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.

Ballistic landings on Mars

“If I Were to Land on Mars...”, Air & Space Magazine, 1/11. Astronaut Don Pettitt’s account of the Soyuz ballistic landing he and Expedition 6 endured on 3 May 2003. He does note one positive aspect: the landings could be regarded as rehearsals for Mars landings!

So we had made a serendipitous discovery: Because of how the mission unfolded and culminated in a lost recovery, it had an uncanny resemblance to a trip to, and a landing on, Mars. We showed that barriers associated with such a trip, in the form of human physical performance deficits, can be overcome with the knowledge gained from the similar effects experienced on long-duration space station missions.

The parallels are striking. First we lived in a weightless environment for five and a half months. Depending on the choice of propulsion, six months is a good estimate for a one-way trip to Mars. So our level of deconditioning was about the same as that of a crew arriving at the Red Planet. We piloted our own spacecraft through a high-G entry maneuver, similar to what a crew may have to do at Mars. Our landing sequence involved a combination of parachutes and landing rockets, culminating in a hard landing on dry ground in one of the more remote places on Earth. For reaching the Martian surface, such a combination is an attractive option. And the landing site will be remote.

On our own, we performed a number of basic operational tasks not unlike those a crew might execute after landing on Mars, such as spacecraft safing, which involves reading procedures, flipping switches, and pushing buttons on the control panel to power down unneeded equipment to extend battery life for the radios. Since the Soyuz capsule ended up on its side, we did this strapped into a seat fixed to a slanted ceiling. We then opened the hatch by ourselves, unstrapped, and crawled out. In my spacesuit, I weighed 200 Earth pounds. On Mars, at 0.38 of Earth’s gravity, it would require over 500 Earth pounds to equal the same loading on my body. So while future Mars astronauts will wear heavier suits with life support systems, they will be lighter there than I was in Earth’s gravity. We deployed the survival gear that was scattered in numerous small bundles throughout the spacecraft. It takes a pair of strong hands to pull these bundles from their stowage in odd nooks and crannies – woolen clothes, food, water, a medical kit, a portable radio, and a flare-shooting pistol.

We performed all these operations with no outside help. We might as well have been on Mars.

“Opening The Window For Shenzhou 7”, SpaceDaily, 19/9. Shenzhou-7 is due to liftoff on 25 September. Zhai Zhigang will perform the EVA in an experimental Chinese-built suit, called “Feitian” after a mythological flying god; it weighs 120 kilograms, and each model will cost about 30 million yuan ($4.4 million) to produce. Liu Boming will wear a Russian Orlan suit to come to his rescue if necessary. Jing Haipeng will remain inside the pressurized Descent Module

“Russia And France Sign Contract To Launch 10 Rockets From Kourou”, RIAN/SpaceDaily, 22/9. The rockets will be Soyuz-ST carrier rockets used to launch geostationary satellites.

(Oh, and thanks to “FlyingSinger” for the nice post!)

30 years of Progress

Energiya press release: 20 January 2008 marked 30 years since the launch of the first Progress cargo ship. The Progress ships have served the Russian space program reliably (and mostly been ignored in the media). ESA’s Automated Transfer Vehicle cargo ship uses Russian propellant and tanks in its design, and the first launch is currently set for 22 February. It will dock to the aft of the Zvezda Service Module.

(Tass newspaper frontpage via Novosti Kosmonavtiki)

From Novosti Kosmonavtiki news №679:

20/01/2008/08:35 – Russian scientists will conduct a series of experiments to investigate the Moon, including the use of Japanese instruments

The project “Luna-Glob” (Luna-Globe) is planned to solve complex research tasks for the Study of Earth satellite, said Lev Zelenyi, the director of the Institute for Space Research at the Russian Academy of Sciences. The project “was broadened. It includes several phases, including the dumping on the surface of the Moon of so-called penetrators to study our satellite,” said Lev Zelenyi.

He explained that penetratory (impact penetrating probes) are planned to be fired from the automatic spacecraft, which will be placed in the Moon’s orbit. The probes under the action of lunar gravity will drive away also at a high speed and enter into the soil of the Moon at the depth of several meters. The on-board sensors, which operate from autonomous power supplies, can transmit information about the composition and the properties of lunar soil, and the seismic characteristics of Earth’s natural satellite. “It was decided to use penetrators of Japanese production, since the Russian technologies in this region can be considered lost,” reported L. Zelenyi.

Besides the use of impact probes, the “Luna -Glob” project provides for the launch of lunar orbital apparatuses, and over the long term and the creation of a rover landing station, which will travel across the lunar surface.

The equipment installed on the orbital devices, in the words of L. Zelenyi, in particular, will have to investigate the exosphere of the Moon, the space around it, and also magnetic and gravity anomalies whose nature is not yet clear.

Furthermore, on the orbital lunar apparatus will be established the instrument “LORD”, designed to study ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. The device would capture elementary particles with enormous speed and energy. Under normal circumstances, such a particle can not be caught by any devices, since they can easily pass through layers of any substance. The “LORD” instrument will recover those particles of superhigh energies, which “after piercing” the Moon, will be slowed down, said L. Zelenyi.

“The China gambit”, The Space Review, 21/1. Article by Dwayne Day on how the USA could involve China in its space program (mainly the ISS) and use such involvement as leverage against Russia should the latter country become hostile and deny astronauts access to space via Soyuz flights once the Shuttle program is shut down. A pragmatic plan I guess, though it comes across as somewhat patronizing; of the dominant country “managing” others. Equally, Russia and China could team up to “manage” the USA! So it’s a 3-way game.

Manber’s proposal is clever and thought-provoking. He has not simply proposed cooperation with China for its own sake, or even for the benefit of improving relations with China, but to use such cooperation as a lever against the Russians. This is not the first time that someone has proposed that encouraging China in space could have strategic benefits for the United States—four years ago I wrote about the benefits of a cooperative/competitive space race with China (see “The benefits of a new space race”, The Space Review, April 26, 2004), suggesting that we encourage them to spend money on human spacecraft instead of missiles. But Manber is apparently the first to suggest that we use China to moderate the Russians, something that Nixon gained as a side benefit of his China rapprochement nearly four decades ago.

“Russia To Raise Space Funding, Build New Space Center”, 22/1, RIAN/Space Daily. Space funding is to be raised by 13% (doesn’t say the actual amount).

“Russian space center to launch boosters”, Space Daily, 23/1. The new Vostochnii space center will be built near Uglegorsk in the Amur region of eastern Russia. Manned flights are expected to begin by 2018.

“Ivanov Says Russia Must Not Turn Into Space Cabman”, Space Daily, 24/1. Russia shouldn’t rely on revenue from launches of foreign satellites for most of its space funding, and should focus on creating the new space center, Vostochnii, to ensure the country’s access to space (rather than risk being blackmailed by Kazakhstan, which leases out Baikonur to Russia).

Redesigning space sites

NASA’s website launched a newer, more modern design on 30 November - it looks much nicer and the clunky HTML table layout has been dumped at last! (The site does, however, require Javascript to display properly, and takes nearly a minute to load on broadband because of the huge amount of JS files loaded.)

Now if only the Russian space websites would redesign and upgrade! Some quick observations:

• Energiya: site appearance is neat and somewhat conservative, but the HTML layout consists of old-fashioned tables and is a bit messy.
• Federal Space Agency: tables layout and navigation requires Javascript to function, so it is not very accessible.
• TsUP: design looks outdated (color scheme is not very attractive) and the site menu is Javascript-based, so without this enabled the site can’t be accessed
• IMBP: ugh! Uses frames and an image map. Very outdated and totally inaccessible.

News tidbits:

Mark Wade has abandoned his Pausanius blog. He sounds as disillusioned as I do, though for different reasons.

“AstroMom and Basstronaut, revisited”, The Space Review, 19/11. What happened to the space-tourists-who-weren’t, Lori Garver and Lance Bass. To me it was another example of how dismally avaricious the Russian space program has become – the word that come to mind is “prostitution”.

“Russia To Launch Manned Spacecraft From New Site In 2018”, Space Daily, 22/11. The new site is to be called Восточный, Vostochnyi (“Eastern”), so you can guess in what direction it is located. Baikonur will continue to be used until at least 2020.

Ivanov confirmed that Russia would continue to use the Baikonur launch site until at least 2020, and would also build new facilities at the Kazakh center under the joint Baiterek project to support launches of the future Angara family of launch vehicles.

At the same time, the first deputy premier called for urgent measures to develop the country as a leading space power rather than to turn it into a provider of launch services for other countries. “I would like to stress that Russia should not turn into a country providing only launching services – a kind of space hauler, although this alarming trend has been taking shape lately,” Ivanov said. “This trend may become a reality, unless proper measures are taken urgently to develop all aspects of space activities,” he said.

On 15 November, Space Adventures offered anyone who could come up with the $3 million fee a chance to train as space tourist Richard Garriott’s backup. The contender was announced in the 26/11 Herald-Sun: a 38-year-old Australian businessman, Nik Halik. (Note that the article might disappear.) I have not seen this mentioned anywhere else yet.

“Russia Conducts First Experiment In Preparation For Mars-500”, RIA Novosti/Space Daily, 30/11. A short test of the modules was conducted by a Russian crew (5 men, 1 woman) from 15-29 November. There is disappointingly little information on the Mars-500 site, though.

Novosti Kosmonavtiki news №669 has a more detailed report on the recent completion of the first Mars-500 short test run, including short biographies of the participants, who all have intimidatingly impressive qualifications. (Yes, I am envious of them.)

30/11/2007/00:03 – Flight to Mars from the Khoroshevskogo highway of the capital city

Within the framework of the “Mars-500” project – an international crew flight simulation to the Red Planet – the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems of the Russian Academy of Science held a two-week experiment involving six testers.

The purpose of the two week experiment, which was conducted in IMPB RAN with the active assistance of the Federal Space Agency, was checking the conformity of the technical and operating characteristics of the modules and their systems to the requirements of the developed technical and operational documentation under the conditions maximally approximating real operation. The experiment was conducted in two modules of the medical-technical complex: EU-150/ЭУ-150 (habitable module with a volume of 150 m³) and EU-100/ЭУ-100 (medical module with a volume of 100 m³). In the course of the experiment, the crew lived and worked in these completely isolated modules. During the experiment was tested newly-developed life-support systems, monitoring and control, information management and the local tele-medical network.

The experiment began on 15 November at 11:00 and was completed on 29 November at 14:00.

The crew successfully managed the tasks entrusted to it. During 14 days there was performed the estimation of modules and their systems in terms of their suitability to conducting of the more prolonged experiments, which are part of the Mars-500 program.

The deputy chief of the Federal Space Agency, V.A. Davydov, and the chief for the administration of the manned programs Roskosmos, A.B. Krasnov, became acquainted with the progress of the experiment and the work of the support systems during a visit to IMBP on 22 November.

The experiment was attended by major developers: ФГУП ЦЭНКИ/FGUP TsENKI, ЗАО МИУС/EAO MIUS, ОАО ВНИСИ/OAO VNISI, ОАО НИИХИММАШ/OAO NIIKhIMMASH, ФГУП ЦНИИМАШ ЦУП-МФ/FGUP TsNIIMASH TsUP-MF, ЗАО ЦВТ/EAO TsVT. During the experiment some elements of the crew uniforms were tried, designed and provided by ЗАО НПО «Динафорс»/EAO NPO “Dinafors” working within the framework of the partnership program for the project “Mars-500”.

The crew consisted of five men and one woman:

• Artamonov, Anton Anatol’evich/Артамонов Антон Анатольевич (1982). Engineer physicist, and IMBP engineer-programmer. After graduating from the physical chemistry department of Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys, he specialized in the department of theoretical physics in the region of the superconductivity of nanomaterial. His research interests are the properties and the functioning of muscular apparatus, and the application of laws governing physics of materials in biomechanics. At present he works on his thesis.
• Artem’ev, Oleg Germanovich/Артемьев Олег Германович (1970). Mechanical engineer, he graduated as RKK Energiya engineer and finished at N.E. Bauman MGTU. His specialization is technology and low-temperature physics. After the successful completion of general space training, he obtained qualified as a cosmonaut-researcher and was enrolled as a cosmonaut-tester in the RKK Energiya group, specializing in extravehicular activity. Has a number of publications in this region.
• Kovalev, Aleksandr Sergeevich/Ковалев Александр Сергеевич (1982). Engineer, works in the telemedicine laboratory at IMBP. He graduated from the MAI in the specialty “Engineering in the biomedical practice”. He participated in the experiments on the study of the influence of the simulated effects of microgravity on the human organism. His scientific interests are the influence of the extreme conditions of living environment on the cardiorespiratory system of the body.
• Perfilov, Dmitrii Vladimirovich/Перфилов Дмитрий Владимирович (1975). Doctor, works in the IMBP telemedicine laboratory. Graduated from Moscow Medico-stomatological University, specializing in therapeutic matter. Upon completion of his clinical internship, he qualified as a therapeutist and has additional qualification as a anesthesiologist-resuscitator. Scientific interests: pain sensitivity by changing the factors of space flight, which assumes the possible correction of the existing scheme of the treatment of cosmonauts.
• Ryazanskii, Sergei Nikolaevich/Рязанский Сергей Николаевич (born 1974), expedition commander. Graduated from the Faculty of Biology of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov in the specialty of biochemistry. In 2005, after completing training he received general space training and cosmonaut-researcher qualifications. He is a member of the Bioethical Commission SRC RF IMBP-RAS. According to the results of studies performed, he has published 19 works, and made 12 reports, eight of them in international conferences. In 2006, he defended his candidate’s thesis on the specialty “physiology” and “aviation and space medicine”.
• Tugusheva, Marina Petrovna/Тугушева Марина Петровна (1983). Biologist, Researcher IMBP. She graduated with honors from the biological department of the Tverskii State University in the department “Anatomies and physiologies of man and animals”. After completion of university she was invited to undertake full-time post-graduate study at GNTS RF of the RAN Institute of Biomedical Problems in the specialty “Aviation, space and sea medicine”. She is at present a graduate student in her 3rd year of learning and a scientific worker in the division of Barophysiology and Diving Medicine. She participated in the conferences of young scientists in the years 2006-2007, in the 8th International Congress for Adaptive Medicine in 2006, and also in 2007 in the I.P. Pavlov Congress of the Physiologists and the “Cosmos and Medicine” conference . She has repeatedly participated in experiments.

(A blog gripe: I hate having to think up a title for each blog entry; I find it hard to come up with anything, sometimes!)

TMA-9 back home

Soyuz TMA-9, with Expedition 14 (Michael Lopez-Alegria and Mikhail Tyurin) and Charles Simonyi aboard, undocked yesterday (21st) at 09:11 UTC and landed at 12:31:30. It was the longest stay by a visiting crew (13d 19h 0m 16s – delayed by one day due to flooding in the original landing zone) and the longest stay by an Expedition Crew (215d 8h 22m 48s). Sunita Williams remains onboard and will accumulate the longest stay by a female NASA astronaut when she eventually returns home (on STS-117, launch delayed to at least 8 June because of damage to the External Tank from hail when it was on the launchpad in February).

News tidbits from the past couple of weeks:

From RIA Novosti, 12/4:

ISS is a mistake we fear to acknowledge – cosmonaut Grechko

“Manned orbital stations lead nowhere, I wrote in my report back in 1978, after a flight that set an endurance record,” Soviet pilot-cosmonaut Georgy Grechko has told the newspaper. “I said that human crews on the stations did not always combine happily with automated instruments. There are plenty of situations where a human being is a nuisance to automatic devices, rather than a help. I argued that stations should be visited only when their equipment needed repairs or replacement.

“Twelve or so years after I wrote that, the United States launched its automatic Hubble telescope into orbit. Since then, astronauts have mended it three times, and are now thinking of doing it a fourth time. The Hubble has made dozens of times more discoveries than all the orbiting stations taken together, complete with their crews and supply craft.

“Experience has shown that I was right 30 years ago. But we are all still sitting snugly on the International Space Station (ISS), in effect keeping it merely alive. For it to bring a profit, it must have a standing crew of six, while the actual number is mostly two. And they have no time for science. My colleague Sergei Krikalyov told me that when he was on board the station he could do science only on Sundays.

“A six-member complement on board the ISS is so far out of the question because no rescue ship that size exists in case something happens. Our Soyuz is a fine craft, but it no longer matches up to new tasks. Even following several upgrades, it is morally outdated.

“The Americans have money both for winding up the ISS program and for launching an interplanetary travel project. But when our state wants to make money on space tourists, you don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“Russian pioneering space scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky said that space would bring us mountains of bread and a heap of might. But tourists bring neither. And I am not sure that the $20 million paid by the present tourist will all go to benefit space studies.

“As President Boris Yeltsin said in his day, commenting on a $5 billion IMF credit: ‘The devil knows where it has gone’.”

“Russia-Australian launch pad project unfeasible – expert”, Interfax, 15/4. Rather disappointing news that the co-operative project with Russia on building a launch pad at Christmas Island is unlikely to go ahead, due to lack of finances and the building of a launchpad at Kourou.

Discussion at NASASpaceflight.com of an ISS Russian module, the Docking Cargo Module (don’t know the Russian name), to be delivered aboard STS-131/ULF4 in 2009. It is part of the extended NASA contract with the Russian Space Agency.

With the modification, NASA also is purchasing the capability for the Russian Docking Cargo Module (DCM) to carry 1.4 metric tons of NASA cargo to the space station. That module is scheduled to fly in 2010. By adding the module, NASA will be able to fly outfitting hardware for the Russian Multipurpose Laboratory Module on the DCM, eliminating the need to fly a cargo carrier and some ballast on a shuttle flight. NASA is obligated to deliver the Russian outfitting hardware to the station under a 2006 addendum to the ISS Balance of Contributions Agreement between NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency.

“The Space Partnership Between Russia And Brazil”, Space Daily, 17/4.

Via NK news №622, oligarch Roman Abramovich, looking for more ways to spend his ill-gotten wealth, has expressed interest in a flight around the Moon on a Soyuz spaceship, costing $300 million – mere small change for him. “In my opinion, it is much better for Russia than buying foreign football clubs,” remarks news editor Aleksandr Zheleznyakov somewhat sardonically. Perhaps one of the crew could shove Mr. Abramovich out the airlock. (News items at FP Space and RIA Novosti)

Back from the dead!

After deleting my website and blog in a fit of depression last month (February) (and perhaps due to a bit of PMS), we are back – Blogger were able to restore the blog (email for this is support@blogger.com – it is quite hard to find contact details in the Help section). Some annoying company also grabbed the URL to redirect it to their stupid commercial site (which is another reason not to delete – opportunistic spammers wait to grab the URL). So the two or three people who actually read this blog (and presumably weren’t too bored by it) can continue to be riveted by my ramblings :-).

Now for some catching up! I’ll just go through the postings in my manual journal. There is rather a lot, sorry!

February news

Expedition 14 completed a spacewalk wearing the Orlan spacesuits on 22 February – see Spacewalkers Successfully Retract Progress Antenna at NASA.

Space junk in Siberia, CollectSpace.com. Russia launches its rockets over land as its launch centers are not near any ocean, and the accumulated debris is a source of environmental pollution from the toxic fuels used (though the locals can make a trade in scrap metal from the rockets). The photo essay Spaceship Junkyard at Slate.com shows images of crashed rockets. I am not sure if there is any organized clean-up by the government. It poses a vexed question of whether the environment or space program should have priority.

“Why are we fighting for the Moon again?”, Andrei Kislyakov, RIA Novosti, 19/2 on why is the space race to the Moon being re-enacted again?

More details on the retraction of the stuck Progress antenna during the last spacewalk – it took quite a lot of effort – and the problems with Mikhail Tyurin’s Orlan spacesuit (the “phantom torque” experienced on previous spacewalks does appear to be due to “high-velocity water molecule ejection by the sublimators of the Russian spacesuits.”

A possibly interesting new novel featuring a Soviet cosmonaut. I hope the ending isn’t disappointing – i.e. that he defects! Probably won’t be available in Australia though (as usual). Though the excerpt (which I just read) is somewhat stomach-churning (involves rape and graphic violence). Ugh – maybe I will give it a miss!

A RIA Novosti letter:

Sir, thank you for producing such an informative and useful online resource. I am writing today in response to the opinion editorial piece by writer, Andrei Kislyakov. As a person who came of age during the “bad old days” of the cold war space race, I was steeped in the competitive nature of those endeavors. Now that I have gone back and studied the awesome and heroic achievements of the Soviet and Russian space programs, I really appreciate the talent and courage displayed by Korolev and the cosmonaut community. NASA has a great deal to learn from the logical, step-by-step approach used by Russia’s space pioneers. Too often our space program is driven by short-term politics in Washington. You can count me as one American who does not ever wish to see again the close-minded space races of the past. America and Russia should work together and share their strengths, not work against each other. Thank you for the fine piece. Ad Astra!

– Vernon Helvey, 21/2

The Soyuz launch base construction site in French Guiana was officially opened on 26 February. A commemorative stone from the Soyuz L-1 launch pad at Baikonur was placed at the new site. It is possible that manned launches could take place there in the future (especially if Russian relations with Kazakhstan break down). Though French Guiana is a colony (which some people there oppose); it has many social problems.

March news

The Independent Safety Task Force’s final report is online (as a PDF). Makes for some interesting reading! The Russian Segment unfortunately doesn’t get a good report, though the problems are old ones. Some extracts:

Acoustics (p.57)

An important aspect of human space flight is the control of the ambient noise level in the crew’s working and sleeping environment. The ISS acoustic environment has been high in the Russian SM, with continuous noise levels exceeding limits by 5-10 dBA in work and sleep areas. Hearing protection systems have been provided and are necessary for the crew while in the SM; however, comfort and the operational need to communicate prevent continuous use of hearing protection. Acoustic mitigation hardware has been developed and launched for the highest noise-contributing hardware in the SM, and installation of some of this hardware has improved the acoustic environment. As limited crew time is available, additional hardware will be installed that is expected to bring the SM acoustic levels to within design specifications. Hearing acuity of the crew is monitored before, during, and after the mission. There has been a permanent hearing threshold shift (hearing damage) at the highest frequency tested (8000 Hz) in one U.S. ISS crew member. There have also been temporary hearing deficits documented in other U.S. and Russian crew members, all of which recovered to pre-mission levels. The ISS Program continues to monitor the acoustic environment, and is making efforts to adequately address this threat to crew health.

5.1 Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris (p.60)

It should be noted that Russians technical specialists believe that the U.S. models are too conservative in their predictions related to potential MMOD damage. This is based upon their experience from operating the Mir space station, where only four MMOD events are known to have occurred in its 15 years of flight. The Russians have a debris strike measuring system deployed on the Station that measures MMOD strikes on the system.

In general, NASA, ESA, and JAXA elements meet the specification for MMOD protection. The Russian docking compartment does not meet this requirement; however, it is a small contributor to the total MMOD risk. Russian hardware elements that were designed before they were intended for use on the ISS (i.e., Russian SM, Soyuz, and Progress) fall short of meeting the specifications. Modifications are being implemented to increase the SM MMOD protection as follows:

1. Conformal debris panels installed on the SM outer skin
   • Flight UF-2 delivered six debris panels in June 2002 that remain stowed but uninstalled.
   • Flight 12A.1 delivered 17 more debris panels in December 2006 to be stowed on orbit.
   • Installation of these panels is planned during spacewalks in April 2007.
2. Orientation of the SM solar arrays in the vertical position relative to the velocity vector (this option is available after the NASA power configuration is completed, enabling NASA to supply additional power to the Russian elements)
3. Deploying additional “wings” forward of the SM arrays

Technical agreements on possible enhancements to the Russian Progress and Soyuz vehicles have been made, but implementation is pending a Russian decision to proceed. The primary impact of the enhancements would be approximately 48 pounds of additional launch weight for each vehicle.

[…]

The data above do not include the Russian multipurpose laboratory module (MLM), which is currently under development. The MLM meets the Program’s specified requirements for MMOD protection, and its installation does not significantly alter the overall ISS MMOD posture.

5.11 Service Module Windows

Observations

The 13 SM windows are Russian-heritage hardware for which designers did not consider currently available data regarding MMOD in their design. The design consists of a two-windowpane (primary and secondary) configuration with the volume between the panes pressurized. This results in the external pane being the primary pressure pane. Unlike other windows on the ISS, most Russian windows do not have an external debris pane to protect against MMOD or an internal scratch pane to protect against damage caused by inadvertent crew activities. The probability of a critical failure (i.e., loss of a primary pane) is estimated by NASA to be one chance in six for all SM windows combined and one chance in nine for SM windows 1 and 2 over a six-year period. Loss of the primary pane would result in loss of redundancy in the window with respect to maintaining ISS atmospheric pressure. Early in the NASA assessment of the SM windows there were concerns that failure of the primary pane might cause failure of the secondary pane as well due to near instantaneous change in differential pressure since the volume between the two panes is pressurized. However, tests conducted by NASA using SM window hardware have demonstrated that the loss of the primary pane does not result in the loss of secondary pane.

Should the primary window pane fail, the concern is the need for protection of the secondary pane from damage that might cause a loss of ISS pressure. This protection involves first the determination that the primary pane has failed and then the installation of an internal cover to prevent further damage that might result in a failure of the final remaining pane. There are insufficient pressure covers on orbit at this time to protect against existing and future damage to primary window pressure panes.

Detection of a primary pane failure requires regular and methodical inspection and photography of the SM window so that analysis can be conducted to determine the structural integrity of the pane in question. Well-defined window inspection and photography procedures have not been developed to date, and routine inspections and photography have not been performed. NASA and Russian technical experts agreed on an implementation plan in September 2006, but it is unclear whether Russian management will implement its part of the plan.

Recommendation

5.11.1 The ISS Program should proactively, methodically, and routinely monitor the SM windows for critical damage and be prepared to implement protection of the secondary pane by having hardware available on board or as launch-on-need for implementation.

There are also some concerns about the upcoming ATV flight:

Observations (ATV)

There will be no test flights of the integrated ATV before the first vehicle will rendezvous and dock with the ISS. The ATV safety strategy is operationally implemented at three levels.

1. On the first flight, flight safety demonstrations will be conducted before the proximity operations safing functions might be required.
2. A two-fault-tolerant vehicle design protects the ISS from critical and catastrophic hazards.
3. Flight crew and MCC monitoring and control protect against unexpected scenarios.

The guidelines for the safety demonstrations are that:

• all safety functions will be demonstrated in a region that is not hazardous to the ISS before they would be needed.
• each activity is built upon in distinct demonstration phases.
• success criteria are provided for each demonstration phase.
• contingency plans are provided in the event that success criteria are not met.
• each step is evaluated before proceeding to the next step.

While this is a sound approach, the ATV systems that are used to accomplish a safe rendezvous and docking are complex and require a high degree of human interaction. To guard against failure, all aspects of vehicle design and operation must rigorously adhere to the defined safety strategy. Additionally, new rendezvous technology has been flown on two previous missions: the Japanese engineering test satellite (ETS) series and the NASA demonstration of autonomous rendezvous technology (DART). Both missions had problems with their autonomous rendezvous; and, in fact, the DART spacecraft collided with the target vehicle. The Japanese ETS rendezvous was eventually successful, but only after a month of on-orbit troubleshooting and modifications. With no planned test flight and two instances where other automated rendezvous systems had initial performance problems, the ATV is scheduled to rendezvous and dock with the crewed ISS on its very first mission. Without first requiring a successful test flight, and given the complexities of the new MCC in Toulouse, new flight controllers, the cultural and language differences among the three control centers of France, Russia, and the United States, and U.S. Export Control/ITAR restrictions that limit data exchange and conversations among the technical integrators and operators; the plan to demonstrate safety functions during an actual rendezvous on the first mission is considered ambitious.

Russia also announced it is looking for a new launch site in case Baikonur is unavailable. The main contender is Kapustin Yar (love the sound of that name!).

“Death throes and grand delusions”, The Space Review. Dwayne Day summarizes the current problems in Russia’s space industry and program. Not happy reading.

“Korolev R-7 Rocket Leads The Field For Reliability”, Space Daily.

Lisa Nowak was officially fired from NASA. Every time she is mentioned at the NASASpaceflight.com forum, the threads keep getting locked, rather annoyingly! People keep saying in moralistic tones, “We really shouldn’t discuss this,” but they do anyway :-). It makes a change from the mind-numbingly dull discussions about COTS and so forth. (I have no idea of what COTS is; I just pulled that up at random. :-)

New article posted at the Energiya site: MoonGasTransport Inc., “The interview given by Nikolai N. SEVASTIYANOV, the President and Designer General of the S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia to a reporter from ITOGY weekly Svetlana SUKHOVA.” More ambitious schemes from Mr. Sevast’yanov – he just needs 2.5 billion dollars to implement them! Perhaps one of the oligarches could do something useful with their billions and donate to the cause.

“The Story Of Women In Space”, Space Daily. Russian women were faced with many barriers to getting into orbit, one of the major ones being sexism from their male counterparts; something which is still apparent today. Only three Russian women have made it into orbit so far (the last in 1997).

Through this post at NASASpaceflight.com, found a document written by Sergei Krikalyov (27 December 2004), stored at the Русский фонд (Russian Fund) site. They are the PDF documents (in English and Russian) at the top of the page (the Russian one is online). (I posted this on the 2004 News page at my Sergei site.)

The report on international program for Earth defense from asteroid-comet threat is prepared under a Russian Federation patent from 27.12.2004 (RU 2243621 C1) “Method and device for generation of directed and coherent gamma-radiation”. In this patent under physico-mathematical and quantum analysis as well as work over constructional and technical details there is shown a unique and real way of defense a human civilization from a ruthless outer space.

In other words, using a laser to zap rogue asteroids!

Two recent articles by James Oberg at MSNBC.com:

• “The Kourou-cosmonaut connection”: future prospects for the new French-Russian Kourou spaceport. (The climate, though, is unpleasant: “High humidity, rain seasons, aggressive insects” – ugh!.)
• “Space station sinks to a new low”: the complex calculations needed to keep the ISS aloft and orientated.

From Novosti Kosmonavtiki news №614; criticism from the State Duma Deputy Valerii Rashkin over the closing of Svobodnyi Cosmodrome:

15/03/2007/16:56 – The Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Valery Rashkin: Russia does not wish to have free access to space

The deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Valery Rakshin has made a statement in connection with closing of the Svobodnyi Cosmodrome. In the statement he said:

“As it became known today from press statements, the Governor of the Amur area Leonid Korotkov has declared Svobodnyi Cosmodrome, which is located in this region, closed.

“The second is closed remained on territory of our country the space project focused on peace and military use of space. There is the Russian-only northern Plesetsk Cosmodrome. For all educated people it is clear that the more northern the cosmodrome (further from the Equator), there are subsequently reduced opportunities for the launch of large and heavy objects into orbit, let alone devices for distant orbital piloted space flights. The well-known Baikonur Cosmodrome remains in Kazakhstan; we only rent it. The Sea Launch project does not exist without problems and is not wholly Russian. The Kourou Cosmodrome is under the jurisdiction of France.

“Authorities of Russia, having made grand statements for ten years about new space projects and creation of the high-grade Russian Svobodnyi Cosmodrome, have again acted pragmatically and not strategically. They have shown only average thinking at the management level. Almost on the quiet (through the statement of the governor of the area – not that status of event) the country refuses space, scientific and innovative ambitions. And again hundreds and hundreds of qualified experts of the Military-Space forces will be dismissed. If this is innovative Russia with independent democracy, where is the innovativeness and especially the sovereignty?”

(Russian version, Русская версия)

Too Far from Home is a book mentioned in this thread at CollectSPACE.com. Seems to be yet another example of inaccurate reporting, if the reviews are anything to go by:

Though extensive accounts of the Americans’ backgrounds seems at first to put the brakes on, it’s a necessary counterweight to parallel passages about the little-understood Russian space program – essential information because the three eventually took “an accelerated, lung-crushing dive” in a Soyuz capsule.

Um, the Russian program is reasonably well-understood by now?

Too Far from Home vividly captures the hazardous realities of space travel. Every time an astronaut makes the trip into space, he faces the possibility of death from the slightest mechanical error or instance of bad luck: a cracked O-ring, an errant piece of space junk, an oxygen leak… There are a myriad of frighteningly probable events that would result in an astronaut’s death. In fact, twenty-one people who have attempted the journey have been killed.

Everytime a person ventures on the road in a car they face the possibility of maiming or death in an accident, occurrences that happen to people every day. Thousands of people are killed on the roads each year. And people think space travel is dangerous…?

With the launch program suspended indefinitely, these astronauts had suddenly lost their ride home. Too Far from Home chronicles the efforts of the beleaguered Mission Controls in Houston and Moscow as they work frantically against the clock to bring their men safely back to Earth, ultimately settling on a plan that felt, at best, like a long shot. Latched to the side of the space station was a Russian-built Soyuz TMA-1 capsule, whose technology dated from the late 1960s (in 1971 a malfunction in the Soyuz 11 capsule left three Russian astronauts dead.) Despite the inherent danger, the Soyuz became the only hope to return Bowersox, Budarin, and Pettit home.

The crew always had a ride home – the Soyuz served as a backup should the Shuttle be canceled (as it was). The technology in the Soyuz has been upgraded since the 1960s! And the last Soyuz fatalities to date were in Soyuz 11 (though there have been some near-misses).

From another review:

He wrote an award-wining article for Esquire on how American astronauts Donald Pettit and Kenneth Bowersox and Russian engineer Nikolai Budarin were stranded on the International Space Station after their ride home – the shuttle Columbia – exploded on re-entry Feb. 1, 2003. With the remaining shuttles grounded, there seemed to be no way to retrieve them. (They eventually returned aboard a Russian space capsule.)

*Exasperated sigh* No, the crew were not stranded… Inaccuracy really, really irritates me!

In the 19 March edition of The Space Review there is an article by Dwayne Day about the movie Virus – “V is for Virus, Volkov, and Vandenberg”! Turns out that the ship used in the movie was not the Academican Vladislav Volkov, «Аладемикан Владислав Вольков» (as I thought when I saw the movie screened on TV last year), but a decommissioned American missile tracking ship, the Vandenberg.

“Russian contradictions”, Taylor Dinerman, The Space Review. A typical neoconservative view of Russia’s intentions in politics (President Putin’s “vicious anti-American speech”, which can be read at Kremlin.ru, was stating a few truths and was hardly vicious), but does point out that Russia is doing quite well in its space program.

Regarding The Space Review site, Nicolas Pillet says in this forum thread, Article dans The Space Review sur le programme russe (in French) (approximate translation):

Before even reading the article, I would like simply to warn those who do not know “The Space Review” that it is an extremely “patriotic” media (I put quotation marks because actually it is necessary to include/understand “nationalist”…) It is the kind of magazine which, at the time of the war in Iraq, told off the “enemies of the freedom” which we are… I do not know any more which article it was, but once they said (one can more explicitly) Europe could not make anything in space, except for Italy which had modest experience in the construction of habitable modules… They are hardly nicer, I believe, with the “Soviets”… Then mistrust…

Taylor Dinerman seems to be one of the resident “Paranoid Patriot” writers there; articles by him (which Nicolas might have meant) include “How much international cooperation is really needed in space exploration?”, “NASA and ESA: a parting of ways?”, “Italy: seeking to maintain its political equilibrium in space”, “More international delusions”, “The French ‘non’, the Dutch ‘nee’, and their impact on Europe’s space policy”, “The European (French) response to Bush’s space strategy”. He has the typical neoconservative view of disliking Europe and its “welfare state”. (The neos wish to cut taxes, eliminate welfare, give corporations free rein and leave people to fend for themselves.)

I neglected to mention that 6 March was Valentina Tereshkova’s 70th birthday. (She is a year older than my mother!) RIA Novosti had an article about her (in Russian): «Валентина Терешкова открыла тайну, которую хранила 40 лет» (The first woman Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova reveals a 40-year-old secret) – no English version, unfortunately (there is a French version which might be easier to translate). At the end of the article:

At present, Tereshkova dreams to go to Mars, “a marvelous and mysterious planet”. “I am ready to go there, perhaps never to return,” acknowledged the woman cosmonaut.

I noticed that the Soyuz Crew Operations Manual (SoyCOM) – final (258 pages) is available in the subscription-only L2 section at NASASpaceflight.com. *Covets* Seems like all the good stuff has been moved over there!

The Kliper spaceship concept is to be resubmitted to Russian Space Agency by late 2007.

Expedition 15 cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov said they would be happy to carry out a spacewalk with an appropriately-trained space tourist.

Information via Anik at NASASpaceflight.com:

New information from Sergey Shamsutdinov (one of editors of Novosti Kosmonavtiki magazine): On March 6 the Russian Main Medical Commission (GMK) has declared Konstantin Kozeev and Aleksandr Lazutkin unusable to spaceflight due to medical problems, therefore they will leave RSC Energia’s Cosmonaut Group very soon… Also the new commander for the backup Expedition 17 crew is Gennadii Padalka now (instead of Sergei Krikalyov)… And Yuri Lonchakov, not Michael Barratt, will be the commander of the backup Expedition 18 crew…

Sergei is still commanding Expedition 19/TMA-14; he does not want to train as backup as he is very busy (and knows everything, anyway!).

That darn Elektron

The Elektron oxygen generator onboard the International Space Station (in the Russian segment) has been fixed (again) and is operating (for now). “Breathing Easy in Space Is Never Easy” by James Oberg gives an overview of the latest scene in The Elektron Saga (as I feel like calling it :-).

Progress M-58 (23P) launched and docked last week with the much-needed spare parts, though there was a glitch before it docked when an antenna of the Kurs docking system apparently did not retract. The docking was paused for 3½ hours while the problem was resolved. Progress launchings and dockings normally go smoothly, though.

Some news tidbits from Novosti Kosmonavtiki news №585. The translations (using Babelfish, then “tidied-up” as best I can with my very limited Russian – well, I don’t speak it at all really :-( ) are not very good.

25/10/2006/20:05 Russia will allocate over 170 billion roubles for space activity in the next few years

Russia will allocate 171.7 billion roubles till 2010 for the realization of space programs, Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, declared on Wednesday, answering questions of citizens on the air. About this reports the agency Interfax.

“As for general expenditure, this will be increased in addition by the federal target program (GLONASS – “IF”) in the near future in order to accelerate it. It is 41.8 billion roubles. From 2008 to 2010, 129.9 billion roubles will be allocated to the federal space program,” V. Putin said.

He has emphasized that Russia should accelerate full input in building the GLONASS global navigating satellite system – analogous to the American GPS. “And I very much expect that the participants of economic activities will be switched to national global navigating system as soon as it will earn,” V. Putin said. The president noted that now the orbital grouping of satellites of system GLONASS comprises 14 devices. “Still, it is necessary to produce some devices, and they will provide full coverage over all the country’s territory. And the next step will be for their coverage to be global,” V. Putin said.

He noted, that Russia “is considerably more advanced than the European partners” in the satellite navigating system project. Now the incorporated group creates its own navigating satellite system, “Galilleo”. Meanwhile the first and unique satellite of this system, whose orbital grouping should total about 30 satellites, has been launched.

• Russian version, Русская версия

Parts of the following article are somewhat incoherent as I could not figure out their translation!

25/10/2006/00:05 Why Russia is relinquishing its position in the global space market

In the 24 October edition of the newspaper New News («Новые известия»), Nikolai Orlov’s article, “Why Russia is relinquishing its position in the global space market”, was published. In the publication the article describes the critical state of affairs in the domestic space branch, and fears that the next few years will not be good for Russian astronautics.

Below are some extracts from the article.

“[…] Roskosmos persistently does not wish to recognize the obvious: year by year, Russia relinquishes its position in the space market. Today it is significant that our country (from shares of 40%) is represented only in a segment of commercial launches which falls within up to 70% of its space export. But the annual volume of this segment is estimated to be 2.5-3 billion dollars while the segment of manufacture of commercial satellites makes already about 10 billion, the segment of the navigating equipment and services comes nearer to 20 billion, the satellite communication segment and D33 at a level of 60 billion. Thus, if the immediate prospects for markets of launch services and satellite manufacture are stagnant (as is predicted by the majority of experts) the growth of other segments, on the contrary, remains respectable. So, in five years altogether the volume of the satellite communication market is estimated to be already at 150 billion dollars, D33 – at 50 billion, and the navigating equipment and services – at 70 billion. As a result by 2010 the global space market should reach a total of 300 billion dollars. And what will be the Russian share here even if it will be possible to eliminate the market consequences of launch failures?

What lies ahead? On the way, the Russian space enterprises will be superseded by competitors in the less profitable markets of the new space countries which only start performance of national space programs and where our enterprises still can act in the role of a “donor” of space technologies. But even here the inexplicable passivity of Roskosmos leads to paradoxical situations. So, of the two countries in the Kazhakstan-Russian space cooperation with an obvious difference of space power ratios…Astana plays the leading part! Russia only goes downstream, and all initiatives – the Ishim and Baiterek projects, the creation at Baikonur of tourist space center (modeled on the organization of tourism in the American space center at Cape Canaveral) are initiated by Kazakhstan.

Another example: in May of this year Nigeria accepted a program of outer space exploration according to which, in particular, a flight to the Moon is planned for 2030. To such plans of the country receiving considerable means from export of oil, it is possible to concern, certainly, with irony, however Ukraine already prepares for a number of agreements with the National Agency of Space Development and Researches of Nigeria. They actively work with this country and China. And here on the Roskosmos site Nigeria is not mentioned at all in the list of potential participants of international cooperation.

[…]

But then that in an active? Than, if not strategy of development of branch, the management of Roskosmos is engaged? Apparently, a lot, but it is more likely connected not with the development of the branch, but with the circulation of monetary flows.

For example, one year ago a number of leading enterprises of the country created the International Association of Space Activity Participants (МАКД, Международная ассоциация участников космической деятельности, MAKD). The purpose of the association seems good on the surface – to increase the level of coordination and interaction, but strange on closer examination – in fact almost 90% of the enterprises of branch are FGUPy, and the major share of the state capital remains with them. In other words, for the decision of these problems – coordination and – the state has just created interactions and finances special federal agency – Roskosmos. And then it is stranger, that the chairman of board – joint agency MAKD – the government official – the head of Roskosmos is selected. Thus according to the MAKD charter he individually carries out powers of a joint agency – the MAKD board, which gathers only twice a year. Moreover, he is not required to have his actions approved by the MAKD board. Similarly, this is a new trend in Russian corporate practice. Yes, as it happens, our high officials are selected to control the commercial and noncommercial organizations – in the supervisory councils, boards of directors. But never before did they enter into agencies and were not engaged in operative management! Cunning to the point of irrationality – the head of Roskosmos without the power of attorney works on behalf of MAKD.

In truth, the Association is an individual agency – the president of the Association is the dear academician of the Russian Academy of Science, Nikolai Anfimov. But the developers of the charter have reduced his functions to participation in board meetings and the performance of his assignments. Such is the “ZITs (Regional Informational Center) chairman.”

What is the Association for Anatoly Perminov’s rule? A Hobby comprising a lot of free time, or a buffer for the future? Can, therefore the head of Roskosmos, and in combination chairman of board MAKD (or on the contrary, in combination head Roskosmos? In fact frequently him represent so!), at any opportunity does not get weary of reminding of the existence and necessity of such organization. But what then do the members MAKD receive? According to the charter: assistance in reception of the license for space activity, services on selling production and performance of contractual relations, etc. And according to the MAKD charter, the MAKD board chairman, Anatoly Perminov, represents these state bodies’ interests, so, and in Roskosmos. Whether and then there is at the enterprises of branch a choice? Whether they can find the decision of the problems in Roskosmos if will not be presented there by chairman of board MAKD? […]

Comments, I think, are superfluous.

• Russian version, Русская версия

25/10/2006/00:05 The Soyuz modernized spacecraft will not be ready earlier than 2010

The Soyuz modernized piloted spacecraft will be created from 2010, Roskosmos deputy Viktor Remishevskii informed journalists today, as ITAR-TASS reported. The “modernized” Soyuz “will be created with improved characteristics,” he specified. “From 2010 we should receive this ship which can carry out piloted flights, and it will be real.” As he said, the modernized ship can carry out lunar expeditions around the Moon and returning to the Earth, and flights to the International Space Station.

Answering a question on prospects of the Kliper piloted ship, V. Remishevskii said that “it will be a forthcoming stage of piloted Russian astronautics.” “It is supposed that it will be the six-seater ship a universal type which can fly to the ISS and carry out lunar expeditions,” he noted.

• Russian version, Русская версия

24/10/2006/13:06 Roskosmos complains of a shortage of money for construction of Kliper

The 9 billion roubles allocated Roskosmos for the Kliper project till 2012 to construct a new piloted spacecraft is impossible. This was declared by the Roskosmos deputy Viktor Remishevskii, reports RIA Novosti.

“As is known, the Roskosmos competitive commission has suspended the tender for construction of a new piloted reusable spacecraft. And I headed this competitive commission,” said Remishevskii.

“We have really looked at things and have understood, that means at a rate of 9 billion roubles till 2012 and from them about 500 million roubles till 2010 is an extremely insufficient sum, and to construct a new spacecraft with this money is impossible,” he said.

According to Remishevskii, it is necessary to involve tens of billions of unappropriated funds.

“Besides there were doubts as to the planned winged constuction of the new piloted ship – it has not been examined, besides it is very expensive,” added Remishevskii. As the Roskosmos deputy has noted, the ship’s weight was 13-14 tons and any new booster rocket would not be ready to carry it.

• Russian version, Русская версия

24/10/2006/00:05 Nikolai Sevast’yanov stated that RKK Energiya will radically renew its fleet of spacecraft

The Rocket-Space Corporation Energiya is realizing a program of the radical renovation of its fleet of manned and cargo spacecraft, stated the President of RKK Energiya, Nikolai Sevast’yanov.

The “first stage of program is the modernization of the Soyuz. This will make it possible to increase its capabilities, to reduce cost, to increase commercial attractiveness,” reported N. Sevast’yanov on Monday at the spaceport Baikonur, where he was present for the launch of the Progress cargo ship M-58. According to N. Sevast’yanov, today the Soyuz spacecraft can fly to space and return to the earth with two professional cosmonauts and one nonprofessional aboard.

“The crew will be able to consist of one professional and two nonprofessional cosmonauts on the modernized Soyuz. The first launching of this new Soyuz is planned in 2011,” said N. Sevast’yanov. The new Soyuz, he emphasized, “will fly not only to the ISS, it will be able to fly, also, to the Moon.” The “modernized” Soyuz “will be capable of returning from the Moon to the Earth with planetary escape velocity; on it will be installed an astronavigation system and a number of other systems,” Sevast’yanov said.

It is planned that the new Soyuz will be launched from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana with the aid of the Soyuz-2 carrier rocket, noted N. Sevast’yanov.

In the second stage of the program implementation, he said, will be created the “Parom”, «Паром» reusable transport system, which will replace the Progress cargo transport ships. “The fact is that today the Progress delivers to the ISS 2.5 tons of dry and liquid cargo. But this is a one-flight mission. We plan to solve the task of a significant reduction in the cost of cargo delivery by approximately four times,” he emphasized. In this case N. Sevast’yanov added that the “Parom reusable orbital module system will be located in the composition of the Station, and from the Earth they will launch containers with loads of up to 12 tons.”

In the program’s third stage will be created the Kliper ship, reported the RKK chief. It will be based on the technologies that will be developed in the first two stages. The onboard systems will be utilized from the modernized Soyuz spacecraft, the program elements from the Parom system, noted N. Sevast’yanov.

“We have special hopes for Kliper. This is an transport industrial system of new qualities. When a fleet of Klipers is created, they will be based at Baikonur. Hence ships will launch and return here. This will give a big impetus to the development of the Baikonur infrastructure. For the care of the fleet of Klipers will have to create the valuable operational company, which will assume Kliper, to prepare it for the following flight,” said N. Sevast’yanov.

When the ships of the Kliper series begin to fly, he noted, this will make it possible to considerably increase the number of cosmonauts. “The prime cost of cargo delivery will be lowered approximately three times. From other side, the overheads which appear with launch and landing, will be lowered considerably, which will make it possible to expand the circle of participants in the flights,” added the Energiya leader. About this reports the Interfax Agency.

• Russian version, Русская версия

And some more Russian space news tidbits, from SpaceDaily.com:

• “Russia Facing New Challenges For Military Space Systems”; “Russia’s Space Challenge (Part 2)”.
• “Russian Dreams Of Reaching Mars First” and “A Mission To Mars (Part Two)”.

I would like to see Russia reach Mars first – it would make up for all the previous setbacks in their program, and the miseries endured during the 1990s. Unfortunately, funding is lacking (the government doesn’t seem particularly interested) and a lot of the country’s money was stolen by the oligarches during that period (I think they should be rounded up and shot, and their money taken back by the government and put into the space program and social welfare. Well, that is what I would do :-).

I am uncertain as to whether to continue this blog or not (my website takes up enough of my energy), but The Accidental Russophile mentioned it (to my horror – I thought it was hidden!) so I guess I had better, for now! It is nice to have a comments facility, though if and when I start to get comment spam I will have to moderate them. I also managed to upload some photos for the blog design (I modified the template a bit) so I rather like it!

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(Note: title derived from the movie That Darned Cat)