Russian loos rule!

As evidence that Russian space toilets are superior :-), NASA will be paying Energiya $19 million to construct another toilet to be installed in the U.S. segment, to cater for the crew increase to 6 in 2009 (the loo will be installed in 2008). (This was even reported in Saturday’s The Age.) There is a thread on the topic at NASASpaceflight.com.

I found an official website, Angkasawan Programme Website, for the Malaysian cosmonauts to go up on the next Soyuz flight (TMA-11). Spacemen are called “Angkasawan” in Malaysian. They are also keeping a blog, which is interesting reading (though they need to close the earlier entry comments as the pesky spammers are posting). The site is, thankfully, not as cumbersome as Charles Simonyi’s Flash-animated site (though it still uses tables for layout, tsk, tsk).

The programme is part of an offset agreement between Malaysia and Russia in relation to Malaysia’s purchase of Russian-made Sukhoi-30MKM fighter jets. Through this package, the Russian government agreed to train two Malaysians, one of which will make the journey while the other one will act as his backup. The Russian Government will bear the costs.

If the Australian government would buy Su-30s perhaps we could get to send up an Australian in exchange! Wishful thought...

“Russia Declares Its Independence In Space”, Space Daily, 12/7. A short history of the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia’s only independent launch center (i.e. not dependent upon other countries, such as the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan is).

Energiya vs. Roskosmos

Energiya and Roskosmos are bickering again, with the Federal Space Agency moving to fire Energiya President Nikolai Sevast’yanov (temporarily replacing him with Vice-President Aleksandr Strekalov).

• “Government wants to sack Energia space corp. head – source”, RIA Novosti, 22/6. “During his tenure, Sevastyanov has not been on good terms with the Federal Space Agency, a government regulator in the space industry. The Energia head has been repeatedly criticized primarily for his daring projects on Moon exploration, which the agency called ‘lunacy’ and looked to restrict Sevastyanov’s powers.”
• “Strekalov to become acting Energia space corp. president”, RIA Novosti, 22/6
• Roskosmos has almost achieved Sevastyanov’s resignation, NASASpaceflight.com thread. “I am very disappointed. Mr. Sevast’yanov very much loves unrealizable projects, but such people move astronautics forward.”
• “What Is Happening At The Russian Rocket Corporation”, RIA Novosti, 28/6 (also at SpaceDaily)

Energiya’s management (including Sergei Krikalyov) signed a statement in support of Mr. Sevast’yanov (currently in Russian [Gone]; no English translation yet). This seems somewhat ironic, as his election was initially opposed in 2005, and the management of then signed a statement in support of the-then President, Yurii Semyonov! (The original collective letter. [Gone]) He must have made a good impression since then. At least he had a Vision for the future. Some interviews with him are on Energiya’s Publications page.

These sort of political machinations are wasteful and are hardly likely to inspire younger people to join the Russian space program (of whom it is in desperate need of).

Computer woes

Yurchikhin and Kotov successfully completed their second spacewalk on 6 June, taking 5h 37m (14:25-20:02 UTC). A micrometerorite or space debris impact hole was found on the Zarya module, as this photo shows. Photos taken during the spacewalk are on pages 12 and 13 of the Human Spaceflight Gallery.

The launch and docking of STS-117 Atlantis went well (launched on the first attempt on 8/6 at 23:38 UTC; docked at 19:36 UTC on 10/6).

Computer problems on the Russian segment of the ISS. This happened after the new solar array (S3/S4 truss) was unfurled, so a possibility is electromagnetic interference from the array. I think the computers in question are the Data Management System. It seems to be one of those unforeseen issues that are only revealed in live operation rather than testing on the ground.

“Space station glitch puzzles the experts”, James Oberg, MSNBC.com, 14/6, and “Atlantis ready to support ISS troubleshooting” at NASASpaceflight.com.

[Update, 18/6: the ISS computer problems appear to be fixed; details in “Teamwork, Expertise and Confidence – solving the ISS’ troubles” at NASASpaceflight.com and STS-117 MCC Status Report #17. The situation predictably brought out the Russia-bashers, such as this post at Habitable Zone.]

From Novosti Kosmonavtiki news №633:

15/06/2007/00:06: The new (2006) group of cosmonauts will prove their proficiency in free flight and under the canopy of a parachute

The new group of cosmonauts admitted to general spaceflight preparation in October of last year, today begin the first serious test. As Yurii Gidzenko – the head of the Special Preparation Department of the Cosmonaut Preparation/Training Center (TsPK, ЦПК) – informed an ITAR-TASS correspondent, “from 14 June to 14 July in Yeysk, the cosmonauts candidate for will undertake the first of two stages of special parachute preparation (SPPK, Специальной парашютной подготовки, СППК)”. Such preparation is intended to determine the speed of thinking, control and other qualities of the future cosmonauts, he specified.

Seven recruits – among whom there is one woman, an engineer from Rocket & Space Corporation Energiya, Elena Serova – will demonstrate the psychological stability and skill to operate in an extreme situation, which is so necessary in the cosmonaut profession. Before the candidates start tests from a great height, they will undertake more than 20 fact-finding jumps from heights of 1 km up to 1.5 km, Gidzenko specified. That completed, the future cosmonauts will demonstrate these qualities during 2-3 control jumps from a height of 2.5-3 km, to where they will be flown with a Mi-8 helicopter.

Before the “examination” test, each candidate will receive their task on a card at which he can glance only before jumping from the flying machine, explained the ITAR-TASS correspondent in TsPK’s search and rescue and paraborne service. In the set time before opening a parachute, in free fall mode, and then under a parachute canopy, the examined should solve the tasks put in “ticket” in a set time and, through a built-in helmet microphone, comment on the actions in an extreme situation.

Comments are stored on a small dictaphone fixed to the belt of the cosmonaut, then psychologists will analyse this, and physicians will decipher the data from special devices monitoring the condition of the basic bodies during a jump. The sensors of these devices are attached to the body of the examinee, enabling them to monitor his medical parameters in online mode, TsPK said. Besides this, an operator flying by a line records the pose and behaviour of the cosmonaut on a videocamera, and these records are analyzed also by experts on the ground.

The second stage of SPPK for the new group will take place in following year. “Now we shall teach the cosmonauts to jump with a parachute and to speak during a jump, which in itself is not easy, and at the second stage the card with tasks becomes more difficult,” Gidzenko explained.

Russian version, Русская версия

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12/6/2007/18:06: The space industry should not be held hostage to commerce

Russia should work out effective ways to ensure national security in the space industry. This was the view of Grigorii Chernyavskii (Deputy CEO Russian Space Research Institute of Robotics and Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences), reports RIA Novosti. Chernyavskii believes that the Russian space industry should not stoop to the provision of space tourists. Unfortunately, Russia has opted for the commercialization of space and space-based services instead of creating and effective space means of ensuring national security, as is customary in the world, said the specialist. According to Chernyavskii, to make a difference, the government must declare the establishment of security at the state level, to measure the number of manned flights with real opportunities and increase public financing for space activities.

Russian version, Русская версия

Award and spacewalk

On 23 May, Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalyov, Vice-president of S.P. Korolev RSC Energia, pilot cosmonaut, Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of the Russian Federation, was elected an honorary freeman/citizen of Saint-Petersburg. This decision was taken by the Deputies of the Legislative Assembly of Petersburg. Honorable citizens have the right to introduce laws for examination by the urban parliament, their pensions will be increased, and they do not have to pay public transport fares. The award was presented on the 27th, and photos (low-resolution only) of the presentation are available at the Official Portal of the Administration of St. Petersburg website. Photos showing Sergei (note the tie he is wearing!): 2, 8, 9, 10. Governor V.I. Matviyenko thanked cosmonaut Sergei Krikalyov for his help to St. Petersburg, his support of many undertakings and projects, and active participation in the public life of his native city. There is also a press release at the Energiya site (and a portrait photo).

Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and flight engineer Oleg Kotov of Expedition 15 successfully completed their spacewalk this morning (the first time for both of them). There was a 45-minute delay in starting because of communications difficulties, but the rest of the spacewalk proceeded well for 5h 25m (19:05-00:30 UTC). Fyodor Yurchikhin was EV1, Orlan-M №26 (blue stripes), BRTA-13 telemetry system; Oleg Kotov was EV2, Orlan №0520025 (25) (red stripes), BRTA-18). (Relevant thread at NASASpaceflight.com.) The second spacewalk is on 6 June.

Progress M-60 launches

Progress M-60, the 25th Progress flight to the ISS, launched on 12 May 2007 at 03:25:38 UTC and docked to Zvezda at 15 May 2007 at 05:10 with no problems.

Alexei Krasnov, the head of the Russian Space Agency’s department for manned flights, said that ISS crews will be increased to six people by 2009 on 11 May.

“A tale of two rockets...with a happy ending”, James Oberg, MSNBC.com, 14/5. 15 May is the 50th anniversary of the R7 rocket, and the 20th anniversary of the first launch of the Energiya booster rocket. Both were originally intended for military purposes, but the R7 became a successful launch rocket for civilian missions, and the Energiya was intended to covertly launch weapons but was cancelled after the USSR collapsed.

From Novosti Kosmonavtiki news №627. Nikolai Sevast’yanov told journalists at Baikonur Cosmodrome on 15 May that Energiya would present the Kliper project to Roskosmos at year’s end. Energiya’s primary goal is the development of a new space transport system of a new qualitative level.

Energiya has begun the construction of the 6 piloted Soyuz and 3 Progress cargo spaceships ordered by NASA under contract for nearly U.S.$1 billion. The ships will be completed between 2009-2011. As the construction takes 2-3 years, Energiya has begun “bookmarking” the ships, though the method of financing is not certain yet; the company is beginning the work with its own resources.

Cosmonaut Group update

An updated list of the Cosmonaut Group was posted by Anik at NASASpaceflight.com, reproduced below:

Cosmonauts of GCTC Detachment
Baturin, Yurii Mikhailovich	Deputy Commander of GCTC Detachment, Instructor-Cosmonaut-Tester of 2nd Class, 2 spaceflights
Ivanishin, Anatolii Alekseievich	Cosmonaut-Tester
Kondrat’ev, Dmitrii Yur’evich	Commander of Group of GCTC Detachment, Cosmonaut-Tester
Kotov, Oleg Valeriovich	Commander of Group of GCTC Detachment, Cosmonaut-Tester, 1 spaceflight
Lonchakov, Yurii Valentinovich	Commander of GCTC Detachment, Cosmonaut-Tester of 2nd Class, 2 spaceflights
Malenchenko, Yurii Ivanovich	Instructor-Cosmonaut-Tester of 2nd Class, 3 spaceflights
Padalka, Gennadii Ivanovich	Instructor-Cosmonaut-Tester of 2nd Class, 2 spaceflights
Romanenko, Roman Yur’evich	Cosmonaut-Tester
Samokutyaev, Aleksandr Mikhaylovich	Cosmonaut-Tester
Sharipov, Salizhan Shakirovich	Deputy Commander of GCTC Detachment, Cosmonaut-Tester of 3rd Class, 2 spaceflights
Shkaplerov, Anton Nikolaevich	Cosmonaut-Tester
Skvortsov, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich	Cosmonaut-Tester
Sura’ev, Maksim Viktorovich	Commander of Group of GCTC Detachment, Cosmonaut-Tester
Tarelkin, Evgenii Igorevich	Cosmonaut-Tester
Tokarev, Valerii Ivanovich	Commander of Group of GCTC Detachment, Cosmonaut-Tester of 3rd Class, 2 spaceflights
Val’kov, Konstantin Anatolievich	Cosmonaut-Tester
Volkov, Sergei Aleksandrovich	Cosmonaut-Tester
Cosmonauts of RSC Energiya Detachment
Artem’ev, Oleg Germanovich	Cosmonaut-Tester
Borisenko, Andrei Ivanovich	Cosmonaut-Tester
Kaleri, Aleksandr Yur’evich	Instructor-Cosmonaut-Tester of 1st Class, 4 spaceflights
Kononenko, Oleg Dmitrievich	Cosmonaut-Tester
Kornienko, Mikhail Borisovich	Cosmonaut-Tester
Kozeev, Konstantin Mirovich	Cosmonaut-Tester of 3rd Class, 1 spaceflight
Krikalyov, Sergei Konstantinovich	Instructor-Cosmonaut-Tester of 1st Class, 6 spaceflights
Lazutkin, Aleksandr Ivanovich	Cosmonaut-Tester of 3rd Class, 1 spaceflight
Revin, Sergei Nikolaevich	Cosmonaut-Tester
Serov, Mark Vyacheslavovich	Cosmonaut-Tester
Skripochka, Oleg Ivanovich	Cosmonaut-Tester
Tyurin, Mikhail Vladislavovich	Cosmonaut-Tester of 3rd Class, 2 spaceflights
Vinogradov, Pavel Vladimirovich	Commander of RSC Energiya Detachment, Instructor-Cosmonaut-Tester of 3rd Class, 2 spaceflights
Yurchikhin, Fyodor Nikolaevich	Cosmonaut-Tester of 3rd Class, 2 spaceflights
Cosmonauts of IMBP Detachment
Morukov, Boris Vladimirovich	Commander of IMBP Detachment, Cosmonaut-Researcher of 3rd Class, 1 spaceflight
Ryazanskii, Sergei Nikolaevich	Cosmonaut-Researcher
Cosmonauts not included in Detachments
Moshchenko, Sergei Ivanovich	Cosmonaut-Tester
Zhukov, Sergei Aleksandrovich	Cosmonaut-Tester
Shargin, Yurii Georg’evich	Cosmonaut-Tester of 3rd Class, 1 spaceflight
Russian cosmonaut candidates
Misurkin, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich	Candidate for cosmonaut-tester for GCTC Detachment
Novitskii, Oleg Viktorovich	Candidate for cosmonaut-tester for GCTC Detachment
Ovchinin, Aleksei Nikolaevich	Candidate for cosmonaut-tester for GCTC Detachment
Ponomarev, Maksim Vladimirovich	Candidate for cosmonaut-tester for GCTC Detachment
Ryzhikov, Sergei Nikolaevich	Candidate for cosmonaut-tester for GCTC Detachment
Serova, Elena Olegovna	Candidate for cosmonaut-tester for RSC Energiya Detachment
Tikhonov, Nikolai Vladimirovich	Candidate for cosmonaut-tester for RSC Energiya Detachment

Groups of preparation in GCTC

Designated ISS crews

Group	Prime	Backup
MKS-16 (ISS Expedition 16)	Whitson	Fincke
	Malenchenko	Sharipov
	Tani	Magnus
	Eyharts	De Winne
	Reisman	Kopra
MKS-17 (ISS Expedition 17)	Volkov	Padalka
	Kononenko	Sura’ev
	Magnus	Stott
MKS-18 (ISS Expedition 18)	Fincke	Lonchakov
	Sharipov	Barratt
	Wakata	Noguchi
	Chamitoff	Creamer

ISS preparations

MKS-gr1 (ISS Group 1)	Baturin, Kaleri, Tokarev
MKS-gr2 (ISS Group 2)	Kondrat’ev, Skvortsov, Valkov
MKS-gr3 (ISS Group 3)	Moshchenko, Revin, Skripochka, Shargin
MKS-gr4 (ISS Group 4)	Ivanishin, Samokutyaev, Tarelkin
MKS-gr5 (ISS Group 5)	Aimbetov, Artem’ev, Aymakhanov, Borisenko, Serov
EP-13 (Visiting Crew 13)	Prime/Backup: Shukor/Bin Khaleed
OKP (General Space Preparation)	Novitskii, Misurkin, Ovchinin, Ponomarev, Ryzhikov, Serova, Tikhonov
Yuzhnaya Koreya (South Korea)	Ko San, Yi So-yeon

Cosmonauts not included in Groups of preparation in GCTC

• Yurchikhin and Kotov are performing spaceflight aboard ISS as the Expedition 15 commander and flight engineer-1 accordingly
• Tyurin is on post-flight rehabilitation at GCTC
• Shkaplerov is GCTC representative at JSC (replacing Dmitrii Kondrat’ev, who was there twice more than previous representatives)
• Kozeev, Krikalyov, Lazutkin and Vinogradov are working in RSC Energia
• Morukov and Ryazanskii are working in IMBP
• Zhukov is working in Roskosmos

There was some confused reports that Anatolii Perminov said that NASA had rejected a proposal to co-operate in exploring the Moon, but as reported by New Scientist Space, NASA has denied this. In any case, the relevant thread at NASASpaceflight.com brought out the usual “Paranoid Patriots”.

I am debating whether to transfer this blog to an account at Wordpress.com; still can’t decide! The one thing I dislike about the free WP account is that the style sheet can’t be altered as it can with Blogger. The link to my blog isn’t showing up on my Blogger profile for some reason.

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)

Happy Cosmonautics Day!

С Днем Космонавтики! It is 46 years since Yurii Gagarin was launched.

Cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin said that Bill Gates is considering a flight into space (he could probably afford to fund his own space program if he were inclined to).

From Novosti Kosmonavtiki news №619:

The number of people wishing to become cosmonauts has decreased considerably

For modern youth, a cosmonaut career has ceased to be prestigious, Pavel Vinogradov, the chief of the flight-test department of Rocket & Space Corporation (RKK) Energiya declared to journalists at the Baikonur cosmodrome. “If in 1985-1988 RKK Energiya examined some hundreds of applications in a year from candidates for the cosmonaut group, now the number of interested persons is only 20-30 people in a year,” Vinogradov complained. In the autumn of 2006 he returned to the Earth after a six-month expedition on the International Space Station. According to Vinogradov, the decline of prestige of the cosmonaut profession in society is in many respects connected with the low level of material compensation for work of the cosmonaut who receive the salary, “as ordinary engineers.” Interfax reported this.

(Russian version, Русская версия)

Another rich guy in orbit

…Big yawn. Just can’t get enthusiastic about that. The only time the Russian space program gets mentioned in the media here (Australia) is when a tourist goes up. A pertinent article at MSNBC.com: Russians fear becoming space cabbies – “Space experts worry new role will take away from needed development.” Which states exactly what I have been grumbling about in previous entries. The Russian space program has been reduced to a taxi service for bored rich space tourists and if that is all it is to be, they might as well end it. Sergei Korolyov would not be impressed with the way things are now.

However, this focus on tourism and making a profit has distracted the Russians from their original goal of building interplanetary space vessels. Rather, they are focusing on turning their portion of the ISS into a tourist and entertainment center in order to generate the funds to keep their operation aloft.

– Leaving Earth, Robert Zimmerman

For the record, Soyuz TMA-10 launched at 17:31:14 UTC on 7 April with ISS-15 and Visiting Crew-12 aboard, and docked at 19:10:44 on 9 April to the nadir port of the Zarya FGB module.

There is also a profile of cosmonaut Oleg Kotov – who is making his first spaceflight (at long last!) – by James Oberg at MSNBC.com. (The previous unflown cosmonaut to fly was Yurii Shargin on Soyuz TMA-5 in 2004.) The promised blogs of cosmonauts Kotov and Yurchikhin at Charles Simonyi’s site failed to eventuate, disappointingly.

More Sergei Krikalyov sightings at the launch: Energiya photo-report, April 6, 2007. Baikonur Cosmodrome, RSC Energia’s branch. Sergei appears in photos 1, 7, and 9 at a meeting of the State Commission the day before launch of Soyuz TMA-10. Energiya photo-report, April 7, 2007. Baikonur Cosmodrome, RSC Energia’s branch. Sergei appears in photos 14 and 16 at the final meeting of the crew and the State Commission.

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Some news tidbits, from Space Daily:

• “The Future Of Russia And Europe In Space”, 5/4
• “NASA Extends Contract With Russian Federal Space Agency”, 10/4
• “Russia To Expand GLONASS Satellite Group By Year’s End”

Mars-500 update

ESA prepares for a human mission to Mars, ESA news, 2/4. ESA is also partaking in the Russian Mars-500 experiment, contributing to the research. The actual experiment seems to have been moved back to 2009 (from the latter half of 2007), with two shorter 100-day missions to take place in 2008 that will test the facility and procedures. A diagram of the complex can be found in a PDF on this page; I posted it at NASASpaceflight.com.

The Expedition 15/Soyuz TMA-12 crew launch on the 7th, so they are now at Baikonur Cosmodrome. Charles’ site takes about two minutes to load (on broadband) and you have to wait for it all to load before anything is visible. Flash-animated sites are evil!

Sergei Krikalyov was there as part of Energiya management: in Energiya photo-report, March 27, 2007. Baikonur Cosmodrome, RSC Energia’s branch. Sergei was at the Baikonur cosmodrome Krainii, Крайний airport with other Energiya managers to greet the Soyuz TMA-10 prime and backup crews. He appears in photos 3 and 6. Also in Energiya photo-report, March 28, 2007. The crew report on their readiness to proceed with their final training phase to General Designer N.N. Sevast’yanov and other managers. Sergei appears in photos 4 and 13.