Progress success

Progress M-13M/45 launched on 30/10 and docked to the Pirs module of the ISS on 2/11 with no anomalies, a great relief to everyone! The crew will get some iPads (lucky them!). (NASASpaceflight.com: “Progress successfully docks to ISS; stage set for return of manned Soyuz flight”.) The next crew to launch in November will be ISS-29/30.

The Mars-500 experiment ends this week, 4 November! The crew seem to have survived with their sanity intact :-).

China’s launch of the Tiangong 1 space station module on 29/9 was successful. On 31/10 Shenzhou 8 was launched, an unmanned version of the capsule, and remotely docked to Tiangong on 2/11.

The Phobos-Grunt probe is set to launch next week, 8 or 9 November, if there are no delays – the launch window is from 5-25 November, otherwise there are another 2 years or so until the next Mars launch opportunity. It has what appears to be an official website.

I decided not to buy the Spaceflight issues mentioned last entry as they were speculative only, and the magazine too expensive.

The Soyuz era

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.

Mars landing

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:

• Andrei Nikolaevich Babkin (RSC Energiya)
  Андрей Николаевич Бабкин
• Aleksei Mikhailovich Khomenchuk (GCTC)
  Алексей Михайлович Хоменчук
• Sergei Vladimirovich Kud’-Sverchkov (RSC Energiya)
  Сергей Владимирович Кудь-Сверчков
• Denis Vladimirovich Matveev (GCTC)
  Денис Владимирович Матвеев
• Svyatoslav Andreievich Morosov (RSC Energiya)
  Святослав Андреевич Моросов
• Ivan Viktorovich Vagner (RSC Energiya)
  Иван Викторович Вагнер

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)

Mars and magic curtains

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!

21 days later

The Mars-500 crew are 21 days or three weeks into their “mission”.

On their Google site a serial story is being published each week, each chapter written by a different Russian author. Unfortunately the only translation provided is a computer one, which is imperfect at best – I wish they had spent some $ on a human translator. The title of the first chapter is computer translated as “Start need to cancel?” which human translates into something like “Cancel launch?”, and struggling to make sense of the tortured syntax takes away from enjoying the story.

“How risky is it to rely on Russian spaceflight?”, James Oberg, MSNBC.com, 15/6.

“The People’s Capsule”, Foreign Policy, August 2010. A rather gloomy overview of the Russian space program and its manned Soyuz spaceship.

Locked in

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.

New Dawn module in orbit

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).

Final Mars-500 ESA candidates

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.).

Mars-500 ESA cosmonauts

“ ‘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.

Mars-500 food taste testing

IMBP has the news of the candidate shortlist posted on their website, and a group photo.

The candidates also had to do food taste testing (not an onerous chore!) for the prepackaged food they will need to take on board for 520 days (nearly 1½ years). There won’t be any fresh fruit or vegetables (unless they manage to grow these in a greenhouse).

Doctor Alexandr Agureev (head of the department of nutrition in IBMP and the head of works on nutrition in “Mars-500” project) informed the investigators about the fact that in the given experiment for each stage of the experiment its own variant of food ration would be used:

1. The stage of simulation of the flight to Mars. The ration is formed from the products (including semi-finished products of dishes), manufactured by a series of European firms («Apetito», «Kellogg», «Hipp», «Coppenrath», «Enervit», «Knorr»). This part of the ration is supervised by German scientist Doctor Jens Titze from the University in Erlangen.
2. The stage of landing to Mars. The second variant of the ration will have 2 kinds. For the three crew members who will simulate descent and going to the Martian surface, the food ration will be formed from the products ready for consumption without heating and it will only foresee consumption of hot drinks. For these purposes real space products used during forming of food ration for the crews of transportation vehicle “Soyuz” are most suitable. The rest three crew members who will simulate flight on the Martian orbit, will eat the ration of the first and third variants.
3. The most difficult task is forming of the 3rd variant of food ration for the stage of simulation of the flight from Mars to Earth. It is connected with the fact that the main mass of products for cosmonauts has shelf life in temperature conditions of the environment from 1 to 2 years. However, assortment of products having 2-year shelf life is extremely limited.

In 520-day experiment this food ration will be formed from products produced by food enterprises of Korea, Italy, China and Russian (“Gala-Gala” firm and enterprises of food industry Michurinsk city).

I think I will be feeling more interested in Mars-500 than the real manned space program, which is currently limited to a few people going up to the ISS, staying a few months, going down, etc. It has been suggested that an ISS crew member stay up there for a year or more (as cosmonaut Valerii Polyakov did on Mir for 437 days during 1994-1995), but nothing has come of that so far.

The estimated cost of the project is €15 million (around $20.5 million U.S. dollars). I really wish that could have been put toward a real Mars mission. My own (quasi-suicidal) plan is for a manned test mission to Mars and back, orbiting the planet without landing (thus the extra expense for a Mars lander would not yet be needed). The crew would be a minimal two, and the spaceship would be based on the structure of the ISS Russian segment, with a “Topaz” nuclear reactor in an extra rear module to provide power for electrical propulsion (solar power is not enough that far out to Mars). As the mission is experimental, the crew would need to accept the inherent risks (will the life support systems function for that long? Will they survive the effects of background radiation exposure?). Maybe Russia and China could team up to do such a mission. This mission could pave the way for a more expensive manned landing. It would also excite public interest, especially with the risks involved.

Mars-500 shortlist

Selection candidates for the 520-day Mars flight simulation have been announced (though not on the official site yet). There is one Chinese candidate (he is not on the lists at Spacefacts or Wikipedia), and no women:

Name	Age	Country	Profession (for simulation)
Sukhrob Kamolov Камолов, Сухроб Рустамович	32	Russia	Doctor, surgeon Хирург
Mikhail Sidel’nikov Синельников, Михаил Олегович	37	Russia	Engineer-electrician Инженер-электромеханик
Aleksei Sitev Ситев, Алексей Сергеевич	38	Russia	Engineer Инженер-кораблестроитель
Alexander Smoleevskii Смолеевский, Александр Егорович	33	Russia	Doctor, GP Врач общей практики
Alexander Sukhov Сухов, Александр Викторович	32	Russia	Engineer
Boris Yegorov Егоров, Борис Афанасьевич	44	Russia	Engineer
Andrei Zhirnov Жирнов, Андрей Александрович	30	Russia	Engineer
Jerome Clevers	30	Belgium	Engineer
Arc’hanmael Gaillard	34	France	Engineer
Diego Urbina	27	Italy	Engineer
Wang Yue	27	China	Tester Исследователь

After the 6 finalists have been selected, the simulation is to begin in late April, consisting of a 250-day outward trip, a 30-day stay on its surface, and a 240-day return flight.

Mars-500 spacesuits tested

From NK №836, rough computer translations of two Mars-related news items. First, a manned Mars mission is not in current Russian plans, disappointingly. I would like to see one happen before 2020! Hopefully before China or other countries send a mission there.

11/02/2010/00:05 – A piloted flight to Mars is not yet included in Russian Space Department plans

A piloted flight to Mars is not included in the upcoming plans of the Russian Space Department and is not included in the space program of Russia, the head of department Anatoly Perminov said Wednesday on air at the radio station “Voice of Russia”.

“In the foreseeable future no flights to Mars are planned. New modern or future systems of power impellent installations are for this purpose necessary; as well as these, there may also be nuclear installations developed,” Perminov noted.

For a performance of such flight, he considers it necessary at first to solve a number of scientific problems. “The ground experiment Mars-500 will soon begin, and a number of the European countries are actively participating in it.”

For a flight to the Red planet, according to Perminov, new power impellent installations will be required.

“Perhaps, these will be nuclear installations. Are we working on this? Yes. There are no secrets. Because the president of our country has set us this task. In one of programs there is development of power impellent nuclear installation. With its help it will be already possible in the future to reach Mars in under a year and and a half, and in the shortest possible time,” Perminov stated.

The head of the Russian Space Department has also confirmed the readiness of the Russian Space Department to co-operate from NASA in developing such systems. “It would be desirable, that such large-scale projects were international, with faster results, and lessening costs. We are ready to co -operate. If for some reasons it does not turn out, we will develop in parallel,” Perminov said.

The spacesuits for Mars-500 are modified/recycled Orlan-DMA suits, an older version of the current Orlan-MK used in orbit on the ISS. They were successfully tested. There is a gallery at the Mars-500 site from early last year of a spacesuit being tested.

12/02/2010/00:05 – “Marsonauts” from experiment “Mars-500” will work on the surface of the Red Planet using Russian lunar tools

In the research-and-production enterprise NPP Zvezda situated near Moscow on Wednesday has passed a control “run” of a new spacesuit which will be involved in the “Mars-500” experiment, simulating a piloted flight to Mars.

Two testers for NPP Zvezda worked for hours in spacesuits on a surface imitating that of the Red Planet, carrying out various manipulations with special tools. One of the “marsonauts” broke up large chunks of rock, and then using the probe would pick up wooden blocks, simulating pieces of Martian soil, and put them in a pouch hanging from her utility belt. Another “pioneer” scooped up sand with a small shovel (the sand imitating loose soil) and dumped it in a special container.

“These tools were developed in the 60 years of the last century for a national lunar program,” explained one of the leaders of the Soviet lunar program from RSC Energiya, Oleg Tsygankov. After the program was canceled, the miraculously preserved instruments can now be used in the experiments on the preparation of manned flights to other planets, he said.

After collecting rocks, the space travelers imitated Michael Jackson’s famous moonwalk in their spacesuits and dropped to one knee, like a knight offering his hands and heart to his lady.

“The spacesuits are based on the old Orlan-DMA Russian suit,” which is different from the new Orlans which the ISS crews wear in space,” the chief of department NPP Zvezda, Gennadii Shchavelev, said. First of all, they are smaller in size: length and chest. As well, they weigh only 30 kg – four times less than the zero-g Orlans – as the testers on Earth are not helped by weightlessness. One more difference: the Orlans have a self-contained life-support system, while in the “Martian” spacesuits, air for cosmonauts moves through long hoses from special compressors.

The colour of the new “suits” is unusual also - unlike the white Orlans, their “Martian” colleagues are made of a brilliant peach-coloured fabric. “We could not decide on a color for the new spacesuits,” designer Galina Borisova said. “We looked at many fabrics – blue, steel, dark blue – but eventually settled on this color that is harmonious with the reddish Martian surface.”

“The spacesuits behaved impeccably, all systems functioned normally, no improvements are not required,” Shchavelev summed up the test run.

After drying, the “Martian” spacesuits will go to the warehouse, and then, after a fitting with the selected Mars-500 crew, the suits will be transferred to the “Martian spacecraft”, situated in the Institute of Biomedical Problems of RAS, which in April will begin the 520-day experiment.

TMA-17 docked

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.

Mars-105 completed

The Mars-105 isolation experiment was concluded yesterday (14th) at 10:00 UTC, the 6 participants emerging in good spirits. One wonders if the same will be the case after 500 days! I suspect not. Mars-500 is currently due to begin in early 2010. “Mars flight simulation experiment ends”, MSNBC.com, 14/7, has some details. Having no Internet access would be a major deprivation for me!

NASA’s fifth launch attempt of STS-127 Atlantis was unsuccessful, so they are trying for a sixth today! (22:03 UTC) The record for the most launch attempts is 6 for STS-61C in 1985-86 (launched on the 7th attempt). The External Tank is certified for 13 refill cycles before it is no longer usable. There are 7 flights left before the Shuttle program ends.

Mars-500 pointless?

From NK 792. Former cosmonaut Valentin Lebedev is of the opinion that the Mars-500 experiment will not reveal anything new, and is not an effective simulation of a journey to Mars.

03/07/2009 / 00:05 – Valentin Lebedev: Mars-500 experiment “will not provide the necessary scientific data for a manned flight to Mars”

The Mars-500 scientific experiment, which is scheduled to begin next spring, will not give scientists the data needed to understand the possibility of interplanetary flight, said the member of Russian Academy of Sciences, pilot-cosmonaut, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Valentin Lebedev.

“As for the ground experiments, the similar Mars-500 experiments, which now try to mimic the conditions of the Martian mission, offer little understanding of the problems of human flight in deep space, while we have for decades made long flights on orbital stations,” said V. Lebedev, whose paper is published on the Roscosmos site.

According to him, an experiment with human habitation in an enclosed space does not provide the necessary psychological conditions, as participants at any time may leave the premises. “It's conditional, as if preparing to drift on ice floes in the Arctic held in winter on a pond near Moscow,” said the cosmonaut.

As noted by Lebedev, ground-based studies have little relevance to real interplanetary flight, adding that experiments on living people in closed spaces were conducted in the country several times, and the Mars-500 experiment is just a repeat of this.

The cosmonaut suggested that a special module be developed that would simulate a Mars mission, and attach it to the ISS. “Then it will be possible to create conditions in the module closest to interplanetary flight,” said V. Lebedev.

The beginning of the Mars-500 experiment, during which the scientists are planning to simulate a manned flight of six volunteers to Mars, is scheduled for the beginning of 2010. During the 520-day virtual flight, scheduled work will take place on the Martian surface for a month by two participants in the experiment inside the simulator constructed in the Institute of Biomedical Problems building.

He does have a valid point – the experiment also takes place in full gravity with no worries about radiation exposure from deep space. Attaching a specialized module to the ISS is a valid alternative; but it would be expensive (though perhaps not much more than the $10 million or so for the ground experiment?).

The rather graphic diagram below – “Mechanism of lumbar spine distraction fracture (Chance Fracture)” – is from a report on the STS-107 Columbia accident, showing the seatbelt of a crewperson cutting through their waist and snapping their spine. Ugh! That’s about the most gruesome image in the report – no photos of the bodies, alas. I suppose they would have looked something like the charred cosmonaut in my 30/11/2008 entry, but broken into pieces. There is another of a charred helmet, also below – temperatures it endured are given as 300-400°C, so one can imagine the state of the head inside. (If I go asking such morbid questions on forums though, I will be told off, so I will have to restrict my ghoulish curiosity about such things to my blog. Well, Dad was an Airworthiness Inspector [who saw dead bodies!] and Mum was a nurse [who saw dead bodies!], so I’ll blame this on them.)

Future Russian spacesuit

A selection of items from Novosti Kosmonavtiki №781, including details of the spacesuit to follow the Orlan-MK: the Orlan-MKS.

08/05/2009/00:05 – Cosmonaut Romanenko is happy with the new Orlan-MK spacesuit

Hereditary Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, flight engineer of the ISS-20/21 crew, was satisfied with NPP Zvezda’s new computerized spacesuit Orlan-MK while training in it in the Hydrolab at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.

“It is different from the previous model – in fact, somewhere in between the American EMU and Russian Orlan-M.” The main innovation is its full computerization – the suit itself “suggests” actions for the cosmonaut to take in case of emergencies. It is important that the computer tips can be disabled if you want; the cosmonaut himself can decide which mode of operation is preferable,” said Romanenko at a preflight press conference on Thursday at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.

07/05/2009/00:05 Participants in the Mars-105 experiment have been “in flight” already more than a month

The participants in the 105-day scientific experiment in which a flight to Mars is being simulated, have been in ground “Mars flight” already more than a month, said the Institute of Biomedical Problems, Russian Academy of Sciences.

“A third path shall be taken. The six testers ‘fly’ on. The most difficult stage is behind us: the creation of this team,” said the representative of the Russian Academy of Sciences IMBP, Paul Morgunov.

According to him, despite the fact that the crew was formed and tested in advance, the work in isolation brought about changes. “But the scientists were lucky: the crew harmonized. According to the reports of the participants, time dragged slowly at first, but now they are accustomed to, and have not even noticed as more than a month has passed in “flight”.

“Scientific data, and material already has been gathered for the next flight to Mars, but the most complex experiments are yet to come,” said the IMBP representative.

07.05.2009 / 00:05 In 2012, Russian cosmonauts will have a new survival suit

A new Russian survival suit for work in free space will be created in a few years, Sergei Pozdnyakov, the general director and the main designer of the research and production enterprise (NPP) Zvezda, said. “The first models will appear in 2012, and the definitive variant should be ready by 2015,” he said.

According to S. Pozdnyakov, the following series of survival suits will be called “Orlan-MKS” (modified, with a computer and a synthetic cover – модифицированный, с компьютером и синтетической оболочкой). For the survival suit’s cover, polyurethane will be used instead of rubber. “Polyurethane is a very reliable and durable material. Its structure is such, that even when damaged by a sharp object, the material does not tear open. Such reliability will allow us to use a double cover for modern survival suits, to make the new Orlan more mobile and comfortable,” he explained.

Use of the new cover will positively affect the survival suit’s service life. This will increase from 4-5 years to 6-7. At the same time the quantity of exits in which it will be possible to use the new Orlan will be increased. “The Orlan-M is calculated to last for 12 extravehicular activity of a duration of about 6 hours, the Orlan-MK for 15 EVAs, and the Orlan-MKS for 20 EVAs,” noted S. Pozdnyakov.

07/05/2009/00:05 – Cosmonauts of the new Russian spaceship Rus’ will not wear survival suits, being placed in tight capsules

In the new Russian piloted ship Rus’, «Русь», whose design outline is planned to be finished next year, instead of flight survival suits there may be individual tight capsules.

“There are ideas to place cosmonauts who do not take part in piloting the ship, in tight capsules instead of survival suits. The cosmonaut enters into such capsule, closes the hatch and sits in it like an egg at the dangerous stages of flight,” the general director and the main designer of the research and production enterprise Zvezda, Sergei Pozdnyakov, said.

However this is only an idea. As often in reality, this idea will become clear after requirements for the systems of protection and life-support of the new ship’s crew arrive at NPP Zvezda. “We wait for the initial data on the ship: the sizes, parametres of overloads, time of flight in case of cabin depressurization,” S. Pozdnjakov said.

The general director of the enterprise hopes that NPP Zvezda, together with Rocket & Space Corporation Energiya, will work together on designing new seats, a life-support system and waste-disposal for the ship.

07/05/2009/00:05 – A survival suit for work on the Moon’s surface can be created in a short time, says the General Director of NPP Zvezda

The Russian Orlan spacesuit, in which the Russian astronauts go into outer space, can, with little refinement, be used for walking on the moon. “We should start thinking now about creating the suit to work on the lunar surface. In principle, we can create a suit based on the Orlan – which, in turn, evolved from the Krechet spacesuit created for a Soviet lunar expedition,” said Sergei Pozdnyakov, Сергей Поздняков, the director and chief designer of the Scientific-Production Enterprise Zvezda. As he said, for a cosmonaut to work in the Orlan on the Moon, the design of the foot coverings needs to be changed.

“If such a task is assigned to us, we are ready to execute it quickly,” noted S. Pozdnyakov. According to him, for a cosmonaut to work in the Orlan on the Moon, the design of the shell toe needs to be changed.

“New dinner table top priority as ISS expands”, Space Daily, 7/5. An ISS crew of 6 means a new dinner table will need to be constructed.

Orlan for Mars on Earth

On the IMBP Mars-500 site there is a photo gallery showing a modified Orlan spacesuit to be used by the participants when they do their simulated excursion onto the Mars surface. I am curious as to what spacesuit designs Russia is planning to use for future Mars missions – the spacesuit will need to be worn in ⅓ Earth gravity, so the current Orlan won’t be suitable as it weighs 120 kg. I can’t find any information online about this, though!

“How Diverting! The Entertainment Aboard the Space Station”, Popvox blog, 5/5. A year ago, NASA Watch made a Freedom of Information request to NASA for a list of films on the ISS, and this PDF (1.8 MB) was the result, listing films and books (mostly from the USA side – the only Russian film mentioned is Хочу в Тюрму). The list has undoubtedly been added to by then. (Annoyingly, the list was scanned in as images, so I do not feel like typing them all out!)

Off topic: Rather oddly, I received an email from Blogger saying my blog had been identified as a potential spam blog! So if the blog has been inaccessible, that’s the reason! (I have already responded to the request to verify it, and the blog seems to have been approved.) Wonder what triggered that alert? There’s certainly nothing offensive on the blog (it’s G-rated!), though I do have a lot of links – but that’s necessary to comment on news articles and such.

Territorial dispute

Various news reports have appeared across the Internet about ISS-19’s commander, Gennadii Padalka, saying that rules requiring the crew to use their own nations’ resources and not those of others (e.g. food items, exercise equipment) are hurting morale. (Yahoo news report – reproduced below in case it disappears; the relevant NASASpaceflight forum post.)

Report: cosmonaut grumbles about space bureaucracy

Associated Press Writer Vladimir Isachenkov – Mon Mar 30, 12:42 p.m. ET

Moscow – Squabbles on Earth over how cosmonauts and astronauts divide up the space station’s food, water, toilets and other facilities are hurting the crew’s morale and complicating work in space, a veteran Russian cosmonaut said, according to an interview published Monday.

Russia, the United States and other countries require cosmonauts and astronauts to eat their own food and follow stringent rules on access to other facilities, like toilets.

“What is going on has an adverse effect on our work,” Padalka, 50, was quoted as saying in an interview conducted before he and his crew mates blasted off to the station last Thursday. They arrived safely at the outpost Saturday.

Russian space agency spokesman Alexander Vorobyov said he would not comment until he had read the interview.

Padalka, who will be the station’s next commander, said the arguments date back to 2003, when Russia started charging other space agencies for the resources used by their astronauts. Other partners in space station responded in kind.

“Cosmonauts are above the ongoing squabble, no matter what officials decide,” said Padalka, a veteran of two space missions, according to the newspaper. “We are grown-up, well-educated and good-mannered people and can use our own brains to create normal relationship. It’s politicians and bureaucrats who can’t reach agreement, not us, cosmonauts and astronauts.”

He said he had inquired before the current mission whether he could use an American gym machine to stay fit.

“They told me: ‘Yes, you can.’ Then they said no,” he was quoted as saying. “Then they hold consultations and they approve it again. And now, right before the flight, it turns out again that the answer is negative.”

While sharing food in the past helped the crew feel like a team, the new rules oblige Russian cosmonauts and U.S. and other astronauts to eat their own food, Padalka said, according to the report.

“They also recommend us to only use national toilets,” he was quoted as saying.

Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft were the only link to the space station when the U.S. space shuttle fleet was temporarily grounded following the 2003 Columbia disaster. They have continued to ferry crews and supplies to the station, and a Soyuz capsule is permanently docked at the station to serve as a lifeboat.

Padalka was also quoted as criticizing the Russian portion of the station, saying it looks backward compared to other sections.

“It’s built on technologies dating back to the mid-1980s, at the very latest,” he said. according to the report. “We are lagging seven to 30 years back in various space technologies.”

Russia’s space program fell on hard times after the Soviet collapse and struggled to stay afloat by selling seats on its Russia tries to weather its worst financial crisis since 1998.

“Siberian Tiger” posted a more extensive translation of the article at the Orbiter Forum and NASASpaceflight.com.

“Russian-European crew starts ‘Mars mission’ ”, ESA news, 31/3. The selected crew began their 105-day stay on 31 March. ESA has a dedicated website to the experiment. The ESA participants will be keeping journals; unfortunately the Russian ones don’t appear to be (unless they are posting on a Russian site somewhere I don’t know of).

A brief note in NK news №773 about Sergei’s latest assignment to the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center:

1/4/2009 / 00:05 – Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev becomes the leader of the civil Astronauts Training Center

The head of the Center of the civilian astronauts will be pilot-cosmonaut Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalyov, who is currently the Deputy General Designer of RSC Energia. All necessary documents were signed this week, said the head of Roscosmos AN Perminov. It was reported by a source in the Russian space industry, says Cyber Security.

Official FKA/Russian Space Agency press release:

By the order of the head of the Russian Space Department, from 27 March 2009, the Hero of the Soviet Union № 97, the Hero of Russia (the Gold Star of the Hero №1) Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalyov, is appointed to the post of the chief of the Federal state budgetary establishment, the Yu. A. Gagarin Russian State Scientific-Research and Test Centre of Cosmonaut Training Research (RGNIITsPK) since 30 March of this year.

On 27 March, as communicated by a submitted statement, the 1st class instructor-cosmonaut-verifier of the Open Society RKK Energiya, and the assistant to the Open Society general designer of RKK Energiya, Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalyov, has been released from the position of the 1st class test instructor-cosmonaut, according to the order of the head of the Russian Space Agency.

He is the first civil head (Начальник) of the GCTC, which was transferred from the Russian Ministry of Defence to become an agency reporting to Roscosmos (Federal Space Agency).

Russian moon rocket – maybe

I have not posted much as I just haven’t felt like it, and there has been little space news to interest me.

“Final European crewmembers announced for human Mars mission simulation”, 26 February 2009. Selected for the prime crew are Oliver Knickel, a mechanical engineer in the German army, and airline pilot Cyrille Fournier from France. Cedric Mabilotte and Arc’hanmael Gaillard, both from France, are assigned as backup crewmembers.

“Russia to approve new Moon rocket”, BBC News, 16/3. Anatoly Zak reports that Russian space officials are to select the winning proposal for a new rocket intended to carry cosmonauts on missions to the Moon. The rocket is to fly its first test mission in 2015 (if all goes to plan).

According to the objectives given by the Russian space agency (Roscosmos) to industry, a future rocket should be able to hoist a payload three times heavier than Russia’s veteran Soyuz spacecraft, including twice the number of crew, and use environmentally friendly propellants. The development of the new rocket should be accompanied by work on Russia’s next-generation manned spacecraft, which will use it to get into orbit. Russian space officials say the yet-to-be-named rocket should carry its first manned spacecraft in 2018.

Expedition 18 completed a spacewalk (#21A) from the Pirs docking module wearing Russian Orlan-M spacesuits on 10 March. This is the last time the -M designation will be worn; the next Russian spacewalk will test the new -MK suits with digital controls.

• Yurii Lonchakov (EV1, Orlan-M №26, blue stripes)
• Michael Fincke (EV2, Orlan-M №27, red stripes)
• 4h 49m (16:22-20:11)
• ISS Daily Report; NASA

Suits Orlan-M №26 & 27 have an on-orbit lifetime till 30 June 2009. In future they will be jettisoned respectively as RadioSkaf-2 and RadioSkaf-3 satellites in Russian spacewalks: the first of them will be launched during EVA #24 in November/December, the second of them – in 2010.

In the next Russian spacewalk (EVA #22, 5 June 2009) the new Orlan-MK spacesuits will be tested. At this time there will be three modernized spacesuits onboard ISS. The first of them, Orlan-MK #4 (#1170004) with blue stripes, was delivered by Progress M-65 cargo ship on 17 September 2008. The second of them, Orlan-MK #5 (#1080005) with red stripes, arrived aboard Progress M-66 on 13 February. The third spacesuit, Orlan-MK #6 (#1080006) with blue stripes, will be delivered by Progress M-02M on 12 May. (via Anik)

STS-119 Discovery launched on 15 March. It carries the S6 truss segment, and ISS 18-19 Flight Engineer-2, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, who will be the first long-duration Japanese astronaut on the ISS.

The March 2009 edition of Russian Space, «Российский космос», has an article, «Надежда – мой компас…» (“Nadezhda/Hope – my compass…) on what former cosmonaut Nadezhda Kuzhel’naya, Надежда Кужельная, is doing now with her life: an Aeroflot pilot of the A-320. She was never given a space flight despite waiting ten years, and resigned in 2004. I have yet to do a translation of the article.

One item of information I am coveting but have been unable to find is a diagram of the TsUP/Moscow Mission Control Room, similar to this one of the new FCR-1. I have looked on the TsUP site, but there doesn’t seem to be anything. I would like to know the positions and roles of the TsUP flight controllers! (I posted this request at NASASpaceflight.com forum, but it has languished unanswered.)

I happened upon a copy of The Thrillionaire® by Nik Halik in my local library (Nik was Richard Garriott’s backup for Soyuz TMA-13 in October 2008). I have not actually read the book yet; just skimmed through parts of it. Nik is an Australian of Greek descent, born 1971. His book is evidently self-published (being a millionaire, he can obviously afford it!). Some advice: for a professional-appearing book, don’t:

• use the Photoshop “3D text effect” for your cover page title (looks tacky);
• double-space paragraphs rather than indent (double-spacing is the default for webpage paragraphs, but is hard to read on printed pages).

The “Thrillionaire®” title is rather gag-worthy (and the “registered trademark” symbol after it gets irritating). The book mostly consists of a bored rich guy’s adventures – namely undertaking activities such as deep-sea diving to the Titanic, climbing mountains, staying with a bemused Tuareg tribe, presumably to see how “the other half live” (I can imagine them muttering amongst themselves, “Who the f**k is this wanker?” or whatever the equivalent is in Tuareg :-); incidently the men veil themselves rather than the women – a nice change!), and so on. There are also a lot of “motivational” stories of the corporate variety (which I regard with eye-rolling cynicism). So that’s my impressions without actually reading the book. He’s certainly not shy about promoting himself.

Mars-500 ESA final selections

The final 4 participants, all male, were selected for the 105-day study/test mission to begin on 31 March 2009; their training begins on 26 January 2009. Two of the group will undergo the mission, while the other 2 are backups. Four Russian crew (as yet unnamed) will also participate in the mission. The 4 Europeans are: Cyrille Fournier (France), Arc’hanmael Gaillard (France), Oliver Knickel (Germany), Cedric Mabilotte (France).

• “ESA presents European participants in Mars-500 isolation study”, 5 December 2008
• “European Mars-500 participants announced”, 11 December 2008

The «Программа «Марс-500»» page at the IMBP site lists the crew (in Russian).

• Europeans (two are prime crew, the other two are backups):
  • Cyrille Fournier (France)
  • Arc’hanmael Gaillard (France)
  • Oliver Knickel (Germany)
  • Cedric Mabilotte (France)
• Russians (includes one woman):
  • Oleg Germanovich Artem’ev, Артемьев Олег Германович
  • Aleksei Viktorovich Baranov, Баранов Алексей Викторович
  • Sergei Nikolaevich Ryazanskii, Рязанский Сергей Николаевич
  • Sergei Alekseevich Spitsa, Спица Сергей Алексеевич
  • Marina Petrovna Tugusheva, Тугушева Марина Петровна
  • Aleksei Vasil’evich Shpakov, Шпаков Алексей Васильевич

“Russians Close In on Cause of Soyuz Landing Anomaly”, James Oberg, IEEE Spectrum, December 2008. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) from plasma flows over the surface of the ISS is thought to have damaged one of the pyrotechnic bolts that fire to separate the Soyuz segments, and thus initiated a ballistic landing, for Soyuz TMA-10 and -11.

“New space toilet has no door…yet”, MSNBC.com, 19/12. The new Russian-made toilet, installed in the Destiny Lab module, has no privacy screen but is otherwise functional. A second toilet will be much-needed, especially with the occasional breakdowns the original one has had! The design is generally reliable, though.