An evening pause: A different kind of bridge, located in Russia and one that I wouldn’t speed across. Built originally as a railroad bridge to cross the Vitim River, it is 1870 feet long and about 50 feet above the water. Note how many of the cross planks are not attached.
The Soyuz spacecraft with three astronauts has docked successfully with ISS.
Barring weather or another launch scrub, it looks like Saturday will be launch day for Falcon 9 and Dragon
Hitching a ride: The Russians last night launched a new crew to ISS.
Next up: the launch of Falcon 9/Dragon on Saturday.
Private companies do have the right to mine the asteroids, established by precedent. Hat tip Clark Lindsey.
A political squabble between Russia and Kazakhstan has delayed the launch of a European weather satellite.
Three astronauts have returned safely to Earth in their Soyuz capsule after spending 165 days on ISS.
Some wisdom from Pravda: “Humans explore space only for profit.”
And then there’s this, from the U.N., not surprisingly published at MSNBC: “Private property in outer space: The other side of the argument.” To quote the U.N. expert: “More rules are needed, but I am also of the opinion that you do not need to create property rights [in space].”
It is a sad world when support for capitalism, private property rights, and competition comes from Pravda, while in the U.S. such ideas get slapped down.
An evening pause: From frigid Russia, some Russians put on the Ritz.
Russia commits to a twenty year space program, including building a new spaceport to replace Baikonur.
Leaving us in the dust: According to Indian officials, Russia and India are near agreement on a preliminary design for the joint development of a hypersonic cruise missile.
The Russians are building nuclear powered engines for long range space travel, and announced today that they expect to have the first engine ready by 2017.
Guess who said it, and to whom: “This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.”
The effort of a private company to salvage a communications satellite stranded in the wrong orbit has been rejected by the company that owns it. Instead, the satellite will be de-orbted today, burning up over the Pacific.
In discussions the last two days, managers for the space programs of Europe and China began laying the groundwork for a Chinese docking at ISS.
The United States, which paid for and built the bulk of ISS, has no way of getting its own astronauts to the station. The United States at present also has no way to bring cargo up to the station.
The result: We no longer own our own space station. Though the U.S. has strict laws on the books to prevent the transfer of technology to the Chinese, restricting communications by government officials with China, the Europeans do not. And since they can send cargo to ISS while we cannot, they feel free to negotiation with the Chinese for the use of our space station. Moreover, the Russians I am sure will heartily endorse these negotiations.
And what can the U.S. government do? Nothing.
Instead of focusing on a solution to this situation, the members of Congress tasked with supervising NASA want NASA to build a giant heavy-lift rocket (SLS) to use with the Orion capsule, neither of which is designed to go to ISS. Moreover, neither will be capable of flying humans into space until 2021, one year after ISS is presently scheduled to be shut down. Even then a single flight will cost billions, which makes this system useless for resupplying ISS.
And people wonder why I consider these elected officials stupid. And if they aren’t stupid, they surely are irresponsible and incompetent, at least when it comes to the American space program.
Soap opera: Russia’s deputy prime minister today blasted Vladimir Popovkin, the head the Russian space agency, and one space contractor for the scandals and public backbiting involving both.
The [contractor’s] accusations apparently come as a response to Popovkin’s comments on Monday. The official accused “space industry contractors” of disseminating false rumors about him because they were dissatisfied with his attempt to reform the industry. Popovkin was hospitalized earlier this month because of exhaustion caused by a hectic schedule and frequent jet lags, according to official statements. Some media reported it was due to injuries sustained in a brawl.
Russia has been forced to extend the application period for those who wish to become cosmonauts due to of a lack of response.
Only 151 applicants responded to this first-ever open astronaut application process in Russia’s history. This contrasts badly with NASA’s recent application call, which received the second highest response ever, 6372 applicants.
Thank you Barack! Europe, dumped by Obama administration and NASA, has teamed up with Russia to build its ExoMars orbiter and lander.
You can’t make this stuff up: It appears that the reason Vladimir Popovkin, the head of Russia’s space agency, was hospitalized last week was because he got into a fight at a party over a woman.
The woman in question was apparently General Popovkin’s press secretary, Anna Vedischeva, 28. Vedischeva was appointed despite criticism when it was revealed that she was an ex-glamour model who, by her own admission, knew nothing about space or public relations. The party where the incident allegedly took place was to celebrate International Woman’s Day on 8 March.
Competition rules! Russia’s space agency has proposed a space exploration plan through 2030, including missions to the Moon and Mars, in an effort to catch up with the U.S.
The director of Russia’s manned program told the press today that the Russians do not have that a signed contract with NASA to fly astronauts to ISS after 2015, despite NASA’s announcement that such an agreement exists.
If true, NASA’s management has committed a very serious error which will cost the U.S. a great deal of money in the coming years, especially if there are significant delays in getting the new commercial companies online to provide the U.S. an American capability for ferrying humans to orbit.
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The head of the Russian space agency has been hospitalized.
Russian scientists have resurrected a plant from 30,000 years ago, using fruit tissues that had been frozen in the Arctic.
The Russians celebrate drilling into Lake Vostok.
The Russians have confirmed that their scientists have successfully drilled into Lake Vostok in Antarctica.
Still no results, but this is not surprising, as these scientists will need time to analyze their data.
Update: More details from Science:
On Saturday, the drill had encountered water at about 3766 meters depth, but the team determined that it was a water lens sitting above the surface of the lake rather than the lake itself. The team collected water samples from the lens, and then kept drilling until reaching the lake surface itself. As expected, the pressurized water of the lake rose about 30 to 40 meters through the borehole and froze, plugging the borehole; the team will return next fall to retrieve the plug and examine it for signs of life.
More bad news for Russian science: A fire has damaged Russia’s most productive heavy ion accelerator in Moscow.
The final Russian investigation has admitted that it was a programming error that doomed Phobos-Grunt, not cosmic radiation or U.S. radar.
Reality trumps science fiction: The Russians have safely left Lake Vostok, but the official word is that it is “too soon” to say whether they successfully drilled into the lake.
