Just coming out of hibernation to note that another Russian woman cosmonaut is in orbit, after 20 years! Elena Serova launched on Soyuz TMA-14M as part of Expedition 41/42; she is the fourth Russian woman overall (following Valentina Tereshkova, Svetlana Savitskaya and Elena Kondakova). Sadly, sexism is still evident, but at least she made it up there!
The cause of the Soyuz rocket crash last month was given as being due to a clogged fuel line leading to a gas generator, thought to be human error rather than a design flaw. (NASASpaceflight.com articles: 31/8, 15/9.) Crew launches on the Soyuz rocket have been delayed a little, and the next Progress launch (Progress M-13M/45P) is set for 30 October. Crew launches are on the Soyuz-FG, which has a modifed fuel injection system on the engines of the first and second stages, but it and the Soyuz-U have the same 11S510-PVB Blok-I third stage.
China is to launch the first module of its planned space station next week on a Long-March Ⅱ-F carrier rocket (MSNBC/Spacedaily articles). The module is called Tiangong 1, or “Heavenly Palace”. The module is to be used to practice rendezvous and docking, initially with the unmanned Shenzhou-8 that will be subsequently launched. If it is successful, it will be followed by Tiangong 2 and 3 space labs in a few years.
New Scientist magazine had an article about the support operations for the Mars-500 mission in its 17 September issue. (Text online here.)
The July and August issues of BIS Spaceflight magazine have a 2-part article on death in space. I am debating whether to buy the issues as the magazine is now quite expensive in Australia ($17) and hard to find. On browsing through the July issue in a newsagent, the first part was more speculation about various medical issues that might occur during a long spaceflight. A bit disappointing as I was hoping for an actual list of procedures from NASA, or whoever! The somewhat morbid topic has interested me for years, but there are no actual documents online, only occasional speculations on forums. I actually wrote out my own version of such a document in the style of other online ISS documents as part of a somewhat irreverent short story I did some years ago (“Houston, we have a corpse”) that included a space autopsy (“2001: a space autopsy” – I had some fun making up those headings :-):
For the first time after 135 launches, a Progress cargo ship failed to reach orbit on the 136th launch (since January 1978). Progress M-12M (44P) launched on 24/8, but the third/Blok 1 rocket stage of its Soyuz-U rocket failed 5m 25s into flight, achieving only a sub-orbital trajectory, and both crashed in the Choysk district of the Altai Republic (South Siberia).
This comes the week after the telecommunications satellite “Express-AM4” failed to reach orbit on 17/8 after the Briz-M upper stage of the Proton-M rocket lost power after its fourth burn (NASASpaceflight.com report). Both are manufactured by Khrunichev. The damage for this, including launch costs, exceeds 20 billion rubles.
Khrunichev also manufacture the RD-0110 (11D55) liquid-propellant rocket engine used on the 3rd stage of the Soyuz rockets
The loss of the cargo is a setback but is not yet critical for the ISS crew, who have enough supplies to last until the next Progress launch on 28/10 (STS-135 also brought up a lot of supplies). However the next crew launch in September will be delayed until the cause for the malfunction is found, as they go up on a Soyuz-FG. The ISS also needs Progress ships for its periodic reboostings.
Half-way through the year and only 3 entries here! My former enthusiasm has really slackened off.
The final flight of the Space Shuttle program, STS-135 Atlantis, landed safely on 21/7 after a mission to the ISS. There has been 30 years of Shuttle missions (¾ of my life). Now Russia will be the sole means of transport to the space station until the U.S. develops its next generation of transport, either by NASA or commercial companies. Exactly what this may be seems uncertain (I have not been following the heated forum debates much) – the current NASA version seems to be the Space Launch System. I am dubious as to whether commercial companies can develop spaceflight quickly as this is a difficult and expensive endeavour.
“Russians: ‘It’s our space age now’ ”, Cosmic Log, 23/7. A translation of a Roskosmos article about the Shuttle retirement is causing some ire (see NASA Watch entry) because the tone of the article appears gloating. It’s unfortunate if that is the case, though one commenter points out: “you have to be aware that russian is a harsh language, so a literal translation may come across as saying one thing, but in reality, they are saying something with a far different tone.”
The Mars-500 crew are still enroute home. They have been in “flight” 415 days, and only have around 4 months to go! (The experiment finishes sometime in November; there is no set date yet.) That period of time has gone swiftly for me, as years seem to do now; I wonder if their perception of time is similar.
The Russian Space Agency Roskosmos got a new head or chief on 29 April: Vladimir Popovkin, formerly the First Deputy Minister of Defense, replacing Anatolii Perminov.
Soyuz TMA-01M landed apparently safely yesterday (16) at 07:54, despite various glitches after its launch – see James Oberg articles “A Digital Soyuz”, September 2010 and “Digital Soyuz Return Could Be Rocky”, 11/3/2011. From the 16/3 ISS On-Orbit Status:
TMA-01M (#701), the first fully “digital” Soyuz, undocked from the MRM2 (Mini Research Module 2) Poisk port early this morning at 12:26 a.m. EDT, after the crew had performed leak checks of the vestibule area between the MRM2 and the Soyuz spacecraft, of their Sokol suits and of the hatch between the Descent Module (SA) and Orbital Module (BO). Three minutes after physical undocking, Soyuz performed the first manual separation burn. This was followed at ~12:33 a.m. by the planned test of the new RODK Manual Attitude Control in Digital Mode which provides automated LVLH (Local Vertical-Local Horizontal) attitude control. After a second manual sep burn (~12:39 a.m.), Kaleri performed the planned test of the ROAK Manual Attitude Control in Analog Mode, which involved the three new orbit-installed rate sensors (“micro ammeters”), designed to provide the crew with information on roll rate & roll angle (officials later pronounced both tests successful). At about 2:56 a.m., the crew activated the spacecraft’s VTsVK MCS (Motion Control System) “Chaika”. The actual de-orbit burn of 4 min 17 sec duration came at 3:03 a.m., resulting in a 115.2 m/sec deceleration. Tri-module separation occurred at 3:28 a.m.. 16 sec after the separation command, software pitched the PAO (Instrumentation/Propulsion Module) in the rear to a specific angle (-78.5 deg from reference axis) which, if PAO would have remained connected to the SA/Descent Module, would have resulted in enough heating on the connecting truss to melt it, thus ensuring separation. Atmospheric entry followed at 3:31 a.m. and nominal parachute deployment at 3:40 a.m.. Following initial observation by Russian SAR personnel in two helicopters, the Soyuz vehicle landed in snow at 3:54 a.m., tipping over in the wind.
“Star City at 50”, Air & Space Magazine, 1/3/2011. Article by Michael Cassutt giving an overview of where the Cosmonaut Training Center is now, and the challenges it faces (mainly chronic underfunding). It is rather disappointing the Russian Air Force does not seem interested in manned spaceflight; this surely would have some strategic value:
Though Roskosmos owns Star City, the agency doesn’t necessarily like the arrangement. According to former cosmonaut Yuri Baturin, “Roskosmos did not plan to absorb GCTC. But the Ministry of Defense specified reductions in armed forces, and simply included GCTC in that.” Apollo-Soyuz astronaut Tom Stafford put it more directly: “The Russian air force couldn’t afford to keep paying the bills. They don’t have an interest in manned spaceflight—they never really did.”
The cosmonaut-pilots also seem to have lost their training aircraft:
Under military control, the training center’s flight support unit, the Seregin Wing, had 16 aircraft, from Aero L-39 training jets to Tupolev Tu-154 transports. These were used by the cosmonauts to maintain pilot proficiency, and for weightlessness training. But in late 2009, the Russian air force disbanded the wing and dispersed the airplanes. “Except for one,” Krikalev notes, “a Tu-154 with glass hatches in its fuselage,” which was formerly used by the Ministry of Defense in NATO’s “Open Skies” program.
12 April marks 50 years since Yurii Gagarin’s first and only spaceflight, and the first manned spaceflight. The problem with these anniversaries is that, with the Russian space program at least, a lot of energy seems to be spent looking nostalgically backward, rather than planning missions for the future. Countries such as China (well, it’s the only other country outside of Russia and the USA to have independently flown humans into space) seem to be forging ahead in their slow but methodical manner. I would be tempted to wager that China will surprise everyone by announcing a manned Mars mission by the end of this decade!
Haven’t been posting for the usual reasons.
The Mars-500 crew reached Mars orbit in late January, landed on Mars on 12 February and reached the mission’s halfway point two days later. They performed 3 simulated EVAs (February 14, 18 and 22) and have now departed, to arrive at Earth in November. They still seem to be in mostly good psychological health!
The first ship of the new Soyuz variant, TMA-01M (700 series), launched to the ISS on 7 October with Expedition 25/26. Space Shuttle Discovery launched on 24/2 after a 4-month delay. The Japan Space Agency’s HTV-2 Konotori (H-Ⅱ Transfer Vehicle, launched 22/1) and ESA’s ATV Johannes Kepler (launched 16/2) are also docked, so all the vehicles of the international partners are up there at the moment! There was a plan to undock the Soyuz TMA-01M to do a flyaround and take photos (this has not been done since STS-71 Atlantis docked with Mir), but Roskosmos decided against it, disappointingly, as the TMA-01M is still classified as a test vehicle.
Six new cosmonaut candidates, approved by an interdepartmental commission on 26 April and 12 October, begun an 18-month training course at GCTC, Star City, starting 15 November and ending July 2012. The candidates, all male, are:
See my Cosmonaut Group page for links. Annoyingly, no official photos are taken until they are assigned a spaceflight, so portraits must be scrounged from the Internet.
While updating that page, I noticed that a new photo of Anton Shkaplerov at the Spacefacts site shows him as rather nice-looking! :-)
The Cosmonaut Group is now united:
Roscosmos Head Signs the Order to Establish United Cosmonaut Corps
Roscosmos Head Anatoly Perminov signed the Order “About Establishment of Roscosmos’ United Cosmonaut Corps” of Dec. 7, 2010.
The order defines completion of Roscosmos Cosmonaut Corps establishment in GCTC by Jan. 1, 2011.
The Corps is to unite cosmonauts of three groups - GCTC, RSC-Energia and IBMP – in a single infrastructure in order to “enhance cosmonaut selection and training effectiveness and to maintain coordinated national policy in human space missions”.
Source: Roskosmos news, 11/12/2010 (Russian version; official Order)
Energiya has a brief report at its site (also at Roskosmos) on the cause of the Progress M-06M docking abort last month: due to interference over a communication channel, a cosmonaut accidentally pressed one of the buttons on the control panel.
“Difficult rebirth for Russian space science”, BBC News, 29/6/2010. Article by Anatoly Zak on the difficult task facing Russian engineers trying to relaunch their country’s long-dormant unmanned space exploration program.
“Russia to kick off construction of a new spaceport”, BBC News, 20/7/2010. Восточный, Vostochnyi (“Eastern”) cosmodrome, an alternative to Baikonur, is to be constructed in Russia’s Far East, intended to be finished by 2015.
“Magic Anti-Radiation Curtain to be Installed in the ISS”, RK, 6/7/2010. An anti-radiation curtain developed by IMBP was delivered on M-06M:
Progress M-06M cargo supply vehicle has delivered a so-called “magic curtain” to the International Space Station. Flight engineer Fyodor Yurchikhin will install the curtain in the starboard’s cabin of the Zvezda module. The curtain designed by IBMP has special pockets for special wet hygienic towels used by cosmonauts onboard the station. The towels are saturated with hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, which mitigate space radiation effects. The curtain is equipped with the radiation doze meters. Additional anti-radiation crew protection may be provided by three-layer wet towels on the walls of the cabins, thus mitigating radiation effects for cosmonauts, scientists believe.
Result of Matreshka experiment carried out in the station since 2004 show that the radiation is about two times weaker in the center of the station then near the walls. Phantom Matreshka-R is to monitor anti-radiation effectiveness of the wet towels. Experiment Matreshka is to study and to analyze radiation dose distribution in cosmonaut's body during long-term mission aboard the International space station (ISS). Dose from ionizing space radiation was determined with the help of thermoluminescent dosimeters mounted in conditional depths of critical organs in human body modeled in a dosimetric device, i.e. a ball-like tissue-equivalent phantom designed and manufactured in Russia for international space experiment Matreshka-R.
“Roscosmos Head Anatoly Perminov: Mission to Mars is to Take Place after 2035”, RK, 7/7/2010. More disappointing confirmation that there won’t be a Russian Martian attempt for some decades. I hope circumstances alter this! (Perhaps discovery of an alien artifact somewhere in the Solar System…)
Roscosmos Head Anatoly Perminov stated that the mission to Mars is planned after 2035, answering the questions of the students at the opening ceremony of International Students Science School “Space Exploration: Theory and Practice” in Russian Federal Space Agency. “Russia, Europe, the USA are interested in Martian missions today. India and China also have similar projects. There are more talks about human space missions to Mars. Russian Government have approved Federal Space Program which clearly defines sequence of automated space missions, as well as future human missions. The basic strategy implies Martian program to be implemented after 2035,” Perminov stated.
He also explained that there are no engines and propulsions systems capable to deliver humans to Mars in 2-3 months. “This is feasible only with nuclear propulsion. Many countries are trying to develop engines of new type, which can make mission time 20 times less- to reduce it from 1.5 years to 2 months,” Roscosmos Head said.
He added that there is another issue – human protection against solar radiation and radiation of the nuclear propulsion (if it is used). “This leads us to increasing mass of the launcher. No country is able of reaching Mars or other planets quickly. We are facing the energy problem. That’s why 2035 is defined in our plans,” Perminov said. “There is another option proposed by Russia and negotiated with heads of other space agencies. Interplanetary vehicles could be assembled in LEO. This approach can help us making the interplanetary missions sooner. Young generation will work with it, develop a new propulsion with a brand new operation principle,” Roscosmos Head concluded.
The Mars-500 crew are now over 2 months into their mission. They are no longer in real-time contact with TsUP:
25/07/2010: Today is important crucial point in the life and work of the crew because voice communication sessions will be completely ceased since the 26th of July. We change over to batch communication with gradual (stepwise) increment of the delays of communication. Batch communication means video-voice messages to the crew and similar answers. It can be used for the implementation of difficult experiments, for regular medical control and for psychological support. In addition to this the communication with the crew via electronic messages will be kept.
Blogger/Google have at last instigated comment spam filtering, so perhaps I can block my persistent Chinese spammer!
Progress M-06M launched successfully on 30 June, but its attempted docking on 2 July was aborted when 20 minutes/3 km from the Station:
Progress Docking Abort: Docking of Progress M-06M/38P was aborted about 20 minutes before its scheduled linkup with ISS at 12:58 p.m. EDT due to loss of radio lock between KURS-P on the SM (Service Module) and KURS-A on Progress. The cargo drone passed by ISS at a safe distance and continues to be in its safe fly-by mode, circling Earth along with ISS every 92 minutes. Docking will not be re-attempted today. ISS systems are being reconfigured back to nominal stage operations configuration. Evaluations are underway for subsequent docking attempts.
– ISS OOR 2/7/2010
The backup manual docking system (ТОРУ, TORU), controlled by crew on the ISS, was also unsuccessful when activated. The next docking attempt will be on Sunday 4 July. (Relevant NASASpaceflight.com thread)
[Update: Progress M-06M successfully docked on 4 July at 16:17:26 to Zvezda SM.]
Yest kasaniye! At 12:17 p.m. EDT, Progress M-06M (38P) docked successfully to the SM (Service Module) aft port under KURS autopilot control, followed by a final DPO post-contact thrusting burn, docking probe retraction and hook closure (“sborka”) after motion damp-out while the ISS was in free drift for ~20 min (12:17 p.m.-12:37 p.m.). At “hooks closed” signal, the SM returned to active attitude control, maneuvering the ISS to LVLH TEA (local vertical/local horizontal Torque Equilibrium Attitude) at ~12:37 p.m. Control authority returns to US Momentum Management at ~2:10 p.m. Russian thrusters will be disabled temporarily during clamps install and leak check (2:10 p.m.-4:10 p.m.). [This was the second docking attempt after yesterday’s aborted linkup, now traced to an interruption of the TORU radio signal by the SM’s Klest/Simvol television system. The dropout of the TORU teleoperated rendezvous & docking system then generated the command “cancel dynamic operations” which aborted KURS automatic rendezvous mode and switched Progress to a safe, passive flightpath, as designed. For today’s docking, TORU, which is usually in “hot standby” mode during Kurs-controlled dockings, was not activated.]
Mars-500 is officially underway as of yesterday, with the crew secluded until November 2011. It is disappointing, though, that no women are participating – “Discrimination row after Russia ‘bans’ women from 18-month mock mission to Mars” suggests that they were unofficially banned for fears of repeating the SFINCSS-99 experiment. The decision has received criticism from various experts.
“The absence of women in Mars-500 Project yet again proves the presence on old-fashioned Earthly gender stereotypes,” complained Mikhail Salkin of the Moscow Human Rights Protection Centre. “The organisers were likely set on choosing men from the start. We suspect the endurance tests they set were more suitable to men than women, and the results will be a biased judgement because it will only apply to males, so will not fit the full picture. “Women should have equal access to any job so we are ready to apply to the Russian General Prosecutor on this and ask him to investigate. The organisers have also forgotten the social tension they can face among six men which might have been softened by having a woman on board.”
[…]
Psychiatrist Egor Rozenkov warned single sex isolation was “more dangerous” than sending a mixed group. “There is a lot of psychological and psychiatric evidence about the social pathologies that develop in isolated male groups, like in jails, the army or schools. “And don’t forget about the danger of sexual inversion. From the point of view of the health of the crew it will be a huge mistake to ‘send’ not a mixed but an all-male crew.”
Soyuz TMA-17 landed on 2 June with ISS-22/23. TMA-19 will launch on 15 June with ISS-24/25.
U.K. Russian space expert Rex Hall died of cancer on 31 May aged 63. Tributes at CollectSPACE, NASASpaceflight.com.
The ISS received another module yesterday: Mini Research Module-1, MIM-1 Rassvet, “Dawn” (МИМ-1 «Рассвет»), the 5th Russian module to reach orbit (or 4th, discounting Zarya). It was carried up by STS-132 Atlantis, and docked at 12:19:45 GMT, 18/5. I have a dedicated page about it on my website.
The Mars-500 finalists were also announced yesterday. They are, from left to right and top to bottom in the photo (from the IMBP page): Sukhrob Kamolov (Russia), Romain Charles (ESA), Diego Urbina (ESA), Wang Yue (China), Aleksei Sitev (Russia), Aleksandr Smoleevskii (Russia), Mikhail Sidel’nikov (Russia). The mission begins 3 June 2010, and ends in November 2011. Each participant will recieve 3 million rubles (nearly USD$100 000).
Expedition 22 (Maksim Suraev & Jeffrey Williams) landed on 18/3. Maksim was the first Russian space blogger, and his informal entries proved very popular with the public.
Roskosmos chief Anatolii Perminov said at the traditional meeting for the Soyuz TMA-18 crew on 19/3 that the financial crisis had not affected the process of preparing the cosmonauts for flight.
Some items from NK №843:
Russia could possibly increase the number of yearly Soyuz manned spacecraft launches from 4 to 5 from 2012 onwards, because of the timing of the construction cycle that takes 2.5 years. The fifth would carry a space tourist. Since 2009, Russia has doubled the number of launches from 2 to 4 to service the ISS with an increased crew of 6; space tourist flights were thus suspended in 2010. Two Indian cosmonauts will make an orbital flight on one of the extra ships in the 2013-2015 period, according to an agreement reached recently between Russia and India. The chief of Enerigya, Vitalii Lopota, said that a fifth Soyuz could possibly be constructed in 2010 to carry a tourist, possibly in mid-year.
Academican Lev Zelenyi (Лев Зеленый) of the Russian Academy of Sciences said that Russian scientists are not satisfied by the small quantity of the research experiments implemented on the International Space Station (only 2 or 3 out of 500 experiments proposed). Most experiments carried out are technological rather than pure science (one of the latter being “Plasma Crystal”). Despite his misgivings, though, his own opinion of the ISS has become more positive.
“In the beginning I was a complete opponent of the ISS, considering that it was a waste of time and resources. Why? It was the 90s, in space no nothing, space science ceased existence under Yeltsin. We started to put our scientific instruments on Western machines, and ISS absorbed most funding. This was done not in the name of science, but for the sake of political prestige. But now it is possible to assess what happened, not to look guilty or innocent, and to perceive what become a reality. ISS made it possible to preserve the ‘human face’ of our space program, and that its merit. It is certainly important in developing space medicine. Americans in this area have we learn something. And if we start talking, and then carry out a manned flight to Mars, some experience on the ISS will certainly be in demand and useful. Over the past years, we have much lost in space, but the experience of long flights is still preserved,” concluded the Academican.
Two women will be part of the second generation Chinese spaceflight group (along with 5 men), selected from a shortlist of 15. They are all aged between 27 and 34, are qualified to fly fighter jets, and all must be married mothers. (Guardian, Space Daily)
Xu Xianrong, an expert at the air force general hospital, said women had advantages as astronauts over men because they were more mentally stable, better able to bear loneliness and had better communication skills. The insistence that they should also be wives and mothers does not relate to their multi-tasking abilities. Officials are concerned that space flight might affect their fertility. “It’s out of the consideration of being responsible for the female pilots,” Xu told the state news agency Xinhua. “Though there is little evidence on how the space experience will affect the female constitution, we have to be extra cautious. After all, it’s unprecedented in China.”
They seem to be a bit more enlightened than Russia regarding women in space! (See 16/10/2007 entry.)
China is to launch the 1st unmanned experimental module of a planned space station next year (2011). It is an 8.5 ton (7.7 tonne) module, named Tiangong-1, or “Heavenly Palace”, and is to be first used for docking practice by the Shenzhou spacecraft – an unmanned Shenzhou-8 in 2013 – then manned -9 & -10 flights.
The first ISS spacewalk for this year took place on 14/1, from the Russian segment, the 24th Russian spacewalk. Details:
“At last, space station crew gets live Internet”, MSNBC.com, 22/1. I did mention in my 4/12/2009 entry that the ISS crews were getting Internet, and this article gives more details (see also “NASA Extends the World Wide Web Out Into Space”, NASA Media Advisory, 22/1/2010).
Humphries said the space Internet uses the station’s high-speed Ku-band antenna, so it is active whenever the station has that connection. To surf the Web, astronauts can use a station laptop to control a desktop computer on Earth. It is that ground computer that has the physical connection to the Internet. There are security restrictions in place to protect the Internet portal, which NASA is calling the Crew Support LAN (Local Access Network).
Energiya’s website is undergoing a makeover with a new design (reminiscent of NASA’s current site); the old one has been in place since the 1990s. They are still using a table for page layout though (a very outdated method now), and the site is not very accessible (too much Javascript, and I wish they would discontinue the images appearing in pop-up windows!).
I decided to rename my “Kosmonavtka” sub-site to “RuSpace” (Russian Spaceflight) which is easier to say and remember. I wish I had not chosen the Kosmonavtka name – it makes no sense (it means “lady cosmonaut”, «Космонавтка») and sounds wierd – but was stuck for a name at the time, and happened to see it in a book. Thankfully I did not choose it for my main site URL (it was an option I considered).
I found out how to do 301 redirects, so have spent the afternoon moving files. Unfortunately it means anyone who has linked to my site will have to update bookmarks or links (there are quite a lot), and search engines will have to reindex, which might take many months.
I don’t update my space site (or this blog) much anymore; I feel little enthusiasm for it. The manned space program itself is going nowhere slowly – or around in circles – and just seems stagnant. Perhaps if there were an international manned Mars mission my interest would rekindle, but such a mission is unlikely to happen for a long time, if ever, given the numerous problems in the world.
Soyuz TMA-17 docked on 22 Dec 2009 at 22:48 to Zarya FGB nadir port with ISS-22/23 on board, adding to Maksim Suraev and Jeffrey Williams. Maksim is still keeping his Orbital Log (link in my blog links to the right).
There was a post at the Mars-500 Livejournal blog (in Russian) that a Chinese volunteer might be included in Mars-500 (replacing one Russian volunteer).
From 15 to 18 December 2009 a meeting was held between IBMP specialists and Chinese Cosmonauts Training Center (KTSPK). The meeting was devoted to discussing issues related to the possible participation of Chinese experts in the project “Mars-500”. As a result of the meeting was agreed on the possibility of inclusion in the scientific program of the 520-day isolation in the framework of the project “Mars-500” three scientific methods. In addition, discussed the possibility of inclusion in the crew of a Chinese volunteer.
Good news for orbiting Internet addicts – the ISS has access at last (though experimental at the moment) – 3/12/2009 On-Orbit Report:
At ~11:05 a.m. EST, Jeff Williams conducted a one-hour video-based training session on the exciting new CSL (Crew Support Local Area Network) capabilities and hardware. [Crew Support LAN Phase 1 will provide live Internet access to the ISS crew (initially only USOS crewmembers) as safely, securely and reliably as possible whenever Ku-band is available. The access will be accomplished by connecting to a remote desktop session on a remote server (Citrix server) located on the ground, which hosts the virtual desktops, and the crew sees only an image of the remote desktop which does the Internet surfing. Video and audio can be received (but may be choppy or sometimes out of sync). The CSL, a virtual network completely separate from the station-wide Ops LAN, will use existing IBM A31p laptops and existing network hardware. Initially, there will be only one CSL laptop (Client 1) and one CSL server (CREWLAN SERVER) both set up in Node-2. After the initial testing, the CSL will be expanded to include up to four clients.]
The Roskosmos/Russian Space Agency site has had a makeover (though still using tables for layout, tsk, tsk) – the English-translated pages seem to have gone. Hopefully they will return? Also, my links in previous blog entries to their pages now seem to be broken – I hate it when that happens!
Soyuz TMA-15 landed on 1 Dec 2009 at 07:16 UTC with ISS-21 aboard. (NASA photo gallery)
“Cosmonaut: Russia falling behind in space race”, MSNBC.com, 20/11. Cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin is concerned at Russia’s tardiness of developing a new spacecraft, and that it will fall behind other countries and become irrelevant. Cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov voiced similar concerns last year (18/5/2008 entry), about Russia being relegated to a space tourist taxi service.
He said officials’ talk of using the ship to fly to the International Space Station, and then the moon and Mars, are unfeasible. “One vehicle can’t be both a steamroller and a Formula One racer,” he said.
[…]
Tyurin said that work on the prospective ship has proceeded slowly, with engineers continuing to argue over such basic things as whether the new spacecraft should come back using parachutes, like the Soyuz, or land like a plane, similar to the U.S. shuttles.
[…]
But Tyurin warned that the failure to develop new space technologies would relegate Russia to a secondary role in the near future. “Very soon, no one will need the Russian space program,” he said. “Our partners already have got all they could from us. They won’t take us into the future.”
“Russian room ready for space station launch”, MSNBC.com, 9/11. On the new Russian module, Poisk, launched 2 weeks ago.
“Industry Insiders Foresaw Delay of Russia’s Phobos-Grunt”, Spacenews.com, 5/10. Article by Anatoly Zak on why the Phobos probe has been delayed until 2011: more equipment testing is needed, the onboard flight control system wasn’t ready, nore are ground control facilities.
“Russian Cosmonaut’s Blog Much Funnier Than NASA”, Wired.com, 18/9. On Maksim Suraev’s blog (at Roskosmos and translated into English).
Not exactly what you’d find NASA astronauts like Mike Massimino writing about, and that’s exactly what makes the reflections worth reading. We tend to receive our vision of space exploration through the American lens, so it’s great to get some outside perspective on what’s going on up there. And Suraev’s site really feels like someone’s blog.
The fourth Russian module «Поиск», Poisk is now safely docked to the ISS. I have a page about it on my website. Some launch data:
On the Roskosmos site is a “Presentation by A.S.Koroteev, Keldysh Center Director: ‘Significant Objectives of Space Exploration in the 21st Century’ ”, showing Powerpoint plans for a nuclear space tug (click the English flag in the top right corner).
“New Russian Crew Vehicle Simulator will be Built in Three Years”, Roskosmos, 3/11.
Simulator of the new Russian crew vehicle Rus’ will be built in three years, Director of the Simulator Design Center Valentin Shukshunov says. The process can be started once draft design of the vehicle is completed. The simulator system will consist of 4 trainers intended to train diferrent exercises. Integrated simulator is the first one to be built, then there will come docking and vehicle control simulators. In other words, Shukshunov says, the simulator will appear earlier than the vehicle itself.
Via NK №817: the training simulator for the proposed “Rus” spaceship could be created 3 years after the design of the ship is completed – in 2013 – the director of the Flight Simulator Training Center (Центра тренажеростроения), Valentine Shukshunov, has said. A virtual model would be created first, then the training apparatus. The training complex would include at least 4 different apparatus, including a complete spaceship simulator, another for docking, and another for in-orbit flight. The simulator would be ready before the actual spaceship made its first flight. For 30 years of the history of the enterprise, only once has the training apparatus been created earlier than a spaceship’s launch into space, or a space station module has been sent into an orbit. This has been the case for the training apparatus of the small laboratory module (MIM-2). The training apparatus for it already operates, though the module is not sent yet into orbit.
“Poisk Module: Brief Description”, Roskosmos, 4/11. Includes two computer images of MIM-2, though not translated into English yet.
Poisk, also known as the Mini-Research Module 2 (MRM 2), is a new Russian docking module of the International Space Station. Its original name was Docking Module 2 (Stykovochniy Otsek 2 [SO-2]), as it is almost identical to Pirs already on the station.
It will be added to the zenith port of the Zvezda module, and will serve as an additional docking port for Soyuz and Progress spacecraft and as an airlock for spacewalks. Poisk will also provide extra space for scientific experiments, and provide power-supply outlets and data-transmission interfaces for two external scientific payloads to be developed by the Russian Academy of Sciences. The mass of the module is 4,000 kg. It has a diameter of 2.6 m and length of 4.6, providing 12.5 cubic meters of internal volume.
Roskosmos seems to have taken inspiration from NASA and is (at long last!) hosting a journal by Maksim Suraev, now in orbit. It is currently only in Russian. [Also now in English at Russia Today]
“Why does the Cosmos attract me?”, Russian Cosmos magazine, November 2009. An interview with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. He mentions Sergei Krikalyov as they both flew on STS-60 in 1994.
Progress M-MIM2/M-MRM2 («Прогресс М-МИМ2»), carrying the new module Poisk, «Поиск» (“Search”), is due to be launched on 10 November (the day after my birthday!). The Energiya site has a series of pre-launch preparation photos.
“Russian president backs nuclear spaceship”, MSNBC.com, 28/10. Russian officials said they wanted to build a nuclear-powered spaceship (the preliminary design ready by 2012, and 9 more years to build it), an announcement met with the usual skepticism (“Show me the money!”). I am not sure if the nuclear component is a reactor powering electrical propulsion engines, or an actual nuclear rocket propelling the ship. A diagram below, which illustrates the former version (from “Russian nuclear-powered spaceship” at the Orbiter Forum):
This entry at NASASpaceflight.com also mentions the proposal. According to another commentator:
It is basically the solar electric tug Energia proposed some years ago for a Mars mission, but they now replaced the huge solar power arrays by a nuclear reactor. The solar-powered version must have been too much in terms of required orbital assembly operations (mentioned in the following link), so they opted for the nuke.
Daniel Marin has an entry (in Spanish) at his blog – “Russian nuclear ships” – detailing various Russian developments for nuclear-powered space missions.
Former cosmonaut Aleksandr Volkov became Head of Star City Administration on 22/10. Coincidentally, he did two long space missons with Sergei (Mir Principal Expeditions 4 and 10). (Roskosmos interview, only in Russian). There was a scandal surrounding the initial candidate, as described in this news article (reproduced below), where Colonel of the FSB Nikolay Rybkin was arrested for allegedly organizing the illegal delivery of an exceptionally large contraband of Chinese goods through Baltic Customs. This caused much indignation in Star City as he was a popular figure, and some thought the arrest a set-up.
The Star City scandal
By: Aleksandr Emelianikov, Vladimir Bogdanov
Yesterday, Star City held mayoral elections for the first time. The elections took place in scandalous and highly strung conditions related to the recent arrest of the main candidate, resigned Colonel of the FSB Nikolay Rybkin.
The situation got so heated that many respectable residents of Star City wrote to the president, asking him to support the free will of the citizens. 63-year-old Rybkin was detained late night on the territory of Star City on June 24. The next day, Basmanny Court gave orders for his arrest.
Rybkin is suspected of organizing the illegal delivery of an exceptionally large contraband of Chinese goods through Baltic Customs. A dummy organization was used, Rosmoravia, and Rybkin, a former chekist (KGB serviceman), is one of the founders of the company. These goods, with an estimated cost of 10 million roubles, were later sold on the Russian market. The judicial investigation suggests that part of the contraband was directed to Moscow’s Cherkizovo market.
The criminal case against the members of Baltic Customs involved in the smuggling from China and selling the goods on the markets of Moscow Oblast and other regions, including on markets the group of companies of ACT, was initiated in February of this year. The cofounders of LLC Rosmoravia, Tarakanov and Potocky, have also been arrested.
The Head of the Investigation Committee, Aleksandr Bastrykin, announced that he will be fighting to eliminate the Cherkizovo market:
“We have been searching for those responsible for these illegal goods in the amount of $2 billion. No one knows who had delivered these products here,” he commented on the outcomes of the investigation for the first six months of the investigation during the board meeting of his committee. He continued to say that “this pigsty needs to be shut down, and we will bring it to an end in the near future. Though not everything is so simple. When one digs deeper into the problem, protection rackets come to light that one cannot even dream of.”
Rybkin’s arrest provoked a huge response in Star City. The suspect was considered a respectable figure of authority who did many things for Star City’s residents. He was considered a great sponsor of the town. One of his widely known acts was reintroducing twelve swans that inhabit the town’s lake. There was a time when Star City was proud of these birds, but during perestroika, someone ate the swans and sent the bones to the town’s administration. Rybkin, once again, ordered the swans from abroad. He restored fountains. Near his house, he built an exact copy of the home where Yury Gagarin was born and raised in the Smolensk Oblast, and opened a museum named after Gagarin.
According to our sources in the special services, the chekist headed the local counterintelligence department for the last 25 years. In his youth, for several years he was a radio-gunner on a Tu-16 bomber. He then graduated from the KGB school, and in 1976 began working at the cosmonaut training center where he ensured the protection of classified government intelligence on human spaceflight.
In his line of work with counterintelligence, he got promoted to the post of Deputy Chief of the Center. He completed missions abroad. In particular, he took part in rescuing hostages in Somalia and Ethiopia, for which he was awarded the Order of the Red Star. In 1995 he stopped a dangerous criminal who was responsible for 200 crimes, including 28 murders. For that, the former KGB man was awarded the Order of Courage.
Right after the arrest over the scandal, his attorney Roman Smadych announced that his client would be prepared to go on hunger strike if there was not going to be an impartial investigation into his case, or if he isn’t granted the constitutional right to participate in the Star City mayoral election. Rybkin, however, did not go on a hunger strike after all, and his surname can still be found on the list of mayoral candidates.
Many residents of Star City are connecting Rybkin’s arrest with the elections. They think that someone is trying to eliminate the leading candidate from the race.
Aleksandr Volkov, Commander of the Cosmonaut Corps (1991-1998), and Hero of the Soviet Union: “I’ve known Nikolai Rybkin for more than 30 years. I doubt I will be mistaken if I say that no one worries about Star City more than he does: he worked with pensioners, cared for the veterans of the Great Patriotic War and those of the Afghanistan war. This is a person who cares about the future of this town, and the people who live here.
“One ought to consider that many people cast their votes well before the court ordered his arrest. I know that Aleksey Leonov cast an early vote. He especially went to Shchyolkovo to vote. And if one were to judge from our two houses, the election day turnout must have been high as well. Everyone perfectly understands that the decision of who will lead Star City depends on our vote.”
A curious bit of trivia noted in the article is that some Australian black swans (one of which can be seen in this Roskosmos news report) inhabit the Star City lake! (Some hapless swans got eaten.)
«Звездный с трудом снимает погоны» (“Star City difficult to demilitarize”), Roskosmos, 23/10 (only in Russian). Interview with Sergei Krikalyov on the problems of administrating Star City and transferring it from military from civilian control. A lot of the infrastructure is old and needs upgrading. The Russian Air Force/Defence Ministry seems eager to secede control over Star City – I thought it would have been an asset? One reason for the transfer is cost-cutting by Minister of Defence Anatolii Serdyukov (source). Something they may regret?
Soyuz TMA-14 landed on 11 October. Guy Laliberté was still wearing that blasted red nose! (I really hate clowns.)
“ ‘Space clown’ buoyant ahead of space launch”, MSNBC, 28/9. I can’t say I feel impressed with the anticipated antics of the latest space tourist, who is soon to launch on Soyuz TMA-16. Yes, I know it’s his money and he can do with it as he likes, but the “poetical social” blather he plans on indulging in seems frivolous.
Other space tourists have used their time at the space station to conduct scientific experiments, but Laliberté has different aims for his 12 days aboard the orbiting lab. “I am not a scientist, I’m not a doctor, I’m not an engineer,” he said. “I’m an organizer, a showman, and a creator – I have an entertaining personality, so that is really what I am bringing here.” Laliberté has promised to bring each crew member of the space station their own clown nose to wear, but plans to take two along for himself: one red, one yellow – “the yellow one I will wear when I am a little grumpy, and the red one I will wear when I am happy and joyful.”
*Rolls eyes in cynical disgust*
Laliberté also aims to use the trip to promote awareness of world water supply problems. On Oct. 9, he will lead a “poetical social” performance from aboard the station for the One Drop Foundation, an organization he set up in 2007.
“I start with the simple idea of reading a poem, which will involve characters like the sun, the moon and a drop of water,” he explains. “Those characters will then engage in a discussion, which will take the form of a little poetic story that we will read to the population of Earth.” Activists and celebrities, including former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and Colombian pop star Shakira, are to contribute to the performance from 14 cities worldwide, and all of it is to be shown on the foundation’s Web site.
One major reason for water shortages is human overpopulation, but I can be certain he won’t mention that factor. He also, incidentally, has 5 children, which is not helping the environment!
I was oddly reminded of this scene from Stephen Baxter’s novel Titan, where the renegade astronauts enroute to the moon of Saturn are going a bit crazy:
Benacerraf watched, discreetly, as Angel took up position near the water spigots of the galley. And, with his skinny, spindled legs folded under him, he started to play with water. Angel took a syringe now, for example, and filled it with water from a spigot. When he pressed the plunger, slowly and carefully, injecting water into the air, a small bubble grew from the needle’s tip. He jerked the needle away and the water took the form of a tiny planet, floating in the air. Angel worked his needle and produced a whole set of the little water globes, drifting in the air around his head.
Then he took smaller syringes from a set he’d improvised from medical waste, and injected the bubbles with iodine, grape juice, diluted orange juice, to stain them blue, green, yellow, red. Soon he had a whole Solar System, Benacerraf thought, with a miniature Mars and Earth and Jupiter, floating around his bearded head as if around a sun. Angel’s eyes followed the little spheres, entranced.
[…]
Benacerraf was no expert on abnormal states of the mind. But she hadn’t tried to discuss this with Mission Control. She wasn’t sure who would be listening any more anyhow. And on a planet where local wars were flaring over water management problems, the image of gaunt Americans playing head games with the wet stuff on some dumb Buck Rogers mission halfway to Saturn would not play well with the public.
