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!
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)
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.).
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.
“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.
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.)
One source of continuing amusement and exasperation is the pontificating of the “armchair experts” regarding the future of the U.S. space program. They proliferate on spaceflight forums. Many are of the opinion that NASA should “get out” of designing and launching rockets, and leave this to the “expertise” of private industry (despite NASA employing hordes of experts and launched rockets for 50 years or so). This commenter on a NASA Watch article had what I thought was a great rebuff:
Sorry to rain on the “private space is great” parade, but as of today they have yet to make even one orbit of this rock for all of the money they’ve spent.
What happened to the second flight of SpaceShipOne? No floating candy as it falls back to Earth, unable to break free of the gravity well.
Listen up, people! This isn’t aviation, nor ocean sailing. It’s spaceflight, and it’s much more difficult to accomplish than it looks. Sure, NASA and the Russians make it look easy, but 50 years ago, it wasn’t. And if you are realistic about it, it still is not easy. Other than submarining, it’s the most difficult activity known to humanity.
So keep on trumpeting the “accomplishments” of the private space industry, but don’t be so quick to turn over access to space to the same people who brought us the meltdown of our financial system. 30 years ago, trusting Wall Street with your retirement made as much sense as playing the ponies. It still does.
Meanwhile, Stevie Wonder created a song just for the “private space industry”: “You Haven’t Done Nothing”.
Orbit the planet. Bring the pilot back alive. Then we’ll talk.
“Perhaps a better analogy would be ‘Why doesn’t the federal government farm out its automobile transportation needs to Hertz or Avis or Enterprise Rent-A-Car’ ‘Why should the government own cars?’ ‘The government should get out of the car ownership business’.”
Yes, by all means, let’s turn this over to companies who will collude to give the government a “special rate”. And please, spare me any talk about “competition”.
When Warren Buffett and Bill Gates pony up their billions for private spaceflight, then we the taxpayers will do the same.
We buy enough snake oil every day!
– Posted by: Dave H. at July 24, 2009 9:01 p.m.
There doesn’t seem to be the equivalent for the Russian space program; perhaps there are some on Russian-language forums, but I can’t read these.
“Alexey Leonov: ‘I Could See Armstrong Bouncing on the Moon’ ”, Roskosmos, 20/7 (a better-formatted version at Russia Today). A lengthy interview with cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov on various topics, including the Apollo Moon landings (he gets irate at those who believe the program was faked), Yurii Gagarin’s death, and the prospect of a Mars mission (not any time soon).
Cosmonaut Gennadii Padalka, currently in orbit on the ISS, accumulated 500 days in space on 18/7, over 3 missions (Soyuz TM-28, TMA-4/ISS-9, TMA-14/ISS-19).
Cosmonaut/Star City Chief Sergei Krikalyov is quoted in this article at MSNBC.com, “Russia still blue over moon landing”:
“Beginning with the first flight with a primitive capsule, and then getting to the moon, it was a great achievement for humanity,” Russian astronaut Sergei Krikalev said.
“Of course, we would have liked to see the first man on the moon be Soviet, Russian, but that’s life… Our own achievements were very many,” he told Associated Press Television News.
[…]
Russian space officials meanwhile still seem to be dreaming about winning the next stage of the space race. They keep talking in tantalizing terms about mounting a manned mission to Mars, although they say that would take at least another 20 years to get off the ground.
“I think this is fine. It’s like sports – at one stage one person wins, at another it’s somebody else,” said Krikalev.
I wonder if he will go into space again; in 2005 he said he would be willing to fly to the Moon if a program was developed.
“Soviet Top Secret Space Project Gets Second Life”, Roskosmos, 20/7. The NK-33 rocket engines used in the unsuccessful N-1 lunar rocket project are still quite advanced, and Russia and the USA are co-operating to make use of them.
A somewhat obscure anniversary for the 15th is the first electrical welding during an EVA, according to Roskosmos:
Electrical welding was first performed in space 25 years ago by Svetlana Savitskaya and Vladimir Dzhanibekov, Russian cosmonauts. They spent 3.5 hours in outer space cutting and welding pieces of metal. The universal space welding machine was designed by Electrical Welding Institute, Kiev. For more than 10 years, the scientists were developing this complicated instrument.
Today the cosmonauts involved in this first space welding attempt tell about their experience.
“It was easy due to 0-gravity”, says Svetlana Saviskaya. “However, many people thought that we had made a special performance, that we hadn’t been working in space. Like with the first step on the Moon.”
“In outer space, with this invisible ray, it was a real miracle,” adds Vladimir Dzhanibekov.
The machine was tested deeply, but the developers could not define its behaviour in space precisely.
Specialists of the Kiev institute are still sure that their instrument will be used in future. The first welding in space opened one more page in the space exploration history.
Today Russian cosmonauts and scientists from Kiev recollect their past achievements and the time when Russia and Ukraine were conquering space together…
Below is a photo of Svetlana welding, possibly the only photo of a female cosmonaut doing an EVA? (From the Capcomespace site)
STS-127 Atlantis launched at long last on its 6th attempt. More segments for the Japanese Kibo module will be installed, and two crewmembers will swap places (Koichi Wakata down; Timothy Kopra up). With 6 people on board going up or down at different times on different spaceships, keeping track of them all can be confusing!
According to Anatoly Zak who was at the Paris Air and Space Show on 15 June, and who spoke to the head of NPO Lavochkin Georgii Poleshyuk, the components of the Phobos-Grunt, «Фобос-Грунт» probe were being integrated, beginning 20 June. The probe’s main propulsion unit is the most complex and critical element. Everything will be transported to Baikonur Cosmodrome in September of this year.
Progress M-02M undocked from the ISS (Pirs docking module) on 30/6 for autonomous flight tests of its systems; it will redock on 2/7.
From NK №789:
19/06/2009 / 08:46 – The economic crisis could derail the creation of a new Russian cosmodrome
The economic crisis could prevent modernisation of the Russian space-rocket industry, and also disrupt the establishment of our own “window” in space – the Vostochnyi, Восточный cosmodrome, Vitalii Davidov declared on Thursday.
According to him, last year’s re-financing of the industry has dramatically increased.
“Before it was one per cent, and in order to re-branch had about 70 years, starting this year, especially for the next year we have planned investments in retooling the industry, which should have been raised by 15% -20% of the overall funding level,” said the official, speaking at a meeting of the working group on innovative legislation in the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation.
He noted that the same magnitude of re-financing was needed during the implementation of programs for the Soviet space shuttle Buran in the late 1980s.
But Davydov fears that the crisis could disrupt plans for re-equipment: “What happened at the end of last year, this crisis, we thought it would not affect our plans, but today we realize it is not possible. This is a significant impact on our plans, especially in terms of security, including independent access to space, the development of the new cosmodrome on the territory of Russia,” said the Roscosmos Deputy.
Sergei Krikalyov’s photo has at last appeared on the Gagarin Cosmonauts’ Training Center website (the Russian version so far), so he must now have officially assumed command. According to Anik, he left the Cosmonauts’ Group of RSC Energiya on 27 March 2009.
My main website, SuzyMcHale.com, is still not online (server failure). Hopefully back soon…?
“Russia’s Dark Horse Plan to Get to Mars”, James Oberg, Discovery Magazine, 21/5. On the Phobos-Grunt mission. Another article at IEEE Spectrum by Anatoly Zak is “A Russian Return to a Martian Moon”, June 2009. The Chinese microsatellite that will ride onboard is to be delivered to the probe manufacturer, NPO Lavochkin in Russia, on 17 June.
Soyuz TMA-15 launched last week (27/5) with Expedition 20, so there is now a crew of 6 onboard the ISS for the first time, all from the different space agencies involved.
Contradicting earlier media reports, Roscosmos representatives said that there are no plans to disconnect the Russian segment of the ISS from 2015 and turn it into an autonomous space station. Instead, there are plans to extend the lifetime of the ISS as much as its technical capabilities will allow.
From NK №786:
02/06/2009 / 00:05 – Russia has no plans to disconnect its segment of the ISS after 2015
Roscosmos has no plans to disconnect the Russian segment of International Space Station from the U.S. and create an autonomous station from 2015. “There are no plans for disconnecting us from the ISS. On the contrary, we have a plan for extending the operation of the Station, as far as its technical capabilities will allow,” said Aleksei Krasnov, the supervisor of manned programs at Roscosmos, on Friday at a news conference at TsUP mission control center.
“There is no reason to have the segments of the ISS partner countries taken apart,” added, in turn, the president of Rocket-Space Corporation Energiya, Vitalii Lopota.
They commented on reports by some Russian and foreign media that Russian specialists are discussing the possibility of removing the ISS Russian segment in the event that other participating countries of the project did not prolong the operation of the station until 2020. According to current plans, the ISS is planned to be in use up to 2015.
At the same time, A. Krasnov noted that even before the deorbiting of the station Mir, the possibility of using part of its modules as part of the International Space Station was explored. It is a similar situation in the case of the ISS.
“We do not exclude that we will explore the possibility of using the modules of the ISS assembly, consisting of orbital research complex in low orbit that would allow the Russian space program to develop further,” said Aleksander Krasnov.
Earlier, representatives of Roscosmos has been reported on the possibility of construction in orbit from 2020, a new space station that would become an orbital plant for the production of unique materials, as well as a trans-shipment base on the way to the Moon and Mars.
A ceremony was held for the lowering of the TsPK flag, but it attracted little official or media interest (the translation is a bit incoherent):
02/06/2009 / 00:05 – In Star City the unit banner has been farewelled
On 29 May 2009 in the town of Star City a farewell ceremony was held for the banner, writesYurii Baturin. The famous Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, established in 1960 as a military unit, was eliminated in accordance with a governmental order (№1435 from 1/10/2008). In its place there will be a new organization to train cosmonauts, but as a civilian federal government budgetary institution.
A monument to Yuri Gagarin Cosmonauts Alley to put members of the part. There were present family members of the military and the center, many with children. We cosmonaut veterans shed copious tears. And now, the last solemn march. Then the photographs of the flag. The standard-bearers probably have, as expected, began packing the banner for shipment, and the assembly did not disperse, but remembered, remembered… The mood for all was sad.
Representatives of NASA and the European space agency paid a tribute of respect to the banner and TsPK. But no-one from the Military-air forces command attended the farewell ritual. And after all the military unit as the Center of preparation of cosmonauts of the Air Forces was formed and for half a centur has made considerable glory for this kind of Armed forces of the country. There was nobody from the Ministry of Defence, nor from the Joint Staff, as if only an ordinary battalion of air field service was being disbanded. And this is a unique military division. It was not counted a significant event and in Russian Space Agency, under whose command TsPK now falls. Usually, generals from the Air Forces, and the management of the Federal Space Agency liked to address Star City from a podium and say high words to the heroes of space. Now words for some reason were not found, probably, it was difficult to look in the faces of the gathered. Probably, such a general lack of official attendance was an indirect recognition of the inaccuracy of the decision to reform TsPK.
Unfortunately, the press, except Novoi, «Новой» and Cosmonautics News, «Новостей космонавтики», has not been interested. There was no TV (possibly because there were no space tourists – a favourite central theme of space reportings).
Maybe this was for the better: no hypocrisy, had only their own flag.
Cosmonaut Aleksandr Kaleri will be the first to command the new digital Soyuz in September 2010, along with Cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka and the American astronaut Scott Kelly. (Sergei Krikalyov was at one time to be the first to pilot the digital version, but he now has other duties.) From NK №785:
28/05/2009 / 17:15 – Cosmonaut Kaleri will test the new Soyuz version
Flight tests of the “digital” piloted ship Soyuz are entrusted to the experienced Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri.
“Flight of the first ship in the new Soyuz series, which is equipped with a digital control system, is scheduled for September of next year. Cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri has been entrusted to pilot the ship, having had experience of four space flights,” the space-rocket industry interlocutor said. According to him, the appointment of the flight commander was preceded by a long dispute about who to entrust the management of the new machine.
Experience in piloting of the Soyuz ships was the basic requirement during selection of candidates. “On the list were many surnames, but eventually Kaleri was appointed as the commander of the ship,” the agency interlocutor said.
In the crew of the “digital” Soyuz, the Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka and the American astronaut Scott Kelly are appointed as flight engineers.
In April, 2008 the president of Rocket & Space Corporation Energiya, Vitalii Lopota during a scientific conference in Moscow said that the first “digital” Soyuz would go to space in the spring of 2009. But the launch did not take place in the announced time. In connection with necessity of carrying out of additional tests of the ship, the launch was delayed to autumn of 2010.
According to V. Lopota, installation of digital systems on the piloted ship Soyuz will require a crew of one professional cosmonaut, instead of two, as now. In that case, two nonprofessional cosmonauts can fly at once.
The modernisation of spaceships, according to V. Lopota, will bring Russian astronautics to a new technological level and to raise the safety of space flight. For the docking of the new ship to the International Space Station it is planned to use the standard scheme of docking. “We cannot afford to risk anything. Even though the ship systems were analogue, and are now digital. In no event will use of the new modernised systems change the planned algorithm,” said V. Lopota. The docking of the ship to the ISS will continue under the standard scheme, that is on the second day of flight, he has added. Visually, the president of RSC Energiya admitted, the digital Soyuz will not differ from previous versions of the ship.
The basic difference of the new ships is in the digital control systems. The control system of movement and system of onboard measurements has undergone modernisation. Innovations have allowed to increase speed and to lower weight of equipment. In contrast with the previous version, the digital cargo ship is capable to take aboard on 80 kg of more cargo, than its predecessors.
Expedition 20 is to launch at the end of this month on Soyuz TMA-15; they will join Expedition 19 to make the first 6-person crew. Keeping track of comings and goings will be much more complicated from this year!
There is a NASA preflight interview with cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, who will be making his first flight. He, like Sergei Volkov (Expedition 17) is a second-generation cosmonaut (son of Yurii Romanenko). He gave some details about the next Russian module to be launched this year, MIM-2, МИМ-2:
Q: According to the plan currently, shortly after your arrival there is a pair of spacewalks planned for Gennady and Mike to make. Tell me about what they’ll be doing outside the station, and what you will be doing inside to support that work.
A: Yes, during our increment there will be a lot of EVA activities; in other words, spacewalks. In addition to two Russian scheduled EVAs, there will be seven or eight EVAs by the shuttle crew members. They will need to perform a lot of tasks. However, the main objective for all EVAs is to outfit the ISS with all those elements and modules and hardware units that will ensure successful operation of a six-person crew on board the ISS. EVAs that will be performed by Gennady and Mike Barratt, those EVAs will also address the tasks of outfitting the Russian segment with the new Mini Research Module #2, delivery of which is scheduled for this year. We’re hoping that we will receive this module during our mission; it is scheduled for delivery at the end of summer, beginning of the fall. It will dock to the Russian segment and Gennady, during his EVA with his U.S. colleague, will have to route cables in order to ensure docking of this module.
[…]
Q: Another new component for the Russian segment of the space station is due to arrive before the end of the year. It’s called the Mini Research Module 2. Can you describe what that is for us and what that will add to Russian segment operations?
A: I think that this new module will be slightly larger than the Docking Compartment. However, it will provide additional vole for various experiments on the Russian segment. It may also be used as the additional airlock for EVAs, or a connecting module for subsequent addition of a larger, another larger module to the Russian segment. The reason why the name of this new module is Mini Research Module is due to the fact that this new addition to the station will house a number of scientific experiments that will be performed under the Russian space agency science program.
Progress M-66 undocked yesterday at 15:18 UTC, and will deorbit on 18/5 after performing the Plazma-Progress geophysical experiment this week.
Contrary to the article mentioned in my 12/4/2009 entry, more media reports have surfaced that the Phobos-Grunt («Фобос-Грунт», Photos-Soil) probe to the Martian moon will launch later this year after all, as noted in this month’s FP Space posts, but it is hard to know what to believe! The article below is from a post at NASASpaceflight.com:
Preparations For Launch Of Phobos-Grunt Probe Proceed As Planned
Moscow ITAR-TASS in English 1307 GMT 05 May 09
Moscow, May 5 (Itar-Tass) – All preparations for launching the Phobos-Grunt space probe, expected to deliver to the Earth samples of Martian soil, proceed strictly as planned, the general director and general designer of the Lavochkin research and production association (the probe’s manufacturer), Georgy Polishchuk, told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.
“The work schedule is tight, but everything is on time and the question of shifting the launch from 2009 to 2001 has not been discussed anywhere,” Polishchuk told Itar-Tass in the wake of media rumors the probe’s launch had to be delayed due to a shortage of personnel.
Polishchuk said the Phobos-Grunt probe, which is on the list of the federal space program extending till 2015, is a number one priority for the Lavochkin Association.
“At the launch site and at the head office work is in full swing. Cooperation with the Chinese partners proceeds well,” he said.
The Lavochkin Association has already integrated a test sample of the Chinese micro-satellite with the Russian probe, and the flight sample will be delivered to Russia on June 17.
The probe’s Wikipedia page has more information.
“Focused On Phobos”, Space Daily/Astrobiology Magazine, 4/5. Describes planned missions to the Martian moon.
From Novosti Kosmonavtiki №779:
05/05/2009/11:45 – The waiting period for cosmonaut flight in Russia will be reduced by half
Russian cosmonauts, who are now waiting for their turn to fly more than a decade, will no longer have to wait so long. Starting this year, the ISS will be expanded to a crew of six people.
“This year we will send four Soyuz ships to the ISS, and the queue will move much faster,” said Yuri Gidzenko, the first deputy head of cosmonauts.
In turn, the first hereditary cosmonaut Sergei Volkov, the acting commander of the cosmonaut detachment at TsPK (Star City), said that in his opinion, the younger cosmonauts will “sit on the bench” only half as long as his generation. “If there will be four launches a year, they will have to wait five years for a flight, not eleven as we did,” he said.
Progress M-02M is to launch from Baikonur on 8/5, carrying the third Orlan-MK #6 (#1080006) with blue stripes. Progress M-66 is to undock from the ISS (Pirs DC) today at 15:15 UTC.
“US Astronauts will Learn Russian. Talent for Science will Take High Priority in Russian Cosmonaut Selection”, Roskosmos, 15/4. NASA astronauts will be required to learn Russian and study the Soyuz spacecraft as this will be their only means of transport to the ISS after the Space Shuttle is retired (and there is much controversy over that!). Also, when recruiting future cosmonauts, those who are researchers will be more emphasized:
Selection process of the future cosmonauts is intended to be based on their abilities to implement scientific and research programs. The Commission also discussed additional recruitment of test cosmonauts and research cosmonauts in 2009 for the ISS program (until 2015). The meeting was led by Roscosmos Head Anatoly Perminov, chairman of the Inter-Agency Commission.
A.N. Perminov proposed to introduce some changes into the Commission Protocol. He stated that “not only pilots, but researchers from the universities shall be hired to become cosmonauts”. The main emphasis should be made on the talented young people, who study prospective scientific topics. These people would continue their work during the space mission, and after it.
“Baikonur: Progress M-02M Prelaunch Operations”, Roskosmos, 16/4. This features some photos of the Orlan-MK spacesuit (№6) being tested at Baikonur; it is to be launched on the next Progress cargo ship.
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.
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:
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.
A thread at the CollectSPACE.com forum links to an online photo of what are purportedly the remains of cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, who died on impact in the Soyuz-1 landing after its parachutes malfunctioned. Being the ghoulish and morbidly curious type, I have to post the photo below (in case it disappears):
From one post:
I think these paragraphs in the Kamanin Diaries 1967-68 (General Kamanin is on the right adjusting his tie) give the context of when the picture was taken:
Kamanin returned to the place of the accident and ordered a group of doctors to remove Komarov’s body from the ship’s wreckage…at 21.45 (Moscow time) Komarov’s remains were placed aboard the II-18 airplane. Ten minutess before departure an An-12 arrived from the cosmodrome with General Kuznetsov and the Soyuz-2 prime and back-up cosmonauts, who would accompany their perished colleague to Moscow… Komarov’s remains were transferred to the morgue of the Burdenko hospital in Moscow, allowing doctors to write an official report on the cause of death. Subsequently the remains were cremated and an urn with the ashes was placed in the central House of the Soviet Army later that day were endless line of people came to pay their respects. The following day Komarov’s ashes were interred in the Kremlin Wall.
My initial impression on looking at that was “lump of charcoal” – not much left of him! He died immediately on impact, then the capsule burst into flame.
From Challenge to Apollo, page 587:
Finding the body had been a difficult job. One of the rescuers recalled:
The group’s physicians set to work – they shoveled away the top layer of dirt from the top of the mound from the hatch cover. After the dirt and certain parts of instruments and equipment were removed, the cosmonaut’s body was found lying in the center chair. The physicians cleaned the dirt and the remnants of the burned helmet phone from the head. They pronounced the death to be from multiple injuries to the cranium, spinal cord and bones.
[…]
In a grisly aside to his death, not all of Komarov’s remains were found during the initial search, and a group of Young Pioneers, the equivalent of Boy Scouts in the Soviet Union, discovered additional remains that were later buried at the crash site itself. Reportedly, Party officials took great pains to hide this from the general public.
I wonder how they could determine so much detail from those remains, if they are him.
Progress M-01M/№401, the first of the new Progresses with new onboard computer, TsVM-101, a digital telemetry system, launched on 26/11.
Been depressed and haven’t felt much motivation to write here. Turning 38 doesn’t help my mood!
Soyuz TMA-12 landed on 24/10 at 03:36 UTC with no incidents (i.e. a normal not a ballistic landing). Expedition 18 is now on the ISS. STS-126 Endeavour launched successfully; its crew will install equipment (such as a regenerative environmental control and life support system) to enable the ISS’s crew to expand to 6 next year.
More money woes for Energiya (a familiar lament): “No Money, No Spacecraft, Russian Producer Warns”; “Finances may threaten Soyuz construction”, Space Daily, 24/10.
Astronaut Leroy Chiao has a blog entry about getting a look at a Chinese spacesuit.
“A Russian resurgence? (part one)”, The Space Review, 10/11. The situation for Russia’s space program has much improved since the dismal 1990s, but there are still funding problems to contend with, and the economy is precarious.
14 November marked 20 years since the first and only launch of the Buran space shuttle; a rather poignant anniversary of what could have been.
Today, 14 November, the Rocket and Space Corporation Energiya marked the 20th anniversary of the flight of the space shuttle Buran.
In the Conference Room, Energiya brought together those who took part in creating this unique system, the representatives of various enterprises rocket and space industry of Russia, whose combined efforts made this flight possible.
Leading the commemorative meeting, the president and general designer of RKK Energiya, Vitalii A. Lopota presented a welcoming speech, congratulated the anniversary and screened a documentary about the creation of the Buran system. Those actors in the film were familiar – the guests and employees of Energiya recognized their much younger selves. A scene of the Buran landing was met with thunderous applause.
At the meeting, several shared their memories of that time: Vitalii Khusseinovich Doguzhiev (Виталий Хуссейнович Догужиев), Minister of General Machine- Building in the Soviet Union between 1988-89; Oleg Dimetrievich Baklanov (Олег Дмитриевич Бакланов), Minister of General Machine-Building USSR between 1983-88 and the secretary of the CPSU Central Committee in 1988; Yurii Pavlovich Semenov (Юрий Павлович Семенов), Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, General Designer of RKK Energiya, 1989-2005, and one of the leaders of the Buran development; Vakhtang D. Vachnadze (Вахтанг Дмитриевич Вачнадзе), Director General of NGO Energiya between 1977-1991; Maj. Gen. Vladimir Evgeni’evich Gudilin (Владимир Евгеньевич Гудилин), head of training and of the start-up launcher Energiya and the universal space-rocket transportation system Energiya-Buran.
All speakers pointed out that the achievements of the time and date are unique in the world, and regretted the closure of the Energia-Buran program, said that today Russia needs to pay more attention to space programs, and improve support and development of the personnel policy branch.
In conclusion, V.A. Lopota once again congratulated all the participants of the meeting. “Who knows whether history will repeat its mistakes,” said Vitalii Alexandrovich, thus expressing the mood and aspirations of all those present.
A cosmonaut from Kazakhstan will fly on the ISS in October 2009. There are two in the Cosmonaut Group with the qualification of cosmonaut-tester (космонавт-испытатель): Mukhtar Aimakhanov (Мухтар Аймаханов) and Aidyn Aimbetov (Айдын Аимбетов). Both joined the 2003 selection group.
Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov is having a really bad year (annus horribilis). I am a bit confused about the sequence of events: in June he had to be resuscitated after having unspecified surgery. In August he developed pneumonia and this worsened, causing him to have a heart attack. He was given drug treatment in the clinic as the specialists were reluctant to operate because of his age (74), but his condition contined to worsen and he was operated on, in a procedure called a coronarography. One cause of his deterioration was his accidentally learning of the death of his 87-year-old sister, Raisa (his parents and 9 other siblings are deceased). Then to add insult to injury, his house near Star City was recently robbed! Details at the CollectSPACE forum here and here, and the Orbiter Forum.
“The Politics Of Shenzhou”, Space Daily, 8/9. The launch of the third Chinese manned space mission is due to take place between 25-30 September, carrying a crew of three.
Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalyov turns 50 today! С днём рожденья, Сергей! (Not that he ever reads this…) I wonder what he will achieve in his next half-century? Maybe be 1st on Mars!
From Novosti Kosmonavtiki news №724:
28/08/2008/00:09 – The President of Russia, D.A. Medvedev, congratulated the pilot-cosmonaut S.K. Krikalyov on his 50th birthday
On 27 August the President of Russia, Dmitrii Medvedev, congratulated pilot-astronaut and deputy chief designer of Rocket and Space Corporation Energiya, Sergei Krikalyov, on his 50th birthday.
“You are deservedly considered one of the record holders among cosmonauts for the total length of time spent in orbit,” Mr. Medvedev said in his telegram. “Your truly heroic biography is an outstanding example of courage, strength of will and firmness of character. Your competence, organisational talents and professional and personal qualities have earned the deserved respect of your colleagues and friends.”
From the Energiya website:
August 28, 2008. S.P.Korolyov RSC Energiya, Korolyov, Moscow region.
An S.P. Korolyov RSC Energiya deputy general designer, instructor-cosmonaut-tester, 1st Class, Hero of the Soviet Union and of the Russian Federation, Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalyov turned 50 on August 27, 2008.
The President of the Russian Federation D.A. Medvedev sent him a congratulatory telegram, which, among other things, says: “You are rightfully considered one of the record-breakers among active cosmonauts with regard to the total duration of your orbital missions. Your truly heroic biography became an outstanding example of courage, will-power and fortitude. Your competence, managerial ability, professional and personal qualities earned you a due respect of your colleagues and friends” (news on the web site of the Russian President www.kremlin.ru).
On this significant day, S.K. Krikalyov was congratulated by Governor of St.Petersburg V.I. Matvienko, heads of the Federal Space Agency, management and staff of the S.P. Korolyov Rocket and Space Corporation Energiya, representatives of various companies and organizations in the Russian space industry and Russian Academy of Sciences, including the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Head of the town of Korolyov A.F. Morozenko, S.P. Korolyov RSC Energiya cosmonaut team, NASA representatives, friends and colleagues.
Dear Sergei Konstantinovich!
The management and staff of the S.P. Korolyov Rocket and Space Corporation Energiya heartily congratulate you on this significant day of your 50th anniversary!
Upon graduating with honors from the Leningrad Mechanical Institute in 1981, you took a job with the world-known Korolyov’s company, where you have been working for more than a quarter of a century now, having risen through the ranks from an engineer to a deputy general designer.
You worked on developing manuals for cosmonauts, proposals on displaying operator’s data on consoles of the Mir space station, updating the on-board documentation of the Salyut-7 space station. You worked at the Mission Control Center during several long-term missions. After communication was lost with Salyut-7 in 1985, you, as a member of a “ground crew”, took part in developing various options for procedures of flying and docking with the uncontrollable space station. Afterwards, this operation was successfully performed for the first time in history! The same year you joined the team of cosmonauts of NPO Energiya. You were training yourself and were taking an active part in training cosmonauts at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center and at Baikonur.
You have accomplished six space missions to the muti-modular space station Mir, the unique creation of the 20th century, and the International Space Station, an ambitious international project of the 21st century, during which hundreds of sessions of scientific and applied research experiments were carried out, providing invaluable results for Russian and world science. And your pictures taken in space are the envy of any professional photographer!
Special milestones in your career are the activities on the International Space Station. Three times you worked onboard the station, and each of these missions was unique in its own way. The first mission was the first manned mission under the International Space Station assembly program, in the course of which US Node 1 module was docked to the Functional Cargo Module Zarya. Together with Space Shuttle Commander R. Cabana, you were the first to open the hatch leading to ISS. The second mission was under the program of the first expedition to ISS (ISS-1). It started the continuous operation of the ISS. You were the first to make habitable the Service Module Zvezda and Functional Cargo Module Zarya, and, later on, the Laboratory Module Destiny, and started scientific research under Russian and US programs. In the third mission you set up the absolute world record for the total space flight endurance of 803 days, which remains unbroken by any other nation in the world!
For the courage and heroism displayed during your missions into space, you were given titles of the Hero of the Soviet Union and the Hero of the Russian Federation, and awarded both Russian and foreign orders and medals. You are an honorary citizen of St. Petersburg. Your energy, commitment and perseverance in achieving your goal, high professionalism and erudition, communication skills and kindness towards people earned you due respect among your Russian colleagues and foreign partners. Everybody also knows about your achievements in sports: you have learned to fly several types of airplanes, including a foreign airplane, and you won prizes several times at the USSR, Europe and world championships.
On this great day, dear Sergei Konstantinovich, please accept our heartfelt wishes of good health, happiness and prosperity to you and your relatives, of new creative successes and luck in the course of flight design tests and operation of the rocket and space hardware for the sake of strengthening the power and prosperity of Russia.
– President, General Designer V.A. Lopota
(Photo via Energiya)
