“ ‘Cosmonauts’ ready for Mars test”, BBC, 22/3. The European Mars-500 candidates are briefly profiled, along with an overview of the experiment. See also the related thread at NASAspaceflight.com, where the European astronauts were presented at a press conference at ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands on 22/3 – also reported at the ESA Mars-500 site, “To Mars and back – as real as it gets”..
“Kazakhstan hindering Russian space missions: official”, Space Daily, 27/2. Kazakhstan officials being difficult because they can (and there is probably some payback for the USSR period). I think they will eventually make a bid to take over Baikonur. Hence the need for the new launch complex at Восточный, Vostochnyi (“Eastern”) in the Amurskaya region. Another thread at NSF.com shows ground reservation maps for Vostochnyi.
