Promotions

Mentioned in the Energiya official press release: February 5, 2007. Korolev, Moscow region, Sergei Krikalyov was given a new job as Vice-President of Manned Flights; his flight status is unchanged (backup for Soyuz TMA-12 to launch in March 2008, and commander of Soyuz TMA-14 in March 2009). (Discussed in this thread at NASASpaceflight.com.) Various other appointments were made in the organization. There is also speculation that the current President, Nikolai Sevast’yanov, might be replaced, a contender being Yurii Koptev (who was head of Rosaviakosmos in the 1990s, replaced by Anatolii Perminov), as some are unhappy with Nikolai’s performance and his tendency to make outlandish statements about Energiya’s future space exploration plans without the funding to back them up. His appointment was controversial in 2005. There would be problems with Yurii Koptev’s appointment though, as listed in Novosti Kosmonavtiki news №607:

• As he replaced Anatolii Perminov, there might be some latent hostility between the two.
• He is not accustomed to heading a large enterprise like Energiya.
• He made the unpopular decision to deorbit the Mir Space Station, which many would hold against him.
• He is old (born in 1940); Energiya wants to “promote young managers in order to implement long-term space programs.”

The shareholders’ meeting is in May, so see what transpires then.

The deputy director of the Institute of Medical-Biological Problems, Valerii Bogomolov, said Russia had no plans to strengthen the psychological testing of its cosmonauts following the Lisa Nowak case, as the psychological requirements are already at a high level. It is the first time something like this has occurred in the NASA Astronaut Group, and is not related to her space flight which was over half a year ago. In the near future, Russian experts will discuss the case with NASA medical personnel and those of other countries in the ISS program, and advise them to strengthen the psychological requirements when selecting astronauts, as Lisa Nowak’s case has caused unfavorable publicity. It will also not affect the selection of candidates for the Mars-500 isolation experiment.

Astronaut love drama!

Not exactly Russian spaceflight-related, but this is too dramatic to ignore! Reported at MSNBC.com and the Sun Sentinel: a female astronaut called Capt. Lisa Nowak (married with three children) attempted to kidnap a female air force officer, Capt. Colleen Shipman, apparently believing her to be a rival in love for Cdr. Bill Oefelein (married, two children; he piloted STS-116). She botched the attempt and was later arrested. Sounds like a case of obsessive love. Wonder what she was planning to do with all that equipment she was carrying?

There is a thread discussing the drama at NASA Spaceflight.com, but some are getting all moralistic and huffy about discussing it, and it looks like the thread will be deleted. *Rolls eyes*

The charges for attempted kidnapping are quite serious: life in prison! Perhaps she will get a reduced sentence because of mental instability. Such obsessions can affect and unbalance anyone.

“Cruising For A Space Flight”, Andrei Kislyakov, Space Daily. A continuation of a previous article, “A journey to space is not a jaunt to the Caribbean”.

News tidbits

In Novosti Kosmonavtiki №605 Nikolai Sevast’yanov made some more pronouncements. Energiya proposes four phases of the Russian space program up to the year 2050:

1. Modernization of the existing Soyuz transport ship by 2012 which would increase its load by 7-15 tons;
2. Creation of the “Parom” ferry to replace the Progress cargo ship; it would increase the cargo weight carried into orbit from 2.5 to 15 tons;
3. A piloted flight to the Moon by 2015 and an operational base by 2030;
4. A mission to Mars by 2030 and colonization to begin by 2050.

All these plans and schemes seem to keep moving into the future like a mirage...I will be 60 in 2030 and 80 in 2050! Hopefully things will happen sooner than that!

Russia is also considering a longterm plan to keep the Station operational until 2025 (article also at RIA Novosti). NASA also has changed its mind about supporting the ISS; it initially planned to stop support after 2016 but now plans to extend space station support to 2020.

A page on the Energiya site commemorates the 100th anniversary of the practical cosmonautics founder, academician Sergei Pavlovich Korolyov.

Andrei Kislyakov on the 11 January destruction of a satellite by China: “Oriental satellite killer: case No. 1”: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

“Astronaut diaries used to study mood”, MSNBC.com, 30/1. Unfortunately these diaries are not for public viewing! They would make interesting reading. The diaries posted at the NASA Astronaut Journal site are all cheery and perky, which can get a bit tedious.

A Sea Launch Zenit exploded on its pad destroying a communications satellite it was carrying. No one was injured. (Sea Launch site.) (There is an interesting post describing the Sea Launch procedures at NASASpaceflight.com.)

Vassili Petrovitch has posted an extensive collection of Aerospace Transport Systems: Book of Technical Papers on his Buran space shuttle site. It is an excellent resource for the Russian shuttle. I was interested in Buran until 2002 when the hangar collapsed in May, destroying the Buran orbiter that made it into orbit, and killing seven workers. Before that tragedy there seemed to be some hope of resurrecting the Russian shuttle, but it seems dead now, sadly.