Russia delays three planned lunar probes because of sanctions
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.
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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.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
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3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
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P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
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.