New Dawn module in orbit

The ISS received another module yesterday: Mini Research Module-1, MIM-1 Rassvet, “Dawn” (МИМ-1 «Рассвет»), the 5th Russian module to reach orbit (or 4th, discounting Zarya). It was carried up by STS-132 Atlantis, and docked at 12:19:45 GMT, 18/5. I have a dedicated page about it on my website.

The Mars-500 finalists were also announced yesterday. They are, from left to right and top to bottom in the photo (from the IMBP page): Sukhrob Kamolov (Russia), Romain Charles (ESA), Diego Urbina (ESA), Wang Yue (China), Aleksei Sitev (Russia), Aleksandr Smoleevskii (Russia), Mikhail Sidel’nikov (Russia). The mission begins 3 June 2010, and ends in November 2011. Each participant will recieve 3 million rubles (nearly USD$100 000).

MIM-2 docked

The fourth Russian module «Поиск», Poisk is now safely docked to the ISS. I have a page about it on my website. Some launch data:

• Launch date: 10 Nov 2009 at 14:22:04 UTC
• Launcher: Progress M-SO2 №302 on a Soyuz-U rocket
• Docking date: 12 Nov 2009 at 15:41:42 UTC
• NASA Human Spaceflight Gallery MIM-2 photos: JSC2009-E-214432, JSC2009-E-214433, ISS021-E-024516, ISS021-E-024517, ISS021-E-024518, ISS021-E-024520, ISS021-E-024522, ISS021-E-024524, ISS021-E-024527, ISS021-E-024531, ISS021-E-024534
• NASASpaceflight.com thread: Progress M-MIM2 launch

Nuclear space tug

On the Roskosmos site is a “Presentation by A.S.Koroteev, Keldysh Center Director: ‘Significant Objectives of Space Exploration in the 21st Century’ ”, showing Powerpoint plans for a nuclear space tug (click the English flag in the top right corner).

“New Russian Crew Vehicle Simulator will be Built in Three Years”, Roskosmos, 3/11.

Simulator of the new Russian crew vehicle Rus’ will be built in three years, Director of the Simulator Design Center Valentin Shukshunov says. The process can be started once draft design of the vehicle is completed. The simulator system will consist of 4 trainers intended to train diferrent exercises. Integrated simulator is the first one to be built, then there will come docking and vehicle control simulators. In other words, Shukshunov says, the simulator will appear earlier than the vehicle itself.

Via NK №817: the training simulator for the proposed “Rus” spaceship could be created 3 years after the design of the ship is completed – in 2013 – the director of the Flight Simulator Training Center (Центра тренажеростроения), Valentine Shukshunov, has said. A virtual model would be created first, then the training apparatus. The training complex would include at least 4 different apparatus, including a complete spaceship simulator, another for docking, and another for in-orbit flight. The simulator would be ready before the actual spaceship made its first flight. For 30 years of the history of the enterprise, only once has the training apparatus been created earlier than a spaceship’s launch into space, or a space station module has been sent into an orbit. This has been the case for the training apparatus of the small laboratory module (MIM-2). The training apparatus for it already operates, though the module is not sent yet into orbit.

“Poisk Module: Brief Description”, Roskosmos, 4/11. Includes two computer images of MIM-2, though not translated into English yet.

Poisk, also known as the Mini-Research Module 2 (MRM 2), is a new Russian docking module of the International Space Station. Its original name was Docking Module 2 (Stykovochniy Otsek 2 [SO-2]), as it is almost identical to Pirs already on the station.

It will be added to the zenith port of the Zvezda module, and will serve as an additional docking port for Soyuz and Progress spacecraft and as an airlock for spacewalks. Poisk will also provide extra space for scientific experiments, and provide power-supply outlets and data-transmission interfaces for two external scientific payloads to be developed by the Russian Academy of Sciences. The mass of the module is 4,000 kg. It has a diameter of 2.6 m and length of 4.6, providing 12.5 cubic meters of internal volume.

Cosmonaut journal

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.

Modules named

Via Anik at NASASpaceflight.com, the modules have been officially named, listed in launch order:

1. МИМ-2/MIM-2/MRM-2 – «Поиск»/Poisk/“Search” (launch 15/8/2009)
2. МИМ-1/MIM-1/MRM-1 – «Рассвет»/Rassvet/“Dawn” (8/4/2010)
3. МЛМ/MLM/MLM – «Наука»/Nauka/“Science” (December 2011)

“Russia celebrates half a century since touching the moon”, Energiya/RT, 14/9. It is 50 years since an unmanned Soviet spacecraft, Luna-2, landed on the lunar surface.

“Crunch time for Russia Mars probe”, BBC News, 14/9. Roskosmos was to decide whether the Phobos-Grunt probe should be delayed until the 2011 launch window; it confirmed this on the 16th as the flight control systems need more testing to confirm reliability. Disappointing, but better safe than sorry.

A PDF document, “ISS Program International Cooperation, Paris, June 17, 2009” (500 KB), can be downloaded from NASA; it is a Russian Powerpoint plan of future developments, reproduced below:

Head of Russian Federal Space Agency – ISS Program International Cooperation – Paris, June 17, 2009

1. Roscosmos View On NASA Current Plan For Human Space Flight

• Critical to the ISS program implementation are the issues of technical and transportation support (crew rotation, crew rescue, cargo delivery, etc.).
• Roscosmos welcomes NASA endeavor to speed up the development of the new piloted transportation system “Orion” and the new launch vehicle “ARES-1”.
• Successful implementation of Commercial Orbital Transportation Services for the ISS would allow to streamline technical and transportation support of the station and to make it more systematic and stable.
• NASA human space flight program looks quite balanced and promising to us.

2. Cooperation with NASA in ISS Program

• Roscosmos-NASA cooperation over recent years has provided the following results:
  • After Columbia accident in 2003 the permanent crew presence on the ISS was ensured and maintained;
  • The ISS international crews rotation has been conducted including rescue capability in case of contingency situations; the ISS cargo delivery and utilization has been ensured taking into account the planned Space Shuttle retirement in 2010;
  • ISS US Segment deployment has been completed;
  • The launch of Soyuz TMA in May 2009 increased the ISS crew up to six persons.
• Cooperation experience accumulated by Roscosmos and NASA allows us to proceed to the next stage of ISS utilization: a full-scale implementation of the national programs of scientific experiments in space and ISS utilization as an international space laboratory.

3. Desirability of ISS Operation Beyond 2016

• Completion of the ISS US segment deployment as well as Roscosmos plans to additionally equip the ISS Russian segment in the nearest future will significantly increase the ISS scientific potential.
• By 2015 the ISS will have the unique capabilities for scientific research in space, engineering development and implementation of humanitarian, educational and commercial projects.
• Taking into account these circumstances, as well as recommendations approved at June 2008 meeting of Heads of Agencies Roscosmos considers it expedient to prolong the ISS utilization term up to 2020 at the minimum.

4. Russia Future Plans For Human Space Flight Program

• The prospective plans for the Russian human space flight are determined by the Federal Space Program of Russia for the period from 2006 to 2015, the Concept of Russian Human Space Flight Development till 2020 and a number of other documents.
• The main objectives of the future human space flights are:
  • Exploration and efficient utilization of the near Earth space.
  • Study and exploration of the Moon, Mars and deep space in order to resolve global problems on the Earth and in space and to generate new knowledge for the benefit of the humankind.
• In order to achieve the above mentioned goals we expect to make the following steps in the timeframe till 2020:
  • Complete the assembly of the ISS Russian Segment and to continue its utilization in full configuration;
  • Provide the creation of the prospective crew transportation system based on a new generation piloted spacecraft;
  • Build and prepare for operation the first elements of the orbital assembly experimental piloted space complex by the end the ISS life cycle;
  • Develop elements, technologies and key systems of prospective interplanetary complexes for missions to the Moon and Mars, and develop new means and methods of biomedical support to ensure long-term human space flights, including the interplanetary flights, and so on.

5. Future Interaction With NASA In Space Exploration

• The experience gained by Russia, US and Europe in the area of piloted space complexes and their long-term utilization, including the ISS activities, allows us to proceed to the implementation of the larger-scale projects, in particular, the development of piloted spacecraft for missions to the Moon and Mars.
• Roscosmos supports the necessity of involving technical and scientific potential of other countries for such large-scale projects implementation.
• Russia finds acceptable those projects which ensure equal rights of partners who will share the obtained results and also Russia’s participation in the development of critical elements (launch vehicles, power propulsion systems, technologies and experience of long-term crew life support in space).
• In this connection Roscosmos considers it expedient to establish the international joint expert group to conduct comprehensive analysis of integration feasibility in the sphere of space exploration.

6. What has Roscosmos learned from the ISS partnership?

• Apparently, the ISS lessons show that any critical element in the project should have a backup (should be redundant). As a rule, such elements include launch vehicles, crew and cargo transportation spacecraft and Mission Control Centers.
• During the utilization phase the redundancy should be provided by various modules and project elements for the specific functions such as habitation, power supply and, partly, the payload complexes and systems.
• The ISS could serve as a unique test stand for developing advanced technologies. This process has already started and will expand as we accumulate more experience and capabilities for autonomous stay on the ISS.
• The ISS lessons show that educational and public outreach activities are very important for attracting the young people’s interest to space.
• The ISS international management structure has already demonstrated its success. It would make sense to apply this experience to other big international projects.

7. How would you characterize the Russian obligations and that of the US to the ISS in terms of its operational life?

• The main tasks of Russia and the US at this point are as follows:
  • maintenance of operation of the ISS Russian and US Segments for implementation of the national programs of space experiments and research;
  • fulfillment of mutual obligations under existing international arrangements;
  • maintenance of ground infrastructure for the ISS nominal operation;
  • transportation and technical provision of the ISS according to the agreements achieved with NASA in view of the Shuttle retirement in 2010;
  • participation in managing the ISS program (the ISS coordination boards and groups);
  • provision of the ISS efficient utilization.
• We believe that the Unites States, as the main coordinator of the project, will promote stable and planned implementation of the ISS program, including the transportation and technical provision of the station, the required conditions for the crew presence onboard, improvement of the station control structure, etc.

8. How does ISS and its extension past 2015 connect to Russia's future plans for human and robotic exploration beyond low-Earth orbit?

• By the end of the ISS life cycle Roscosmos plans to develop and prepare for operation the first elements of the orbital assembly experimental piloted space complex which will become a basis for engineering development for future human missions to Mars beyond 2030.
• It is impossible to create such a complex without a preliminary testing of its elements in space and verification of engineering solutions and technologies.
• The ISS operation experience demonstrates that the station utilization allows to solve the unique tasks of extending the life of both the station elements and the automatic space instruments (space telescopes, etc) in autonomous flight. This adds another good argument in favor of the ISS program extension till 2020 and beyond.

Accompanying diagrams:

Moon melancholy

The 40th anniversary of the first Apollo Moon landing is coming up, so there is a lot of blather and angst in the media and on various forums. No Russian cosmonaut has yet been out of low Earth orbit – one wonders if they ever will. The anniversary has inevitably brought out the Paranoid Patriots, as evidenced in these quotes:

Now potential rivals such as China seek to challenge US dominance in space, and some see the new space race as once again a battle between ideologies.

“From the point of view of the future of the western world and its Asian allies it’s imperative that the US, Europe, Japan, Australia, Canada and other like-minded countries be competitive in deep space,” Moonwalker and geologist Harrison Schmitt told AFP.

Schmitt said he believed that “non-democratic nations of the world, China, Russia and maybe others, fully intend to be dominant in space…[and] gain that kind of prestige, that kind of advantage in technology and education and other fields that come with being the dominant space power.

“With the Apollo program we taught them how,” said Schmitt, who was the last astronaut to step out of a lunar craft and onto the moon surface in 1972.

– “Space, man’s greatest challenge, 40 years after Moon walk”, Space Daily, 12/7/2009

STS-127 Atlantis is still trying to launch; it has had 4 scrubs so far! Originally to have launched on 13 June, the first delay was due to a hydrogen gas vent leak; the second because of a work light knob embedded between the pressure pane on Atlantis’ pilot window and the dashboard panel, and the last two because of thunderstorms. The next attempt is in a few hours. A very frustrating process for all involved, as the orange External Tank has to be drained and refueled each time, and the Shuttle crew has to prepare themselves, only to be disappointed. (Maybe they should try sacrificing a goat.) The Soyuz manned rocket launches are, in contrast, rarely delayed (I don’t know if any have been).

Posters at the Novosti Kosmonavtiki forum are not too impressed with the proposed names (6/7/2009 entry) for the next 3 Russian ISS modules, describing them as “utilitarian”, lacking in romanticism, difficult to pronounce (i.e. too long) and imitating NASA’s pointedly symbolic names. Some proposed are: «Спектр», Spektr (Spectrum), «Природа» Priroda (Nature), «Радуга», Raduga (Rainbow), «Горизонт», Gorizont (Horizon). The names are “recycled” (used on previous projects, such as the Mir space station) but are nicer than the officially-proposed ones.

Progress M-02M successfully performed a re-rendezvous test today to verify the new passive KURS-P system antennas and TORU target installation accuracy at the SM PkhO (Service Module Transfer Compartment) zenith port. There was some nervousness about this as a similar 1997 Progress (M-34) rendezvous with Mir bumped into the space station.

Module names

Anik posted some names for the next 3 Russian ISS modules suggested by Roskosmos to Energiya:

• MRM-2: Поиск/Poisk/Search (or Quest ;-) )
• MRM-1: Развитие/Rasvitie/Development
• MLM: Перспектива/Perspektiva/Perspective

Hmm…not very evocative? I would like to continue with the theme of the first two modules, something like:

• Zarya, «Заря»: Sunrise
• Zvezda, «Звезда»: Star
• Svet, «Свет»: Light
• Voskhod, «Восход»: Dawn
• Avrora, «Аврора»: Aurora

Space nukes

From NK №788:

12/06/2009 / 00:05 – Russia will create a nuclear tug for interplanetary travel

Russia will revive a program to develop nuclear power plants for space purposes, the director of the RRC Kurchatov Institute, Mikhail Kovalchuk, said at a press conference in Moscow on Thursday.

“We need to create an atomic tug,” Kovalchuk said, recalling that in Soviet times there was a program to develop nuclear power plants; in particular the “Topaz” reactor was designed by the Kurchatov Institute.

“Using an atomic tug, you can save money for the future Russian lunar and Mars programs,” said the head of the institute. “This is a cheap way.”

According to him, the program was discussed with the management of RSC Energia, and a number of other space and nuclear institutions.

“We will reanimate these topics. We consider it as possibility to create not only engines, but also as energy sources (for spaceships).”

The Topaz reactor featured in Stephen Baxter’s Titan novel as a power source for the Space Shuttle on its mission to Saturn.

Energiya has another news report featuring ISS crews familiarizing themselves with the MIM-2 module, the next Russian module to be launched. A Buran – defunct Russian space shuttle – analog can be seen in the background of this photo. (It is the 3M [or OK-KS] full-size test model as seen on this page at Vassili’s Buran site, according to Anik.)

MIM-2 photos

Energiya has some photos online of the next Russian module due to be launched, MIM-2, МИМ-2 (to make things more confusing, referred to in English as MRM-2, Mini-Research Module-2). It is currently due to be launced on 10 November, propelled by a modified Progress cargo ship. The last Russian module launched was Pirs in 2001, so another one is long overdue!

A very short (12 minutes!) internal spacewalk was carried out on 10/6 inside Pirs to change over a hatch in preparation for the docking of MIM-2.

• Gennadii Padalka (EV1, Orlan-MK №5)
• Michael Barratt (EV2, Orlan-MK №6)
• 12m (06:55-07:07 UTC)
• ISS Daily Report
• NASA
• TsUP