everything, all is absolute the astronauts who flew on the Soyuz, say: “It is so primitive!” For them it is a shock. And they are not simple people – among them are many test pilots who have flown a lot, so they have much to compare the Soyuz to. Jeff, when he was pulled out from the Descent Module, remarked: “This is a soft landing? What is a hard one?” [Laughs]

In comparison, in Soviet times there was a space strategy and a State policy. Many of the Russian experiments date from Salyut and Mir and it is not clear what they are advancing. Funding for the experiments is inadequate. Over half of crew time is spent on Station maintenance, in any case.

In general the situation is pitiable. It seems to me, it is necessary to develop as soon as possible a strategy of piloted space, to create cooperation throughout the industry and science, to make appropriate adjustments in the unambitious space program of Russia and to achieve state financing.

Given all this, it is hardly surprising that cosmonauts are retiring!

[Another translation is at FPSpace.]

Retirements

Anik said in the NASASpaceflight.com forum that cosmonaut Sergei Treshchyov retired voluntarily on 30 November last year (2006). He will continue to work at RKK Energiya, in the 291st test department. Konstantin Kozeev and Aleksandr Lazutkin are also due to retire in the near future. Konstantin had some problems keeping his weight down (I can relate to that problem! But it seems an odd reason for retiring). Aleksandr had heart problems (faintness, a feeling of heartburn, chest pains) when he was in Houston on 1 August 2005 for training as part of the Expedition 12 backup crew. He was taken to hospital and an ECG revealed an abnormal heartbeat. He had a blockage in an artery, which was removed by the insertion of a catheter. He recovered well from the ordeal, but it effectively grounded him from spaceflight.

Another three experienced cosmonauts gone (well, one gone and two to depart soon); that will only leave thirteen with flight experience!

“Russia kicks off big year for space history”, James Oberg, MSNBC.com, 11/1. Tribute to Sergei Korolyov, who would have been 100 this year.

The good old days?

Back In Time - Moscow Takes the Lead: A posting at NASASpaceflight.com linked to this 5 October 1987 TIME magazine article, “Surging Ahead: The Soviets overtake the U.S. as the No. 1 spacefaring nation” (and the print version if you don’t want to click through nine pages). It is similar to the October 1986 National Geographic article, “Soviets in space: are they ahead?” (stored on my site as it isn’t available online – don’t tell anyone!). These articles were published four years or so before everything imploded, and are a poignant reminder of how much has been lost or squandered. Glasnost was initiated with good intentions (much-needed reforms of the Soviet government) but turned out to be a death sentence for the country.

Indeed, space experts in the U.S. and Europe are now conceding publicly what they would have found laughable a decade ago: although the Soviets lag far behind in electronic gadgetry, they have surged past the U.S. in almost all areas of space exploration. If unchallenged, Moscow is likely to become the world’s dominant power in space by the 21st century. Says Heinz Hermann Koelle, a West German space-technology professor and former director of future projects at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center: “American pre-eminence in space simply no longer exists.” Warns James Oberg, an expert on the Soviet space program: “If the Soviets can aggressively exploit this operational advantage, they can make us eat space dust for a long time to come.”

[…]

The new rocket will make possible the deployment of larger, more sophisticated Soviet space stations. Says Bogodyazh: “There will be a Mir-2.” Explains Alexander Dunayev, head of Glavkosmos: “Space stations weigh up to several dozen tons. What’s needed are stations that weigh several hundred tons. We should soon learn to build big structures out there, not tens of meters but kilometers across, multifunctional platforms. Cosmonauts may well live there permanently. And from these structures, there may be flights to other planets.” If so, then first on the agenda, undoubtedly, would be Mars.

The lure is strong. Mars is the only other known planet that may be habitable – and thus the only realistic location for a space colony. That makes it a logical target for the Soviets, who are committed to establishing a permanent presence in space for both scientific and military reasons. Besides, the national prestige resulting from a visit to Mars would be immense.

As the article notes, however, the Soviets were well behind the USA in electronic technology.

For all these accomplishments, Soviet microelectronics and computers are ten years behind those of the U.S. Military satellites sometimes break down in a matter of weeks. Photoreconnaissance satellites literally drop their film to earth for processing. The ultraconservative Soviet military is just now beginning to experiment with the techniques of electronic imaging developed by U.S. scientists years ago. Still, admits Geoffrey Briggs, NASA’s director of solar-system exploration, “it’s not clear that you need state of the art to be effective.”

“Russian Space Goals In The Early 21st Century”, Space Daily.

Charles Simonyi has started his blog at long last (beginning from December).