Two European candidates for Mars-500 have been selected: Diego Urbina, 26, Italian-Colombian and Romain Charles, 31, from France. The others in the crew will be announced later in May, and the mission will begin in June.
Roskosmos magazine has two translated Mars-500 articles online: “The Martian Chronicles. Prologue.” and “It’s impossible to reach Mars from Michurinsk without any pickles”.
“Cosmonauts Earn 150 000 Dollars A Mission”, Space Daily, 22/1/2010. They still seem to be using the contract system which was disliked during the Mir era. NASA astronauts get an annual salary of up to $130 000.
“Russians report snag in space safety system”, James Oberg, MSNBC.com, 31/3. The launch escape system for Soyuz TMA-15 last May did not function properly, for still-unknown reasons. Declining quality control in the rocket-and-space manufacturing industry is mentioned as one culprit.
I haven’t been posting for the usual reasons (lack of enthusiasm, lethargy, etc.).
