TMA-17 docked

Soyuz TMA-17 docked on 22 Dec 2009 at 22:48 to Zarya FGB nadir port with ISS-22/23 on board, adding to Maksim Suraev and Jeffrey Williams. Maksim is still keeping his Orbital Log (link in my blog links to the right).

There was a post at the Mars-500 Livejournal blog (in Russian) that a Chinese volunteer might be included in Mars-500 (replacing one Russian volunteer).

From 15 to 18 December 2009 a meeting was held between IBMP specialists and Chinese Cosmonauts Training Center (KTSPK). The meeting was devoted to discussing issues related to the possible participation of Chinese experts in the project “Mars-500”. As a result of the meeting was agreed on the possibility of inclusion in the scientific program of the 520-day isolation in the framework of the project “Mars-500” three scientific methods. In addition, discussed the possibility of inclusion in the crew of a Chinese volunteer.

Connected at last

Good news for orbiting Internet addicts – the ISS has access at last (though experimental at the moment) – 3/12/2009 On-Orbit Report:

At ~11:05 a.m. EST, Jeff Williams conducted a one-hour video-based training session on the exciting new CSL (Crew Support Local Area Network) capabilities and hardware. [Crew Support LAN Phase 1 will provide live Internet access to the ISS crew (initially only USOS crewmembers) as safely, securely and reliably as possible whenever Ku-band is available. The access will be accomplished by connecting to a remote desktop session on a remote server (Citrix server) located on the ground, which hosts the virtual desktops, and the crew sees only an image of the remote desktop which does the Internet surfing. Video and audio can be received (but may be choppy or sometimes out of sync). The CSL, a virtual network completely separate from the station-wide Ops LAN, will use existing IBM A31p laptops and existing network hardware. Initially, there will be only one CSL laptop (Client 1) and one CSL server (CREWLAN SERVER) both set up in Node-2. After the initial testing, the CSL will be expanded to include up to four clients.]

The Roskosmos/Russian Space Agency site has had a makeover (though still using tables for layout, tsk, tsk) – the English-translated pages seem to have gone. Hopefully they will return? Also, my links in previous blog entries to their pages now seem to be broken – I hate it when that happens!

Soyuz TMA-15 landed on 1 Dec 2009 at 07:16 UTC with ISS-21 aboard. (NASA photo gallery)

Left behind

“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.

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.

Scandal in Star City

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.)

A futile endeavor

“ ‘Space clown’ buoyant ahead of space launch”, MSNBC, 28/9. I can’t say I feel impressed with the anticipated antics of the latest space tourist, who is soon to launch on Soyuz TMA-16. Yes, I know it’s his money and he can do with it as he likes, but the “poetical social” blather he plans on indulging in seems frivolous.

Other space tourists have used their time at the space station to conduct scientific experiments, but Laliberté has different aims for his 12 days aboard the orbiting lab. “I am not a scientist, I’m not a doctor, I’m not an engineer,” he said. “I’m an organizer, a showman, and a creator – I have an entertaining personality, so that is really what I am bringing here.” Laliberté has promised to bring each crew member of the space station their own clown nose to wear, but plans to take two along for himself: one red, one yellow – “the yellow one I will wear when I am a little grumpy, and the red one I will wear when I am happy and joyful.”

*Rolls eyes in cynical disgust*

Laliberté also aims to use the trip to promote awareness of world water supply problems. On Oct. 9, he will lead a “poetical social” performance from aboard the station for the One Drop Foundation, an organization he set up in 2007.

“I start with the simple idea of reading a poem, which will involve characters like the sun, the moon and a drop of water,” he explains. “Those characters will then engage in a discussion, which will take the form of a little poetic story that we will read to the population of Earth.” Activists and celebrities, including former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and Colombian pop star Shakira, are to contribute to the performance from 14 cities worldwide, and all of it is to be shown on the foundation’s Web site.

One major reason for water shortages is human overpopulation, but I can be certain he won’t mention that factor. He also, incidentally, has 5 children, which is not helping the environment!

I was oddly reminded of this scene from Stephen Baxter’s novel Titan, where the renegade astronauts enroute to the moon of Saturn are going a bit crazy:

Benacerraf watched, discreetly, as Angel took up position near the water spigots of the galley. And, with his skinny, spindled legs folded under him, he started to play with water. Angel took a syringe now, for example, and filled it with water from a spigot. When he pressed the plunger, slowly and carefully, injecting water into the air, a small bubble grew from the needle’s tip. He jerked the needle away and the water took the form of a tiny planet, floating in the air. Angel worked his needle and produced a whole set of the little water globes, drifting in the air around his head.

Then he took smaller syringes from a set he’d improvised from medical waste, and injected the bubbles with iodine, grape juice, diluted orange juice, to stain them blue, green, yellow, red. Soon he had a whole Solar System, Benacerraf thought, with a miniature Mars and Earth and Jupiter, floating around his bearded head as if around a sun. Angel’s eyes followed the little spheres, entranced.

[…]

Benacerraf was no expert on abnormal states of the mind. But she hadn’t tried to discuss this with Mission Control. She wasn’t sure who would be listening any more anyhow. And on a planet where local wars were flaring over water management problems, the image of gaunt Americans playing head games with the wet stuff on some dumb Buck Rogers mission halfway to Saturn would not play well with the public.

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:

Forward to Mars

I haven’t felt much like writing, so some catching-up to do.

“Sexual Discrimination in Space”, Roskosmos/Russia Today, 25/7. An interview with Svetlana Savitskaya, the second Russian woman in space and the first to do an EVA. Unfortunately there have been only 3 Russian women to fly in space to date (none currently in orbit), and there is still discrimination.

“Russia Reveals Vision for Manned Spaceflight”, IEEE Spectrum, August 2009. Russia revealed yet another future vision at this year’s MAKS Airshow. The ultimate goal is to get to Mars first (hooray!). Of course they don’t have the budget, so they aim for international co-operation to share the load.

“I believe that we should move [straight] to Mars…as the moon cannot be a goal by itself,” says Vitaly Lopota, the head of RKK Energia. “Nevertheless, all the infrastructure that we are proposing for the Interplanetary Expeditionary Complex could be used for operations in Earth orbit, but also for the lunar exploration, if such goals emerge,” Lopota told IEEE Spectrum.

Anatoly Zak, the article’s author, will be following developments on his website.

“NASA suggests teaming up with Russia for Mars flight”, RIAN, 25/8. Don’t know how serious this is! It generated the usual cynicism and paranoid patriotism on this thread at NASASpaceflight.com forum.

Some differing opinions via NK №803 on how far in the future a Mars mission might be – hopefully sooner than later! Nice to see that some in the industry want to go to Mars first. (NSF.com thread)

25/08/2009 / 20:07 – Manned expedition to Mars will not take place in less than a hundred years

In today’s economic and scientific situation, the prospect of sending a manned expedition to Mars is unprofitable, Boris Chertok – Chief Scientific Adviser, Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences – said today at the Sixth International Aerospace Congress.

“Until now, a manned mission not made the fundamental discoveries of such a level as unmanned,” he said. “It is therefore wiser to spend money on exploration of Mars machine than an expensive place to send an expedition, which will bring no more, and perhaps even less information.”

According to the academician, “the time for human flight to the Red Planet will come in a hundred years, at least fifty, while the same slogan of modern space must be “Forward to Mars!” And “Onward to the moon!” NASA is planning an expedition to Mars after 2020.

According to the scientist, “people must return to the moon not to promote the national image, but as a researcher, and must return there for a long time.” And Chertok sees a man not so much space explorers as “assembler, builder, and in the future – space tourist.”

28/08/2009 / 00:05 – A full-scale manned expedition to Mars could be realized in the years 2029-2031 – Academician at the RAS

A full-scale manned expedition to Mars could be realized in 2029-2031, respectively. This opinion was expressed in Moscow, at the Sixth International Aerospace Congress by Lev Zelenyi, Academician at the Russia Academy of Sciences, director of the RAS Space Research Institute.

He said the manned mission will be preceded by several preparatory steps. In the first stage, in the period from 2012 to 2020 an engineering model of the physical conditions in the flight path, around and on the surface of Mars will be created through a special program of automated scientific satellites, including meteorological conditions in the atmosphere. The rationale for the choice of a landing site will be made as well.

In the second stage, from 2018 to 2025, it is expected to work out the infrastructure elements of the Martian expedition.

For the third – from 2025 to 2028 – there will be implemented a piloted flight expedition to the placing of an inhabited spacecraft into orbit around Mars, with the possibility of controlling automatic moving vehicles on the Martian surface from orbit.

“A full-scale manned expedition to landing on the Martian surface can be realized in 2029-2031 years,” says Zelenyi. The Academician himself has no doubt that if you choose between a flight to the Moon and Mars, it is better to make a choice in favor of the red planet. “I belong to the ‘left’ faction, which believes that the study of Mars is more interesting than the Moon” – an insider joke, he said. “At Mars, we can expect great discoveries,” he suggests.