Russia delays three planned lunar probes because of sanctionsThe research division that is building Russia’s Luna 26, Luna 27, and Luna 28 probes to the Moon announced today that these missions will likely be delayed up to two years because many needed components are no longer obtainable due to the international sanctions imposed on Russia because of its invasion of the Ukraine.
“Previously, we designed equipment using foreign components that we could buy from our foreign colleagues. Now that the sanctions have been imposed, we will [be switching to] Russian-made components,” Mitrofanov explained. According to him, researchers have to change design solutions amid the Western restrictions.
Some of these components cannot be so easily replaced by Russian versions. Assuming the Ukraine war does not end soon, expect even longer delays for these unmanned lunar missions.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The research division that is building Russia’s Luna 26, Luna 27, and Luna 28 probes to the Moon announced today that these missions will likely be delayed up to two years because many needed components are no longer obtainable due to the international sanctions imposed on Russia because of its invasion of the Ukraine.
“Previously, we designed equipment using foreign components that we could buy from our foreign colleagues. Now that the sanctions have been imposed, we will [be switching to] Russian-made components,” Mitrofanov explained. According to him, researchers have to change design solutions amid the Western restrictions.
Some of these components cannot be so easily replaced by Russian versions. Assuming the Ukraine war does not end soon, expect even longer delays for these unmanned lunar missions.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The recently-imposed Western semiconductor embargo of the PRC also means the Russians can’t go to their “ally” for help.
Russia is eventually a third world country. They do not have a full and total economy to handle high tech projects.
I am starting to believe that the coolant leak was a material or mechanical failure and not an micro meteor. Do they have picts of the hole? or do we just have picts of the the coolant spraying out from behind a panel?
NASA got some very good close-up images of the hole via the camera on the Canadarm, and they have shifted to public endorsement of Roscosmos’s conclusion that it seems to be the result of MMOD (natural or artificial). And unlike their past problems…this time, an extrinsic cause is at least fairly *plausible*.
There is no way to be 100% sure unless we got the hardware back on the ground to examine, but that’s not going to happen. The service module can’t be recovered.
Going forward, though, this is going to underline the need to take MMOD protection of space vehicles very seriously – especially for crewed spacecraft.
A new update on the Soyuz MS-22 hole via Eric Berger: “Here’s little bit more info on Soyuz MS-22 impact. The trajectory analysis very strongly points toward a micrometeorite rather than orbital debris (see below). Also, the Russians calculated impact velocity, and it was high enough to rule out orbital debris.” It’s not 100%, but the assessment is that it’s the high probability.
The source is Sam Treadgold, an engineer on NASA’s ISS and SLS Micro Meteoroid/Orbital Debris (MMOD) Team.
I have seen the camera views. What I saw they were very blurry because the arm was at full extension and bouncing around, All I could see the coolant coming out around panels. No holes in the panels to even indicate an impact.