From Jennifer.Green@SW.Boeing.com Mon Jul 10 14:00:35 2000 Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2000 08:00:35 -0500 From: Green, Jennifer L Jennifer.Green@SW.Boeing.com Subject: [FPSPACE] List updates We have finally updated the FPSPACE list to some new, easy to manage software. You can now go in and change your subscription options via the Web. The first thing that everyone needs to do is go to: http://fpmail.friends-partners.org/mailman/roster.cgi/fpspace and create a new password. To do this, first go to the "List of Subscribers" link at the bottom of the page. This shows you all of the FPSPACE list members - find yourself and click on the link. Then, go to the bottom of that page and click on the "E-mail my Password" link and they'll send you an email with your password in it. If you didn't pick one when you signed up they assigned one for you. (if you know your password skip this step) After you know the old password, go to the "Change Password" link in your options page (the one you got to by clicking on your name in the list) and then pick a new secure password and you are ready to go. You can change subscription options and unsubscribe from your options page. If you want to unsubscribe from a duplicate subscription and can't get e-mail at the old address (or if you have other problems) let me know and I think I can go in and manually unsubscribe you. Give me a few days - I'm still figuring out the new system. I think I can also block unwanted posts - like some of the trolls we've had in the past. And I think you can also change back to the text only messages.... Jennifer L. Green Boeing International Space Station Vehicle Integrated Performance and Resources (VIPeR) Team 281-336-4684 (phone) 281-336-5070 (fax) From lklaes@bbn.com Mon Jul 10 14:29:39 2000 Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2000 09:29:39 -0400 From: Larry Klaes lklaes@bbn.com Subject: [FPSPACE] China manned mission changed to 2002 and Pizza the Hut in space SPACEDAILY HEADLINES - JULY 10, 2000 ------------ DRAGON SPACE - China First Manned Mission Delayed Until 2002 http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-00zq.html Beijing - July 10, 2000 - As speculation for a second unmanned launch of China manned prototype capsule subsides, two Chinese media outlets in Hong Kong report that the first manned flight probably won't happen until 2002 at the earliest. - China's MetSat Sees First Light http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-00zo.html Beijing - July 7, 2000 - China's new geo weather bird Fengyun-2B successfully transmitted its first full disk image at 1:31pm the National Satellite Meteorological Center said Thursday. ------------ STATION NEWS - Proton To Make Pizza Delivery http://www.spacedaily.com/news/pizzahut-00b.html Moscow - July 8, 2000 - Pizza Hut goes into outer space officially next week when a Russian launcher rocket lifts off with the logo of the US fast food giant emblazoned on its side, space officials said Saturday. From LMegown@siriusradio.com Mon Jul 10 15:13:16 2000 Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2000 10:13:16 -0400 From: Megown Lori LMegown@siriusradio.com Subject: [FPSPACE] sirius RE: > How bad will this be for radio astronomy? I'm sorry, I don't understand your question. Lori K. Megown Director of Marketing Communications Sirius Satellite Radio 1221 Avenue of the Americas, 36th floor New York, NY 10020 P: 212.584.5109 F: 212.584.5115 C: 917.714.1811 http://www.siriusradio.com/ From cpvick@fas.org Mon Jul 10 17:18:39 2000 Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2000 12:18:39 -0400 From: Charles P. Vick cpvick@fas.org Subject: [FPSPACE] ISS -SM lasunch To our Russian Partners I want to wish RASA and the Russian Nations people the best on the ISS/SM launch Wednesday. It is afterall their station also. CPV _______________________ Charles P. Vick Research Analyst Federation of American Scientists phone: (202) 675-1025 fax: (202) 675-1024 email: cpvick@fas.org http://www.fas.org/ From cmvdberg@wxs.nl Mon Jul 10 19:25:58 2000 Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2000 20:25:58 +0200 From: C.M. vd Berg cmvdberg@wxs.nl Subject: [FPSPACE] Re: PRCnext unmanned flight test? -----Oorspronkelijk bericht----- Van: JamesOberg@aol.com Aan: Multiple recipients of list FPSPACE Datum: dinsdag 4 juli 2000 18:12 Onderwerp: Re: PRCnext unmanned flight test? Hello Jim. With the exception of 4 of those ships they all are sold for scrap. In the past I visited the Gagarin, the Komarov, the Belyayev and the Dobrovolskiy. And I feel sorry for these magnificent ships. The 4 remaining ones are in St Petersburg and 2 of them can made operational if needed. For these 2 , the Kosmonavt Georgiy Dobrovolskiy and the Kosmonavt Pavel Belyayev, equipment from the other 2 is used during maintenance and repairs. There even have been suggestions to use one of the 'possibly operational ships', i.e. the Dobovolskiy as a tracking ship for sea launches and even as a sea launch platform. There has been an article in the nr 2/1999 issue of Novosti Kosmonavtiki. I will a make a summary of that article as soon as possible. But not this week: Zvezda launch and Moon Symposium in Estec. Chris. Jim asked: >Where are the tracking ships? > >Deja vu of Soviet space watching, 1970s era!!! > From spacey@interaxs.net Tue Jul 11 08:22:10 2000 Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 03:22:10 -0400 From: Karl D. Dodenhoff spacey@interaxs.net Subject: [FPSPACE] Re: I found The Virtual Space Museum Web site Larry Klaes wrote: > > The New URL: > > http://www.ccas.ru/~chernov/vsm/main.htm ...but, try finding Alexander. I just sent him an e-mail at the address on his site, and it was returned with an error message I've never seen before: > Failed to deliver to 'chernov@vsm.host.ru' > too many hops Karl http://www.interaxs.net/pub/spacey From lklaes@bbn.com Tue Jul 11 15:25:53 2000 Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 10:25:53 -0400 From: Larry Klaes lklaes@bbn.com Subject: [FPSPACE] [Launch-Alert] Minutman II Launch Observations Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2000 19:36:08 -0400 From: Brian Webb <102670.1206@compuserve.com> Subject: [Launch-Alert] Minutman II Launch Observations To: launch-alert Sender: owner-launch-alert@qth.net Reply-To: Brian Webb <102670.1206@compuserve.com> Hi: If you saw Friday night's Minuteman II launch, I'd like to receive your observation for possible inclusion in the next issue of Astronomy/Space Alert. I'm especially interested if you observed the launch from outside of California. Regards, Brian Webb Editor Astronomy/Space Alert for Southern California ______________________________________________________ To subscribe to launch-alert , send the following e-mail: To: majordomo@qth.net Message Text: subscribe launch-alert To unsubscribe to launch-alert , send the following e-mail: To: majordomo@qth.net Message Text: unsubscribe launch-alert From lklaes@bbn.com Tue Jul 11 15:58:45 2000 Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 10:58:45 -0400 From: Larry Klaes lklaes@bbn.com Subject: [FPSPACE] China's First Microsat Operational China's First Microsat Operational http://www.spacedaily.com/news/microsat-00k.html Beijing - July 11, 2000 - China's first microsatellite, Aerospace Tsinghua-1, successfully achieved orbit and returned the first image earlier last week, the Astronautics Research Center of Tsinghua University said. From JamesOberg@aol.com Tue Jul 11 16:18:29 2000 Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 11:18:29 EDT From: JamesOberg@aol.com JamesOberg@aol.com Subject: [FPSPACE] SM Launch Preparations Kazakh steppe cleared of camels before space shot By Shavkat Rakhmatullayev 08:10 EDT 07-11-00 BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan, July 11 (Reuters) - Not many shepherds can claim that dodging falling debris from a space rocket is one of the hazards of the job. But it is for Turmuganbet Shaimov and a few others like him who roam the arid Kazakh steppe with their camels and horses around the launch pads of the Baikonur cosmodrome. Russia rents Baikonur from its southern neighbour Kazakhstan and uses it as its main space base. Shaimov, his wife and five children live just three kilometres (two miles) from Baikonur's launch pad 81, from where a Russian Proton rocket carrying a service module to the International Space Station is to take off on Wednesday morning. On Tuesday his peaceful life was disturbed by the clatter of a Russian military helicopter landing in his backyard. This is the so-called ``fly-around'' conducted before each launch. A helicopter flies along the path the rocket will take as it roars into space, clearing it of all signs of life to avoid accidents as the Proton sheds used parts on its way to orbit. Not that there is much life out here. The Kazakh steppe around Baikonur is inhospitable, dusty semi-desert, which only the hardiest think about inhabiting. ``We have always reared cattle here,'' said Shaimov, 37, the rocket visible behind his back. ``We will just move out of the way before it happens.'' Each person found is warned about the launch and signs a slip of paper which states: ``I advise you to leave where you are in the interests of your safety in this area, made dangerous by the upcoming launch of a Proton rocket.'' Two armed policemen accompanied the helicopter flight, an extra security measure after previous missions had come under fire from gangs dismantling electric cables in the area to melt down and sell for metal scrap. Alexander Kuznetsov, deputy head of Russia's space agency, said that the fly-around had always been a part of launches. But extra safety measures to have taken after the failure of two Proton launches last year. Kazakhstan temporarily banned all missions after chunks of metal debris rained down on a vast swathe of land, narrowly missing houses and people. A minor technical hitch with the last Proton launch earlier this month renewed safety fears but Kuznetsov said the problem had been identified ahead of Wednesday's launch. =============== 07:55 EDT 07-11-00 All systems go for key Russian module launch By Mike Collett-White LAUNCH PAD 81, BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan, July 11 (Reuters) - All systems are go for Wednesday's launch of a Russian module to the International Space Station (ISS), ending a long delay and paving the way for the first crew to occupy the station. At launch pad 81, part of Kazakhstan's sprawling Baikonur cosmodrome complex, a 50-metre tall Proton rocket stood clasped between metal supports on Tuesday, waiting to be fuelled six hours before blasting its precious cargo into orbit. Takeoff is scheduled for 10.58 a.m. (04.58 GMT) in what space officials have dubbed one of the most important events in the history of Russian-U.S. space cooperation. The $60 billion ISS project groups Russia and the U.S. with Canada, Japan and Europe. ``The launch is crucial because without this module the further development of the ISS is impossible,'' said Alexander Kuznetsov, deputy director of the Russian space agency. The only thing which could get in the way of the launch now is the weather, he told reporters. ``The weather forecast was not particularly good -- they said there was a small chance of thunderstorms but luckily we have seen nothing of the sort so far,'' he said. Light clouds dotted the bright sky above the barren Kazakh steppe, the bleak setting for Russia's main space base which it rents from its southern neighbour. The 20-tonne Zvezda (''Star'') module will provide the main living quarters for cosmonauts visiting the station. It is set to link automatically to two ISS modules already orbiting the Earth -- Russia's Zarya (''Dawn'') block and the U.S. Unity module. When complete, the complex will weigh 418 tonnes, be seven storeys tall and its outline will be visible at night with the naked eye. The target date for completion is 2005. CONTINGENCY PLAN If Zvezda fails to dock successfully with the existing infrastructure, a three-man team known as the ``zero crew'' is on standby in Baikonur to race into space and make the connection manually, Kuznetsov said. The first scheduled manned flight to Zvezda has been set tentatively for October this year, although a U.S. crew did visit the ISS in May to boost its flagging orbit. Kuznetsov said a technical hitch during the last Proton launch earlier this month, when it was discovered that pressure in one of its fuel tanks dropped below normal levels, had been resolved by a series of extra tests. ``(The new Proton) has undergone extra tests, but we understand that all parts are fully reliable and the rocket can be launched.'' The Proton booster, one of the main workhorses of the Russian space programme, has come under close scrutiny since two missions failed in 1999, raining metal debris down over the Kazakh steppe and leading to a temporary ban on launches. The accidents were an extra headache for Moscow, whose commitment to the ISS had been called into question because of more than two years of delays in completing the Zvezda module, caused mainly by a chronic lack of funding. ================= Russia Stakes Reputation on Module By JIM HEINTZ AP-NY-07-10-00 1308EDT STAR CITY, Russia (AP) - Weeds grow through the sidewalk and a skinny stray puppy seeks attention from visitors - a scene not from an obscure provincial village but from Russia's facility for training cosmonauts. Unlike spit-and-polish Western space programs, Russia's sometimes appears down at the heels. But with Wednesday's planned launch of a key module of the International Space Station, Russia intends to prove that it's back in space in a big way. ``It's a very important step,'' said Konstantin Kreidenko, a spokesman for the Russian Aviation and Space Agency. ``Many countries are depending on it.'' The 22-ton, 43-foot-long Zvezda module - whose name means ``star'' in Russian - is the life center of the 16-nation space station project, providing accommodation and sanitation for the crew, as well as propulsion and flight control. For years, it looked more like it was on life-support. The United States, which initiated the International Space Station project in 1984, brought in Russia in 1993 to build the Zvezda in hopes of saving time and money. But the project, frustrated by cash shortages in the Russian space program, ran more than two years behind schedule and the delays cost an estimated $3 billion. The Zvezda was ready last year, but its launch was delayed after two Proton rockets - the type that are to lift it into orbit - crashed while launching satellites. These high-profile troubles came as Russia, with a budget of just $100 million for space programs this year, was scraping for money to keep its Mir space station aloft. After several exotic plans fell through, including one to send an actor to the Mir to film scenes for a movie, the private investment group MirCorp provided funds for a mission just weeks before the government was to have scuttled the craft. The next mission to the Mir is to carry a ``space tourist,'' a U.S. businessman who will pay tens of millions of dollars for the trip. Even a recent reception to honor the latest Mir cosmonauts required commercial sponsorship, with the Ford Motor Company showing its logo on stage and handing out car-purchase credit applications in the lobby. The money hunt, along with a frightening series of system failures and a fire on the Mir in 1998, contrast sharply with the Soviet Union's one-time primacy in space. In 1957, the Soviet Union put the world's first satellite in orbit, shocking Americans who regarded themselves as technologically superior, then put the first human in space four years later. The Russian space program's troubles are an unpleasant undercurrent to even its proudest moments of accomplishment. At the Mir reception at Star City, cosmonaut Alexei Kalerin said his two-month trip to resuscitate the space station was a mission ``that pretty much nobody believed in.'' ``It is our communal victory,'' he declared, standing under a faded and wrinkled poster of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. Proud statements aside, Russia still has to prove itself with the Zvezda. At a news conference last week, the head of NASA's programs with Russia, Capt. Michael Baker, struck a skeptical note, saying that crews would blast off for the International Space Station this fall ``if all goes successfully'' with Zvezda. The General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of the U.S. Congress, has warned that station crews will face increased risk and noise because of Russia's failure to meet NASA safety standards. It says the module's aluminum and magnesium skin doesn't offer strong enough protection against collisions with space junk and its equipment will fail if cabin pressure is lost, jeopardizing the entire station. The launch of the Zvezda from the Baikonur cosmodrome in the former Soviet republic of Kazakstan comes 25 years almost to the day that U.S. and Soviet crews blasted off for a rendezvous in orbit that space buffs saw as heralding a new era of cooperation in space. The Zvezda launch is seen by some as carrying similar importance. ``It's the key to sustaining human presence in space,'' said analyst John Pike of the Federation of American Scientists. He added that the project also has benefits on the ground, helping the often-tense relations between Washington and Moscow. ``The space station is one of the few remaining areas of cooperation between the United States and Russia,'' he said. From lklaes@bbn.com Tue Jul 11 17:41:24 2000 Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 12:41:24 -0400 From: Larry Klaes lklaes@bbn.com Subject: [FPSPACE] ANNIVERSARY OF APOLLO SOYUZ TEST PROJECT OBSERVED Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 12:00:13 -0400 (EDT) From: NASANews@hq.nasa.gov Subject: ANNIVERSARY OF APOLLO SOYUZ TEST PROJECT OBSERVED Sender: owner-press-release@lists.hq.nasa.gov To: undisclosed-recipients:; Sarah Keegan Headquarters, Washington, DC July 11, 2000 (Phone: 202/358-1902) NOTE TO EDITORS: N00-30 ANNIVERSARY OF APOLLO SOYUZ TEST PROJECT OBSERVED With Russia's launch of its major contribution to the International Space Station imminent, NASA today prepares to mark Saturday's 25th anniversary of an earlier cooperative human space flight endeavor -- the Apollo Soyuz Test Project (ASTP). ASTP was designed to test rendezvous and docking system compatibility for American and Soviet spacecraft and open the way for future joint human flights. During the nine-day mission launched July 15, 1975, astronauts Thomas P. Stafford, Vance D. Brand and Donald K. Slayton rendezvoused and docked their Apollo spacecraft with the Soyuz 19 spacecraft with cosmonauts Aleksey Leonov and Valeriy Kubasov onboard. Today on its Video File feed, NASA Television will air historical footage of mission activities, including the docking of the two spacecraft. The NASA Video File normally airs at noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m., 9 p.m. and midnight Eastern Time. The NASA History Office today introduces an ASTP web page available on the Internet at: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/astp/index.html The site contains a variety of ASTP historical information, including mission video and still images, biographical sketches of key personnel, and primary-source documentary material about the flight. NASA Television is available on GE-2, transponder 9C at 85 degrees West longitude, with vertical polarization. Frequency is on 3880.0 megahertz, with audio on 6.8 megahertz. -end- * * * NASA press releases and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to domo@hq.nasa.gov. In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type the words "subscribe press-release" (no quotes). The system will reply with a confirmation via E-mail of each subscription. A second automatic message will include additional information on the service. NASA releases also are available via CompuServe using the command GO NASA. To unsubscribe from this mailing list, address an E-mail message to domo@hq.nasa.gov, leave the subject blank, and type only "unsubscribe press-release" (no quotes) in the body of the message. From lklaes@bbn.com Tue Jul 11 18:01:14 2000 Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 13:01:14 -0400 From: Larry Klaes lklaes@bbn.com Subject: [FPSPACE] Nice images of the VAFB Minuteman 2 launch From: Wong, Hamilton Sent: Monday, July 10, 2000 3:06 PM Pictures of Friday nite's launch activities. Ham Wong Commercial Thermal and Thermal Products PEL Orgn. L2-70, Bldg. 551 Tel./408-743-6760; Fax/408-743-6745 Pager/888-410-7187(dig.)/800-725-5079(alpha) -----Original Message----- From: Swinford, Nancy Sent: Monday, July 10, 2000 2:47 PM Subject: FW: IFT-5 Target Pictures Not sure if you've seen these yet, but here are some shots from the target vehicle launch from Vandenburg AFB Friday night. These were taken from the Bay Area. Nancy PLV and PLD Team Members, Here are some photos of the target vehicle on its way to Kwajalein on the evening of 7/7/00. They were taken by a member of the San Jose Astronomical Association and are posted on his website. It was a beautiful seen in person and these photos really do capture the moment. You are seeing the plume backlit by the sun after the missile crossed into sunlight. Here are the URLs for most of the pictures if you want to see them directly on the website (there may be a few more as well). http://www.lynhaven.org/Astronomy/rocket/P7080028.jpg http://www.lynhaven.org/Astronomy/rocket/P7080030.jpg http://www.lynhaven.org/Astronomy/rocket/P7080032.jpg http://www.lynhaven.org/Astronomy/rocket/P7080035.jpg From lklaes@bbn.com Tue Jul 11 18:30:44 2000 Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 13:30:44 -0400 From: Larry Klaes lklaes@bbn.com Subject: [FPSPACE] sirius Will Sirius 1 be broadcasting on frequencies that will interfere with radio astronomy work, where astronomers might also be monitoring those frequencies for natural celestial radio noise? Larry At 10:13 AM 07/10/2000 -0400, Megown Lori wrote: > RE: > How bad will this be for radio astronomy?prefix = o ns = >* "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> > >I'm sorry, I don't understand your question. > >Lori K. Megown >Director of Marketing Communications > >Sirius Satellite Radio >1221 Avenue of the Americas, 36th floor >New York, NY 10020 >P: 212.584.5109 >F: 212.584.5115 >C: 917.714.1811 > >http://www.siriusradio.com/ > >_______________________________________________ >FPSPACE mailing list >FPSPACE@friends-partners.org >http://fpmail.friends-partners.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/fpspace From Palladium@aol.com Tue Jul 11 16:19:32 2000 Date: Tue Jul 11 15:19:32 2000 From: Palladium@aol.com Palladium@aol.com Subject: [FPSPACE] PUCKER TIME AGAIN!!! <> I second that emotion. Also, I suggest we all pray to the gods of technology, work our mojo sticks, or whatever, that this one goes as smoothly as Zarya did. Does anyone have the exact liftoff time for the Eastern U.S., and what networks might be covering it live? DS Michaels From JamesOberg@aol.com Tue Jul 11 20:27:02 2000 Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 15:27:02 EDT From: JamesOberg@aol.com JamesOberg@aol.com Subject: [FPSPACE] NY Times: Space Station Waits Upon the Launch of New 'Star' http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/071100sci-nasa-station.html July 11, 2000 Space Station Waits Upon the Launch of New 'Star' By WARREN E. LEARY The future of the stalled International Space Station could hinge on a star. Construction of what is to become the largest structure that humans have ever put into space has been on hold, awaiting the late arrival of the station's critical Russian-made command and living section. The long-overdue service module, called Zvezda, which means "star" in Russian, is to rocket into orbit tomorrow and put an end to the hiatus of almost two years in building what is to become a sprawling international research complex in space. Experts say that successfully launching Zvezda is one of the most critical steps in the $60 billion project, for both engineering and political reasons. The rest of the station, which could take another five years to finish, cannot be built without this pivotal piece in place. And loss of this module in a launching accident, which would further delay construction and drive up costs, could mean political death for the project, some say. Zvezda, the primary Russian contribution to the space station, is to be launched atop a three-stage Proton rocket at 12:56 a.m. Eastern time tomorrow from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. After two weeks of orbital maneuvers and equipment checks, the service module is to dock with the budding space station on July 25. "This is one of the most critical pieces of the International Space Station," said James E. Oberg of Houston, an expert on the Russian space program and a former engineer with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Zvezda is the first in a string of one-of-a-kind space station sections for which there are no backups if something goes wrong, Mr. Oberg said, and is perhaps the most crucial of these because Zvezda is to control the whole station and keep it in space during the early stages of construction. "It would probably take at least three years for Zvezda to be replaced," Mr. Oberg said. "This is the first of a series of things that really can't go wrong if the project is to stay on track." Mr. Oberg noted, however, that he was confident that the launching of Zvezda and its mating with the current two components of the station would be successful, even if initial problems occurred. "This has been very well planned and the Russians know what they are doing," he said, "There are many layers of fallback procedures and redundant systems that give me some confidence it will work." The International Space Station is the work of 16 nations, led by the United States. The partners, including members of the European Space Agency and Canada, Japan, Brazil and Russia, have already spent billions of dollars building more than 300,000 pounds of equipment for the station, which ultimately is to weigh almost a million pounds and, with its huge solar power panels, span an area the size of two football fields. The 42,000-pound service module originally was scheduled to be launched in April 1998, but lack of money prevented the Russian Space Agency from finishing it on time. With support from NASA, which bought equipment and services from the Russians, the module was slowly completed. But the project dragged on, causing tension between the United States and Russia because the Russians continued to spend their scarce resources on their aging Mir space station at the expense of the international program. The service module was almost ready to fly last fall when a series of failures with the normally reliable Proton rocket caused more delays. NASA insisted this spring that Russia correct the rocket problems and launch Zvezda by this summer, or the agency would launch an American interim control module and continue space station construction without waiting for the Russians. Marcia S. Smith, a space policy analyst for the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress, said that getting Zvezda off the ground would be an important step in soothing tensions in the space station coalition. "It's a very significant launch in terms of the relationships of the partners in the project," Ms. Smith said, "particularly the United States and Russia, and to construction of the space station itself." Ms. Smith said that a loss of the service module would cause substantial delays in building the space station and drive up costs, but it would not necessarily kill the project. "A lot of people say it would be catastrophic if it fails, but I wouldn't go that far," she said. "There are a number of contingency and backup plans that could be implemented to continue the project." Both Russian and American space officials are optimistic that the worst is over and space station construction can proceed rapidly once Zvezda is in place. "There have been some struggles, but it's very exciting to see it coming together," said Mark Geyer, NASA's manager for station integration. Zvezda will not only provide living quarters for the initial crews to run the station, it also will command the station's position in space and control all electrical, computer, communications and flight systems for the complex. Astronauts will use it for housing and for conducting some research, but Zvezda will also be the base for spacewalks needed for maintenance and accelerating station construction. One American and two Russian astronauts are set to take up residence in November as "Expedition 1," the first crew beginning permanent occupation of the station. Michael Baker, director of NASA operations in Russia, said at a briefing on Friday in Moscow that Zvezda was "the beginning of the real assembly of the International Space Station, with 15 launches scheduled in the next calendar year." Officials said that during the eight American space shuttle flights, and Russian missions involving two Soyuz craft with crews and five Progress cargo ships, the station would receive expanded solar power arrays, stabilizing gyroscopes, an American science laboratory and tons of fuel and supplies for growth. Officials at the briefing said that two flights since early June of the modified Proton rocket that would carry Zvezda had been successful, including one on July 5 that had what they called a minor malfunction in its second stage. Sergei Shayevich, a senior manager at the Khrunichev State Research and Production Center, which makes the rocket, said a drop in chamber pressure in the rocket stage at the end of its operation was unlikely to affect the Zvezda launching. The $340 million Zvezda, the first station module fully financed by Russia, will join two existing modules, together weighing 70,000 pounds, that have made up the fledgling station for more than a year and a half. The Zarya control module, made in Russia with American financing, was the first part of the space station. The Zarya module was launched in November 1998, and it was followed in December by the American Unity connecting node. American shuttles have visited the complex twice since then to bring supplies, perform maintenance and boost the station's altitude, which slowly decreases because of atmospheric drag even when 240 miles up. Zvezda is a large module that looks like the core unit of the Mir space station launched in 1986, but Zvezda has many upgrades, said Kirk Shireman, NASA's manager for Russian elements to the space station. "The computer system is the biggest difference," Mr. Shireman said. The system, made by a German company and provided by the European Space Agency, is more up to date than those used in other parts of the station, but is compatible with them, he said. The service module also has new guidance, communications and monitoring systems, as well as upgraded navigation, control, guidance and ventilation equipment. As well, Russia has improved the safety and operation of the oxygen-generating candles it uses as a backup air supply, Mr. Shireman said. Use of such candles caused a fire aboard Mir in 1997. The 43-foot-long Zvezda, about the size of a city bus, has a docking node on one end to join with other spacecraft or sections, and a propulsion unit on the other. The pressurized interior has a command center for controlling the station, and a center living area with sleeping quarters, a toilet, a kitchen with a refrigerator-freezer, a table for meals, and exercise equipment like a treadmill and a stationary bicycle. The unit, which has 14 small windows distributed throughout, could serve as a self-sustained space station by itself, drawing electrical power from two solar wings that span 95.5 feet. Getting Zvezda and the other units together will not be simple. Normally, it takes two days for a spacecraft to rendezvous and dock with the station, but the service module's journey is scheduled to take two weeks. Program managers said the leisurely schedule for mating the modules is designed to let controllers thoroughly check out the unit before the critical docking. Immediately after the launching, Zvezda's antennas and solar arrays will be deployed, and guidance, navigation and control systems will be activated. After testing sensors and engines, the craft will conduct two major engine firings to take it to the space station's altitude. During the next 10 days, controllers will check power and communication systems, and test the Kurs automatic docking systems that are to guide the craft together. Some days have no scheduled activities and have been left open to allow time to fix any problems that arise, officials said. Docking is to occur on the 15th day of the mission and is timed to occur over Russian ground stations so that controllers can monitor the robotic mating. Zvezda will be the passive partner in the maneuvering and docking, holding its position while the space station slowly closes in. The Kurs system on each module will constantly send signals to the other to guide the speed, position and direction of the units as they close. After the units dock and locking clamps secure them, the space in between will be pressurized and there will be three days of leak testing. When the linkup is confirmed as permanent, Zvezda's computers are to take control of the complex and deactivate control systems previously used by the station, officials said. Mark Ferring, the lead space station flight director at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, said there should be fuel aboard the space station for two, and possibly three, docking attempts. If something goes wrong and the mating cannot be done automatically, he said, the Russians have emergency plans to launch two astronauts to Zvezda to conduct a manual docking. Astronauts Gennady Padalka and Nikolai Budarin have been trained as "Expedition Zero," a crew that would be launched in a Soyuz craft on Aug. 10 to dock with the service module. The crew would enter Zvezda and assemble a remote-control rendezvous system called TORU, which was designed to let them control the space station sitting some distance away from the service module. Two days later, the astronauts would use TORU to guide the space station toward Zvezda for a linkup. After spending another 10 days or so aboard the service module activating some systems, the crew would return to Earth. Space station assembly would resume with the launching of the shuttle Atlantis on Sept. 8, bringing supplies to outfit it for the first resident crew and a team of spacewalking astronauts to complete outside connections of the newly expanded orbiting outpost. From lklaes@bbn.com Tue Jul 11 20:27:25 2000 Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 15:27:25 -0400 From: Larry Klaes lklaes@bbn.com Subject: [FPSPACE] Europe leads the way in exploring and settling Luna The Moon can be seen as an escaped continent of Earth. The question now facing the world is how best to transform that barren landmass into a thriving hub of scientific research and industrialization. Increasingly, many nations are taking a longing look at Earth's celestial next-door neighbor. To prove the point, you don't have to look much farther than the Fourth International Conference on Exploration and Utilization of the Moon. Set for July 10-15, the lunar conference will be held in Noordwijk, with the city heralded as the "Capital of the Moon." http://www.space.com/news/spaceagencies/lunar_europe_000710.html From JamesOberg@aol.com Tue Jul 11 22:05:40 2000 Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 17:05:40 EDT From: JamesOberg@aol.com JamesOberg@aol.com Subject: [FPSPACE] Reuters: US, Russia mark space jubilee as new era beckons Stafford: ``If the Soviet Union and the United States work warmly in space, then they can work warmly on Earth.'' US, Russia mark space jubilee as new era beckons By Peter Graff MOSCOW, July 11 (Reuters) - The footage now looks grainy, but there is still no mistaking the smile on the face of U.S. astronaut Tom Stafford as he passed around a toothpaste tube of Russian vodka in weightless orbit 25 years ago. Russian and American spacemen gathered in Moscow on Tuesday to mark the anniversary of Apollo-Soyuz, the first joint space flight, which briefly lit the dark night of the Cold War. But they were looking as much to the future as the past as the Russian-built living quarters module of a new International Space Station was made ready for launch on Wednesday thousands of miles away on the Kazakh steppes. ``Flying this joint mission required more than technological know-how,'' said NASA Director Daniel Goldin, recalling the Apollo-Soyuz project. ``It required courage, diplomacy, hard-headed perseverance and good humour -- not unlike what's necessary for the International Space Station.'' The new $60 billion station will be one of the most ambitious engineering projects ever attempted by mankind, held up by suitably large-scale bureaucratic delays and intercontinental quarrels over funding. But despite the occasional row, space remains one of the areas in which the United States and Russia continue to work together well. When Stafford docked his Apollo capsule with crew captain Alexei Leonov's Soyuz in July 1975, President Gerald Ford had just finished pulling defeated U.S. troops out of Vietnam. The Soviet Union under ailing Leonid Brezhnev was mired in a period which came to be called ``the stagnation.'' Apollo-Soyuz brightened that dark time, said Leonov, leaving a legacy of brotherhood between scientists, pilots and engineers, who found that -- despite official propaganda -- they liked each other. ``Remember that time -- the insane mistrust, not just for people but between countries,'' he said. ``And we discovered kind, good, smart people, who decided to show all of humanity that we are completely different.'' Stafford, no less affable today than when he taste-tested Russian space food aboard Soyuz all those years ago, drew warm applause by addressing the crowd in what he called ``Oklahomsky'' -- rusty Russian with a thick southwestern U.S. drawl. ``It was a symbol for the whole world,'' he said. ``If the Soviet Union and the United States work warmly in space, then they can work warmly on Earth.'' 11:49 07-11-00 From svengrahn@mail.wineasy.se Wed Jul 12 10:51:38 2000 Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 11:51:38 +0200 From: Sven Grahn svengrahn@mail.wineasy.se Subject: [FPSPACE] Zvezda picked up! Presence of strong telemetry transmissions detected on 628 and 630 MHz at 0932.30-0935.30 UT here at our country house just outside Eskilstuna in Sweden. Sven Grahn From psclark@dircon.co.uk Wed Jul 12 11:10:06 2000 Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 10:10:06 +0000 (GMT) From: Phillip Clark psclark@dircon.co.uk Subject: [FPSPACE] Over to NASA With this morning's successful launch of Zvezda it is now very much "over to NASA" since NASA can no longer hide behind the Russian skirts and pretend that delays are always due to the Russians. Once Zvezda has docked with the embryonic ISS (as I am sure it will: the Russians have never had to abandon a spacecraft in orbit due to it never managing to dock), NASA has a very tight schedule to maintain. There are reports that some US politicians are wanting to sue the Russians for the ISS delays. In the interests of fairness, will they also be happy to sue NASA and/or its contractors when the US delays start to show ? If the shuttle gets grounded because of engine or other problems it will mean that resident crews on ISS will be inconvenienced: can the Russians sue NASA if they have to fly extra Soyuz crew rotation craft or - if the crew remains in orbit - for extra Progress-M1 craft ? Of course, the crew could always come back on the trusty Soyuz which will always be docked with ISS and leave ISS unoccupied. When was the last time that a crew had to leave a Soyuz spacecraft due to an on-the-pad technical or weather problem ? Of course, such delays happen with virtually every shuttle launch these days, but it looks as if the last time that a Soyuz crew had to scrub their launch was the Soyuz 10 crew in 1971 ! Of course, there is the NASA excuse that the shuttle is a more complex vehicle than a Soyuz. True: but that is NASA's choice - a Soyuz-class craft is far better than the shuttle for ferrying crews to and from orbital stations. I am sure that these comments will be blasted from the other side of the Duck Pond to me for being "anti-American", but that is not my intention. I just want the Russians to be treated the same way that the US side of ISS is being treated. The Russians get all the bad press while NASA's delays are rarely high-lighted. For example, before the Ekspress-A launch failure last October, NASA was ready to ask the Russians to delay Zvezda until ~April this year because of the delays in the shuttle schedule. (I know of one ISS engineer who does not believe this, but that person is not involved at the political level where such decisions are made: I stand by this story.) Because there was the launch failure, the Russians had to delay Zvezda and once more NASA could hide its delays and put the blame on the Russians. Now, where did I put my tin hat and is my bomb shelter still functioning ? Phillip Clark --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Phillip S Clark 22 Winterbourne Close Molniya Space Consultancy Hastings Compiler/Publisher, Worldwide Satellite Launches E Sussex TN34 1XG U.K. Specialist in "space archeology" - the older and more obscure the more interesting it is ! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- From i-cosmos@mtu-net.ru Wed Jul 12 12:24:32 2000 Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 15:24:32 +0400 From: Novosti Kosmonavtiki i-cosmos@mtu-net.ru Subject: [FPSPACE] Over to NASA Hi, Well said Phillip. But to be honest, Dan Goldin used to defend Russians in all public appearances. It was not NASA blaming Russia but U.S. politicians blaming Russia and NASA. And, if the U.S. were in the economical situation we are now, they would never build such a module. Even with Russian financial aid :-) But let us wait for the docking and the launch of the first permanent crew. Igor Lissov -----éÓÈÏÄÎÏÅ ÓÏÏÂÝÅÎÉÅ----- ïÔ: Phillip Clark ëÏÍÕ: FPSPACE äÁÔÁ: 12 ÉÀÌÑ 2000 Ç. 14:16 ôÅÍÁ: [FPSPACE] Over to NASA >With this morning's successful launch of Zvezda it is now very much "over >to NASA" since NASA can no longer hide behind the Russian skirts and >pretend that delays are always due to the Russians. > >Once Zvezda has docked with the embryonic ISS (as I am sure it will: the >Russians have never had to abandon a spacecraft in orbit due to it never >managing to dock), NASA has a very tight schedule to maintain. > >There are reports that some US politicians are wanting to sue the Russians >for the ISS delays. In the interests of fairness, will they also be >happy to sue NASA and/or its contractors when the US delays start to show >? > >If the shuttle gets grounded because of engine or other problems it >will mean that resident crews on ISS will be inconvenienced: can the >Russians sue NASA if they have to fly extra Soyuz crew rotation craft or - >if the crew remains in orbit - for extra Progress-M1 craft ? Of course, >the crew could always come back on the trusty Soyuz which will always be >docked with ISS and leave ISS unoccupied. > >When was the last time that a crew had to leave a Soyuz spacecraft due to >an on-the-pad technical or weather problem ? Of course, such delays >happen with virtually every shuttle launch these days, but it looks as if >the last time that a Soyuz crew had to scrub their launch was the Soyuz 10 >crew in 1971 ! Of course, there is the NASA excuse that the shuttle is a >more complex vehicle than a Soyuz. True: but that is NASA's choice - a >Soyuz-class craft is far better than the shuttle for ferrying crews to and >from orbital stations. > >I am sure that these comments will be blasted from the other side of the >Duck Pond to me for being "anti-American", but that is not my >intention. I just want the Russians to be treated the same way that the >US side of ISS is being treated. The Russians get all the bad press >while NASA's delays are rarely high-lighted. For example, before the >Ekspress-A launch failure last October, NASA was ready to ask the Russians >to delay Zvezda until ~April this year because of the delays in the >shuttle schedule. (I know of one ISS engineer who does not believe this, >but that person is not involved at the political level where such >decisions are made: I stand by this story.) Because there was the launch >failure, the Russians had to delay Zvezda and once more NASA could hide >its delays and put the blame on the Russians. > >Now, where did I put my tin hat and is my bomb shelter still functioning ? > >Phillip Clark > >--------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Phillip S Clark 22 Winterbourne Close >Molniya Space Consultancy Hastings >Compiler/Publisher, Worldwide Satellite Launches E Sussex TN34 1XG > U.K. > >Specialist in "space archeology" - the older and more obscure the more >interesting it is ! >--------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > >_______________________________________________ >FPSPACE mailing list >FPSPACE@friends-partners.org >http://fpmail.friends-partners.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/fpspace > From clj@emc.com Wed Jul 12 12:25:18 2000 Date: 12 Jul 2000 07:25:18 -0400 From: Chris Jones clj@emc.com Subject: [FPSPACE] Reuters: US, Russia mark space jubilee as new era beckons JamesOberg@aol.com writes: [...] US, Russia mark space jubilee as new era beckons By Peter Graff MOSCOW, July 11 (Reuters) - The footage now looks grainy, but there is still no mistaking the smile on the face of U.S. astronaut Tom Stafford as he passed around a toothpaste tube of Russian vodka in weightless orbit 25 years ago. That wasn't actually vodka; it was labelled such as a joke (I think it was actually borscht). Or was it the case that the "joke story" was told at the time to avoid the kind of outcry that caused NASA to pull wine from the Skylab menus. From wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Wed Jul 12 12:39:44 2000 Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 07:39:44 -0400 (EDT) From: Dwayne Allen Day wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] Zvezda picked up! On Wed, 12 Jul 2000, Sven Grahn wrote: > Presence of strong telemetry transmissions detected on 628 and 630 MHz at > 0932.30-0935.30 UT here at our country house just outside Eskilstuna in > Sweden. I managed to watch the launch live. The Steppes of Tyura-Tam are not the most picturesque site for a launch, but the Proton sure looked beautiful as it lifted off the launch pad... You gotta give the Russians credit, they still know how to build incredible rockets! DDAY From wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Wed Jul 12 12:43:06 2000 Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 07:43:06 -0400 (EDT) From: Dwayne Allen Day wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] Over to NASA On Wed, 12 Jul 2000, Phillip Clark wrote: > I am sure that these comments will be blasted from the other side of the > Duck Pond to me for being "anti-American", but that is not my Nah, by now we all know about the chip on your shoulder and your obligatory swipe at NASA is about as unpredictable as the sun rising in the morning. DDAY From clj@emc.com Wed Jul 12 12:49:03 2000 Date: 12 Jul 2000 07:49:03 -0400 From: Chris Jones clj@emc.com Subject: [FPSPACE] Over to NASA Phillip Clark writes: [...] Once Zvezda has docked with the embryonic ISS (as I am sure it will: the Russians have never had to abandon a spacecraft in orbit due to it never managing to dock), NASA has a very tight schedule to maintain. Historically docking has been anything but a sure thing for the Soviets/Russians, though those problems are far enough in the past that they are no cause for concern regarding ISS. True, they never "had to abandon a spacecraft in orbit due to it never managing to dock", but they had to abandon a bunch of missions and return the crews to earth for that very reason. There are reports that some US politicians are wanting to sue the Russians for the ISS delays. In the interests of fairness, will they also be happy to sue NASA and/or its contractors when the US delays start to show ? Some yes, some no. This is just political grandstanding, and I doubt even the politicians proposing it would expect anything more to come of it than a little free press coverage. If the shuttle gets grounded because of engine or other problems it will mean that resident crews on ISS will be inconvenienced: can the Russians sue NASA if they have to fly extra Soyuz crew rotation craft or - if the crew remains in orbit - for extra Progress-M1 craft ? I don't know why I'm answering what seem like rhetorical questions, but, yes, you're allowed to sue for almost any reason, but I think in the case of the federal government, you need their permission. Perhaps the Russians could sue in some world court, but the US might not recognize the result. Of course, if the Russians fail to meet their other ISS commitments, which is not at all an unlikely event, this imaginary case would get complicated. I don't expect to see any legal action, just negotiation (which will probably involve the *threat* of legal action and more political grandstanding, oh, happy day...). When was the last time that a crew had to leave a Soyuz spacecraft due to an on-the-pad technical or weather problem ? Of course, such delays happen with virtually every shuttle launch these days, but it looks as if the last time that a Soyuz crew had to scrub their launch was the Soyuz 10 crew in 1971 ! I suppose you're being careful with your choice of words so the 1983 pre-launch abort of what would have been Soyuz T-10 doesn't fall under your definition of scrub, but I'd count that as a scrub. And I think you're overstating the case when you say technical or weather problems affect "virtually every shuttle launch". I'd estimate the it's less than half (still unacceptably high) and the record for on time launches where it really matters (e.g. to Mir) is very good. Of course, there is the NASA excuse that the shuttle is a more complex vehicle than a Soyuz. True: but that is NASA's choice - a Soyuz-class craft is far better than the shuttle for ferrying crews to and from orbital stations. Yes, if all you're taking to or from the station is a crew. I am sure that these comments will be blasted from the other side of the Duck Pond to me for being "anti-American", but that is not my intention. I just want the Russians to be treated the same way that the US side of ISS is being treated. The Russians get all the bad press while NASA's delays are rarely high-lighted. I agree that, with respect to ISS, Russian problems have been highlighted more than US problems. From clj@emc.com Wed Jul 12 13:09:32 2000 Date: 12 Jul 2000 08:09:32 -0400 From: Chris Jones clj@emc.com Subject: [FPSPACE] Over to NASA I just remembered... Phillip Clark writes: [...] Once Zvezda has docked with the embryonic ISS (as I am sure it will: the Russians have never had to abandon a spacecraft in orbit due to it never managing to dock), NASA has a very tight schedule to maintain. Progress M-34 was abandoned after it failed to dock with ("came close to causing the abandonment of" captures more of the flavor of the event) Mir. True, it wasn't abandoned *in orbit*, and the circumstances of its docking attempt are irrelevant to the ISS/Zvezda docking (unless Mission 0 becomes necessary). From lklaes@bbn.com Wed Jul 12 13:33:35 2000 Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 08:33:35 -0400 From: Larry Klaes lklaes@bbn.com Subject: [FPSPACE] Russia takes advertising to the Final Frontier The ex-Soviet space program, originally designed to bury capitalism, is fast becoming Russia's most visible shop window. By Fred Weir http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/07/12/fp1s3-csm.shtml From lklaes@bbn.com Wed Jul 12 13:37:00 2000 Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 08:37:00 -0400 From: Larry Klaes lklaes@bbn.com Subject: [FPSPACE] Re: zvezda >From: Skywayinc@aol.com >Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 00:08:39 EDT >Subject: Re: zvezda >To: homereal@bom4.vsnl.net.in, astro-forum@egroups.com, ASTRO-L@uwwvax.uww.edu >X-Mailer: AOL 4.0 for Windows 95 sub 10 > >In a message dated 7/11/00 10:43:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time, >homereal@bom4.vsnl.net.in writes: > ><< VOA newsnow reported > that PIzza Hut has it's logo painted on the module. Pizza Hut has provided > fundings for this Russian module >> > >I hope this comes off better than what happened to the ill-fated Pizza Hut >airship (blimp) which sprung a leak and came crashing down on top of a >Manhattan high-rise on July 4, 1993 (the day before my daughter, Maria, was >born). On the following day on the front page of the New York Daily News, >was a picture of the deflated blimp -- with the Pizza Hut logo -- with the >headline: "PSSSSSST!" > >Let's hope Zvezda doesn't follow the blimp into aerial infamy! > >-- joe rao > From lklaes@bbn.com Wed Jul 12 14:29:51 2000 Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 09:29:51 -0400 From: Larry Klaes lklaes@bbn.com Subject: [FPSPACE] Astrium supplies fault-tolerant computer system for the Russian service module Subject: Astrium supplies fault-tolerant computer system for the Russian Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 00:29:06 GMT From: Andrew Yee Organization: UTCC Campus Access To: SEDSNEWS@LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU ------------------ Astrium Space Infrastructure Bremen, Germany Contact: Mrs. Kirsten Leung Phone: +49-421-539-5326 Fax: +49-421-539-4534 2000/07/11 Astrium supplies fault-tolerant computer system for the Russian service module Byzantine algorithm controls the space station Bremen/Moscow -- The launch of the Russian service module Zvezda (star), scheduled for 12 July 2000, will also include the delivery of Europe's first space station element into space. Under contract to the European Space Agency ESA, the Data Management System Russia (DMS-R) was developed by Astrium, a joint venture of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) and BAe Systems. DMS-R will form the basis for the further assembly of the space station. Being a core element of the whole space station, DMS-R and Russian system software will control the attitude of the 110 m x 88 m complex. It will also ensure precise orbiting at a distance of about 450 kilometers away from Earth as well as correct alignment of solar cells and communication systems. During the assembly phase (to be completed by 2004), DMS-R will assume important guidance and control functions in the Russian service module as well as in the other station elements. DMS-R development was started in 1995 and funded by the ESA member countries Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Germany. ESA provides the system to the Russian module in return for the Russian Space Agency Rosaviakosmos supplying the system required for docking the future transport vehicle ATV to the Zvezda module. Innovative computer technology DMS-R consists of two Fault Tolerant Computers (FTCs) for attitude control and guidance of the Zvezda module. It also comprises two Control Post Computers (CPCs) serving the astronauts to control and monitor experiments, the future European Robotic Arm ERA as well as the docking of supply vehicles. Each FTC comprises up to four Fault Containment Regions (FCRs), three in the case of DMS-R, with each FCR having the size of a shoebox to allow fast exchange if required. With DMS-R, Astrium's Space Infrastructure business division has realized an innovative computer concept that ensures the highest safety possible with respect to space station operation. System architecture is based on the so-called Byzantine algorithm, which was formulated by mathematicians in 1982 and which is now applied in industrial technology control for the first time. In contrast to conventional algorithms which unequivocally predetermine the sequence of computer procedures and which do not allow any alternatives, the Byzantine algorithm is very flexible in use. For DMS-R this means the following: Under normal conditions, all the computer units of a FTC are working in parallel. If a fault is detected -- for example unusual values in the oxygen supply system -- the FTC will mask this fault by majority voting first. If the same fault appears repeatedly in the same computer unit within a certain period of time, usually only a few thousandths of a second, the computer affected will disconnect without interrupting running processes. Before disconnecting, it will inform its "colleagues" about the unexpected event. In addition to their guidance and control functions, the other computers will immediately determine if the fault detected is a tolerable malfunction or if a specific system or device needs to be shut down automatically and has to be repaired immediately to not endanger space station operation. In a self-test, the disconnected computer checks if the fault detected is a temporary failure caused, for instance, by cosmic radiation or if it is a permanent damage. In the case of a temporary failure, the computer unit affected will be again connected to the other FTCs. In the case of permanent damage, the unit affected will be exchanged and all this without interrupting running processes. The reliability of DMS-R was demonstrated by Astrium in cooperation with Bremen Institut für Sichere Systeme BISS. In a four-week continuous service test, the fault tolerant computers were "fed" with different malfunctions to demonstrate safe identification of "real" faults. The system was also exposed to overload conditions which exceeded the limits specified for space station operation by far. To sum it up, DMS-R can be considered as the most reliable control system for space application to date. Disadvantages of conventional systems Usually, computer systems used for the control of complex systems are working according to the redundancy principle. If a fault is detected in one of the linked computers during data processing, the computer is shut off automatically to identify the source of error; the parallely running, identical computers will continue operation. Disadvantage: If a fault appears, data processing will be interrupted for a short period of time to allow "transfer" to the backup system. Usually, these systems only consider so-called deterministic faults, i.e. malfunctions the possible appearance of which has been clearly defined and embodied in the computer software. Non-deterministic faults, i.e. malfunctions which cannot be foreseen despite excellent preparation, can lead to complete system shutdown when conventional computer configurations are used, which in turn would endanger the safety of the space station. In contrast to these systems, DMS-R and its FTCs ensure best possible reliability of all the onboard systems. DMS-R: Development for different applications To reduce development time and cost, Astrium did not develop the fault tolerant computer systems to only use them for controlling the Russian Zvezda module. DMS-R will also be used in the transport vehicle ATV. The computer configuration is also suitable for application on Earth: In all sectors where the control of complex industrial processes is required, for example in the chemical industry, the functional principle of the FTC will increase fail-safety of plants and reduce maintenance costs because individual processes need not be interrupted during fault analysis. The Control Post Computer system, which was also developed by Astrium, will also be used in the European station module Columbus to control the Columbus system and the payloads operated there. Following the launch of Zvezda on 12 July 2000, comprehensive system tests will be carried out in orbit before module docking to the space station will be tested eleven days later and finally be carried out after a further one to three days. --- Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca From Palladium@aol.com Wed Jul 12 14:55:02 2000 Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 09:55:02 EDT From: Palladium@aol.com Palladium@aol.com Subject: [FPSPACE] Zvezda picked up! I watched it too, via CNN (no NASA TV here yet). Only complaint was the big BREAKING NEWS bar across the bottom of the image, which meant we didn't get to see actual ignitian. Otherwise, BEAUTIFUL! A profound SPASEBA to our Russian compatriots for a job well done. You know, despite all the delays and hassles, IT'S REALLY STARTING TO HAPPEN. The amazing thing is, due to Mircorp's intervention, the world will shortly have TWO inhabited, functioning space stations (I'll leave it to others to argue over whether this SHOULD be happening). Question for Philip Clark: If it's true there hasn't been a Russian launch delay sinze Soyuz 10, why is that? You mean, weather conditions have been perfect for every single launch since then? Are conditions that much more benign at Baikonur than the Cape? Or do are our Russian friends more willing to launch in what NASA would call marginal conditions? Is the Soyuz inherently less prone to weather delays (smaller surface area, less affected by winds, etc.)? That isn't even addressing the question of technical glitches, crew illness, etc. DS Michaels <> From scharle@baervan.nmt.edu Wed Jul 12 13:16:42 2000 Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 07:16:42 -0500 (CDT) From: Cletus Scharle scharle@baervan.nmt.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] Over to NASA On Wed, 12 Jul 2000, Phillip Clark wrote: - a > Soyuz-class craft is far better than the shuttle for ferrying crews to and > from orbital stations. I agree and have been saying the same thing for years. Unfortunately, I seem to have little influence. Also, using a Soyuz type vehicle makes it easier to return to real space flight when the politicians get motivated to do so! Clete From lklaes@bbn.com Wed Jul 12 15:09:06 2000 Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 10:09:06 -0400 From: Larry Klaes lklaes@bbn.com Subject: [FPSPACE] NASA History - New Apollo Soyuz Test Project Web site X-Sender: sgarber@mail.hq.nasa.gov X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0 (32) Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 17:12:59 -0400 To: history@lists.hq.nasa.gov From: "Stephen J. Garber" Subject: new Web site Sender: owner-history@lists.hq.nasa.gov The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) was the first human spaceflight mission managed jointly by two nations. It was designed to test the compatibility of rendezvous and docking systems for American and Soviet spacecraft in order to open the way for future joint human flights. The mission began with the Soyuz launch on July 15, 1975, followed by the Apollo launch seven hours later. The docking in space of the two spacecraft took place at 2:17 p.m. U.S. central time on July 17. We are pleased to announce a new site at http://history.nasa.gov/astp/index.html on the Web that commemorates the 25th anniversary of this historic cooperative space mission. Special thanks to Amanda Mellies for pulling the materials together for this site, to Les Lien for designing and laying it out expertly, and to Kipp Teague for creating an attractive and useful page of thumbnail images. Stephen Garber NASA Headquarters History Office Code ZH Washington, DC 20546-0001 202-358-0385 202-358-2866 fax steve.garber@hq.nasa.gov NASA History Home Page: http://history.nasa.gov From clj@emc.com Wed Jul 12 15:25:13 2000 Date: 12 Jul 2000 10:25:13 -0400 From: Chris Jones clj@emc.com Subject: [FPSPACE] Zvezda picked up! Palladium@aol.com writes: Question for Philip Clark: If it's true there hasn't been a Russian launch delay sinze Soyuz 10, why is that? You mean, weather conditions have been perfect for every single launch since then? Are conditions that much more benign at Baikonur than the Cape? Or do are our Russian friends more willing to launch in what NASA would call marginal conditions? Is the Soyuz inherently less prone to weather delays (smaller surface area, less affected by winds, etc.)? That isn't even addressing the question of technical glitches, crew illness, etc. The Russians are much more *willing* to launch in what for the US are marginal (or even totally unacceptable) conditions because they are *able* to do so safely. I've said before that the Russians build their rockets like ships while the US builds theirs like jewelry. I recall an unmanned Soyuz rocket launch (an Indian satellite, I believe) that went up in a snowstorm. The shuttle is worse than most other US launchers (possibly the Titan IV is worse, since it's so fragile it needs calm conditions aloft) since it has the requirement to have good landing weather at the launch site and at least one trans-Atlantic site. The Soyuz comes down via parachute and can land on land or water, and rain, snow, or bad visibility isn't going to prevent it from making a safe landing. From wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Wed Jul 12 16:48:18 2000 Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 11:48:18 -0400 (EDT) From: Dwayne Allen Day wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] Zvezda picked up! On 12 Jul 2000, Chris Jones wrote: > The Russians are much more *willing* to launch in what for the US are > marginal > (or even totally unacceptable) conditions because they are *able* to do so > safely. > The shuttle is worse than most other US launchers (possibly the Titan IV is > worse, since it's so fragile it needs calm conditions aloft) since it has the > requirement to have good landing weather at the launch site and at least one > trans-Atlantic site. The Soyuz comes down via parachute and can land on land > or water, and rain, snow, or bad visibility isn't going to prevent it from > making a safe landing. There are additional constraints as well. I would guess that even mild wind conditions play a role in delaying some shuttle launches because there are major communities right down the beach--toxic clouds cannot be allowed to blow over populated areas. As a comparison, I've been doing a lot of research on Vandenberg Air Force Base and they seem to have a lot looser launch constraints for many vehicles. They launch in fog all the time, and they conduct ICBM tests in very high winds. I was told that a recent silo launch took place in a near horizontal rainstorm and howling winds. And Mr. Clark's comment about the shuttle is just wrong--its on-time launch rate has been very good for the past 6 years or so. DDAY From david.a.lamar1@jsc.nasa.gov Wed Jul 12 16:42:03 2000 Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 10:42:03 -0500 From: LAMAR, DAVID A. (DAVE) (JSC-SF3) david.a.lamar1@jsc.nasa.gov Subject: [FPSPACE] Over to NASA If the shuttle gets grounded because of engine or other problems it will mean that resident crews on ISS will be inconvenienced: can the Russians sue NASA if they have to fly extra Soyuz crew rotation craft or - if the crew remains in orbit - for extra Progress-M1 craft ? Of course, the crew could always come back on the trusty Soyuz which will always be docked with ISS and leave ISS unoccupied. Phillip, You must be prescient. Right now the Orbiter fleet is effectively grounded. Contamination in the EMUs. Don't know what it is, or where it comes from, but something used in suit prep has managed to contaminate them. This is a systemic problem; all flight suits are affected. And every Shuttle flight needs 2 suits to perform EVA in the event that payload bay doors don't close and latch properly. Hopefully, will be cleaned up quickly, but as of today, don't even know when 2A.2b is going -- let alone 3A and subsequent. Dave From lklaes@bbn.com Wed Jul 12 16:49:15 2000 Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 11:49:15 -0400 From: Larry Klaes lklaes@bbn.com Subject: [FPSPACE] Zvezda picked up! At 11:48 AM 07/12/2000 -0400, Dwayne Allen Day wrote: >There are additional constraints as well. I would guess that even mild >wind conditions play a role in delaying some shuttle launches because >there are major communities right down the beach--toxic clouds cannot be >allowed to blow over populated areas. > >As a comparison, I've been doing a lot of research on Vandenberg Air Force >Base and they seem to have a lot looser launch constraints for many >vehicles. They launch in fog all the time, and they conduct ICBM tests in >very high winds. I was told that a recent silo launch took place in a >near horizontal rainstorm and howling winds. And of course another important reason to be able to launch rockets in all kinds of weather is in the event of a nuclear attack, where there will be no luxury of waiting for good weather in order to retaliate. Larry From Comp2002@jk-o.demon.co.uk Wed Jul 12 18:49:25 2000 Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 17:49:25 GMT From: Comp2002@jk-o.demon.co.uk Comp2002@jk-o.demon.co.uk Subject: [FPSPACE] Over to NASA In message <200007121147.HAA09262@fpmail.friends-partners.org> "Igor Lissov" writes: > Hi, > > Well said Phillip. But to be honest, Dan Goldin used to defend Russians > in all public appearances. It was not NASA blaming Russia but U.S. > politicians blaming Russia and NASA. And well pointed out, Igor! In fact, I think to-day is THE time to trumpet a resounding "Congratulations" to Dan Goldin, who is often subjected to the most ludicrous criticism from more or less weirdo quarters within the US. He has remained a staunch supporter of ISS and the international cooperation underpinning it economically and politically. I'm glad that I watched a program on Discoverer Channel where he expressd his admiration for Mir and its safety record ( saying something like 'the vehicle which has travelled by far the most miles without any casualties' ). Also he pointed out that NASA couldn't care less how much effort Russia put into the preservation of Mir as long as the commitment to ISS was fulfilled. Participating in US-dominated discussions on the Internet subjects us to highly biased viewpoints, which fortunately are filtered out before US official policy is laid down :-) > And, if the U.S. were in the economical situation we are now, they would > never build such a module. Even with Russian financial aid :-) > But let us wait for the docking and the launch of the first permanent crew. > > Igor Lissov > > >With this morning's successful launch of Zvezda it is now very much "over > >to NASA" since NASA can no longer hide behind the Russian skirts and > >pretend that delays are always due to the Russians. -- Jens Kieffer-Olsen From cpvick@fas.org Wed Jul 12 22:53:45 2000 Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 17:53:45 -0400 From: Charles P. Vick cpvick@fas.org Subject: [FPSPACE] STATEMENT BY THE VICE PRESIDENT James E. Kennedy The White House (Phone: 202/456-7035) RELEASE: 00-104 STATEMENT BY THE VICE PRESIDENT This morning's successful launch of the Zvezda service module from Baikonur, Kazakhstan marks an important milestone in the development of the International Space Station. It represents the result of intense space cooperation between the United States and Russia as part of the sixteen nation International Space Station consortium. It also represents the achievement of one of the earliest objectives of the U.S.-Russia Bi-National Commission's Space Committee. All Americans can take pride in this exciting accomplishment. We still face the technical challenge of docking the service module with the American and Russian components currently in orbit, an event scheduled to occur within the next two weeks. If the docking is successful, the key components permitting human habitation of the station will be in place. Once the International Space Station becomes fully operational, it promises to deliver enormous benefits to Americans in the form of increased scientific research and development opportunities. It will also allow us to expand the horizons of our understanding of space. _______________________ Charles P. Vick Research Analyst Federation of American Scientists phone: (202) 675-1025 fax: (202) 675-1024 email: cpvick@fas.org http://www.fas.org/ From bhen@tijd.com Wed Jul 12 22:48:11 2000 Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 23:48:11 +0200 From: Bart Hendrickx bhen@tijd.com Subject: [FPSPACE] Zvezda's Kurs system in trouble? This was just posted on NASA Watch : Service Module's KURS sensor is not working Editor's note: 4:27 PM EDT: According to NASA sources the KURS automated docking system on the Service Module is not functioning at this time. Managers at JSC are conducting a "qual diagnostic" at this time to try and understand this problem. All other systems are functioning perfectly. Docking is still scheduled to take place on 25 July. From cwdonald@ix.netcom.com Thu Jul 13 06:02:22 2000 Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 22:02:22 -0700 From: Chuck Donaldson cwdonald@ix.netcom.com Subject: [FPSPACE] Zvezda picked up! ----- Original Message ----- From: "Larry Klaes" To: "Dwayne Allen Day" ; "Chris Jones" Cc: Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2000 8:49 AM Subject: Re: [FPSPACE] Zvezda picked up! > At 11:48 AM 07/12/2000 -0400, Dwayne Allen Day wrote: > > >There are additional constraints as well. I would guess that even mild > >wind conditions play a role in delaying some shuttle launches because > >there are major communities right down the beach--toxic clouds cannot be > >allowed to blow over populated areas. > > > >As a comparison, I've been doing a lot of research on Vandenberg Air Force > >Base and they seem to have a lot looser launch constraints for many > >vehicles. They launch in fog all the time, and they conduct ICBM tests in > >very high winds. I was told that a recent silo launch took place in a > >near horizontal rainstorm and howling winds. [A Fog launch is allowed for "combat" shots, but we do have higher Fog constraints on non combat launches. Satellite, and other mission shots sometimes do wait for some fog clearance, particularly if it covers the launch area up to several hundred feet. Vandenberg fog is worst in the morning and late evening. I have tracked some shots, and watched them come out of a late evening fog when the fog was just hugging the ground up to maybe a 100 feet. To watch a missile ignite, a tiny flicker of flame coming through the evening fog and then watch it rise through the fog and burst into the open with the sustainer and booster flames flaring away is quite a site. Add a moon lite night and it is almost surreal. Another constraint is debris. We once launched a British Thor in a training launch and it went straight up. That is straight up until range safety determined that it's ground track was moving back toward Lompoc. Then it was destructed. They found parts in Santa Barbara some 100 miles away. On the other hand we once lost a Titan I from a launch pad that was just a mile from the Officer's golf course. It destructed after falling back down into the silo. We pretty well filled the golf course with metal fragments that took a few weeks to remove. Probably ruined a few weekend golfer's games for that month.] cwdonald > > > And of course another important reason to be able to launch > rockets in all kinds of weather is in the event of a nuclear > attack, where there will be no luxury of waiting for good > weather in order to retaliate. [This is absolutely correct. Whether the test silos are at Vandenberg or at the actual Western launch sites the weather constraints are virtually unlimited. Silo doors are blown off so that sleet/snow does not freeze them shut. Minutemen missiles are "combat" missiles that can launch in fire, snow, rain, heavy sleet/rain/ice, even if necessary through a flock of geese. Well, except that damn Union Pacific/Santa Fe train and a few fishing boats that get into the ground track.] > > Larry > > > > _______________________________________________ > FPSPACE mailing list > FPSPACE@friends-partners.org > http://fpmail.friends-partners.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/fpspace From cwdonald@ix.netcom.com Thu Jul 13 06:51:00 2000 Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 22:51:00 -0700 From: Chuck Donaldson cwdonald@ix.netcom.com Subject: [FPSPACE] Zvezda picked up! [snip] > Question for Philip Clark: If it's true there hasn't been a Russian launch > delay sinze Soyuz 10, why is that? You mean, weather conditions have been > perfect for every single launch since then? [snip] [snip] I recall an unmanned Soyuz rocket > launch (an Indian satellite, I believe) that went up in a snowstorm. [Well, hay we launched an Apollo into a Lighting Storm and rain and all it did was pop a few circuit breakers on the way up.] [snip] > _______________________________________________ > FPSPACE mailing list > FPSPACE@friends-partners.org > http://fpmail.friends-partners.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/fpspace From Palladium@aol.com Thu Jul 13 12:15:49 2000 Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 07:15:49 EDT From: Palladium@aol.com Palladium@aol.com Subject: [FPSPACE] Zvezda picked up! In a message dated 7/13/00 5:56:37 AM !!!First Boot!!!, cwdonald@ix.netcom.com writes: << [Well, hay we launched an Apollo into a Lighting Storm and rain and all it did was pop a few circuit breakers on the way up.] >> The Saturn rockets, I believe, were built like battleships, which is the way Von Braun liked to make 'em. Still, I think that moment on Apollo 12 was a heart-stopper for all concerned. They haven't tried a manned launch in similar conditions since. DSMichaels From clj@emc.com Thu Jul 13 12:38:28 2000 Date: 13 Jul 2000 07:38:28 -0400 From: Chris Jones clj@emc.com Subject: [FPSPACE] Zvezda picked up! Palladium@aol.com writes: In a message dated 7/13/00 5:56:37 AM !!!First Boot!!!, cwdonald@ix.netcom.com writes: << [Well, hay we launched an Apollo into a Lighting Storm and rain and all it did was pop a few circuit breakers on the way up.] >> It did more than pop a few circuit breakers, but it was impressive that the Saturn V survived two lightning hits. The Saturn rockets, I believe, were built like battleships, which is the way Von Braun liked to make 'em. Yeah, except for the second stage, which had its margins shaved during a mass-saving campaign. The first stage, in particular, was built so ruggedly that when the fifth engine was added to the design, no strengthening of the frame was necessary; there were already two strong girders crossing in the center of the stage, and they were able to withstand the forces of the engine. From svengrahn@mail.wineasy.se Thu Jul 13 13:03:42 2000 Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 14:03:42 +0200 From: Sven Grahn svengrahn@mail.wineasy.se Subject: [FPSPACE] Zvezda info Two new pieces at my Website: - Updates concerning the Zvezda module added to Radio Systems of Soviet/Russian manned spacecraft - Map showing First signals from Zvezda, 12 July 2000 added. * Go to my site http://www.users.wineasy.se7svengrahn * Click on What's New? * Select entries for 13 July 2000 Sven Grahn ---------------------------------------------------- Mr Sven Grahn | Kettering Group Rattviksvagen 44, S-192 71 Sollentuna, Sweden Tel: +46 8 7541904, svengrahn@wineasy.se http://www.users.wineasy.se/svengrahn/ ---------------------------------------------------- From kgottsch@uwc.ac.za Thu Jul 13 13:43:59 2000 Date: 13 Jul 2000 14:43:59 +0200 From: KEITH GOTTSCHALK kgottsch@uwc.ac.za Subject: [FPSPACE] Up, up & away ! A big thank you to all those Russians, Ukranians & Kazaks who worked to help make another piece of our dreams come true. & on lousy pay too. While "Star" may not complete the space station during Mr. Reagan's "in this decade" , 1980s, at least it will be continuously inhabitable in this century - with four months to spare. Once Zvezda is hermetically bolted on, we can start the estate agent ads: "New residence, all mod cons, air con throughout, upmarket location, panoramic views." From kgottsch@uwc.ac.za Thu Jul 13 14:19:28 2000 Date: 13 Jul 2000 15:19:28 +0200 From: KEITH GOTTSCHALK kgottsch@uwc.ac.za Subject: [FPSPACE] Up, up & away ! A big thank you to all those Russians, Ukranians & Kazaks who worked to help make another piece of our dreams come true - & on lousy pay too. While Zvezda may not complete the space station during Mr. Reagan's "in this decade", the 1980s, at least it will be continuously inhabitable in this century - with four months to spare. Once Zvezda is hermetically bolted on, we can start the estate agent ads: "New residence, all mod cons, air con throughout, upmarket location, panoramic views." From M.Wade@iaea.org Thu Jul 13 15:25:35 2000 Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 16:25:35 +0200 From: M.Wade@iaea.org M.Wade@iaea.org Subject: [FPSPACE] BBC: Space living 'would damage health' BBC: Space living 'would damage health' Lack of gravity in space causes problems for the body's cells Wednesday, 12 July, 2000, 18:13 GMT 19:13 UK Scientists have uncovered a compelling reason why the dream of colonising space may be a non-starter. It seems that the skeletons within living cells may not form properly in zero gravity. This means that it may be impossible to live in space over the long-term without creating a form of artificial gravity. Most cells have skeletons made up of microtubules made from fibres of the protein tubulin. New Scientist magazine reports that Dr James Tabony and his colleagues from the French Atomic Energy Commission mixed up cold solutions of mammalian tubulin with an energy-releasing compound. When the mixture was warmed to body temperature for six minutes, microtubules began to form in distinct bands at right angles to gravity. Next, the team sent up tubulin on a European Space Agency (Esa) rocket to expose it to the effect of weightlessness. They found that when microtubules formed, they pointed in all directions. Dr Tabony said: "This shows gravity triggers the pattern." Previous work by Dr Marian Lewis of the University of Alabama at Huntsville produced similar results. Dr Lewis's team tested the impact of weightlessness on human white blood cells that were flown on board the space shuttle. After a day in orbit, the microtubules grew in random directions. The findings might explain some of the health problems people living in space have, such as depressed immune systems. Cancer drug effect Professor Brian Anderton, an expert in cell structures at the UK Institute of Psychiatry, said microtubules played a vital role in the successful division of cells. Malformation of microtubules would therefore hinder the process. This could blunt the function of the immune system, which relies on rapid production of white blood cells to fight off invaders when the body is infected. It could also cause problems with the renewal of epithelial tissues which line organs in the body. For instance, it could cause problems with the gut. It might also lead to a thinning of the skin. Similar side effects are produced by anti-cancer drugs, which work by blocking the uncontrolled division of cancer cells. Professor Anderton said: "If it is really true that weightlessness interferes with microtubule function one could expect to see the same kind of adverse effects that are associated with quite a lot of anti-cancer drugs." ========================== Mark Wade m.wade@iaea.org From mslage@spacesociety.org Thu Jul 13 20:44:55 2000 Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 15:44:55 -0400 From: Michael Slage mslage@spacesociety.org Subject: [FPSPACE] Up, up & away ! At 2:43 PM +0200 7/13/00, KEITH GOTTSCHALK wrote: > > "New residence, all mod cons, air con throughout, >upmarket location, panoramic views." "Residents must provide their own ear plugs, de-gassers and extra batteries." From dconst+@pyrrhus.cimds.ri.cmu.edu Thu Jul 13 20:54:19 2000 Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2000 15:54:19 EDT From: dconst+@pyrrhus.cimds.ri.cmu.edu dconst+@pyrrhus.cimds.ri.cmu.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] Re: Up, up & away ! >> "New residence, all mod cons, air con throughout, upmarket location, panoramic views." > "Residents must provide their own ear plugs, de-gassers and extra batteries." Booooh! From i-cosmos@mtu-net.ru Fri Jul 14 11:10:37 2000 Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 14:10:37 +0400 From: Novosti Kosmonavtiki i-cosmos@mtu-net.ru Subject: [FPSPACE] Zvezda's Kurs system in trouble? Bart, >This was just posted on NASA Watch : > >Service Module's KURS sensor is not working >Editor's note: 4:27 PM EDT: According to NASA sources the KURS automated >docking system on the Service Module is not functioning at this time. >Managers at JSC are conducting a "qual diagnostic" at this time to try and >understand this problem. All other systems are functioning perfectly. >Docking is still scheduled to take place on 25 July. I believe NASA Watch haven't understand something. Kurs test is scheduled for July 19 so it is not known yet if it would work. As of TORU target failure, Russian controllers consider it *very* minor issue. Igor Lissov From JamesOberg@aol.com Fri Jul 14 14:35:18 2000 Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 09:35:18 EDT From: JamesOberg@aol.com JamesOberg@aol.com Subject: [FPSPACE] MSNBC: Widespread spacesuit hazard found Widespread spacesuit hazard found http://www.msnbc.com/news/432739.asp Contamination of emergency units could have sparked a fire By James Oberg, SPECIAL TO MSNBC.COM HOUSTON, July 13 — Amid the euphoria over the successful launch of the International Space Station’s living quarters, space engineers are feverishly working on a new hardware problem that could delay future shuttle launches unless it’s resolved. If the emergency kit had been activated during a spacewalk, the hazard could have set the spacesuit on fire. NASA SAYS the problem involves an emergency oxygen supply system carried on the spacesuits used for extravehicular activities. A month ago, engineers for a NASA contractor discovered that a critical component in one suit was dangerously contaminated with an oily substance. When they checked the same part in the rest of the dozen such spacesuits used by NASA, they discovered that all were contaminated in exactly the same way. The hazard could cause the spacesuit backpack to burst into flame during a spacewalk. NASA’s technical term for this is “conflagration,†and even though the contaminated unit is self-contained and is outside the astronaut’s main pressure suit, such an explosive fire could be life-threatening. Astronaut Greg Harbaugh, NASA’s lead official for spacesuit safety, said Thursday that his team had developed a plan to decontaminate enough suits to support the next shuttle mission to the International Space Station. This flight, called STS-106, is scheduled for early September and would involve several spacewalks. “There’s no question there’s an incompatibility there,†Harbaugh said. “High-pressure oxygen and hydrocarbon contamination don’t make for a good mix.†The normal processing schedule for preparing spacesuits for a flight is being rearranged to postpone actual testing until after the cleaned units arrive one by one, he explained. “The plan is something of a ‘work in progress,’†Harbaugh admitted. But he insisted that if he found out the suits wouldn’t be ready in time, he would ask shuttle officials for a mission delay. EARLIER PROBLEMS This problem comes in the wake of a case involving extensive damage to the space shuttles: Last July, a short circuit during the shuttle Columbia’s launch revealed a widespread pattern of electrical cable insulation damage caused by sloppy maintenance. Launches were delayed for months while repairs were made to the entire shuttle fleet. Delays are possible in this case, too. Even without the scheduled spacewalks, NASA officials say they would never allow the suits to fly as they are. This is because they would be needed in case of an emergency such as a jammed payload bay door. In such a situation, astronauts would have to go outside and manually close and latch the doors in order to return to Earth. The part of the spacesuit that is contaminated is a regulator, a valve that lowers the high pressure from a storage tank so that an astronaut can breathe the oxygen normally. The regulator is in a special emergency oxygen unit carried on top of a spacewalking astronaut’s main backpack. The main oxygen spacesuit system was also checked and found not to be contaminated. In the course of more than 80 space shuttle spacewalks, the now-contaminated emergency unit has never been turned on, but Harbaugh — who has made several spacewalks himself — was adamant that the problem had to be fixed. “I care very much that we put people outside feeling comfortable that the suit will take care of them,†Harbaugh stressed. “You’re out there listening to the whir of that little fan, and it should make you happy.†ROUTINE MAINTENANCE The contamination was discovered by engineers at Carleton Technologies, near Buffalo, N.Y., during routine maintenance. What appeared to be discoloration on the surface of one unit’s regulator turned out to be a heavy oily residue. In accordance with company policy, the engineers immediately reported the problem. NASA was notified at once. "We’re uncompromising in terms of the quality of the product,†said Paddy Cawdery, Carleton’s chief executive officer. He said Carleton’s engineers, who have provided oxygen regulators for every American space vehicle used for human flight from Mercury in 1961 through the new modules for the International Space Station, fully appreciated the hazards of contamination in a high-pressure oxygen environment. Harbaugh said the contamination was at “a significantly higher level than ever seen before.†He said he recently visited the Carleton facility as part of his safety awareness campaign and shook the hands of the engineers who sounded the alarm. For now, Harbaugh said, the NASA team has been concentrating on fixing the immediate problem rather than seeking the original source of the contamination. The oil may have been on the emergency oxygen unit’s regulators for a long time, perhaps years, so identifying the source is likely to be difficult. The units had been serviced in several locations by different contractors using various types of equipment. To prevent recontamination, engineers will run new oxygen supplies through special “cold traps†to condense out any traces of contaminants that make it through the current filters. “We deal with problems on a regular basis,†Harbaugh said. “We are challenged all the time, on a daily, on a weekly, on a monthly basis, to keep these heavily used spacesuits in working order.†But considering the disaster that this flaw could have caused, he was quick to admit his concern: “It’s one of the more serious ones I’ve seen — because of that potential.†From JamesOberg@aol.com Fri Jul 14 15:01:27 2000 Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 10:01:27 EDT From: JamesOberg@aol.com JamesOberg@aol.com Subject: [FPSPACE] NASA Boosting Russian Hardware Buys NASA Boosting Russian Hardware Buys by Dee Ann Divis, aviationnow.com 07/13/00 08:29:21 AM U.S. EDT NASA is planning to buy $21 million worth of Russian space hardware in addition to an already approved purchase of $14 million in hardware related to the International Space Station (ISS). The second purchase will include five Orlan Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue units (SAFERs) to help crewmembers who become disconnected from the ISS. The Orlan SAFER is currently under development by the Russians, explained Kirsten Williams, a spokeswoman for NASA headquarters. The U.S. has already developed a SAFER, but it is only compatible with U.S. space suits. The new hardware will work with the Russian Orlan space suits. Also on the new shopping list is an electrical system simulator to ensure that U.S.-built equipment is compatible with the Russian segment of ISS, and a condensation recycling unit to collect water from the U.S. air conditioning system. That water would then be recycled for drinking. In addition, NASA wants to pay Russia for supplemental software testing to ensure that U.S. and Russian modules can be integrated properly. Williams notes there are many steps to complete before getting a go-ahead for the purchases, which are being made from Russia because U.S. contractors can't provide the items. Williams said NASA won approval for the initial $14 million hardware buy within the past few weeks. The delay involved certification of Russian non-proliferation, which Congress began requiring last year. The money will buy a pressure dome and a docking system to support mating of the Interim Control Module and the Propulsion Module to the ISS. The plans come at a time when Russia is pressing NASA to contribute more to Russia's ISS program. During the press conference following the successful launch of the Zvezda Service Module on July 12, Russian Designer General U. Semenov urged NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin to add "other commitments" to his "moral support" of the Russian station effort such as "very tangible material support for the station." He went on to say that the Russian government could not be "leaned on" for station funding. "This being a joint project, it needs to be financed jointly Mr. Goldin," Semenov said. Goldin, who has faced criticism in Washington for delays and cost overruns associated with NASA's dependence on the Russians, was seen shaking his head in apparent amusement or disbelief during the comments. http://www.aviationnow.com/TwoShare/getPage?sid=6587133339825920423 From JamesOberg@aol.com Fri Jul 14 21:05:02 2000 Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 16:05:02 EDT From: JamesOberg@aol.com JamesOberg@aol.com Subject: [FPSPACE] AP: Russia, US To End Satellite Quotas Russia, US To End Satellite Quotas AP-NY-07-14-00 1055EDT MOSCOW (AP) - Russia and the United States have agreed to lift quotas that control how many U.S. commercial satellites can be launched using Russian booster rockets, the Russian Aerospace Agency said Friday. The existing pact stipulates that American companies can launch no more than 20 satellites aboard Russian rockets each year. But the pact expires Dec. 31, and in consultations several weeks ago, the two sides decided not to renew it, the agency said in a statement. The sides decided not to announce the change until after Wednesday's launch of a service module for the International Space Station. The quota system was introduced in 1993 amid U.S. concerns that Russia would offer to put satellites in orbit at below-market prices. Washington also had concerns about the reliability of Russian launch technology. But the demand for commercial satellite launches has grown, and Russia's Proton-K rocket has proved to be one of the world's most reliable. Russia has also kept its launch prices within market boundaries. Russia receives about $70 million for a satellite launch - a coveted source of revenue for the cash-strapped government. From simon@japan.co.jp Sat Jul 15 12:29:03 2000 Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2000 21:29:03 +1000 From: Simon Mansfield simon@japan.co.jp Subject: [FPSPACE] Soyuz launch coverage URLs There's good coverage of Cluster 2 launch today at ESA http://sci.esa.int/content/doc/24/21540_.htm realplayer is at http://cinema.gmd.de:8080/ramgen/encoder/cluster.rm cheers Simon From svengrahn@mail.wineasy.se Sat Jul 15 14:45:51 2000 Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2000 15:45:51 +0200 From: Sven Grahn svengrahn@mail.wineasy.se Subject: [FPSPACE] Pictures added to "First signals from Zvezda" web page * Go to my Web site http://www.users.wineasy.se/svengrahn * Click on "What's New"? * Click on "First signals....." link under 13 July 2000 header. Cheers Sven Grahn Kettering Group From japio@dds.nl Sun Jul 16 10:57:39 2000 Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 11:57:39 +0200 From: jaap terweij japio@dds.nl Subject: [FPSPACE] mir film Karl Heinz Eyermann Hi all, We overhere in europe watched last wednesday on Germany 1 (ARD) the Mir film from KH Eyermann. Overhere KH is wellknown as the godfather of soviet spaceflight. When we were dreaming of seeing Bayconur he was allready there. I have seen in his files extra ordinary things . The film gives a report of Mir from the beginning till now . an overall account. Some new pictures like the dummy cosmonaut send out on a waste container was extremely beautifull. Nice pictures from shuttle to mir and vice versa. The film lasted about 50 minutes. In a conversation later that evening with KH he told me that he was working now on a documentary about Tselomei. Would be nice. greetings jakob From JamesOberg@aol.com Sun Jul 16 13:08:29 2000 Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 08:08:29 EDT From: JamesOberg@aol.com JamesOberg@aol.com Subject: [FPSPACE] AP: Russian Rocket Launches Satellites Russian Rocket Launches Satellites AP-NY-07-15-00 1955EDT MOSCOW (AP) - A Russian Kosmos-3M booster rocket lifted three European scientific satellites into orbit Saturday from a site in northwestern Russia, the Interfax news agency reported. The rocket, launched Saturday afternoon, carried satellites from Germany and Italy, Interfax reported. The German CHAMP satellite will conduct geophysics and oceanography research, while the Italian Mita satellite will study energy particles in space, Interfax reported. A second German satellite will perform tests for future satellite systems. The launch of two other German satellites from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakstan was postponed until Sunday, the ITAR-Tass news agency said. There was no more information provided. Russia is looking to commercial launches to help fund its space program, which has been struggling since the 1991 Soviet collapse. From i-cosmos@mtu-net.ru Sun Jul 16 17:01:40 2000 Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 20:01:40 +0400 From: Igor Lissov i-cosmos@mtu-net.ru Subject: [FPSPACE] Cluster II launch European Space Agency Press Release Nr. 49-2000 Paris, France 16 July 2000 Lift Off for first pair of Cluster II spacecraft The European Space Agency's Cluster II mission to explore the magnetosphere is now under way after today's successful launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. At 14.39 CEST, a Soyuz-Fregat launch vehicle provided by the French-Russian Starsem consortium lifted off with FM 6 and FM 7, the first pair of Cluster II satellites. Approximately 90 minutes into the mission, the rocket's Fregat fourth stage fired for a second time to insert the spacecraft into a 240 km x 18,000 km parking orbit. A few minutes later, the ground station in Kiruna, Sweden, acquired the two spacecraft and started to receive telemetry, confirming that the satellites had sucessfully separated from the Fregat and that they were now flying independently. "This has been an excellent start and we look forward to the second launch next month," said Professor Roger-Maurice Bonnet, ESA Director of Science. "Cluster is one of the key Cornerstone missions in our Horizons 2000 long-term scientific programme and it will provide unique insights that will revolutionise our understanding of near-Earth space." ESA's Cluster II project manager, Dr John Ellwood, paid tribute to the hundreds of scientists and engineers in many countries who have worked so hard to rebuild the four Cluster satellites since the tragic loss of the first group in 1996. "Without the dedication and teamwork of these people, today's success would not have been possible," he said. "Only three years after we began the Cluster II programme, we are already starting to see the fruits of all our efforts." Cluster II deputy project manager, Alberto Gianolio, also expressed his full satisfaction for the successful launch. "This launch marks a milestone in the cooperation between the European Space Agency and our Russian partners. We are looking forward to the continuation of this fruitful joint effort in the years to come". UK Winner For Cluster Competition -- Rumba, Salsa, Samba, Tango into space! The winner of ESA's "Name The Cluster Quartet" competition was announced today, during a special launch event for the media at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany. After an exhaustive examination of more than 5,000 entries from all 15 ESA member states, Professor Bonnet selected the winning entry from a shortlist recommended by the international jury. The lucky winner is Raymond Cotton of Bristol, who suggested the names of four dances -- RUMBA, SALSA, SAMBA and TANGO -- for the individual satellites of the Cluster quartet. "We thought of these because my wife and I both like ballroom dancing, and they seemed to fit with the movement of the satellites through space," he said. "The names are also international and will be recognised in any country." "It was an extremely hard decision," commented Professor Bonnet, "There were some excellent suggestions, but I considered the shortlisted entry from the UK to be the best because it is catchy, easy to remember, and reflects the way the four satellites will dance in formation around the heavens during their mission." The spacecraft will now be named as follows: FM 5 -- Rumba FM 6 -- Salsa FM 7 -- Samba FM 8 -- Tango Future Operations Over the next week, the FM 6 (Salsa) and FM 7 (Samba) spacecraft will use their own onboard propulsion systems to reach their operational orbits, 19,000km x 119,000 km above the Earth. At their furthest point (apogee) from the Earth, the Cluster satellites will be almost one third of the distance to the Moon. Six engine firings will be required to enlarge the current orbits and change their inclination so that the spacecraft will eventually pass over the Earth's polar regions. These major manoeuvres are only possible because of the large amount of fuel they carry, which accounts for more than half the launch mass of each Cluster satellite. The second pair of Cluster spacecraft is scheduled for launch on 9 August. After they rendezvous with the spacecraft that were launched today, the quartet will undergo three months of instrument calibration and systems checkouts before beginning their scientific programme. They will then spend the next two years investigating the interaction between the Sun and our planet in unprecedented detail. For more information, please contact: ESA - Communication Department Media Relations Office Tel: +33 (0)1.53.69.71.55 Fax: +33 (0)1.53.69.76.90 Alberto Gianolio, Cluster II Project Tel: +31 71 565 3394 Email: agianoli@estec.esa.nl Further information on Cluster II and the ESA Science Programme can be found on the Worldwide Web at: http://sci.esa.int/ For more information on ESA : http://www.esa.int [NOTE: Images of the launch are available at http://sci.esa.int/content/news/index.cfm?aid=8&cid=31&oid=22515] ***** Astrium GmbH 2000/07/16 First Cluster-II Satellites in Orbit: Spacecraft Quartet Exploring the Solar Wind Baikonur/Friedrichshafen -- Scientists from all over the world are eager to discover the secrets of the solar wind with the help of the spacecraft quartet Cluster-II. This spectacular research mission successfully embarked from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. On Sunday, July 16, at 14:39 (CET) a Soyuz booster lifted into orbit the first two spacecraft which were developed and built by the space group Astrium for the European Space Agency ESA. Approximately one-and-a-half hours later they separated at about 18,000 kilometers from the Fregat upper stage of the booster. Shortly thereafter, the ground station in Kiruna (Sweden) received the first signals from Cluster. The spacecraft with a mass of 1.2 tons, a diameter of 2.9 meters and a height of 1.3 meters are expected to be in operational service for approximately two years. The fleet of four will be completed on August 9 by a further Soyuz launch. The Sun's Effects on the Earth The Sun influences the Earth in many ways. Apart from the known luminous, heat and ultraviolet radiation, the Sun ejects a continuous stream of atomic particles -- the so-called solar wind -- racing through the planetary system at speeds of 280 to 1,000 km/s (1,800 times faster than the Concorde airplane). In the course of such solar eruptions, millions of tons of gas are sometimes hurled towards the Earth. These clouds of high-energy particles can cover the 150 million kilometers between the Sun and the Earth in a few days, and the particles containing most energy can reach the Earth in only 30 minutes. When these charged particles of the solar wind enter the upper Earth atmosphere they produce a fascinating luminous phenomenon against the dark polar sky, the so-called polar light. The impacts can, however, be much more serious. Solar storms for instance can influence the Earth's ionosphere and cause interference with high-frequency radio links, navigation systems of ships and aircraft, and military radar systems. Voltage surges in high-power lines can cause extensive power outages as, for example, in Quebec, Canada in March 1989, when six million people were left without power supply for several hours in the wake of an enormous magnetic storm induced by the Sun. The Quartet of Four Tacking in the Solar Wind Cluster-II will measure the effects of the solar wind on the near-Earth space where the high-energy particles hit the magnetosphere, the region dominated by the Earth's magnetic field. To accomplish this mission, each satellite carries a set of eleven identical instruments developed by scientific institutes in different countries. Cluster-II is the first space science mission in which four identical spacecraft will be operational at the same time. As soon as the quartet is deployed in its highly elliptical orbit at distances to the Earth varying between 19,000 and 119,000 kilometers it will "shuttle" for two years between the magnetosphere and the interplanetary space. Sometimes the spacecraft will be only a few hundred kilometers apart and, at other times, up to 20,000 kilometers, depending on which physical phenomena they are to explore. The flight constellation in the form of a triangular pyramid will permit the three-dimensional measurement of these events for the first time. The four science satellites of the European Space Agency ESA were developed and built by the Earth Observation and Science Business Division of Astrium in Friedrichshafen. Astrium (UK) was responsible for the delivery of the attitude and orbit control system (AOCMS) and the central procurement of the "high-rel" electronics components. For further Information: Mathias Pikelj Astrium Earth Observation &Science Tel.: 0171 44 209 14< --- Andrew Yee ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca From JamesOberg@aol.com Mon Jul 17 16:25:14 2000 Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 11:25:14 EDT From: JamesOberg@aol.com JamesOberg@aol.com Subject: [FPSPACE] SPECTRUM, July 2000 -- Saving Mir with a rope trick SPECTRUM, July 2000 Saving Mir with a rope trick By James Oberg, Contributing Editor With commercial backing and an experimental propulsion system, Mir could stay in business for years to come Using a fabled "skyhook" of engineering folklore, Russia's ailing Mir space station may soon lift itself by its own bootstraps into a higher, more stable orbit. That feat, though, is raising fears at NASA that the development of its supposed replacement, the International Space Station (ISS) will be upset. At present, Mir is orbiting without a crew. The last two cosmonauts to visit the station returned to Earth in June. The next crew is set to go up in November, according to MirCorp, the private consortium that recently agreed to lease the station for commercial purposes. What's more, in an effort to add years to the station's lifespan, cosmonauts will begin testing a new propulsion technology some time later this year or next. The heart of the new technology is an electrodynamic tether, a long thin wire that will attach to Mir and draw electrons from Earth's ionosphere [Fig. 1]. As with an electric motor, this current-carrying wire will experience a force as it passes through Earth's magnetic field, a force that will, it is hoped, stabilize Mir's altitude. With its economy in a decade-long decline, Russia has been hard pressed to maintain both Mir and the ISS. The Russian-built Zvezda service module for the ISS, for example, should have been launched more than two years ago; it is now expected to go up this month. Schedules for other components promised by Russia have similarly slipped. NASA had tolerated Mir's existence as long as terminal breakdown or euthanasia seemed imminent. And indeed, the Russian government had promised to de-orbit Mir sometime this year. But in February, the Netherlands-based MirCorp, backed by two U.S. and British telecommunications multimillionaires, agreed to sink US $100 million to $200 million a year in the hobbled space station. The money is being used to finance new launchings and to upgrade the station for research and commercial activities, including advertising and space tourism. NASA administrator Dan Goldin is not amused. Among other things, he has charged that Mir's revival is being accomplished using spacecraft promised to Mir's international counterpart and paid for by the United States. The Mir-saving tether technology itself is also largely based on NASA-sponsored research and development. The U.S. space agency desperately needs Russia's full attention on the ISS. "Initial manned capability" of the station is set for November--the same month a crew is scheduled to go to Mir--and ISS construction is supposed to wrap up by mid-2003. But work on the station has already been stalled for over a year, and this new development could shift the timetable months, or even years, into the future. Undeniably, Russia has a strong attachment to the 14-year-old Mir, a lingering symbol of the once-mighty Soviet space program. In fact, throughout much of last year, a groundswell mounted in Russia to preserve the station--somehow. Space officials, cosmonauts, politicians, scientists, and other public figures paraded before the Russian news media to call for Mir's perpetuation beyond the promised termination date. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that his Administration is committed to supporting both space stations. In February, he vowed to "stand by all existing agreements" on the ISS. Those agreements include providing the service module, with its crucial life support systems; docking and airlock modules; a science power platform; and other research units. Further, Russia is to launch two manned Soyuz spaceships and four to six unmanned Progress supply vehicles to ISS every year for at least five years. On 12 April, the 39th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's mission as the first cosmonaut in space, Putin restated his commitment to both projects. But, he added, "national priorities must take precedence." A firefly for Mir What exactly is this engineering novelty that may save Mir? Simply put, the electrodynamic tether--nicknamed Firefly--will attach to Mir and draw electrons from Earth's ionosphere to flow along its length. This setup will create a current, which will in turn raise the station's orbit. If successful, it will be the first practical application of nonrocket propulsion in space. [For a discussion of how electrodynamic tethers work and other promising applications, see "The tether solution" ] At present, regular shipments of rocket fuel are needed to maintain Mir's altitude, so the tether will make keeping the station in operation much cheaper. Much of the technological groundwork for the Mir-saving tether was sponsored by the U.S. space agency, an irony that experts both inside and outside NASA have noted. As early as 1996, scientists and engineers from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Boeing, the University of Michigan, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and Tether Applications proposed using an electrodynamic tether for keeping the ISS aloft. The actual design and construction of Firefly was done by a team of Russian and non-NASA U.S. engineers, working on shoestring budgets measured in the tens of thousands of dollars. Their work was sponsored by a California-based group called Finds, the Foundation for the International Non-Government Development of Space. To develop Firefly, Finds turned to Joe Carroll, a San Diego, Calif., engineer and a veteran of many NASA and U.S. Defense Department space tether experiments. Carroll teamed up with Russian space engineer Vladimir Syromyatnikov, who has worked on the hardware for all of Russia's space stations. Once the MirCorp funding came through, building the tether took only a few months. In April, it was shipped to Russia for launch aboard a Progress supply drone later this year. Firefly, formally known as the Mir Electrodynamic Tether System, or METS, will consist of a 5-km-long anodized aluminum wire hooked at the end of the station's Kvant 2 module. The 1-km section farthest from Mir will be bare metal, with a surplus jet backpack attached at the very end for ballast, to keep the line pointing straight down toward Earth. Just outside the module's airlock hatch, an electrical panel will be installed, and two 48-wire cables will connect the system to Mir computers and power supply. A few kilowatts of power from Mir's solar arrays will be channeled to the tether--power that will be needed to reverse the direction of the current in the wire, so that the station's orbit is raised, rather than lowered. The total assembly weighs 150 kg. Once the tether is reeled out to its full length, the bare metal strip will begin collecting electrons from the ionosphere. As the electrons move up the wire toward the space station, a hollow cathode emitter mounted on Mir will spray them back into space, connecting the circuit. To install the tether, Mir cosmonauts will perform a space walk. They will mount the apparatus on a ladder just outside the airlock, connect one of the two electrical cables, manually deploy a small pilot tether (which will later be used to tug the main tether out), and then attach the main tether to the old jetpack. Following verification of the space-to-ground data link, the crew will return to Mir. Later that day or soon afterwards, the tether unreeling will begin. At full deployment, which takes about 5 hours, the tether will exert a force at its attachment point on Mir of about 12 newtons, displacing the complex's center of mass about 10 meters toward the ballast end of the tether. After several days of low-power checkout, the tether will be fully powered on. There will be inefficiencies, of 25-30 percent, in this unearthly electrical motor. The main losses will be voltage drops in the electron collection, conduction, and emission, plus some loss in boosting the power from Mir's 27-V bus voltage to the 400-1500 V used by the tether system. Even with these inefficiencies, though, the numbers are attractive. The most efficient propulsive systems, such as an ion thruster or a plasma thruster, would consume about 0.25 kg of propellant per hour per newton of thrust. Tether experts calculate that each kilowatt of power from the solar arrays will yield about 0.1 N of thrust. It's a tiny thrust, to be sure, but it is nearly continuous. Mir's altitude loss due to air drag is an annual 50-100 km, and the tether's air drag is about one-sixth that of Mir's. An average power of 1.4 kW would compensate for all air drag on Mir and the tether. That comes to about 1500 kg of saved propellant per year, or nearly one full load of a Progress supply ship, worth about $30 million. The only nonrenewable part of METS is the 3 kg of xenon gas per year that will be used in the hollow cathode; the gas is ionized to stimulate the electron flow. The tether wire itself may also need replacing from time to time. Experts estimate that the risk of a Firefly-length tether at Mir's altitude being cut by a micrometeroid or space debris is 30-40 percent per year. So the plan is to send up spare parts--especially reels with new tethers--on later supply flights. Telemetry will allow the Mir crew and the ground staff to monitor Firefly's hardware status, voltage, and power converter current output, as well as a few other parameters. The tether's computer will keep track of reel turns, temperatures of key components, and xenon tank pressure, and will provide self-test results plus more detailed data on any anomalies. Software commands to the Firefly computer will allow starting, stopping, and modifying control sequences, plus setting operating power levels and turning heaters on and off. If needed, the entire tether assembly can be jettisoned from Mir by either a hard-wired command or software. So just how much time could Firefly buy Mir? Russian space experts insist their space station has many years of useful life remaining. Yuriy Semyonov, director of the Moscow-based Energia Space and Rocket Corp. (which builds and operates all Russian-manned space vehicles), estimates that after 14 years, Mir is barely halfway through its useful life. "We would want Mir to stand by the ISS at least over the first 15 years of its existence," Semyonov told reporters at the MirCorp contract signing in February. Will past be prologue? Of course, the above scenario is the ideal. But space tethers are not magic, and past trials have been plagued by unpleasant surprises. The most dramatic occurred in 1996, when the 20-km-long insulated wire of NASA's Tethered Satellite System broke and sent its Italian satellite payload flying off [see "Spectacle in the sky"]. The break was later attributed to electrical arcing through damaged insulation on the wire. Other problems have occurred on some of the dozen or so space tether experiments. (Some of these involved nonconducting tethers connecting two orbiting bodies; through simple momentum exchange, the orbit of one body can be raised while the other is lowered.) Although the causes were identified and fixes were straightforward in each case, tether technology developed a tarnished reputation. In a Finds-sponsored report, Carroll and Syromyatnikov expressed confidence that the Tethered Satellite System (TSS) problem will not doom Firefly. There are three fundamental design differences: Firefly's wire polarity is opposite that of the TSS; it uses only half the latter's voltage; and its wire is partially exposed and partially insulated, which, the report stated, "should generate far less volatiles [released gases] than the TSS wire did when the insulation was breached." These design features, plus more careful fabrication of the tether, should greatly reduce the likelihood of a short-to-ground, which led to the TSS break and the loss of the Italian satellite. Firefly's designers say that the tether could help shift Mir into an orbit closer to the international station's. Over a two-year period, the orbits would come to overlap. At that point, inter-station flights would become feasible. NASA space shuttles or Russian Soyuz or Progress vehicles could transfer thousands of kilograms of equipment and supplies. Some of Mir's science modules, mainly the Priroda earth observation complex, could also fly to the ISS, using their own rockets under autopilot control. Rick Tumlinson, a U.S. space expert and an advocate of commercial space activities, has argued that the Firefly tether on Mir would actually benefit, rather than hinder, the ISS. He reckons that the tether would eliminate at least half the logistics support for Mir, making the station much less expensive to operate. In turn, that advantage would reduce the impact of prolonged Mir operations on the resources available for its international counterpart. What's more, if the tether works, it would be a boon to NASA's own ongoing efforts to apply the technology to the ISS--to meet its even more urgent need for altitude control. The Threat from Mir Such arguments seem to have fallen on deaf ears at NASA. Tumlinson told IEEE Spectrum that some pro-NASA congressional staffers had been calling around various government agencies in Washington, trying to stall the license needed to export the tether to Russia. Under U.S. law, all space hardware is categorized as "munitions"--even Firefly, which is "just a reel of wire," Tumlinson said. The idea that the tether is technically munitions may seem bizarre. But from the point of view of the U.S. space agency, a resurrected Mir is indeed a major threat. Much of NASA administrator Dan Goldin's wrath has been focused on Energia. Long-standing NASA plans called for Energia to produce two Soyuz spaceships for use this year by the International Space Station. One was to send up the first long-term crew in October; the other was reserved for an all-Russian crew, which would be deployed in September in the event of a docking problem between the Russian-built service module (scheduled for launch this month) and the rest of the station. To help Energia complete the vehicles, NASA authorized $60 million in emergency funds last year. Despite the U.S. agency's plans, the Russians have announced that two of the three manned Soyuz vehicles they will produce this year will go to Mir. One of them, Soyuz TM-30, was already used in April to send up a crew [Fig. 2]. A second Soyuz will take up a new crew in November. "It is the director of the Energia company who proudly walked me through his plant and identified the tail numbers of two Progress and one Soyuz and thanked us for the support we gave so they could build them," Goldin told Congress in February. "It is the same person who without any consultation with NASA pulled those tail numbers to use to keep the Mir space station up." Tail numbers designate particular vehicles under construction. Goldin called the reallocation of spacecraft to Mir "a major breach" and demanded that Energia return the $60 million. Russian officials said they would "do their best." Just to make sure, NASA associate administrator Joe Rothenberg announced he was "quarantining" a $7 million payment that had been planned for another project. Meanwhile, at least one of the three unmanned Progress supply flights scheduled for the international station in 2000 has been reassigned to Mir. The Russians insist that Goldin approved the plan, but nobody at NASA claims to have heard of the agreement. Should the Mir reoccupation extend into 2001, the other two Progress vehicles will probably also be needed there. Unrealistic plans Diverting supply drones from the ISS means more than just being unable to restock the astronauts with clean science gear and underwear. The Progress vehicles were to carry rocket propellant, to be used to counter the station's orbital decay due to air drag. Without the propellant, the station has been dropping dangerously close to the minimum safe altitude. As a temporary fix, NASA's space shuttles can burn some propellant to make small orbital corrections in the ISS. This was in fact done in May, during the space shuttle Atlantis's repair mission. The agency is also building an interim control module that will carry large amounts of fuel. So far, though, the module hasn't been scheduled for launch. No new work has been done on the ISS since late 1998, when NASA sent up the first two parts. Russia's Zvezda service module, the key life-support section, was supposed to follow within a few months, but the launch schedule continued to slip [Fig. 3]. Without it, the station remained uninhabited. Finally, a "firm" date for the service module launch was set: 12 November 1999. NASA inspectors who visited the payload processing facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan reported that the module was nearly complete--despite the fact that critical components, such as a rendezvous guidance radar and flight software for the German-built control computers, had not yet been delivered. In the end, bad luck provided a face-saving way out. On 27 October, at Baikonur a Russian Proton rocket blew up, the same kind of rocket slated to carry the 20-ton service module into orbit. It was the second such failure in recent months. All further Proton launchings were then grounded. Investigators identified a faulty batch of rocket engines, and commercial launchings resumed in February. But for Russian program flights, an entirely new set of engine turbopumps had to be manufactured. At press time, the service module was set to launch on 8 July. Some Congressmen who listened to Goldin's laments in February were furious about the lack of progress. They ripped into the NASA administrator for years of self-delusion and poor judgment, and for relying on Russian participation in the international station. Dana Rohrabacher, chairman of the House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, thundered: "No other recent problem in our space program has cost the American people so dearly, both in money and lost opportunities. Nothing has been so destructive as the naive assumption that Russia's government would spend its limited resources to help us build the International Space Station." In response, Goldin tried to put the best face on it: "I don't want to sound like Pollyanna but we will somehow, some way, get through this." In the meantime, the ISS continues to orbit Earth. Occasionally, maneuvering rockets are fired to raise the orbit or to dodge pieces of space junk. Already, equipment has begun breaking down. The space shuttle crew that visited the station in May devoted almost their entire trip to repairs. Limited resources Even if Firefly works and even with MirCorp support, Russia will have to scramble to build new spacecraft and launch vehicles. The government must also pay the salaries of key personnel required for human space operations. Retirements, deaths, and attrition to jobs with living wages have already thinned out the staff of the Mission Control Center near Moscow. Most of the space workers who remain have another family member with a "real job" elsewhere. If the service module goes up this month, that group is to be transferred from Mir operations to the ISS. Another team, from the Khrunichev space factory in southcentral Moscow, is responsible for controlling the ISS's Zarya module. Although the manpower of the team has been severely strained, the factory has had a healthy cash flow from Proton rocket launch sales and can afford to hire enough specialists. Elsewhere, the scientific infrastructure needed to plan and operate research on any space station has all but melted away. At the Institute for Biomedical Problems in Moscow, for example, medical experts who study human reactions to spaceflight have all taken other jobs. In this environment of fiscal collapse, the Russian government agreed last year to let Energia seek private funding to keep Mir going. The government retained ownership of the station, but Energia would now be its operator--and fund-raiser. At first, Energia estimated that it needed more than 7 billion rubles (US $200 million) per year to operate Mir. But that figure gradually fell, as Energia's hunt for outside funding led to several embarrassing wild-goose chases. One British investor proved long on promises and short on cash. Negotiations with China and other countries were rumored but never substantiated. Some Western research teams expressed interest, but even combined, their offers failed to approach the funding required. Last November, the Duma, Russia's parliament, allocated 1.5 billion rubles (about US $50 million) to keep Mir going, on condition that the money come out of profits from licensing Russian aerospace technology. It was a phantom allocation: licensing income totaled less than $1 million for all of 1999, and no actual cash was ever transferred to Energia. A charitable fund has also been soliciting donations from Russian citizens to keep Mir going. By the end of February, it had raised only 485 000 rubles, barely $15 000 at current exchange rates. New lease on life Then along came MirCorp. The consortium grew out of several individuals' common interest in space commercialization. Chief among them was U.S. space expert Tumlinson, and he brought in Walt Anderson, a financier who had made his fortune buying and selling telecommunications companies after the breakup of AT&T. Anderson has invested in several other projects dedicated to introducing new technologies to space operations. His investment group is called Gold and Appel, named for a fictitious futuristic organization in Robert Anton Wilson's cult science fiction classic Illuminati Trilogy. Through Tumlinson, Anderson met Jeffrey Manber, Energia's U.S. representative. Along the way, Chirinjeev Kathuria, president of the London-based New World Telecom LLC, also agreed to invest. Manber then arranged for the investors to meet with his Russian colleagues, and after several months of negotiations and mutual assessments, their new partnership was formalized. On 17 February, representatives from MirCorp and Moscow's Energia Corp. gathered in London to sign a joint lease for the space station. "This isn't a Band-Aid to keep Mir alive," said Tumlinson. He likened NASA's role in exploring low-Earth orbit to that of Lewis and Clark, the early explorers of the United States, a role that has now ended. "This is a history-changing moment--it's the handoff of the frontier from governments to the people," he said. Among MirCorp's plans is to set up an Internet portal on Mir, linked to Earth through relay satellites (which have yet to be launched). The portal would provide content for terrestrial Web sites. Color video of Earth from space would also be sold. In addition, MirCorp believes that individuals will pony up the $20 million for a one-week tourist trip to Mir (and also complete the requisite three months of training beforehand). Andrew Eddy, who used to head ISS commercialization planning for the Canadian Space Agency, is MirCorp's senior vice president for business development. At the London signing, he downplayed the notion that Mir and ISS were competitors or even enemies. "It's very much a complementary initiative," he told reporters. "Once we start flying commercial clients on a regular basis to space, that will be very much to the benefit of the ISS partners." This is because, he continued, once the international space unit becomes operational, "there will be a pool of commercial clients who are used to flying in space, who understand the value of space activity to their business." Despite the heroic efforts to save Mir and mollify NASA, though, one troubling fact remains: Mir is not, and never has been, a good platform for sophisticated research. Its power systems provide neither adequate wattage nor any guarantee of continuity and stability; the power needed to run the tether will further tax the available supply. Another drawback is that the microgravity environment, critical for materials processing, is subject to frequent physical shocks and stresses due to station operations. And with the tether running out from Mir's airlock, the station's horizontal orientation in relation to Earth will be fixed. This means some of the station's scientific instruments, which must be pointed by turning the entire vehicle, will no longer be usable. Nor would its tether-enhanced orbit really allow Mir to service other satellites. To experienced spaceflight experts, many of the promises from MirCorp seem naive. Mir awakens Naive or not, with corporate backing, Mir now looks as if it may go on for at least a few more years--particularly if the Firefly tether performs as ordered. On 25 January, 136 metric tons of slumbering space station awoke. Responding to commands from Earth, the station restarted its main computer and powered up its precision pointing devices, the gyrodines. Eight days later, a Progress supply drone reached Mir, carrying rocket fuel meant originally to de-orbit the station; instead, the craft nudged it into a higher orbit. Over the course of a week, the station's altitude lifted from 315 km to 360 km, and later to 400 km. The computer was then returned to hibernation until just before the launch of Soyuz TM-30, carrying cosmonauts Sergey Zalyotin and Aleksandr Kaleri. They reached Mir on 6 April. Another Progress vehicle arrived later in the month. After attending to a small but troublesome air leak and other housekeeping chores, Zalyotin and Kaleri departed Mir in mid-June. The crew's visit to Mir ended a successful experiment in running the station remotely. Mir had been uninhabited since last September. Shortly before the last crew left, they hooked up a new high-reliability analog computer to Mir's autopilot. For the next six months, the computer ran a minimum level of equipment, mainly the radio link with Earth. It also kept Mir in a slow spin that oriented its solar arrays more or less toward the Sun, providing adequate power for the station's hibernation mode. Over the summer, MirCorp will continue to try to recruit new investors and customers. The schedule calls for the next manned flight in November, followed soon after by delivery of the Firefly tether assembly aboard a supply drone and then installation and deployment of the tether. At the London signing in February, Jeffrey Manber, the former Energia official and now MirCorp's president, was upbeat about the station's prospects: "We believe the story of the Mir space station and our efforts to keep it in orbit will be one of the great stories of the decade and perhaps of the century." "The tragedy will not be if we fail," he added. "The tragedy would be if we didn't even try." To Probe Further MirCorp's Web site, www.mirstation.com, describes the company's big plans to commercialize the Russian space station. Space.com carries regular updates on Mir and the International Space Station at its site at www.space.com/news/spacestation. The Firefly tether is described in a report on the Foundation for the International Non-Government Development of Space (Finds) Web site at www.finds-space.org/METS.html. Spectrum editor: Jean Kumagai ------ Spectacle in the sky If MirCorp gets its way, the new Mir will be a monumental engineering achievement. With its long Firefly tail, it also will be, pure and simple, a spectacular sight in the dawn and dusk skies of Earth. This is because the tether will be visible as a white line, extending down from the already-bright starlike Mir. The idea that something only as thick as a telephone cord could be viewed from 500 km seems unbelievable on the face of it. But many viewers on Earth--myself included--have already seen such a thing. When the tether on NASA's Tethered Satellite System broke in 1996, the satellite payload and 20-km-long tether continued to orbit Earth long after the space shuttle had returned home. Friends elsewhere who had spotted the tether told me that it was a celestial sight not to be missed. So, an hour before sunrise, I dragged my family out onto the dark street in front of our rural home south of Houston to await a scheduled pass. I still remember that moment four years ago. When I saw the thin white line moving across the southern sky, I was stunned. Chills ran down my spine. The line extended about the diameter of the Moon, as it moved about a degree per second from west to east. The tether's lower end was bent slightly backwards, like an umbrella handle, and the satellite itself was a barely discernible dot. The Mir tether is set to be deployed later this year. For tether sighting opportunities, consult the Web site at www.heavens-above.com or at www.skypub.com/sights/satellites/mir.shtml. For a real-time display of Mir's location, see http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/temp/mir_loc.html. --J.O. IEEE Spectrum July 2000 Volume 37 Number 7 © Copyright 2000, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc. From gabrynow@aero.und.edu Mon Jul 17 18:31:15 2000 Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 12:31:15 -0500 (CDT) From: Joanne Gabrynowicz gabrynow@aero.und.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] UNESCO AND ESA IN FAVOR OF A SPACE ETHICS FYI. From FRANCE IN SPACE, NUMBER 124 7/17/2000 CNES WASHINGTON OFFICE FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY EMBASSY OF FRANCE Tel : (202) 944 65 79 / Fax : (202) 944 61 38 E-mail:France-In-Space@amb-wash.fr Web : http://www.france-science.org/france-in-space UNESCO AND ESA IN FAVOR OF A SPACE ETHICS A joint UNESCO and ESA report published on Monday July 10th, is recommending the implementation of a clear legal framework for space activities and is in favor of the development of a certain moral code in the utilization of space. According to the report, space should be declared "a scientific territory available for mankind". The report advocates a limitation and regulation of pollution caused by space activities, even though space would eventually be used to discard the most dangerous wastes, especially nuclear. The report also describes electronic supervision from space and the commercial utilization of space. It is also in favor of the implementation of an international legislation to regulate these activities. The conclusion will be submitted to the Worldwide Commission of Scientific Knowledge and Technologies Ethics (COMEST), organ of UNESCO created in 1998, which will be in charge of the elaboration of the space moral code bases. [AFP, 07/10/00] Joanne Irene Gabrynowicz Professor, Space Law & Policy Remote Sensing Law & Policy Space Studies Department University of North Dakota gabrynow@aero.und.nodak.edu - Opinions expressed represent the individual poster only, and do not necessarily reflect the policy of the University of North Dakota or the opinions of its faculty or staff. From wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Mon Jul 17 18:58:18 2000 Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 13:58:18 -0400 (EDT) From: Dwayne Allen Day wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] UNESCO AND ESA IN FAVOR OF A SPACE ETHICS On Mon, 17 Jul 2000, Joanne Gabrynowicz wrote: > UNESCO AND ESA IN FAVOR OF A SPACE ETHICS > > A joint UNESCO and ESA report published on Monday July 10th, is > recommending the implementation of a clear legal framework for space > activities and is in favor of the development of a certain moral code in > the utilization of space. Oh, this ought to be good. We can always rest easy when international bodies develop "moral codes." > According to the report, space should be > declared "a scientific territory available for mankind". One wonders if this then means that space is NOT "military territory available for mankind." This could be interpreted as banning space weapons. I wonder how the US government will react to such language. > The report > advocates a limitation and regulation of pollution caused by space > activities, even though space would eventually be used to discard the most > dangerous wastes, especially nuclear. Where do they come up with the idea that space is going to be used for dumping nuclear materials? This is remarkably goofy of them. > The report also describes electronic supervision from space Huh? > and the commercial utilization of space. It is also > in favor of the implementation of an international legislation to regulate > these activities. Double huh? Commercial utilization of space doesn't need any more international legislation than it already has. > The conclusion will be submitted to the Worldwide > Commission of Scientific Knowledge and Technologies Ethics (COMEST), organ > of UNESCO created in 1998, which will be in charge of the elaboration of > the space moral code bases. [AFP, 07/10/00] We can all rest easily--the United Nations is on the case. DDAY From wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Mon Jul 17 19:12:05 2000 Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 14:12:05 -0400 (EDT) From: Dwayne Allen Day wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] Quotas oops This is a little weird. Last week there was an announcement that the United States was ending the quotas for Russian launch vehicles. The accord would expire at the end of the year. From then on, the Russians would be able to launch as many American-made satellites as they could handle. But page 2 of Space News today has an interesting small article stating that apparently the US has NOT repealed the Russian launch quotas. They're still in effect, pending Russia cooperation on non-proliferation issues. The White House issued this statement in the wake of the Russian annoucement. DDAY From clj@emc.com Mon Jul 17 19:17:09 2000 Date: 17 Jul 2000 14:17:09 -0400 From: Chris Jones clj@emc.com Subject: [FPSPACE] SPECTRUM, July 2000 -- Saving Mir with a rope trick JamesOberg@aol.com writes: SPECTRUM, July 2000 Saving Mir with a rope trick By James Oberg, Contributing Editor [...] The Mir-saving tether technology itself is also largely based on NASA-sponsored research and development. I can understand the US being upset at Russia diverting US funds (or Russian funds they had committed to ISS), but this last seems a stretch. There's nothing obviously wrong with Russia taking advantage of US research to develop their own equipment. (We haven't patented this stuff, have we? And weren't the Italians the prime developers for the two TSS shuttle missions?) [...] Undeniably, Russia has a strong attachment to the 14-year-old Mir Hee, hee. After they attach a tether, their attachment will be even stronger! [...] IEEE Spectrum July 2000 Volume 37 Number 7 © Copyright 2000, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc. Good article, thanks for sharing it. Since no one else currently (ahem!) seems interested in further tether experiments, I hope this tether effort is successful, even though I continue to think the Russians (and MirCorp) are being foolhardy trusting human lives to a station which has outlived by more than a factor of two its design life, has suffered the two worst non-fatal accidents in human spaceflight history, and has obviously deteriorated past its prime. From wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Mon Jul 17 19:39:52 2000 Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 14:39:52 -0400 (EDT) From: Dwayne Allen Day wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] SPECTRUM, July 2000 -- Saving Mir with a rope trick On 17 Jul 2000, Chris Jones wrote: > interested in further tether experiments, I hope this tether effort is > successful, even though I continue to think the Russians (and MirCorp) are Oh, of course it will be successful! It will be successful because the people doing it are not dumb, stupid NASA bureaucrats, but enlightened commercial free marketeers! DDAY (dripping with sarcasm) From clj@emc.com Mon Jul 17 20:30:30 2000 Date: 17 Jul 2000 15:30:30 -0400 From: Chris Jones clj@emc.com Subject: [FPSPACE] the other shoe starts to fall? http://www.flatoday.com/space/explore/stories/2000b/071700b.htm contains an article which quotes an Energiya spokesman as saying that, due to money problems, Russia should either delay or scale back its promised future contributions to ISS. From powellj@ucalgary.ca Mon Jul 17 20:29:06 2000 Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 13:29:06 -0600 (MDT) From: Joel Powell powellj@ucalgary.ca Subject: [FPSPACE] SPECTRUM, July 2000 -- Saving Mir with a rope trick Ahem indeed, I'm sure the ProSEDS experimenters at NASA wouldn't agree with you here (they have a December launch manifested as piggyback on a GPS Delta II). One of the principals belongs to this list too I believe Joel Powell From dconst+@pyrrhus.cimds.ri.cmu.edu Mon Jul 17 21:31:50 2000 Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 16:31:50 EDT From: dconst+@pyrrhus.cimds.ri.cmu.edu dconst+@pyrrhus.cimds.ri.cmu.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] Fwd: Top Russian military commanders meet Putin Subject: Top Russian military commanders meet Putin From: C-afp@clari.net (AFP) Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 2:30:07 PDT MOSCOW, July 16 (AFP) - Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev and chief of staff general Anatoly Kvashnin flew Sunday to meet vacationing Russian president Vladimir Putin, Interfax reported citing undisclosed sources. The report came amid a fierce power struggle between the two army chiefs for control of the Russian military. Kvashnin is attempting to downscale Russia's nuclear missile capability. Sergeyev was in charge of the army's missile division before becoming defense minister. The Kremlin refused to comment on the Interfax report, saying only that Putin, resting at the Black Sea resort of Sochi, would be departing as scheduled for China on Monday. --- Yesterday, Eugene Kiselev (the anchor of the Russian TV channel NTV' Itogi) has said that earlier last week Igor Sergeyev for the first time ever in history of Soviet and Russia' times had allowed himself to spill the conflict with the Head of the Hedquaters into the mass media. The meeting in Sochi between the three did take place yesterday, its beginning was shown by Itogi. The Russian chanells NTV/NTV+ are carried in the USA by DishNetwork (http://www.dishnetworks.com) -- Constantine Domashnev Senior Research Programmer The Robotics Institute Carnegie Mellon University From gabrynow@aero.und.edu Mon Jul 17 22:55:59 2000 Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 16:55:59 -0500 (CDT) From: Joanne Gabrynowicz gabrynow@aero.und.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] UNESCO AND ESA IN FAVOR OF A SPACE ETHICS > Oh, this ought to be good. We can always rest easy when international > bodies develop "moral codes." Nuremberg. Joanne Irene Gabrynowicz Professor, Space Law & Policy Remote Sensing Law & Policy Space Studies Department University of North Dakota gabrynow@aero.und.nodak.edu On Mon, 17 Jul 2000, Dwayne Allen Day wrote: > > On Mon, 17 Jul 2000, Joanne Gabrynowicz wrote: > > > UNESCO AND ESA IN FAVOR OF A SPACE ETHICS > > > > A joint UNESCO and ESA report published on Monday July 10th, is > > recommending the implementation of a clear legal framework for space > > activities and is in favor of the development of a certain moral code in > > the utilization of space. > > Oh, this ought to be good. We can always rest easy when international > bodies develop "moral codes." > > > > According to the report, space should be > > declared "a scientific territory available for mankind". > > One wonders if this then means that space is NOT "military territory > available for mankind." This could be interpreted as banning space > weapons. I wonder how the US government will react to such language. > > > > The report > > advocates a limitation and regulation of pollution caused by space > > activities, even though space would eventually be used to discard the most > > dangerous wastes, especially nuclear. > > Where do they come up with the idea that space is going to be used for > dumping nuclear materials? This is remarkably goofy of them. > > > > The report also describes electronic supervision from space > > Huh? > > > > and the commercial utilization of space. It is also > > in favor of the implementation of an international legislation to regulate > > these activities. > > Double huh? Commercial utilization of space doesn't need any more > international legislation than it already has. > > > > The conclusion will be submitted to the Worldwide > > Commission of Scientific Knowledge and Technologies Ethics (COMEST), organ > > of UNESCO created in 1998, which will be in charge of the elaboration of > > the space moral code bases. [AFP, 07/10/00] > > We can all rest easily--the United Nations is on the case. > > > > > > DDAY > > _______________________________________________ > FPSPACE mailing list > FPSPACE@friends-partners.org > http://fpmail.friends-partners.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/fpspace > From scharle@baervan.nmt.edu Mon Jul 17 21:21:33 2000 Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 15:21:33 -0500 (CDT) From: Cletus Scharle scharle@baervan.nmt.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] Fwd: Top Russian military commanders meet Putin This sounds like a Russian equivalent of the Revolt of the Admirals combined with the Key West conference. Things like this can be expect during times of great change. Clete On Mon, 17 Jul 2000 dconst+@pyrrhus.cimds.ri.cmu.edu wrote: > > Subject: Top Russian military commanders meet Putin > From: C-afp@clari.net (AFP) > Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 2:30:07 PDT > > MOSCOW, July 16 (AFP) - Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev and chief > of staff general Anatoly Kvashnin flew Sunday to meet vacationing > Russian president Vladimir Putin, Interfax reported citing > undisclosed sources. > The report came amid a fierce power struggle between the two > army chiefs for control of the Russian military. > Kvashnin is attempting to downscale Russia's nuclear missile > capability. Sergeyev was in charge of the army's missile division > before becoming defense minister. > The Kremlin refused to comment on the Interfax report, saying > only that Putin, resting at the Black Sea resort of Sochi, would be > departing as scheduled for China on Monday. > > --- > > Yesterday, Eugene Kiselev (the anchor of the Russian TV channel NTV' > Itogi) has said that earlier last week Igor Sergeyev for the first > time ever in history of Soviet and Russia' times had allowed himself > to spill the conflict with the Head of the Hedquaters into the mass > media. > > The meeting in Sochi between the three did take place yesterday, its > beginning was shown by Itogi. > > The Russian chanells NTV/NTV+ are carried in the USA by DishNetwork > (http://www.dishnetworks.com) > > -- > Constantine Domashnev > > Senior Research Programmer > The Robotics Institute > Carnegie Mellon University > > _______________________________________________ > FPSPACE mailing list > FPSPACE@friends-partners.org > http://fpmail.friends-partners.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/fpspace > From dbarkley@orion.oac.uci.edu Mon Jul 17 23:48:02 2000 Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 15:48:02 -0700 (PDT) From: Dan Barkley dbarkley@orion.oac.uci.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] Proposed SRF Cuts The proposal involves slashing the number of Russia's land-based missile-launchers from 756 to 150 by 2003 and absorbing the SRF into the army, navy and air force. -The Times/ London ********************** Military chiefs feud over missile cuts BY GILES WHITTELL RUSSIA'S two top military chiefs were summoned by President Putin yesterday to resolve a bitter dispute over the future of the world's second-largest nuclear stockpile. Marshal Igor Sergeyev, Defence Minister, and General Anatoli Kvashnin, Chief of the Armed Forces' General Staff, flew to the resort town of Sochi for talks that may help to determine whether conventional or nuclear weapons receive precedence in spending decisions. A public row erupted between the two men last week after General Kvashnin proposed that the Strategic Rocket Forces, which control land-based nuclear missiles, be radically cut and absorbed into the army, navy and air force. He pointed to the army's acute lack of basic equipment to back his case. Marshal Sergeyev, a former head of the SRF, lashed out at the plan as "criminal stupidity and an attempt to harm the national interests of Russia". He said it would destroy the most effective and feared element of the Russian military and would weaken Moscow's hand in arms talks by effectively making unilateral missile cuts deeper even than those envisaged under Start III. Mr Putin has said there would be no imminent "reorganisation" of the SRF. General Kvashnin, however, knows Mr Putin agrees that severe missile cutbacks are vital to save money and his case for modernising the army is borne out daily in Chechnya. According to Izvestia at the weekend, General Kvashin's proposal involves slashing the number of Russia's land-based missile-launchers from 756 to 150 by 2003. From wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Tue Jul 18 00:19:31 2000 Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 19:19:31 -0400 (EDT) From: Dwayne Allen Day wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] UNESCO AND ESA IN FAVOR OF A SPACE ETHICS On Mon, 17 Jul 2000, Joanne Gabrynowicz wrote: > > Oh, this ought to be good. We can always rest easy when international > > bodies develop "moral codes." > > Nuremberg. And space law is the functional equivalent to the allied cause? DDAY From lklaes@bbn.com Tue Jul 18 04:01:39 2000 Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 23:01:39 -0400 From: Larry Klaes lklaes@bbn.com Subject: [FPSPACE] 35th Anniversary of Zond 3 launch to Luna and Mars orbit Zond 3 was originally planned to be the flyby probe with Zond 2 to the planet Mars, with Number 2 landing a probe on the Red Planet, in part to outshine the USA's Mariner 4 probe with its very public intention of returning the first images of the Martian surface to Earth. But due in part to a power failure, Zond 2 stopped transmitting just months before it was to arrive at Mars. As a result, Zond 3 was scaled back to an interplanetary probe test mission. Launched on July 18, 1965, Zond 3 flew by Luna two days later (four years to the day before Apollo 11 deposited two of its astronauts on the lunar surface) and took 25 of the first images of the lunar farside since Luna 3 in October of 1959. Zond 3 sailed on into interplanetary space, passing the orbit of Mars and functioning until March of 1966. The next time a Soviet probe would be labeled Zond, it would be the start of their tests for a manned lunar mission. Some relevant Web site URLs: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/tmp/1965-056A.html http://www.hszk.bme.hu/~an001/mars3_2a.html#ZOND-3 http://www.friends-partners.org/~mwade/craft/mar3mv4a.htm http://www.zarya.freeserve.co.uk/ http://www.users.wineasy.se/svengrahn/histind/Soviemar/soviemar.htm http://www.users.wineasy.se/svengrahn/trackind/jodrell/jodrole2.htm http://www.seds.org/pub/info/newsletters/ejasa/1989/jasa8910.txt http://www.seds.org/pub/info/newsletters/ejasa/1991/jasa9104.txt http://www.seds.org/pub/info/newsletters/ejasa/1992/jasa9209.txt From mheney@mach-25.com Tue Jul 18 17:15:52 2000 Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 12:15:52 -0400 (EDT) From: Michael K. Heney mheney@mach-25.com Subject: [FPSPACE] SPECTRUM, July 2000 -- Saving Mir with a rope trick On Mon, 17 Jul 2000, Dwayne Allen Day wrote: > > On 17 Jul 2000, Chris Jones wrote: > > > interested in further tether experiments, I hope this tether effort is > > successful, even though I continue to think the Russians (and MirCorp) are > > Oh, of course it will be successful! It will be successful because the > people doing it are not dumb, stupid NASA bureaucrats, but enlightened > commercial free marketeers! > > DDAY > > (dripping with sarcasm) Actually, one of the good omens for its success is the fact that the work is being done by people who have experience with successful tether missions. There's also the fact that the system is being developed in stages - this is the Mir Experimental Tether System; an operational tether will follow successful experimental tethers. There's also the advantage of rapid sortie rates - it's easier to get to a working system if you don't have to wait 3 years between flight opportunities. It's also easier to get to a working system if you've got a real-world incentive to do so. When you're doing tethers as an acedemic exercise (as the TSS missions did), there's not a lot of incentive to repeat the experiment if it's only partially successful, if you understand what kept it from working completely. When you're doing it commercially, it's worthwhile to fly and fly again until you get it right - because once it's right, you save lots of money in operational flights. So while it's not a matter of "enlightenment", there are factors in a free-market scenario that make it more likely that some types of projects will succeed - particularly when those projects are operational and cost-saving in nature. From Comp2002@jk-o.demon.co.uk Wed Jul 19 00:29:29 2000 Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 23:29:29 GMT From: Comp2002@jk-o.demon.co.uk Comp2002@jk-o.demon.co.uk Subject: [FPSPACE] Re: UNESCO AND ESA IN FAVOR OF A SPACE ETHICS In message <200007181609.MAA08134@fpmail.friends-partners.org> Dwayne Allen Day writes: > On Mon, 17 Jul 2000, Joanne Gabrynowicz wrote: > > > The report > > advocates a limitation and regulation of pollution caused by space > > activities, even though space would eventually be used to discard the > > most dangerous wastes, especially nuclear. > > Where do they come up with the idea that space is going to be used for > dumping nuclear materials? This is remarkably goofy of them. It doesn't sound too sound a vision to me either. Tabs need to be kept on dangerous wastes everywhere in space, unless dumped into the Sun ( or a gas planet ). To target such dumping grounds belongs to the very far future, when a space ladder ( anchored somewhere near Quito ) will enable non-critical transfer to orbit. However, the regulation of access to space via such a space ladder surely deserves a report in its own right :-) -- Jens Kieffer-Olsen From wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Wed Jul 19 05:59:20 2000 Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2000 00:59:20 -0400 (EDT) From: Dwayne Allen Day wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] MirCorp's announcement/reading between lines July 19, 2000 MirCorp approves station operation in permanently-manned mode A MirCorp news release KOROLOV, Russia - MirCorps board of directors today approved the permanently-manned operation of Mir beginning next year, marking a major milestone in the companys plan to use this unique facility as the worlds first true commercial orbital space station. The schedule of privately-financed MirCorp flights begins with the launch of an unmanned resupply spacecraft to Mir this fall, followed by two long-duration missions with cosmonauts in 2001. Citizen Explorer Dennis Tito will be part of a crew exchange between the two manned missions at mid-year 2001, and he is to spend approximately 10 days aboard the station. "The boards historic decision allows MirCorp to enter into final negotiations with the many potential clients who have been awaiting our establishment of a long-term flight schedule," MirCorp President Jeffrey Manber said. "These potential clients involve a mix of aerospace companies, financial services, media outlets and providers of consumer goods." MirCorps mission manifest begins with the launch this fall of a Progress unmanned resupply spacecraft that will bring propellant and other supplies to enable Mirs continuous autonomous operation into early 2001. It will be the third such resupply mission to Mir since MirCorp saved the station from a destructive reentry earlier this year. MirCorps next manned mission will be launched to Mir in early 2001, with two Russian cosmonauts spending several months aboard the orbital station. In mid-year, they will be joined by a two-man Russian cosmonaut replacement crew that will be joined by Citizen Explorer Tito. Tito will stay on the station for approximately 10 days, returning to Earth with the first crew. The replacement cosmonauts will continue to live and work on the station for a mission that continues into the second half of 2001. ********************************************* Now this is MirCorp's press release, not a news article. So it's all spin. I note a couple of things that are apparent from this release. First, one way to read this is that the next manned mission to Mir has slipped from this fall to "early in 2001." Now a few things were to happen on this next mission, including wiring the station for the "internet portal" that they want to set up. Apparently that has now slipped (one wonders if "reality television" will have burned itself out by that time...) Also, I believe that at their last press conference, MirCorp stated that it would announce a few more investors my mid-July. Now they are saying that they will "enter into final negotiations" soon. But they're apparently not there yet. Actually, both of these developments seem to make sense. It makes little sense to send up another temporary crew. And potential investors are going to want to see something real--in terms of real plans and a schedule and all that--before they give them any money. Time will tell if any of this works out. The adventure capital business is fickle. Right now the European aerospace industry is realing because the IPO of the EADS consortium that is backing Airbus flopped last week--potential investors do not like Airbus' risk over the new superjumbo A3XX. EADS was supposed to do quite well. So even with what appear to be sound business plans the unexpected can rear its ugly head and wreck things. DDAY From wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Wed Jul 19 06:01:28 2000 Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2000 01:01:28 -0400 (EDT) From: Dwayne Allen Day wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] Future Russian participation in ISS >From Florida Today: July 19, 2000 Russia's future participation with station questionable By Steven Siceloff FLORIDA TODAY CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The jubilation of finally getting Russia's Zvezda Service Module into space last week after two years of delays is fading. Now, Congress and NASA are wondering whether Russia will meet its other obligations on the $60 billion International Space Station. A reason for pessimism: A plea for more U.S. money last week by a top Russian space official, Yuri Semenov. "I wish that (NASA Administrator Dan) Goldin could add to his moral support other commitments such as very tangible material support for the station," Semenov said shortly after Zvezda's launch. "This thing is a joint project, and it needs to be funded jointly." Altogether, Russia is building about 35 percent of the station, although none of its future parts are as crucial as Zvezda. The United States and 14 other countries are building the rest of the station and conceivably could go ahead without more Russian modules. U.S. components, of course, have faced their share of delays and cost overruns; however, 10 of the 18 U.S. pieces are at Kennedy Space Center waiting to be launched and another five are expected within six months. By far, the Russian problems have posed the biggest crises for the station, and Semenov's statement was unsettling, signaling possible new setbacks. The statement also could signal more bad feelings between Russia and U.S. officials. Already, Russian delays have cost NASA an estimated $5 billion more than anticipated. "For (Semenov) to say they need more money is outrageous," U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Palm Bay, said last week from his Washington office. "It's obviously an admission on his part that Russia cannot be counted on. We're going to have more problems with the Russians." Less critical of Russia, but still watchful, NASA spokesman Dwayne Brown said Monday, "funding has been and remains a concern." He added, however, that NASA still is hopeful Russia eventually will come through with its work on the station. The United States and its partners are far less concerned now than they were when Zvezda was sitting in a storage building at the Baikonur launch site 1,300 miles southeast of Moscow. The module, its living quarters and power system are expected to arrive at the station July 25. That leaves the United States and its partners confident the station will be completed by 2005-2007, with or without Russia. What does Russia have left to build for the station? Among the major parts are a docking module, a set of solar panels and two research modules. But, as a sign Russia might falter, Russian official Yuri Grigoryev said the docking module will not fly until 2002, one year later than the current schedule. Also, work on the other modules is at a standstill because of a lack of money, he said. Comments such as these are eerily reminiscent of what Congress and NASA heard as Zvezda was hobbled by similar problems for two years. Although NASA does not have to worry as much about future Russian modules, it still must keep a keen eye on Russia's fleet of cargo rockets and capsules that are intended to support all work on the station, including that of the United States and its partners. For example, Russia is obligated to use its unmanned Progress space vehicles to carry fuel and cargo to the station. The shuttle can take on the role of cargo ship, but it is far more expensive to launch than the Progress, and the shuttle cannot carry fuel to the station. Also, Russia's manned Soyuz system is scheduled to carry the station's first residents in late October. The Soyuz also will be used as an escape capsule for the resident crew members; the station cannot be manned without such a capsule. NASA will not have a successor to Soyuz until at least 2003, when a mini-shuttle capable of carrying seven astronauts is to join the station. If NASA has to buy a Soyuz from Russia to allow a crew to operate on the station, the Space Coast's Weldon said NASA must insist that Russian cosmonauts get less time on the station. Amid the concerns about Russia's future role in the station, Russia continues to support efforts to keep the country's 14-year-old space station Mir alive. NASA wanted Russia to take down the station, but that apparently is not going to happen, as evidenced by an announcement Tuesday by the private company MirCorp. Funded partly by American citizens, MirCorp officials laid out a plan to keep Mir going indefinitely. Although MirCorp officials insist they are operating independently of the Russian government, NASA still fears Mir somehow will siphon dwindling Russian resources from the international project. Meanwhile, Zvezda easily was orbiting Earth in preparation for its docking July 25 with the two station pieces now in orbit. Zvezda has encountered no serious problems in space since being launched from Baikonur last week. From dconst+@pyrrhus.cimds.ri.cmu.edu Wed Jul 19 12:24:20 2000 Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2000 7:24:20 EDT From: dconst+@pyrrhus.cimds.ri.cmu.edu dconst+@pyrrhus.cimds.ri.cmu.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] Re: Future Russian participation in ISS > "I wish that (NASA Administrator Dan) Goldin could add to his moral > support other commitments such as very tangible material support for the > station," Semenov said shortly after Zvezda's launch. "This thing is a > joint project, and it needs to be funded jointly." [...] > "For (Semenov) to say they need more money is outrageous," U.S. Rep. Dave > Weldon, R-Palm Bay, said last week from his Washington office. "It's > obviously an admission on his part that Russia cannot be counted on. We're > going to have more problems with the Russians." I do not think Semenov's words should be considered as the indicator of severity of future Russia's financials problems in funding ISS. This is just words, indicating Semenov's perception of the World (wishful thinking). -- Constantine "Kostya" Domashnev From dbarkley@orion.oac.uci.edu Thu Jul 20 05:37:03 2000 Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2000 21:37:03 -0700 (PDT) From: Dan Barkley dbarkley@orion.oac.uci.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] DPRK: Rockets For Missiles Mr Putin said that Pyongyang would shut down its missile programme if other nations provided it with rocket boosters for space exploration. -The Times/ London ************************************ North Korea 'ready for a missile deal' FROM OLIVER AUGUST IN BEIJING NORTH KOREA has promised to halt its missile development programme in exchange for access to space rocket technology, Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, said yesterday. After talks with Kim Jong Il, the North Korean leader, Mr Putin said that Pyongyang would shut down its missile programme if other nations provided it with rocket boosters for space exploration. His statement came after two hours of talks with North Korean officials during a two-day visit to Pyongyang, the first by a Russian head of state. Analysts had earlier forecast that Mr Putin would try to extract a commitment from North Korea on missiles as part of ongoing efforts to rally international support against the United States' proposed missile defence shield. Washington's National Missile Defence, if successfully developed, will be capable of shooting down incoming nuclear missiles and will give the US a fundamental advantage over other nuclear powers. The US insists that the shield is designed to counter threats from "rogue states", such as North Korea and Iraq. North Korea's decision to throw open its doors to superpower diplomacy is a remarkable reversal of its previous policy of self-sufficiency and isolation. Mr Putin was given a typically bombastic welcome yesterday, comprising tens of thousands of identically clad children lining the streets and waving identical placards. The diplomatic thaw in North Korea started last month, when Mr Kim made his first overseas trip as leader to China. A few days later, Kim Dae Jung, the South Korean President, visited Pyongyang for an historic summit meeting. Yesterday Mr Kim greeted Mr Putin with a 21-gun salute at the airport. The two men were expected to discuss economic aid for North Korea, an impoverished former ally of the old Soviet Union. The Russian President has suggested that instead of building a missile shield in space against a possible attack by North Korea, America and other countries should extend "real security guarantees" to the isolated state. Mr Putin will able to make the same point to western leaders in person when he arrives at the G8 summit in Okinawa later this week. US diplomats have welcomed the rapprochement between Moscow and Pyongyang and President Clinton is likely to pay unusually close attention to what the Russians have to say about North Korea, given the scarcity of inside information about Mr Kim. From clj@emc.com Fri Jul 21 18:05:14 2000 Date: 21 Jul 2000 13:05:14 -0400 From: Chris Jones clj@emc.com Subject: [FPSPACE] surprise Chinese support for Mir (no, not really, it's a stupid editorial mistake). http://space.com/news/spacestation/index.html (the space.com "Space Station" news page has a picture of Mir over a picture of a flag. But it's not the Russian flag, it's not even the old Soviet Union flag, or something MirCorp dreamed up, it's the flag of the Peoples Republic of China. A quick look at the article revealed no mention of China or anyone Chinese, so I guess it's an outright goof. Not good for space.com's reputation, I'd say... From cpvick@fas.org Fri Jul 21 19:49:53 2000 Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 14:49:53 -0400 From: Charles P. Vick cpvick@fas.org Subject: [FPSPACE] COMPREHENSIVE COVERAGE PLANNED FOR SPACE STATION MODULE DOCKING >Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 11:00:16 -0400 (EDT) >From: NASANews@hq.nasa.gov >Subject: >Sender: owner-press-release@lists.hq.nasa.gov >To: undisclosed-recipients:; > >Ray Castillo July 21, 2000 >Headquarters, Washington, DC >(Phone: 202/358-4555) > >Rob Navias >Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX >(Phone: 281/483-5111) > >RELEASE: N00-32 > >COMPREHENSIVE COVERAGE PLANNED FOR >SPACE STATION MODULE DOCKING > > NASA TV plans live coverage of the International Space >Station's automated docking to the Russian Zvezda Service Module >on Tuesday, July 25. The addition of Zvezda to the orbiting >outpost sets the stage for the beginning of human habitation >aboard the Station, which will begin this Fall. > > Coverage on NASA TV will begin at 8:00 p.m. EDT with >commentary originating from both the Russian Mission Control >Center in Korolev, Russia, where the docking will be supervised by >Russian flight controllers, and the International Space Station >Flight Control Room at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX. The >actual linkup is scheduled at approximately 8:53 p.m. EDT. > > Live television is expected from Zvezda's external black and >white camera as the module passes over Russian ground stations >shortly before the docking, showing the Station approaching for >its linkup with the newest component to the international >facility. Zvezda will serve as the first living quarters for >astronauts, cosmonauts and other international researchers aboard >the International Space Station. > > Shortly after docking, a news conference will be held at the >Russian Mission Control Center involving US and Russian flight >controllers. The news conference will be broadcast live on NASA >TV, with questions from reporters in Korolev only. > > NASA TV can be found on GE-2, Transponder 9C, 85 degrees West >longitude, vertical polarization with a frequency of 3880 MHz and >audio at 6.8 MHz. > > -end- _______________________ Charles P. Vick Research Analyst Federation of American Scientists phone: (202) 675-1025 fax: (202) 675-1024 email: cpvick@fas.org http://www.fas.org/ From cpvick@fas.org Fri Jul 21 19:50:42 2000 Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 14:50:42 -0400 From: Charles P. Vick cpvick@fas.org Subject: [FPSPACE] NO TELESCOPE NEEDED: NASA WEB SITES LET STARGAZERS TRACK IMPENDING SPACE STATION "NUPTUALS" >Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 14:00:18 -0400 (EDT) >From: NASANews@hq.nasa.gov >Subject: NO TELESCOPE NEEDED: NASA WEB SITES LET STARGAZERS TRACK IMPENDING SPACE STATION "NUPTUALS" >Sender: owner-press-release@lists.hq.nasa.gov >To: undisclosed-recipients:; > >Kirsten Williams >Headquarters, Washington, DC July 20, 2000 >(Phone: 202/358-0243) > >Steve Roy >Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL >(Phone: 256/544-0034) > >RELEASE: 00-114 > >NO TELESCOPE NEEDED: NASA WEB SITES LET >STARGAZERS TRACK IMPENDING SPACE STATION "NUPTUALS" > > Stargazers will be in for a rare treat July 25, when the >newest piece of the International Space Station joins its mate in >a match made in the heavens. And you can track the module's >progress with the naked eye. > > Web sites developed by both NASA's Marshall Space Flight >Center, Huntsville, AL, and NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, >TX, are making it easy and exciting for enthusiasts across the >country and around the world to catch a glimpse of the Russian >Zvezda Service Module, as it closes in on the International Space >Station for a July 25 docking. > > Marshall's "Liftoff to Space Exploration" web site, >http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/, and Johnson's Skywatch web site, >http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/ let you identify >the orbiting space station -- and determine, in advance, when it >will pass over your hometown. > > Orbiting at more than 200 miles above the Earth, the Space >Station is quickly growing into one of the brightest permanent >fixtures in the night sky. Currently made up of the American >module "Unity" and the Russian section "Zarya," the station >circles the planet approximately 16 times per day, traveling at >17,500 mph in an orbit. > > Because it reflects sunlight, the space station often looks >like a slow-moving star as itcrosses the sky. That deceptive >appearance can fool a casual viewer, but it also makes sighting >the station easier if one knows when and where to look. > > The best time to catch a glimpse of the space station is near >dawn or dusk, when the viewer is in near-darkness and the passing >station continues to reflect light from the rising or setting Sun. > > NASA's web sites provide users with optimal visibility times >for their locations. Viewed under optimal conditions, the station >has been observed to appear nearly as bright as the star Sirius. >When construction is complete, estimates suggest the 470-ton "city >in space" will be brighter than the planet Venus. > > Access to both NASA web sites requires a Java-enabled >browser, such as recent versions of Netscape Navigator or >Microsoft Internet Explorer. For viewers without a Java-enabled >browser, the web sites include other methods for obtaining >sighting information. Johnson's Skywatch site contains a text-only >list of sighting opportunities, while Marshall's site features an >automated mailing list option. Subscribers to the list -- more >than 8,000 to date -- are notified by e-mail of upcoming satellite >passes. > > The International Space Station is a cooperative endeavor by >the United States and 15 other nations. It is the largest >international space construction effort in history. > > - end - _______________________ Charles P. Vick Research Analyst Federation of American Scientists phone: (202) 675-1025 fax: (202) 675-1024 email: cpvick@fas.org http://www.fas.org/ From cpvick@fas.org Fri Jul 21 19:51:19 2000 Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 14:51:19 -0400 From: Charles P. Vick cpvick@fas.org Subject: [FPSPACE] AEROJET AND PRATT & WHITNEY ANNOUNCE INTENT TO FORM NEW SPACE PROPULSION COMPANY News Release Rosemary B. Younts Sr. VP, Communications (916) 351-8650 (916) 804-7820 rosemary.younts@gencorp.com Terry Hall Sr. VP, CFO (202) 828-6800 terry.hall@gencorp.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AEROJET AND PRATT & WHITNEY ANNOUNCE INTENT TO FORM NEW SPACE PROPULSION COMPANY SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, July 17, 2000 - Aerojet-General Corp., the aerospace and defense segment of GenCorp Inc. (NYSE: GY), and Pratt & Whitney (P&W), a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX), announced today their intention to form a new space propulsion company. Aerojet and P&W Space Propulsion (SP) have signed a letter of intent, subject to execution of a definitive agreement and government agreements and approvals. A definitive agreement is expected to be complete before the end of the calendar year. Under the agreement currently being negotiated, Pratt & Whitney would have the majority interest in the new company, which would operate out of P&W facilities. P&W SP currently has facilities in California, Alabama and Florida. Most of Aerojet's propulsion programs would be acquired by the new company in exchange for cash and a 20 percent equity interest in the new company. Aerojet's propulsion business, located in Sacramento, accounted for approximately one-third of its 1999 revenues of $615 million. "This proposed transaction is in accordance with our stated intent to explore all possible alternatives to enhance shareholder value. We have maintained that the propulsion industry needs to consolidate in order to reduce costs and become more efficient. This has been an important strategic priority for our corporation," said Bob Wolfe, Chairman and CEO of GenCorp. "This transaction, if completed, would enable us to focus in other defense industries, including space electronics. With the relocation of a number of propulsion operations from Sacramento, we will accelerate utilization of the valuable property assets we have in Sacramento, which offer tremendous potential to contribute significantly to the economy of the region," Wolfe added. "Aerojet and Pratt & Whitney make an excellent fit, both experts in the propulsion industry. The new company would combine the distinctive products, capabilities and technologies of each to provide significant improvements to customers," said Carl Fischer, President of Aerojet. If the agreement is completed, Aerojet would continue to operate some propulsion programs in Sacramento that would not be acquired by the new company, and would complete the environmental remediation of the Sacramento site. The final agreement is contingent on continuation of Aerojet's existing agreement with the U.S. Government concerning the allowability of environmental remediation costs at its Sacramento facility. The transaction would not affect GenCorp's rapidly growing Aerojet Fine Chemicals business. Aerojet is a world-class supplier in the aerospace and defense industry. In addition to missile and space propulsion systems, Aerojet serves the space electronics, and smart munitions and armaments segments of the aerospace and defense industry. Aerojet has about 3,000 employees. There are 1,600 employees located in Sacramento; 1,200 of those work for the space propulsion business. P&W SP builds propulsion systems for liquid rockets and hypersonic propulsion systems in West Palm Beach, Fla. and solid rocket propulsion systems in San Jose, Calif. P&W SP employs about 1,300 people. P&W is a unit of United Technologies Corporation, located in Hartford, Conn. United Technologies Corporation, based in Hartford, Connecticut, provides a broad range of high technology products and support services to the building systems and aerospace industries. Those products include Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines; Carrier heating, air conditioning and refrigeration; Otis elevator, escalator and people movers; Hamilton Sundstrand aerospace and industrial products; Sikorsky helicopters and International Fuel Cells power systems. GenCorp is a technology-based manufacturer with leading positions in aerospace and defense, pharmaceutical fine chemicals and the automotive industry. For more information, visit the companies' web sites, www.GenCorp.com and www.pratt&whitney.com. This release contains forward-looking statements as defined under securities laws, including statements about formation of the company and the ability of future business operations to become more efficient, lower costs and improve capabilities. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from the statements. These include risks and uncertainties connected with negotiation and creation of a new company and those inherent in restructuring operations to realize opportunities for improved efficiency, cost saving and improved capabilities. _______________________ Charles P. Vick Research Analyst Federation of American Scientists phone: (202) 675-1025 fax: (202) 675-1024 email: cpvick@fas.org http://www.fas.org/ From cpvick@fas.org Fri Jul 21 20:43:53 2000 Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 15:43:53 -0400 From: Charles P. Vick cpvick@fas.org Subject: [FPSPACE] RESEARCHERS TO DISCUSS INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION SCIENCE >Dwayne Brown/Renee Juhans >Headquarters, Washington, DC July 21, 2000 >(Phone: 202/358-1726/358-1712) > >George Diller >Kennedy Space Center , FL >(Phone: 321/867-2468) > >RELEASE: N00-33 > >RESEARCHERS TO DISCUSS INTERNATIONAL >SPACE STATION SCIENCE > > Experts in the fields of biology, chemistry, physics and >general science and engineering will discuss near- and long-term >research on the International Space Station Tuesday, July 25, 2000 >, at 3:30 pm. EDT at NASA's Kennedy Space Center press site >auditorium. > > In anticipation of the Zvezda docking later that evening, the >researchers will discuss and answer questions on how the >International Space Station will represent an unprecedented state- >of-the-art laboratory complex in orbit, that will lead to research >results in medicine, materials and fundamental science that will >benefit people all over the world. > > Participants will include: > >(Moderator) >Dr. Julie Swain >(Acting) Associate Administrator for Life and Microgravity >Sciences >Washington, DC and Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery, >University of Kentucky > >Dr. Mary Musgrave >Professor of Plant Pathology and Physiology >Louisiana State University > >Dr. Milburn Jessup >Professor of Surgery >University of Texas Health Science Center > >Dr. Kathy Clark >International Space Station Senior Scientist >Washington, DC > >Dr. Ron Sega >Dean >College of Engineering and Applied Science >University of Colorado > > The International Space Station is the largest and most >complex international scientific project in history. Led by the >United States, the International Space Station draws upon the >scientific and technological resources of 16 nations. > > The press briefing will be carried live on NASA TV with two- >way question-and-answer capability for reporters covering the >event from participating NASA centers. NASA Television is >broadcast on the GE2 satellite which is located on Transponder >9C, at 85 degrees West longitude, frequency 3880.0 Mhz, audio 6.8 >MHz. Audio of the broadcast will be available on voice circuit at >the Kennedy Space Center on 321/867-1220. > > -end- _______________________ Charles P. Vick Research Analyst Federation of American Scientists phone: (202) 675-1025 fax: (202) 675-1024 email: cpvick@fas.org http://www.fas.org/ From cpvick@fas.org Fri Jul 21 21:43:59 2000 Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 16:43:59 -0400 From: Charles P. Vick cpvick@fas.org Subject: [FPSPACE] NASA POSTPONES MARS 2003 ANNOUNCEMENT >Donald Savage >Headquarters, Washington, DC July 21, 2000 >(Phone: 202/358-1547) > >NOTE TO EDITORS: N00-34 > >NASA POSTPONES MARS 2003 ANNOUNCEMENT > > The Mars 2003 press conference originally scheduled for 2:00 >p.m. EDT Monday, >July 24, 2000, has been postponed. > > Dr. Edward Weiler, Associate Administrator, Office of Space >Science, Washington, DC, said making the decision was much more >complex and difficult than anticipated and that it will take perhaps >one to two weeks longer than planned to make the final decision. > > -end- > _______________________ Charles P. Vick Research Analyst Federation of American Scientists phone: (202) 675-1025 fax: (202) 675-1024 email: cpvick@fas.org http://www.fas.org/ From psclark@dircon.co.uk Sat Jul 22 18:09:52 2000 Date: Sat, 22 Jul 2000 17:09:52 +0000 (GMT) From: Phillip Clark psclark@dircon.co.uk Subject: [FPSPACE] An unknown spaceplane flight ? I am showing below the text of a message which was forwarded to me onJuly 21st by a reputable source and I thought that it might be of interest. I have slightly edited the piece because of the source. Looking at the numbers, they don't add up, but the story is there for consideration. Phillip Clark --------------------------------------------------------------------------- BURAN'S TWIN - BAYKAL - FLEW EIGHT YEARS AGO Information just placed on the Buran programme's official website (http://www.buran.ru) reveals that after three weeks of intensive pre- launch testing on the left-hand launch installation of the "Energiya- Buran" complex at Baykonur cosmodrome Buran's younger brother - orbital craft "Baykal" - set off for the Mir orbital station on 4 February 1992. It had been believed that Buran's two-orbit flight on 15 November 1988 was the only time the "Soviet shuttle" had flown. "Baykal" broke away from the launch complex at 13.24 Moscow time en route for an automatic docking with the Mir station. If all had gone according to plan Gennadiy Manakov and Aleksandr Polishchuk would have been sent up to the orbital craft on a specially equipped "Soyuz" to practise docking and rescue operations for use on board a stricken "shuttle". Unfortunately, approximately forty seconds into the flight two engines of the first stage (unit "A") switched off one after the other. A unique automatic device from Moscow's Scientific Production Association of Automation and Instrument Engineering (NPO AP) enabled the orbital craft to separate from the falling rocket, complete a manoeuvre in the atmosphere using its own engines and, 22 minutes after launch, land at Baykonur's "Yubileynyy" cosmodrome. The web page dedicated to "Baykal's" flight was prepared by NPO Molniya's webmasters in strictest secrecy. On 13 March the well-known Austrian(?) "tracker" and analyst Mark Wade accidentally stumbled upon the page hidden on the buran.ru server. After the sensational news about the "Secret flight of a second Buran" had been revealed on the English language internet the "Baykal" page was immediately removed from the buran server. The suggestion is that Mark Wade became confused due to an insufficient understanding of the Russian language. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Phillip S Clark 22 Winterbourne Close Molniya Space Consultancy Hastings Compiler/Publisher, Worldwide Satellite Launches E Sussex TN34 1XG U.K. Specialist in "space archeology" - the older and more obscure the more interesting it is ! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- From DPieson@APROJECT.RU Sat Jul 22 21:26:15 2000 Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2000 00:26:15 +0400 From: Dmitry Pieson DPieson@APROJECT.RU Subject: [FPSPACE] An unknown spaceplane flight ? This info is a translation of the article in Nezavisimaya Gazeta (Independent Newspaper) of April 1, 2000, submitted jointly by Vadim Lukashevich (Buran.Ru webmaster) and Dmitry Pieson. All Web stuff was prepared to be published that day as well. Mark just located it earlier. Dmitry ïÔ: Phillip Clark ëÏÍÕ: FPSPACE äÁÔÁ: 22.07.00 21:09 ôÅÍÁ: [FPSPACE] An unknown spaceplane flight ? I am showing below the text of a message which was forwarded to me onJuly 21st by a reputable source and I thought that it might be of interest. I have slightly edited the piece because of the source. Looking at the numbers, they don't add up, but the story is there for consideration. Phillip Clark ------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- BURAN'S TWIN - BAYKAL - FLEW EIGHT YEARS AGO Information just placed on the Buran programme's official website (http://www.buran.ru) reveals that after three weeks of intensive pre- launch testing on the left-hand launch installation of the "Energiya- Buran" complex at Baykonur cosmodrome Buran's younger brother - orbital craft "Baykal" - set off for the Mir orbital station on 4 February 1992. It had been believed that Buran's two-orbit flight on 15 November 1988 was the only time the "Soviet shuttle" had flown. "Baykal" broke away from the launch complex at 13.24 Moscow time en route for an automatic docking with the Mir station. If all had gone according to plan Gennadiy Manakov and Aleksandr Polishchuk would have been sent up to the orbital craft on a specially equipped "Soyuz" to practise docking and rescue operations for use on board a stricken "shuttle". Unfortunately, approximately forty seconds into the flight two engines of the first stage (unit "A") switched off one after the other. A unique automatic device from Moscow's Scientific Production Association of Automation and Instrument Engineering (NPO AP) enabled the orbital craft to separate from the falling rocket, complete a manoeuvre in the atmosphere using its own engines and, 22 minutes after launch, land at Baykonur's "Yubileynyy" cosmodrome. The web page dedicated to "Baykal's" flight was prepared by NPO Molniya's webmasters in strictest secrecy. On 13 March the well-known Austrian(?) "tracker" and analyst Mark Wade accidentally stumbled upon the page hidden on the buran.ru server. After the sensational news about the "Secret flight of a second Buran" had been revealed on the English language internet the "Baykal" page was immediately removed from the buran server. The suggestion is that Mark Wade became confused due to an insufficient understanding of the Russian language. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Phillip S Clark 22 Winterbourne Close Molniya Space Consultancy Hastings Compiler/Publisher, Worldwide Satellite Launches E Sussex TN34 1XG U.K. Specialist in "space archeology" - the older and more obscure the more interesting it is ! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- _______________________________________________ FPSPACE mailing list FPSPACE@friends-partners.org http://fpmail.friends-partners.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/fpspace From gabrynow@aero.und.edu Sat Jul 22 23:54:37 2000 Date: Sat, 22 Jul 2000 17:54:37 -0500 (CDT) From: Joanne Gabrynowicz gabrynow@aero.und.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] FYI #89 - Senate Vote on NMD Testing (fwd) FYI. Joanne Irene Gabrynowicz Professor, Space Law & Policy Remote Sensing Law & Policy Space Studies Department University of North Dakota gabrynow@aero.und.nodak.edu ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 16:18:34 -0400 (EDT) From: AIP listserver To: fyi-mailing@aip.org Subject: FYI #89 - Senate Vote on NMD Testing FYI The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Science Policy News Number 89: July 21, 2000 In Retrospect: Senate Rejection of National Missile Defense System Test Amendment Last week, the Senate voted 52-48 against an amendment offered by Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), to require "operationally- realistic testing against countermeasures for national missile defense." This amendment to the defense authorization act was supported by all Senate Democrats and three Republicans: Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine and James Jeffords of Vermont. Durbin's amendment somewhat paralleled a statement issued earlier this year by the American Physical Society Council which stated, in part: "The United States should not make a deployment decision relative to the planned National Missile Defense (NMD) system unless that system is shown - through analysis and through intercept tests - to be effective against the types of offensive countermeasures that an attacker could reasonably be expected to deploy with its long-range missiles." Durbin's amendment directed that ground and flight testing of the system include "countermeasures (including decoys) that . . . are likely, or at least realistically possible, to be used against the system; and . . . are chosen for testing on the basis of what countermeasure capabilities a long-range missile could have and is likely to have, taking into consideration the technology that the country deploying the missile would have or could likely acquire; and . . . to determine the extent to which the exoatmospheric kill vehicle and the National Missile Defense system can reliably discriminate between warheads and such countermeasures." The Durbin amendment was also proposed by Senators Paul Wellstone (D-MN), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Tim Johnson (D-SD), John Kerry (D-MA), Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Tom Harkin (D-IA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR). Senate debate on the amendment ran for about two hours on the night of July 12. In describing his amendment Durbin called the decision "high stakes poker. We are talking about a decision, in terms of our national defense, which may be one of the most important in history." "Whether one thinks that deciding to deploy a national missile defense system at this moment is a good idea or not, I hope we can all agree that once that system becomes operational, it should work," he said. Supporting Durbin was Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN), stating, "This is the fourth time since the late fifties that we have talked about a missile defense program. Each time there is a tremendous amount of enthusiasm. Then scientists and independent observers do a careful analysis. After that, the enthusiasm wanes. I do not believe this time will be any different." He later added, "Have the threats to which we are responding been exaggerated and more driven by politics than accurate threat assessments and hard science?" Senator John Kerry (D-MA) also mentioned scientists in his remarks, telling his colleagues, "We face a situation where we are talking about putting together a system that the best scientists in the world tell us could literally be rendered absolutely inoperative, if it is simply deployed; all you have to do it put the system out there, and you have the ability to create decoys with fairly unsophisticated technology." Speaking against the amendment was Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner (R-VA). His stated objective to the amendment was a provision that "The Secretary of Defense shall reconvene the Panel on Reducing Risk in Ballistic Missile Defense Flight Test Programs." He then said, "A panel . . . is continuing work in this area. When you direct the Secretary of Defense to do something the panel is already doing . . . what is this about? That is why we will not accept the amendment. It has some constructive parts to it, but you are directing the Secretary of Defense to do something he is already doing. That is my concern." Following statements by other senators, Durbin concluded by saying, "This amendment is not intended to derail the national missile defense system. It is intended to make certain that the system, if American comes to rely on it for national defense, actually works." Warner replied, "I thank my colleague. I daresay the final conference report in the Armed Services bill will draw on this amendment for certain portions of the law that we write." Remarks by Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) appearing in the Congressional Record for that evening were critical of scientists opposing the system. Cochran stated, "There are possible countermeasures to every weapon and those are considered as a matter of course in the design and testing of every system. We don't have legislation directing realistic operational testing against any possible countermeasures for the F-22, for example, and I see no reason to single out this particular weapon system for such treatment. Most of the recent talk about countermeasures to the NMD system has been generated by wild accusations from some college professors who have long opposed missile defenses of any sort. They would have us believe that countermeasures can become reality for even technologically unsophisticated nations simply because they can be imagined. But in the real world, in which ideas have to be translated to design, and design to hardware, and the hardware tested, the reality is far different." There were fewer remarks the next day before the vote was taken. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) said, "What the amendment doesn't say is whether a missile defense system is a good idea, or a bad idea. Frankly, I believe we do not have enough information yet to make that call." Following Daschle's remarks, Senator Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) put into the record a letter signed by 50 Nobel laureates urging President Clinton "not to make the decision to deploy an anti-ballistic missile system during the remaining months of your administration. The system would offer little protection and would do grave harm to this nation's core security interests. We and other independent scientists have long argued that anti-ballistic missile systems, particularly those attempting to intercept reentry vehicles in space, will inevitably lose in an arms race of improvements of offensive missiles." Cochran replied that "the Durbin amendment is unnecessary. It purports to direct the manner and details of a missile testing program that the Secretary of Defense is committed to conduct already." Cochran then called for a vote to table the Durbin amendment, which is a parliamentary move used to kill an amendment. Cochran's colleagues agreed with him, by a vote of 52 yes to 48 no. President Clinton requested $1.7 billion for NMD for FY 2001. The House authorization bill would provide $1.8 billion; the Senate bill would provide $1.9 billion. ############### Richard M. Jones Public Information Division American Institute of Physics fyi@aip.org (301) 209-3095 ##END########## From kgottschalk@uwc.ac.za Sun Jul 23 15:04:17 2000 Date: 23 Jul 2000 16:04:17 +0200 From: KEITH GOTTSCHALK kgottschalk@uwc.ac.za Subject: [FPSPACE] 2 anniversaries I guess space engineers are mostly not a sentimental lot compared to us poets. Still, don't the Americans on this list deserve congratulations on the 31st anniversary of the first men to land on the Moon? Also, a happy golden anniversary to Cape Canaveral. And what better way to celebrate with any surviving veteran workers of 1950 than if Zvezda succeeds with a hard docking with ISS just the day after that anniversary? Keith From gabrynow@aero.und.edu Sun Jul 23 15:21:35 2000 Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2000 09:21:35 -0500 (CDT) From: Joanne Gabrynowicz gabrynow@aero.und.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] 2 anniversaries Thank you, Keith. It was a great achievement for the American people. And as the plaque left on the lunar surface says, the mission was for "all mankind"--so we all deserve some recognition. Thanks for remembering. Joanne Irene Gabrynowicz Professor, Space Law & Policy Remote Sensing Law & Policy Space Studies Department University of North Dakota gabrynow@aero.und.nodak.edu On 23 Jul 2000, KEITH GOTTSCHALK wrote: > I guess space engineers are mostly not a sentimental > lot compared to us poets. Still, don't the Americans on this > list deserve congratulations on the 31st anniversary of the > first men to land on the Moon? > > Also, a happy golden anniversary to Cape Canaveral. And > what better way to celebrate with any surviving veteran > workers of 1950 than if Zvezda succeeds with a hard docking > with ISS just the day after that anniversary? > > Keith > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > FPSPACE mailing list > FPSPACE@friends-partners.org > http://fpmail.friends-partners.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/fpspace > From spacey@interaxs.net Mon Jul 24 07:42:25 2000 Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2000 02:42:25 -0400 From: Karl D. Dodenhoff spacey@interaxs.net Subject: [FPSPACE] [Fwd: [space-modelers] Photos of Voskhod launcher posted] Has anyone in this group ever heard of a roll pattern such as this on the Voskhod 1 booster? It covers the entire upper stage of the vehicle! Karl -------- Original Message -------- >Subject: [space-modelers] Photos of Voskhod launcher posted >Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2000 21:12:18 -0000 >I uploaded some shots of the (to my best knowledge) Voskhod 1 >launcher. The interesting thing about this is the "roll pattern" of >the 3rd stage. >Check out: >http://www.egroups.com/files/space-modelers/Voskhod+1+launcher/ From L.van.den.Abeelen@direct.a2000.nl Sun Jul 23 19:53:52 2000 Date: Sun, 23 Jul 2000 20:53:52 +0200 From: Luc van den Abeelen L.van.den.Abeelen@direct.a2000.nl Subject: [FPSPACE] An unknown spaceplane flight? I thought the story had been well and truly dicussed and discounted earlier in the year. Notice anything peculiar about the date of the news report? Or the fact that the Baykal page went up on April 1st...? Fools! Luc van den Abeelen From psclark@dircon.co.uk Mon Jul 24 08:56:14 2000 Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2000 07:56:14 +0000 (GMT) From: Phillip Clark psclark@dircon.co.uk Subject: [FPSPACE] Unknown spaceplane flight The story which I posted on July 24th had been passed to me by a usually-reliable source who had _not_ noticed the date on the story. I sent the story to one or two people and it was suggested by one that I post it to FPSPACE to see what response it brought. The plan was to post the story on Saturday and then either today or tomorrow post the story with the date it was written included. I was not aware that the story had already been discussed. Of course, we already knew that there was a Zenit-2 launch failure in February 1992 but the launch date which we had was one day different from the one in the story. Plus, of course, the proposed launch time does not square at all with a launch to Mir. Ah well, it looks like this "April Fool", albeit a few months late, doidn't fool anyone ! Other than the person who sent it to me, of course. Phillip Clark --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Phillip S Clark 22 Winterbourne Close Molniya Space Consultancy Hastings Compiler/Publisher, Worldwide Satellite Launches E Sussex TN34 1XG U.K. Specialist in "space archeology" - the older and more obscure the more interesting it is ! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- From wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Mon Jul 24 17:55:35 2000 Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2000 12:55:35 -0400 (EDT) From: Dwayne Allen Day wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] Profile of MirCorp entrepreneur There is an article in the NY Times Magazine on MirCorp entrepreneur Walt Anderson. You have to register to use the site. http://www.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/20000723mag-millionaire.html I would recommend visiting the site to see the cartoons (which make Anderson into a comical Buck Rogers). But because I know that some of our European friends have trouble accessing the NY Times site, I will try to repost the article here. DDAY From wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Mon Jul 24 18:05:59 2000 Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2000 13:05:59 -0400 (EDT) From: Dwayne Allen Day wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] Profile of MirCorp entrepreneur Sorry about the length of this, and I hope it survives into your mailboxes. But I am posting it here for the Web-challenged. (note: the "TKTK" reference in the article is a publishing error--"TK" is a notation used by editors when they are supposed to add info later. Obviously they forgot to add it before printing the story.) DDAY ************************************************************ American Megamillionaire Gets Russki Space Heap! Sells Joy Rides to Fellow Tycoons! NASA Fumes! By ELIZABETH WEIL Illustrations by THE DYNAMIC DUO STUDIO his is a story about wealth and space and America and Russia, and it begins with one man, Walter Anderson -- a man with white hair and pale skin, square, gold-rimmed glasses and a physical presence so profoundly unprepossessing it's almost impossible to remember what he looks like. Anderson is 46 and worth almost a billion dollars. He lives in Washington -- the city he grew up in, a city he hates; his hatred of the government is, as he puts it, "personal" -- in an apartment adorned with a painting he commissioned based on a Smashing Pumpkins lyric, "I am still just a rat in a cage." "That's what we are," Anderson explains, "rats in a cage. And we're going to gnaw through the bars because we've got about a 30-year window here, and we'll starve if we don't get out." The cage Anderson refers to is the planet earth itself, and he has taken it upon himself to ensure we get off. In 1989, Anderson gave $80,000 to finance the International Space University; in 1991, $100,000 to found the Space Frontier Foundation; in 1994, $5 million to start the Foundation for the International Nongovernmental Development of Space; and between 1996 and 1999, $40 million to build the Roton, a manned, reusable spaceship. Then a few months ago, in one of his periodic calls to me, he rang me up: "I'm in Russia!" Anderson was midway through three days of talks with Yuri Semyonov, president of the private Russian space corporation Energia, and in a move that would later marginalize NASA from the Anderson-Russia-America love triangle, he was arranging for a new company, called MirCorp, to lease the space station Mir. It was not an act of open defiance. In most ways it was an act of trust, devotion and faith. Anderson had been dreaming of leaving Earth since he was a little boy. He wired the Russians $7 million before he even signed Mir's lease. Anderson put up $31 million toward the lease, which will eventually cost $200 million a year. It will give MirCorp the rights to Mir for the remainder of its lifetime, the use of two or three manned Soyuz rockets annually, as well as two or three unmanned Progress rockets, the exclusive control over Mir's visitors and technologies, 40 days of active operation and the privilege of fixing Mir up. All of this has put Anderson more cozily into bed financially with Energia, thereby creating a situation highly threatening to NASA. The American space agency, after all, was already embroiled with the Russians in the way-over-schedule, way-over-budget, politically Pollyanna-ish International Space Station, a project that was announced 17 years ago under President Ronald Reagan, that had already incurred several Congressional hearings and that space patriots in Washington were determined to make "the only space in space." Specifically, at the time Anderson leased Mir, NASA was blaming the Russians for being two years behind in launching the service module, or living quarters, for the International Space Station. (It was finally launched on July 11.) Worse, rumor had it among space experts that NASA could not technically complete the International Space Station without Russian help. And many inside the agency feared that the Russians would lose interest in the International Space Station altogether if they kept their own space station up. A less brusque man than Anderson might have chosen to sweet-talk and pacify the NASA brass out of their TKTK. But Anderson, arrogant in such matters, is, as he terms himself, an anarcho-capitalist. He flies around the world in his private jet pledging allegiance first and foremost to the laws of GATT. Thus instead of calling NASA, Anderson called his friend Chirinjeev "Baboo" Kathuria, a 35-year-old megamillionaire Sikh. Kathuria told Anderson that he, too, was "interested" in Mir, which in megamillionaire-speak meant he was willing to chip in $4 million, to form MirCorp, and start upending last century's notions of relations in space. n a Friday evening late in March, Anderson and I sit on the dully plush mezzanine of the American Hotel in Amsterdam, prepping for the coffeehouses, where Anderson likes to smoke and cavort with disaffected world youth. I first met Anderson two years ago while researching a book on the Roton spacecraft. Among his first words to me were, "Please don't make me famous." But by the spring of the year 2000, he has invited me to interview him over the course of a weekend in Holland, the Tuesday after which he'll launch the world's first privately financed manned mission off Earth. The following Thursday the two professional Russian cosmonauts he has hired will enter Mir to see if it can be repaired. Already I know that MirCorp is registered in Bermuda, run out of Amsterdam and structured as a 40-60 partnership with the space corporation Energia (38 percent of which is owned by the Russian government). I know Anderson's plans include rehabbing the station and expanding its volume to 9 or 10 times its present size. I know he wants to sell joy rides on Mir to wealthy individuals (Dennis Tito, a 59-year-old money manager and former rocket engineer, is the first to sign on, planning to spend 10 days on Mir sometime early next year) and advertising on Mir to commercial companies ("we'll paint it up like a Nascar"). Anderson expects to offer access to Mir equipment to corporations and governments and to sell intellectual rights on Mir's considerable patents so that, as Anderson puts it optimistically, "NASA won't be able to build so much as an air lock without paying MirCorp something first." Eventually he intends to move into even more dubious but potentially lucrative markets, like in-orbit satellite assembly and satellite repair. I do not know if Anderson's vision amounts to a dream or a pipe dream, a gift or a curse. For certain, he harbors a taste for grand, most likely fantastical, visions. Once at a space conference he'd underwritten, Anderson told me he believed that more than half the American space shuttle missions carry classified cargo. "If I discover dirty satellites, nuclear wearpons in orbit," he then said with a giddy grin, "am I going to pretend they're not there? No." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Elizabeth Weil is working on a book about the Roton rocket. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Anderson is loose-limbed and gangly, with an oddly unused-looking body. He favors black jeans, casual short-sleeve shirts, suede sport coats and slippers. Ever distrustful of his fellow men, he zealously guards his personal privacy; his name is not on the marquis of his office in Washington, and neither are the names of his companies. If you take the elevator to the fifth floor, none of the people milling around the cubicles will have any idea who he is. In the alternative space underground, which Anderson has bankrolled pretty much singlehandedly, he's known for being dystopic, generous, ruthless, overimpassioned, incisive, philanthropic, libertarian and shy -- by those who know him at all. Now, in Amsterdam, as he uncomfortably shifts his weight on a stiff leather couch, he informs me, blunt as ever, that he'd rather not talk about his personal history, that his professional history should suffice. Namely, that in 1979 he was one of the first 300 employees at MCI; that in 1984, he founded Mid Atlantic Telecom, a regional long-distance carrier, the first to integrate phone and voicemail service; and that 10 years later, he started Esprit Telecom Group, cracking into the newly regulated European market. That same year he used $6.2 million from the sale of MidAtlantic to seed a Bahamas-based holding company called Gold & Appel, named after the Golden Apple, the second volume in the 1970's, sex-and-conspiracy-theory cult pulp trilogy, "The Illuminatus! Trilogy." He has more or less doubled his capital every year since. In 1998, Anderson sold Esprit for $1 billion in stock and assumed debt. He presumed he'd need all that money to build rockets and space colonies. "Now with this Mir thing," Anderson says, tapping the tips of his fingers together, "if it works, it's such a nice shortcut." I ask if it won't make NASA extremely nervous -- a lone, superwealthy uber-citizen challenging its authority and dominance in space? Anderson slips on his suede jacket -- apparently we're to head out to the clubs. "In my life," he says, his eyes lighting up like a teenager's, "if the U.S. government doesn't try to kill me, I probably won't have succeeded in meeting my long-term goals." Among spacers -- the polite name for space obsessives -- such sentiments are not uncommon. Anderson was 4 when Sputnik flew, 15 when Neil Armstrong first stepped on the moon, 19 when Eugene Cernan left the last moon-dusted boot mark. And he still seems not to have fully recovered from the magic of those memories, from the implicit, now-broken promise that someday soon we will all be living in the heavens, shouldering power packs and wearing jumpsuits in a better, higher, lighter world. Anderson's space talk is still infused with statements that sound vaguely like clubhouse rules. ("I'm not saying it's fair, but I've been thinking a lot about human rights in space, and in my space station, people would all be peaceful or I'd throw them out the air lock.") His peers include men with Ph.D.'s from M.I.T. who have a hard time holding down jobs. One in particular, a man obsessed with the "Star Trek" -like "Babylon 5" remains haunted by a grandmother who shushed him to sleep early on the night of the Apollo 17 landing, telling him he had school tomorrow, and, anyway, we'd be landing on the moon every day when he grew up. Other spacers gather for dinner in Beverly Hills annually on June 20, the anniversary of the first moon landing. For their ritual meal, they borrow the form of the Passover Seder, only instead of commemorating the Jews fleeing the bonds of slavery in ancient Egypt, they celebrate human beings escaping the bonds of gravity here on Earth. A few hours later, in the basement of a cramped milk bar called Bulldog, Anderson sets into exalting his latest love interest: the 14-year-old, 130-ton, third-generation Soviet space station Mir, designed to orbit only five years, now spinning almost a decade beyond its expected life. The station suffers many nicknames -- the porcupine, the dragonfly -- most referring to its ungainly assortment of modules and solar arrays. Inside, it's sorely in need of remodeling. For the past 10 years, the station has been beset by significant money problems. As early as 1992, top Russian officials were comparing their own space program to a chicken: "You cut off its head, and it runs around the yard for a while thinking it's still alive." Then, in the late 1990's, Mir suffered a string of high-profile, high-altitude disasters -- a collision, a fire, several massive computer shutdowns -- troubles so vast and so economically intimidating that Energia's president, Semyonov, decided to deorbit his outpost and call his final crew in. NASA, ever covetous of Russian resources for the International Space Station, waxed ecstatic. That is, until in a move that the chairman of the House Science Committee would call "a real kick in the jaw," Anderson flew in his jet to Moscow to meet with Semyonov, playing the board game Risk on the way. Among the first things Anderson said to Semyonov was, "I don't necessarily agree with the views of my government." Walt hunches his shoulders, looks thrilled. "Isn't that crazy?," he asks. nderson's first foray into the commercial space sector proved a huge debacle. He financed the development and construction of what he hoped would be the first generation of privately financed manned space transports: the Roton rocket, a vehicle initially conceived to be 65 feet tall and shaped like an upturned egg. When complete, the Roton was to be the world's first single-stage-to-orbit, fully reusable rocket. But when the project ended, Anderson had instead spent $40 million on the oddest, tallest helicopter on earth. In its last flight test, the Roton flew 1,400 yards down a runway in Mojave, Calif., at a speed of 53 miles per hour and an altitude of 75 feet. Anderson's second foray, MirCorp, seems to be going better, thanks largely to his decision to handle MirCorp "like a business," something almost all other private space companies neglect to do. (Anderson's Roton has at least half a dozen rivals, but the dreaminess required to attempt space travel without military-industrial backing, and the discipline required to pull it off, appear to be intrinsically at odds.) To make MirCorp run efficiently, Anderson joined forces with a newcomer to the space world, his fellow telecom tycoon Baboo Kathuria, who, when I meet him the next day at noon for a cheeseburger lunch, is wearing a bright red turban and goofy print shirt. Kathuria has just flown in from Chicago, where he has been staying with his parents, sleeping in the same bed he slept in as a teenage boy. His eyes are so wide they're almost round. His long beard is tacked to his chin with bobby pins. As he picks through his fries, Kathuria starts to giggle, his voice growing high and airy and soft. "Mir is definitely a real business," he says, "definitely undervalued," and "definitely cool." By his own estimation, cooler than his turban and his beard. Also much cooler than anything in the telecom business, which he fell into when he had a crush on the heiress to a Filipino telecom fortune and tried to impress her by privatizing India's phones. Despite, or perhaps because of, their business successes, neither Anderson nor Kathuria seems to have much lasting luck with women. Ever reticent about personal matters, Anderson insists he's "just having too much fun" and isn't "mature enough yet to marry." Kathuria, however, the consummate sidekick, desperately wants to discuss his problems with girls. The situation has grown kind of dire in that he's already too old to advertise for an arranged marriage in the Indian newspapers: Sikh tycoon with lease on Mir seeks to marry same? After lunch -- in the brief window before Kathuria will ingest his second cheeseburger of the day, this one with Anderson at Burger King, over which the two men will commit to invest in Mir another 10 million bucks -- Kathuria and I walk along the canals to the Van Gogh Museum, and Kathuria tells me about the time he sat in a limo outside the Miss Universe contest in Trinidad with Donald Trump, who was making out with a 23-year-old woman, and Evander Holyfield, who wanted to borrow Kathuria's "hat." In the galleries, he explains that his mother has been hinting that he should get married. The sound of his cell phone ringing, the sound of his bachelor life, is beginning to drive her nuts. As for Anderson, he finally allows his patina to crack just slightly on our last night in Amsterdam. We're sitting at a hipster bar with no name on the front -Anderson, uncharacteristically, wearing a flashy, star-speckled blue silk shirt -- when, in his own bellicose way, he decides to open up. He begins with a rather jaundiced prelude, calling Donald Trump "a weenie," claiming Trump doesn't even own his buildings and that he'd be a richer man today if he'd just left his daddy's money in the bank. Next Anderson insists that he could be as famous as Trump or Richard Branson if he only hired bodyguards and a New York P.R. firm. Then, once that's aired, Anderson settles down. Amid the house music and velour, he admits he feels "lucky to have the space thing right now" because it's "kind of important and challenging," and it saves him from "all the pretentious bull that rich people get involved in," and from "flying around on the plane, getting very depressed." He also reveals that when he was a child his father worked for the top-secret National Security Agency, and that he hasn't spoken to his father in 25 years. He will not discuss what, if anything, any of this has to do with leasing a space station. In the morning Kathuria and I will fly to Moscow for MirCorp's first launch. If the launch succeeds, and if the subsequent docking succeeds, Anderson will be the first private citizen to send two men into space. If the launch fails, or if the docking fails, this hotheaded recluse, this financial angel in a star-speckled shirt, will be the first private citizen to send two cosmonauts to their graves. oscow, early April, is gray and in a state of flux, with the new Ikea out by the airport and the new mall under the Kremlin, with the spring warmth turning the vast landscape to mud and the articles, daily, in the papers about what kind of leader Putin will be. According to the Russian philosopher Grigori Pomerants, his country has slipped into "a state of mass disorientation" since the collapse of the Soviet empire. MirCorp's presence here, surely, does not help. Anderson's company comes with its fat wallets, its precocious grandmasters of capitalism, buying at deep discount the detritus of the space race, the Soviet Union, the cold war. On the surface, the situation sounds like the setup for a joke: So there's a Sikh and an anarcho-capitalist and they want to buy a space station* . Underneath, the situation is equally gonzo. After arriving in Moscow, Kathuria and I drive to the nearby factory town of Korolev, where we will watch, via monitor, the launch of the cosmonaut-carrying Soyuz rocket and then, two days, later the docking of that rocket to Mir. Anderson is not with us -- he had wanted to fly to the Kazakhstan launch site to witness the liftoff itself, but the Russian government refused to give him clearance because of the war in Chechnya. So he flew from Amsterdam to France. The launch goes off without a hitch. Kathuria spends 48 hours muttering repeatedly and almost semiconsciously, "This is definitely not telecom, definitely not for the faint of heart." Meanwhile, he negotiates with Energia in Energia's austere, heatless "international building" -- a square, pale, brick box with no front door, no lobby, no ornamentation -- an international building only possible to design if the architect never imagined foreign guests. Not so long ago, these same rooms housed debates about missile capability and Iron Curtain strategy so geopolitically intense that they sent schoolchildren across America scurrying under their desks during bomb drills. These days, agenda items include wiring Mir as an Internet portal and co-producing a prime-time television show, a sort of "Who Wants to Go to Outer Space?," to run for one season, following a dozen or so hopefuls through cosmonaut training, one being eliminated each week. Had Anderson not amassed nearly a billion-dollar fortune from an offshore holding company or had he not nurtured a libertarian obsession with government evil, you might wonder if he knows what he is doing. But Anderson, a 21st-century antihero, clearly knows how to manipulate economic arrangements to produce the effects he wants. Thus you have to assume it's by design that the Russians sound swoony and triumphant about the MirCorp deal ("Investment not so good from their part," a chief Energia officer gloats, suggesting he outmaneuvered Anderson) while Daniel Goldin, the NASA administrator, sounds defensive, embarrassed and left out. "My feelings are bruised. I have a hurt," Goldin uncorks in a particularly effusive moment from his office in Washington. "I'm not saying MirCorp shouldn't have done what they did. I'm just saying I'm in the book, they've got my number and it might have been nice if they called." Goldin, who speaks in a thick Brooklyn accent, sounds conflicted and disrespected, like a sidelined mafioso. Conflicted because, theoretically at least, he favors space commercialization. "Competition is great!" rings one of his mantras. Under Goldin's watch, NASA has contracted out some $3 billion annually with fledgling space businesses (Anderson refused to accept such funds on the Roton project, and he would refuse to accept them for Mir). At the same time, however, his lumbering bureaucracy has burned through, almost literally, some $60 billion on the International Space Station. In 1999, NASA suffered one of its worst years ever, losing two robotic Mars landers. Newt Gingrich credited Goldin with making "space as boring as possible." The Economist magazine dubbed the International Space Station "the black hole in the sky." Thus Goldin is sincere in saying, "If MirCorp can finance Mir and get an unsubsidized positive cash flow, I think that's fabulous!" He is also deeply humiliated to have to explain to Congress why (a) he lacks the clout to force the Russians to abandon Mir and meet their International Space Station milestones, and (b) a certain international financier is able to negotiate far better prices with the Russians than he is. "I'm not saying that money is being diverted," Goldin protests, intimating that the Russians may be siphoning money from the International Space Station and dumping them into Mir. "I'm just saying the arithmetic doesn't add up. I read in the papers that private United States investors paid $20 million for six weeks of operation of the Mir space station, a Soyuz vehicle, a Progress vehicle. They got the operations center. They got the training. And now I understand they're going to get another flight up there? The Russians charged us, last year" -- on an International Space Station-related matter -- $65 million for one Soyuz vehicle! $135 million for two! I'm just saying that it's frustrating, year after year, when the Russian government doesn't give us any vehicles to work with. So like I said, I have some bruised feelings. And the arithmetic! I'm confused." n Korolev, the morning of the docking, television crews trail muddy tracks as they push through the command-and-control center's drab marble foyer. Everyone's in a hurry -- who are these rich investors? -- and no one is wiping his feet. Upstairs, the control room proper resembles an aging 1950's college lecture hall -- rows of concentric half-circles, a projection screen up front. Old men fill the back landing, clasping hands and taking pictures. The engineers and cosmonauts of years past are on hand: Boris Chertok, 89 years old, who commanded the first space docking ever; Sergei Krikalev, still young and mustached, who in 1991 orbited overhead in Mir while the Soviet Union dissolved below, asking, "Is it true that Russia is going to sell the Mir space station, together with us?" All have seen communism, perestroika and failed capitalism; all regard Anderson's impassioned, impertinent largess with irresolute, blank stares. Nearly 200 miles above it all, two men careering at 18,000 miles an hour are trying to catch a decrepit space station doing the same. Below, we watch, onscreen, the spinning earth captured in the cross hairs of the docking portal. The image is haunting -- it speaks of power -- and causes you to wonder where Anderson is right now. Presumably he's making money on phones in France. Or perhaps he's in Spain, pursuing another of his far-out ventures, like the thermo-protected rocket-powered space skydivingsuit a friend of his is trying to build. (Anderson hopes to take dives from Mir.) It's hard to say. In part because nobody has a cell-phone number that works for him in Europe. In part because Anderson's cleft personality is hard to resolve. The devil in Anderson, it seems, is trying to get back at his father's government. Still, his spacefaring impulse seems to come from a pure, even childlike, place. Fortunately, the docking itself provides only minor excitement -- a bounce off the portal, a switch from automatic to manual, before the cosmonauts finally lock in. But immediately afterwards Semyonov treats the crowd of old-timers and reporters to one of the boldest gestures in the history of human space flight: he officially hands Mir's reins to MirCorp. Everyone laughs aloud with Semyonov at the indignities of age and the perpetual rise of the young. Not heard, however, are the inward nervous twitters, for this is a transition not simply from one generation to the next or from one political philosophy to another, but from a world order based on governments to one based on wealth, from an old-school Soviet comrade to an anarchic supercitizen, a man who feels himself alienated from his family, his peers, his country, his planet; a man who, because of a certain facility for making money, has the power to effect relations on a geopolitical scale. The effects of such a new world order, if in fact it comes to pass, will not be known for quite some time. Meanwhile, in the coming months, MirCorp will send Dennis Tito, its first "citizen-explorer," into orbit. Energia will provide Tito with rocket transportation and cosmonaut training, while NASA, on the sidelines, will continue feeling bruised and hurt, continue its public kvetching, continue exerting pressure on Putin to dump his old bag into the sea. (Goldin recently offered the Russian $100 million in space contracts, contingent on deorbiting Mir.) The Mir love triangle is inherently unstable, as love triangles always are. Anderson and Semyonov jilted Uncle Sam. Shortly after the docking, Kathuria, as Anderson's proxy, finds himself enveloped in a pack of elder Energia statesmen and, to consummate their union, is shepherded into the control room built for the International Space Station. There, among never-used consoles and shrink-wrapped chairs, everyone eats smoked salmon and caviar and hoists shots of Standard vodka. Everyone watches as MirCorp's cosmonauts float through Mir's hatch, unfurl the blue-and-white MirCorp sign and thank MirCorp very much. Semyonov toasts his new sugar daddies -- the people who trusted us" -- and rebuffs his old flame, NASA: "You closed the door on us, you slime. You closed the door in our face." Anderson's absence feels enigmatic, awkward. I do not speak to him for almost a week. And when I do, he offers only a single word, a simple, affectless adjective, to describe how he feels about his new space liaison, how he feels about sending two cosmonauts to orbit, challenging Russian-America relations and perhaps challenging relations between governments and their wealthiest citizens for quite some time. That word deciphers nothing of his personal and political motives. He says, plainly and abstrusely, that he's "happy." From cpvick@fas.org Tue Jul 25 19:59:55 2000 Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2000 14:59:55 -0400 From: Charles P. Vick cpvick@fas.org Subject: [FPSPACE] FIRST OPPORTUNITY TONIGHT FOR ZVEZDA TO DOCK WITH INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION >Subject: FIRST OPPORTUNITY TONIGHT FOR ZVEZDA TO DOCK WITH INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION >KirstenWilliams/Carolyn Townsend >Headquarters, Washington, DC July 25, 2000 >(Phone: 202/358-0243/358-1781) > >Ed Campion >Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX >(Phone: 281/483-5111) > >NOTE TO EDITORS : N00-36 > >FIRST OPPORTUNITY TONIGHT FOR ZVEZDA TO >DOCK WITH INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION > > The first opportunity for the Russian Zvezda service module >to dock automatically with the International Space Station will be >tonight at approximately 8:44 p.m. EDT, a few minutes earlier than >the originally scheduled docking time of 8:53 p.m. EDT. > > Coverage of the first opportunity to mate Zvezda with the >space station will begin at approximately 8:00 p.m. EDT on NASA >Television. The docking of Zvezda, which will serve as the living >quarters for the first crew, is the long-awaited first step toward >permanent living and working in space, and opens the pathway to >new discoveries. The first international crew to live aboard the >station, lead by American Commander Bill Shepherd, will be ready >to launch from Kazakhstan later this Fall. > > Following a successful docking, NASA Television will carry a >press conference at approximately 9:15 p.m. EDT. The news >conference will be broadcast live on NASA TV, with questions from >reporters at the Russian Mission Control Center in Korolev, >Russia. > > Live news interviews with astronaut Bob Cabana, International >Space Station Manager for International Operations, are scheduled >for Wednesday, July 26, 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. EDT, after the >first opportunity for docking. The live interviews will air even >if another docking opportunity is required. To request an >interview, please call Stephanie Zeluck at 281/483-9071. > > NASA TV can be found on GE-2, transponder 9C, 85 degrees West >longitude, vertical polarization, with a frequency of 3880 MHz, >and audio at 6.8 MHz. > _______________________ Charles P. Vick Research Analyst Federation of American Scientists phone: (202) 675-1025 fax: (202) 675-1024 email: cpvick@fas.org http://www.fas.org/ From cpvick@fas.org Tue Jul 25 20:03:16 2000 Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2000 15:03:16 -0400 From: Charles P. Vick cpvick@fas.org Subject: [FPSPACE] BRIEFINGS TO PREVIEW NEXT SHUTTLE VISIT TO THE SPACE STATION AND FIRST STATION CREW LAUNCH >Subject: BRIEFINGS TO PREVIEW NEXT SHUTTLE VISIT TO THE SPACE STATION AND FIRST STATION CREW LAUNCH > >Rob Navias / Kyle Herring >Johnson Space Center, Houston >(Phone: 281/483-5111) > >NOTE TO EDITORS: N00-35 > >BRIEFINGS TO PREVIEW NEXT SHUTTLE VISIT TO THE >SPACE STATION AND FIRST STATION CREW LAUNCH > > A series of briefings Aug. 1 and Aug. 2 at NASA's Johnson >Space Center, Houston, TX, will preview the September visit of the >space shuttle Atlantis to the International Space Station and the >October launch of the first crew to live aboard the station. > > Space shuttle mission STS-106, currently targeted for launch >Sept. 8, will open the doors for the first time to the newly >launched Zvezda service modul. Zvezda will serve as the living >quarters for the first space station resident crew, called >Expedition One, which will launch in late October. The Expedition >One crew will be launched aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from >the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to begin their four-month >stay. For much of the time prior to launch, crew members will >train in Russia, and the Aug. 2 briefing will be their only media >availability in the United States before their launch. The >scheduled briefings include: > > STS-106 Preflight Briefings > Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2000 > (all times CDT) > >8:30 a.m. STS-106 Mission Overview > Jim Van Laak, ISS Manager, Mission Integration and >Operations > Phil Engelauf, STS-106 Lead Flight Director > Rick La Brode, ISS Flight Director > Sharon Castle, STS-106 Launch Package Manager > > >10:30 a.m. International Space Station Science Payloads >Briefing > Dr. John Uri, ISS Mission Scientist > >11:00 a.m. NASA Television Video File > >12:00 p.m. STS-106 Extravehicular Activity Briefing > Mike Hess, Lead EVA Officer > >1:00 p.m. STS-106 Crew Press Conference > Terrence W. Wilcutt, Commander > Scott D. Altman, Pilot > Edward T. Lu, Mission Specialist > Richard A. Mastracchio, Mission Specialist > Daniel C. Burbank, Mission Specialist > Yuri Malenchenko, Mission Specialist > Boris Morukov, Mission Specialist > > Expedition One Preflight Briefings > Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2000 > (all times CDT) > >9:00 a.m. Expedition One Mission Overview > Jim Van Laak, ISS Manager, Mission Integration and >Operations > Jeff Hanley, Lead ISS Expedition One Flight Director > >1 p.m. Expedition One Crew Press Conference > William M. Shepherd, Expedition Commander > Yuri Gidzenko, Soyuz Commander > Sergei Krikalev, Flight Engineer > > Limited interview opportunities with members of both flight >crews will immediately follow each crew press conference for >reporters at the Johnson Space Center, or media who make advance >arrangements to participate by telephone. Media wishing to >participate in the crew interviews should fax their requests to >the JSC newsroom at (281) 483-2000 no later than close of >business, Thursday, July 27. > > All briefings will be broadcast live on NASA Television, and >questions will be taken from media at participating NASA centers. >NASA TV may be accessed on the GE-2 satellite, transponder 9C, >located at 85 degrees W. longitude, vertical polarization, with a >frequency of 3880 MHz and audio at 6.8 MHz. > > _______________________ Charles P. Vick Research Analyst Federation of American Scientists phone: (202) 675-1025 fax: (202) 675-1024 email: cpvick@fas.org http://www.fas.org/ From wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Tue Jul 25 22:40:10 2000 Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2000 17:40:10 -0400 (EDT) From: Dwayne Allen Day wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] More on UNESCO/ESA and regulation of space ORBITAL ARBITERS (Libération, July 12, p19, Jean-Dominique Merchet; Le Figaro, July 11, p17) In 40 years of sending objects as well as themselves into orbit, human beings have taken an estimated 20,000 tons of stuff into space and have left about 4,500 up there. Pack it in pack it out obviously does not apply to space programs, but a recent report commissioned jointly by UNESCO and the European Space Agency (ESA) is urging that some regulation of space activities be put into place soon. Pollution is one of several issues of what the report's authors call the "ethics of extra-atmospheric space", and a pressing one in view of the 35 million bits and pieces estimated to be spinning around over our heads, of which some 9,000 are bigger than 10 centimeters. Measures such as the already existing protocol of a higher, cemetery orbit established as a space junk heaven come with a significant price tag, therefore bringing commercial pressure to bear on environmental regulation (and proving that even in space there is nothing new under the sun). Equity issues abound in space ethics. Should new entrants to space technology face the same new tough regulations as established polluters? Whose responsible if and when space junk falls out of orbit and into a settled area of the planet? Shouldn't space discoveries and satellite-generated information be made accessible to developing countries that cannot afford satellites? Is an international legal body needed to develop and enforce space regulation? Is storing earthly radioactive waste in upper orbits a wise environmental solution? The UNESCO/ESA report comes out in favor of the latter proposal, and in general raises a number of important issues while offering some early answers to certain problems. Its effectiveness is hobbled however by a major and intentional omission: what the world's militaries put up there; sovereign sensitivities will likely not allow initiatives like the recently revived US Star Wars program to be put on the table. From Palladium@aol.com Wed Jul 26 04:13:34 2000 Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2000 23:13:34 EDT From: Palladium@aol.com Palladium@aol.com Subject: [FPSPACE] FIRST OPPORTUNITY TONIGHT FOR ZVEZDA TO DOCK WITH INTERNATIONAL... To all our Russian friends--- SPASEBA for a job outstandingly well done! Hey, we've got a REAL SPACE STATION NOW! (Sounds of champagne bottles popping) DS Michaels From svengrahn@mail.wineasy.se Wed Jul 26 05:19:26 2000 Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 06:19:26 +0200 From: Sven Grahn svengrahn@mail.wineasy.se Subject: [FPSPACE] Signals from ISS three hours after Zvezda docking Dear friends, This morning, 27 July 2000, three hours after te docking, I picked up signals from the ISS complex: 0345.05-0349.05: FM-TM 628.0 MHz (Zvezda) 0345.55-0348.20: FM-TM 632.0 MHz (Zarya) 0344.40-0348.20: FM-TM 634.0 MHz (Zarya) Interestingly, the Zarya signals were stronger than those from Zvezda. The signals from the two parts were not strong at the same time, indicating that the two modules partly block each others signals. Sven Grahn From dave.woods@lmco.com Wed Jul 26 12:32:15 2000 Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 07:32:15 -0400 From: Woods, Dave dave.woods@lmco.com Subject: [FPSPACE] More on UNESCO/ESA and regulation of space Dwayne's posting got a little scrogged, such that some folks might not have been able to read it. Here it is, hopefully in a straight text form that everyone can read. > -----Original Message----- > From: Dwayne Allen Day [SMTP:wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu] > Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2000 5:40 PM > To: fpspace@friends-partners.org > Subject: [FPSPACE] More on UNESCO/ESA and regulation of space > > This message uses a character set that is not supported by the Internet > Service. To view the original message content, open the attached > message. If the text doesn't display correctly, save the attachment to > disk, and then open it using a viewer that can display the original > character set. > << File: message.txt >> > Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2000 17:40:10 -0400 (EDT) From: Dwayne Allen Day Subject: [FPSPACE] More on UNESCO/ESA and regulation of space To: fpspace@friends-partners.org ORBITAL ARBITERS (Lib'ration, July 12, p19, Jean-Dominique Merchet; Le Figaro, July 11, p17) In 40 years of sending objects as well as themselves into orbit, human beings have taken an estimated 20,000 tons of stuff into space and have left about 4,500 up there. Pack it in pack it out obviously does not apply to space programs, but a recent report commissioned jointly by UNESCO and the European Space Agency (ESA) is urging that some regulation of space activities be put into place soon. Pollution is one of several issues of what the report's authors call the "ethics of extra-atmospheric space", and a pressing one in view of the 35 million bits and pieces estimated to be spinning around over our heads, of which some 9,000 are bigger than 10 centimeters. Measures such as the already existing protocol of a higher, cemetery orbit established as a space junk heaven come with a significant price tag, therefore bringing commercial pressure to bear on environmental regulation (and proving that even in space there is nothing new under the sun). Equity issues abound in space ethics. Should new entrants to space technology face the same new tough regulations as established polluters? Whose responsible if and when space junk falls out of orbit and into a settled area of the planet? Shouldn't space discoveries and satellite-generated information be made accessible to developing countries that cannot afford satellites? Is an international legal body needed to develop and enforce space regulation? Is storing earthly radioactive waste in upper orbits a wise environmental solution? The UNESCO/ESA report comes out in favor of the latter proposal, and in general raises a number of important issues while offering some early answers to certain problems. Its effectiveness is hobbled however by a major and intentional omission: what the world's militaries put up there; sovereign sensitivities will likely not allow initiatives like the recently revived US Star Wars program to be put on the table. _______________________________________________ FPSPACE mailing list FPSPACE@friends-partners.org http://fpmail.friends-partners.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/fpspace From AZak@HQ.SPACE.com Wed Jul 26 13:59:46 2000 Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 08:59:46 -0400 From: Anatoly Zak AZak@HQ.SPACE.com Subject: [FPSPACE] An unknown spaceplane flight ? It looks like a total fake or April 1 joke including images. One could spend a lot of time debunking this, I just can tell there was too much Glasnost in 1992, to conceal such project. Anatoly Zak -----Original Message----- From: Phillip Clark [mailto:psclark@dircon.co.uk] Sent: 22 èþëÿ 2000 ã. 13:10 To: FPSPACE Subject: [FPSPACE] An unknown spaceplane flight ? I am showing below the text of a message which was forwarded to me onJuly 21st by a reputable source and I thought that it might be of interest. I have slightly edited the piece because of the source. Looking at the numbers, they don't add up, but the story is there for consideration. Phillip Clark --------------------------------------------------------------------------- BURAN'S TWIN - BAYKAL - FLEW EIGHT YEARS AGO Information just placed on the Buran programme's official website (http://www.buran.ru) reveals that after three weeks of intensive pre- launch testing on the left-hand launch installation of the "Energiya- Buran" complex at Baykonur cosmodrome Buran's younger brother - orbital craft "Baykal" - set off for the Mir orbital station on 4 February 1992. It had been believed that Buran's two-orbit flight on 15 November 1988 was the only time the "Soviet shuttle" had flown. "Baykal" broke away from the launch complex at 13.24 Moscow time en route for an automatic docking with the Mir station. If all had gone according to plan Gennadiy Manakov and Aleksandr Polishchuk would have been sent up to the orbital craft on a specially equipped "Soyuz" to practise docking and rescue operations for use on board a stricken "shuttle". Unfortunately, approximately forty seconds into the flight two engines of the first stage (unit "A") switched off one after the other. A unique automatic device from Moscow's Scientific Production Association of Automation and Instrument Engineering (NPO AP) enabled the orbital craft to separate from the falling rocket, complete a manoeuvre in the atmosphere using its own engines and, 22 minutes after launch, land at Baykonur's "Yubileynyy" cosmodrome. The web page dedicated to "Baykal's" flight was prepared by NPO Molniya's webmasters in strictest secrecy. On 13 March the well-known Austrian(?) "tracker" and analyst Mark Wade accidentally stumbled upon the page hidden on the buran.ru server. After the sensational news about the "Secret flight of a second Buran" had been revealed on the English language internet the "Baykal" page was immediately removed from the buran server. The suggestion is that Mark Wade became confused due to an insufficient understanding of the Russian language. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Phillip S Clark 22 Winterbourne Close Molniya Space Consultancy Hastings Compiler/Publisher, Worldwide Satellite Launches E Sussex TN34 1XG U.K. Specialist in "space archeology" - the older and more obscure the more interesting it is ! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ FPSPACE mailing list FPSPACE@friends-partners.org http://fpmail.friends-partners.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/fpspace From dconst+@pyrrhus.cimds.ri.cmu.edu Wed Jul 26 14:29:24 2000 Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 9:29:24 EDT From: dconst+@pyrrhus.cimds.ri.cmu.edu dconst+@pyrrhus.cimds.ri.cmu.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] Re: An unknown spaceplane flight ? Here is an idea: Why would not we establish "the Ivan" [COL. Istochnikov], which will be awarded every April 1? The nominees will be selected by the Committee from both pools of stories: ones been around for a while and the fresh meat. It looks like we will get the strong competition in both categories. ;) ;) -- Constantine "Kostya" Domashnev From L.van.den.Abeelen@direct.a2000.nl Wed Jul 26 21:18:59 2000 Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 22:18:59 +0200 From: Luc van den Abeelen L.van.den.Abeelen@direct.a2000.nl Subject: [FPSPACE] ISS by another name? During the Zvezda post launch press conference on July 12, Yuri Koptev told reporters that the press would be given 'a present in the form of a new name for the station' after succesfull docking. This morning, there was no mention of this theme. Over the past few years, the naming of the station has been an on-again off-again affair. Anyone have an insight on the official status? From wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Wed Jul 26 21:43:01 2000 Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 16:43:01 -0400 (EDT) From: Dwayne Allen Day wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] ISS by another name? On Wed, 26 Jul 2000, Luc van den Abeelen wrote: > During the Zvezda post launch press conference on July 12, Yuri Koptev told > reporters that the press would be given 'a present in the form of a new name > for the station' after succesfull docking. This morning, there was no > mention of this theme. Over the past few years, the naming of the station > has been an on-again off-again affair. Anyone have an insight on the > official status? Why should we wait for them? I say we hold our own contest to select the best name for the space station. Here's my suggestion: Space Station Boondoggle DDAY From psclark@dircon.co.uk Wed Jul 26 21:37:53 2000 Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 20:37:53 +0000 (GMT) From: Phillip Clark psclark@dircon.co.uk Subject: [FPSPACE] ISS by another name? On Wed, 26 Jul 2000, Luc van den Abeelen wrote: > During the Zvezda post launch press conference on July 12, Yuri Koptev told > reporters that the press would be given 'a present in the form of a new name > for the station' after succesfull docking. This morning, there was no > mention of this theme. Over the past few years, the naming of the station > has been an on-again off-again affair. Anyone have an insight on the > official status? Since the first component of the Mir Complex to be launched was Mir itself, then by the same logic ISS should be known as the Zarya Complex. However, I feel that one or two people will disagree with this logical suggestion. Phillip Clark --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Phillip S Clark 22 Winterbourne Close Molniya Space Consultancy Hastings Compiler/Publisher, Worldwide Satellite Launches E Sussex TN34 1XG U.K. Specialist in "space archeology" - the older and more obscure the more interesting it is ! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- From DSFPortree@aol.com Wed Jul 26 23:04:39 2000 Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 18:04:39 EDT From: DSFPortree@aol.com DSFPortree@aol.com Subject: [FPSPACE] Re: FPSPACE digest, Vol 1 #14 - 13 msgs Some ISS name candidates: Space Station Detour. Space Station Jobs Program. Space Station Vampire. Space Station Foreign Aid. Space Station Leech. Space Station Lost Dream. David David S. F. Portree Writer NASA/Earth & Sky Broadcast Fellow (2000) Goddard Space Flight Center http://members.aol.com/dsfportree/discovery.htm From cpvick@fas.org Thu Jul 27 02:03:10 2000 Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 21:03:10 -0400 From: Charles P. Vick cpvick@fas.org Subject: [FPSPACE] PAST SPACE PLATFORMS NO COMPARISONTO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION >Dwayne Brown/Renee Juhans >Headquarters, Washington, DC July 26, 2000 >(Phone: 202/358-1726/1712) > >RELEASE: 00-115 > >PAST SPACE PLATFORMS NO COMPARISON >TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION > > Experts in the fields of biology, chemistry, physics and >general science proclaimed yesterday that the International Space >Station moves to the "head of the class" compared to the Spacelab >and Mir programs. > > "Research opportunities in the biomedical field during those >past space programs have been very limited," said Dr. J. Milburn >Jessup, Professor of Surgery, University of Texas Heath Science >Center. "The International Space Station will offer scientists a >lab that could provide an opportunity to study and gain better >understanding of bone and muscle loss, balance disorders, and cell >and tissue reproduction," he said. > > "We found in two short shuttle flights that fewer cells >cultured in space died than similar cells cultured on the ground. >This in essence could improve the process of understanding death >of the human body," said Jessup. > > Jessup was one of five researchers participating in the first >in a series of International Space Station media forums NASA will >hold as the Agency and its international partners move into high >gear for construction and research on the infant space platform. >The forum was held hours prior to the successful docking of >Russia's Zvezda module. > > According to the panelists, the International Space Station >will provide scientists with continual access and long-term >exposure in space, coupled with state-of-the art equipment >-- a combination, they agreed, that could provide untold multiple >benefits to humankind. > > "The Hubble Space Telescope is to astrophysicists as the >International Space Station will be to other researchers -- a >working science laboratory in space," said Dr. Julie Swain, acting >NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Life and Microgravity >Science and Applications, Washington, DC, and Professor of >Cardiovascular Surgery, University of Kentucky. > > "The Mir and Spacelab programs provided only a glimpse. The >International Space Station offers the opportunity to conduct >research 24 hours a day, 365 days a year," said Dr. Mary Musgrave, >Associate Dean, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and >Professor of Biology, University of Massachusetts. > > Dr. Ron Sega, Dean, College of Engineering and Applied >Science, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, and a former >astronaut, noted that the International Space Station is also a >research tool for engineering. "Knowledge obtained from this >station will help us build the next generation of satellites, >which may lead to further commercial applications of space. > > "International Space Station engineering research will >certainly enhance technology development outside the space >station," he said. > > Dr. Kathryn Clark, Senior Scientist for the International >Space Station, noted that research of this magnitude does not >happen overnight. However, the International Space Station will >be a vital platform for providing greater insight into >understanding the human body, exploring the universe, studying the >Earth and atmospheric changes, and improving the overall quality >of life on Earth. > > "The International Space Station is the essential test-bed in >which questions in these areas may be answered," Clark said. > > The International Space Station is the largest and most >complex international project in history. Led by the United >States, the project draws upon the scientific and technological >resources of 16 nations. > _______________________ Charles P. Vick Research Analyst Federation of American Scientists phone: (202) 675-1025 fax: (202) 675-1024 email: cpvick@fas.org http://www.fas.org/ From wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Thu Jul 27 04:01:44 2000 Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 23:01:44 -0400 (EDT) From: Dwayne Allen Day wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] PAST SPACE PLATFORMS NO COMPARISONTO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION > >PAST SPACE PLATFORMS NO COMPARISON > >TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION > > > > Experts in the fields of biology, chemistry, physics and > >general science proclaimed yesterday that the International Space > >Station moves to the "head of the class" compared to the Spacelab > >and Mir programs. > > > > "Research opportunities in the biomedical field during those > >past space programs have been very limited," said Dr. J. Milburn > >Jessup, Professor of Surgery, University of Texas Heath Science > >Center. Of course, are we to forget the fact that large numbers of scientists came out _against_ the space station in the early 1990s and declared that it had little scientific value? > > "The Mir and Spacelab programs provided only a glimpse. The > >International Space Station offers the opportunity to conduct > >research 24 hours a day, 365 days a year," said Dr. Mary Musgrave, > >Associate Dean, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and > >Professor of Biology, University of Massachusetts. It might be worthwhile to ponder how these kinds of pronouncements will affect MirCorp's ability to obtain funding. They claim that Mir will be useful for scientific research. What they need are people willing to give them money who believe that this is true. But when scientists come out publicly to claim that ISS will be much better than Mir for science, it might undercut MirCorp's argument. (Personally, I don't believe that there is any real private market for space-based research.) DDAY From cwdonald@ix.netcom.com Thu Jul 27 07:01:36 2000 Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 23:01:36 -0700 From: Chuck Donaldson cwdonald@ix.netcom.com Subject: [FPSPACE] PAST SPACE PLATFORMS NO COMPARISONTO INTERNATIONALSPACE STATION [snip > > > >PAST SPACE PLATFORMS NO COMPARISON > > >TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION > > > > > > Experts in the fields of biology, chemistry, physics and > > >general science proclaimed yesterday that the International Space > > >Station moves to the "head of the class" compared to the Spacelab > > >and Mir programs. > > > > > > "Research opportunities in the biomedical field during those > > >past space programs have been very limited," said Dr. J. Milburn > > >Jessup, Professor of Surgery, University of Texas Heath Science > > >Center. > > Of course, are we to forget the fact that large numbers of scientists came > out _against_ the space station in the early 1990s and declared that it > had little scientific value? [And of course does Dr. J. Milburn Jessup have a project in mind for his University that will fly on ISS, extend his ISS grant and get his name in lights. Funny how that works. "This is not good for the country" "What...we got the zero G curly tail rat experiment contract?" "Ladies and Gentlemen this station is the ONLY station that will take us to a brighter future, a kinder and gentler curly tailed rat." cwdonald > [snip] From cwdonald@ix.netcom.com Thu Jul 27 07:15:31 2000 Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 23:15:31 -0700 From: Chuck Donaldson cwdonald@ix.netcom.com Subject: [FPSPACE] ISS by another name? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Luc van den Abeelen" To: Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2000 1:18 PM Subject: [FPSPACE] ISS by another name? > During the Zvezda post launch press conference on July 12, Yuri Koptev told > reporters that the press would be given 'a present in the form of a new name > for the station' after succesfull docking. This morning, there was no > mention of this theme. Over the past few years, the naming of the station > has been an on-again off-again affair. Anyone have an insight on the > official status? [Sure. The name will not be masculine, it will not defame even in the most none obtrusive way any race, creed, ethic group, culture, or political group that has any camera time. It will not be an animal, vegetable, but could be a mineral which has no lobby or special protective group as yet. It will not invoke any particular country, city, landmass or piece of dirt that has any remote tie to ancient, white male, European or classical Greek foundations. It will be a broad based, shallow, meaningless term, shed of anything touching dramatic or man worshipping stature. Some suggestions. The Worldwide People's Environmental [free the New York Five] Space Platform The Warm and Fuzzy Evening Star The Interplanetary Ameba Refuge Steel (after that great and wonderful guy of the last century ) Can't be Tin or Lead or Gold or Silver, these are evil minerals causing unnecessary pain and greed.] > > _______________________________________________ > FPSPACE mailing list > FPSPACE@friends-partners.org > http://fpmail.friends-partners.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/fpspace From L.van.den.Abeelen@direct.a2000.nl Thu Jul 27 16:09:21 2000 Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 17:09:21 +0200 From: Luc van den Abeelen L.van.den.Abeelen@direct.a2000.nl Subject: [FPSPACE] Gagarin's speech There are pictures of Gagarin during suit-up, on the bus to the launch pad, walking across the pad, getting into the Wostok capsule. However, never have I seen any footage of Gagarin giving his historic speech that he should have given at the foot of his rocket. There are audio recordings, sounding crisp, no background noise audible. I have for years doubted the authenticity of this tape, having the impression the thing was arranged after Gagarins's safe return to Earth. Would anyone like to share his thoughts on this? From JamesOberg@aol.com Wed Jul 26 20:28:47 2000 Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 15:28:47 EDT From: JamesOberg@aol.com JamesOberg@aol.com Subject: [FPSPACE] NASA Cancels Space Station Parties After Russian Drowns in Houston NASA has cancelled its celebratory parties in Houston tonight because of this accidental drowning of a Russian flight controller. Jim Oberg 281-534-4900 -- Wed. Jul. 26, 2000 Houston Chronicle Mission specialist drowned Webster police are investigating the drowning of an unnamed 38-year-old Russian mission specialist who was found dead in a Webster apartment complex swimming pool Tuesday night. He and two Russian friends had been celebrating the successful docking of the Zvezda module to the international space station. Police have ruled out foul play, saying that the drowning was accidental. NASA will release a statement later today. From CATCHPOLECYNIC@cs.com Thu Jul 27 21:27:49 2000 Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 16:27:49 EDT From: CATCHPOLECYNIC@cs.com CATCHPOLECYNIC@cs.com Subject: [FPSPACE] ISS by another name? In a message dated 27/07/00 07:19:08 GMT Daylight Time, cwdonald@ix.netcom.com writes: << ----- Original Message ----- From: "Luc van den Abeelen" To: Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2000 1:18 PM Subject: [FPSPACE] ISS by another name? > During the Zvezda post launch press conference on July 12, Yuri Koptev told > reporters that the press would be given 'a present in the form of a new name > for the station' after succesfull docking. This morning, there was no > mention of this theme. Over the past few years, the naming of the station > has been an on-again off-again affair. Anyone have an insight on the > official status? >> On 1, December 1998 ISS programme manager Randy Brinkley was asked why the major ISS modules had names, but the station itself no-longer had a name. He replied, "I don't do names." A few hours later he stood up on the stage at a public naming ceremony and officially named the American Laboratory Module "Destiny." On the same day he was quoted as saying: "We've decided to name our dog's legs and all their body parts. So maybe that will be an incentive to come up with a name. In the meantime we just call our dog 'Dog'." At the same time the Houston Chronicle asked a number of American school children to come up with names for ISS. Their suggestions included: Dudeship Totally Rad Space Place The Giant Space Thingy Even Better Than Mir Personally I think we should go with "The Giant space Thingy," until someone decides what they are actually going to do with it. JC From Palladium@aol.com Thu Jul 27 22:15:41 2000 Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 17:15:41 EDT From: Palladium@aol.com Palladium@aol.com Subject: Fwd: Re: [FPSPACE] ISS by another name? ------_Part_3980a67d-0189-8e2-010203040506 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ------_Part_3980a67d-0189-8e2-010203040506 Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Disposition: inline Return-Path: Received: from web45.aolmail.aol.com (web45.aolmail.aol.com [205.188.161.6]) by air-id05.mx.aol.com (v75_b3.9) with ESMTP; Thu, 27 Jul 2000 17:13:26 -0400 Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 17:13:26 EDT From: Palladium@aol.com Subject:Re: [FPSPACE] ISS by another name? To: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Unknown <> I love "Even Better than Mir." Couldn't stop laughing. My own suggestions, In keeping with the space privatization drive: The Hilton High Frontier Space Station Pizza Hut Caesar's Space Palace Disney's Floatarama DSMichaels ------_Part_3980a67d-0189-8e2-010203040506-- From JamesOberg@aol.com Thu Jul 27 22:21:48 2000 Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 17:21:48 EDT From: JamesOberg@aol.com JamesOberg@aol.com Subject: [FPSPACE] London TIMES: OPINION -- Russia, still with its head in the clouds JimO: Interesting eyewitness essay.... The Times (UK) / 15 July 2000 OPINION -- Russia, still with its head in the clouds By Giles Whittell It's been a splendid week for Russian space scientists. In a triumph over corruption and crippling shortages of money, they hurled their centrepiece of the International Space Station (ISS) into perfect orbit in front of the world's admiring press. That, at any rate, is the official version. Western taxpayers who are subsidising Russia's role in the project should also know that it was a close-run thing. After years of coping with calamities on the Mir space station, when the Russians finally found time for some ISS business they rolled out an old-fashioned rocket almost identical to two that blew up last year, lit its monstrous fuel tanks and hoped for the best. There was a banquet afterwards. Sturgeon canapes vanished by the plateload, washed down by local brandy. There were endless cheers from overweight engineer-administrators. Yet it is hard to be fooled for long about what goes on at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Gigantic hangars and launch towers rise from the steppe wherever you look. Telescope dishes point skyward, and the lonely Buran, Russia's answer to Nasa's Shuttle, sits between earthen ramparts where it was parked after its one and only flight. A confession: I am obsessed by Baikonur. The audacity of what goes on there and its remoteness in the arid heart of Kazakhstan were so alluring to me eight years go that I spent most of a modest book advance on getting there. I arrived by taxi after a four-hour drive from the nearest civilian airport and was swiftly locked up in a railway station with a one-way ticket back to Alma-Ata. The KGB were intact and paranoid then, but they forgot to lock my window. I climbed out after dark, walked to the edge of the cosmodrome and gasped at the night launch of a German communications satellite. Wednesday was very different. As a badge-wearing correspondent, I followed a well-worn routine that since my first trip there has opened this holy of holies of Soviet technology to foreign gawping and several billion dollars in foreign investments. For $1,000 I had a ringside seat. At Baikonur this means standing in a scrubby paddock two miles from the launch site, which is close enough. There was no countdown (an American invention for TV); just a huge explosion, a long pause and an ear-splitting roar. It was over in seconds - next to me a man missed it and spun round when the noise hit - but I would not have missed it for the world. Forty-three years after the launch of Sputnik, Russia's adventures in the cosmos remain both awe-inspiring and downright spooky. That Gagarin was in space less than a century after the emancipation of the serfs stretches the credulity even more than do the Apollo missions to the Moon - which some still insist were faked in the Mojave desert. But the legends of Baikonur are all true. The soft radio pings that Sputnik sent back to Earth were the sound of Soviet knowhow, not Soviet propaganda. They scared the Americans stiff and for millions in and outside the Communist bloc they seemed to vindicate at least some of Russia's horrific suffering under Stalin. Stalin is now history, but the cult of the cosmos lives on. Gagarin's statue towers over the square named after him in Moscow, taller and much better muscled than that of Nelson over London. His last crackly words before liftoff precede the news on state television every day, and Russians love to recall his common touch. (Anxious for a pee en route to the launch pad in 1961, he stopped the bus and relieved himself in its shade through a hole in his spacesuit. His successors have done likewise ever since.) What was he like? Vesyoli, you are told. Not Chuck Yeager-cool, but jolly. He was the techno-Stakhanovite, smiling in the face of death. His launchpad is naturally the first stop on any tour of Baikonur. The hydraulic rams that hoisted his rocket into position are still in use, our guide intoned, "and they frequently overwhelm foreign experts with their simplicity". The same can be said of most aspects of Russian space technology. Gagarin's masters grasped brilliantly that space travel, even at 17,000mph in a perfect vacuum, need not be complicated. It involves no miracles of lift over drag, just O-level action and reaction. The secret was to think big - and the Soviet command economy could think no other way. Even in its death throes, it is said to have produced 80 surplus Proton rocket motors of the kind that sent the Zvezda module into orbit this week. With such a tolerance for waste, all that was required was a cosmodrome far enough south to take advantage of the Earth's rotation and secret enough to make mistakes in private. Baikonur was the result. Those who go there today see the symptoms of a long battle between profit and prestige. Profit almost stole the show this week when Pizza Hut paid a rumoured $1 million to put its logo on Zvezda, but prestige is what Moscow seeks by keeping Mir alive against Nasa's muttered protests. Dan Goldin, the Nasa administrator, indulged his hosts with lavish praise on Wednesday but it was clear that underneath his immaculate beige suit his patience is wearing thin. After a long and evasive explanation by his Russian counterpart for costly delays on the International Space Station, Goldin was asked an equally long question about America's next launch. "September six, we're ready," he said, and pushed the microphone away. For a second it seemed as if the space race hadn't ended. It certainly remains moot who won it. From cwdonald@ix.netcom.com Fri Jul 28 07:52:34 2000 Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 23:52:34 -0700 From: Chuck Donaldson cwdonald@ix.netcom.com Subject: [FPSPACE] ISS by another name? Even when I think I'm being clever, there are those who come shining through: "Space Thingy" is priceless. I believe I said animals and vegetables were out, but apparently Dogs do not have a vocal group. Note, that Destiny falls well within my predicted name. It has absolutely no origin, no gender, no culture, no territorial designation-it is a bland, safe word that can mean anything to anyone. ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2000 1:27 PM Subject: Re: [FPSPACE] ISS by another name? > In a message dated 27/07/00 07:19:08 GMT Daylight Time, > cwdonald@ix.netcom.com writes: > > << > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Luc van den Abeelen" > To: > Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2000 1:18 PM > Subject: [FPSPACE] ISS by another name? > > > > During the Zvezda post launch press conference on July 12, Yuri Koptev > told > > reporters that the press would be given 'a present in the form of a new > name > > for the station' after succesfull docking. This morning, there was no > > mention of this theme. Over the past few years, the naming of the station > > has been an on-again off-again affair. Anyone have an insight on the > > official status? >> > > > > On 1, December 1998 ISS programme manager Randy Brinkley was asked why the > major ISS modules had names, but the station itself no-longer had a name. > He replied, "I don't do names." > > A few hours later he stood up on the stage at a public naming ceremony and > officially named the American Laboratory Module "Destiny." > > On the same day he was quoted as saying: > > "We've decided to name our dog's legs and all their body parts. > So maybe that will be an incentive to come up with a name. > In the meantime we just call our dog 'Dog'." > > At the same time the Houston Chronicle asked a number of American school > children to come up with names for ISS. Their suggestions included: > > Dudeship > > Totally Rad Space Place > > The Giant Space Thingy > > Even Better Than Mir > > > Personally I think we should go with "The Giant space Thingy," until someone > decides what they are actually going to do with it. > > JC > _______________________________________________ > FPSPACE mailing list > FPSPACE@friends-partners.org > http://fpmail.friends-partners.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/fpspace From cwdonald@ix.netcom.com Fri Jul 28 07:54:20 2000 Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 23:54:20 -0700 From: Chuck Donaldson cwdonald@ix.netcom.com Subject: [FPSPACE] ISS by another name? You guys are just too good for me. :) ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2000 2:15 PM Subject: Fwd: Re: [FPSPACE] ISS by another name? > > From cwdonald@ix.netcom.com Fri Jul 28 08:31:08 2000 Date: Fri, 28 Jul 2000 00:31:08 -0700 From: Chuck Donaldson cwdonald@ix.netcom.com Subject: [FPSPACE] Gagarin's speech ----- Original Message ----- From: "Luc van den Abeelen" To: Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2000 8:09 AM Subject: [FPSPACE] Gagarin's speech > There are pictures of Gagarin during suit-up, on the bus to the launch pad, walking across the pad, getting into the Wostok capsule. However, never have I seen any footage of Gagarin giving his historic speech that he should have given at the foot of his rocket. There are audio recordings, sounding crisp, no background noise audible. I have for years doubted the authenticity of this tape, having the impression the thing was arranged after Gagarins's safe return to Earth. Would anyone like to share his thoughts on this? [Have you looked around the area where Gagarin leaves the bus or begins the climb up the stairs? Have you noticed the microphone setup? No? Did you notice the little area with possibly a stand, or podium to speak in front of? No? He gets out of the bus, stands in the mist of lots of cosmonauts, ground crew, fifty NKVD agents, shakes hands, hugs, and then moves away. You just don't get the impression there is going to be a speech.] cwdonald > > _______________________________________________ > FPSPACE mailing list > FPSPACE@friends-partners.org > http://fpmail.friends-partners.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/fpspace From cpvick@fas.org Fri Jul 28 14:23:57 2000 Date: Fri, 28 Jul 2000 09:23:57 -0400 From: Charles P. Vick cpvick@fas.org Subject: [FPSPACE] NASA GOES BACK TO THE FUTURE WITH PLANS FOR A MARS ROVER IN 2003; POSSIBLE SECOND ROVER BEING STUDIED > >RELEASE: 00-119 > >NASA GOES BACK TO THE FUTURE WITH PLANS FOR A MARS ROVER IN 2003; >POSSIBLE SECOND ROVER BEING STUDIED > > In 2003, NASA plans to launch a relative of the now-famous >1997 Mars Pathfinder rover. Using drop, bounce, and roll >technology, this larger cousin is expected to reach the surface of >the Red Planet in January, 2004 and begin the longest journey of >scientific exploration ever undertaken across the surface of that >alien world. > > Dr. Edward Weiler, Associate Administrator, Office of Space >Science, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC., announced today that >the Mars Rover was his choice from two mission options which had >been under study since March. > > "Today I am announcing that we have selected the Mars >Exploration Program Rover rather than the orbiter option, which was >an extremely difficult decision to make," said Weiler. "At the same >time, we want to look into what could be an amazing opportunity, as >well as a challenge, by sending two such rovers to two very >different locations on Mars in 2003 rather than just one." > > "We are evaluating the implications of a two-rover option, >Weiler added. "I intend to make a decision in the next few weeks so >that, if the decision is to proceed with two rovers, we can meet >the development schedule for a 2003 launch." > > With far greater mobility and scientific capability than the >1997 Mars Pathfinder Sojourner rover, this new robotic explorer >will be able to trek up to110 yards (100 meters) across the surface >each Martian day, which is 24 hrs. 37 min. The Mars rover will >carry a sophisticated set of instruments that will allow it to >search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in >the planet's past, as well as study the geologic building blocks on >the surface. > > "This mission will give us the first ever robot field >geologist on Mars. It not only has the potential for breakthrough >scientific discoveries, but also gives us necessary experience in >full-scale surface science operations which will benefit all future >missions," said Scott Hubbard, Mars Program Director at NASA >Headquarters. "A landed mission in 2003 also allows us to take >advantage of a very favorable alignment between Earth and Mars." > > After launch on top a Delta II rocket, and a cruise of seven >and a half months, the spacecraft should enter the Martian >atmosphere January 20, 2004. In a landing similar to that of the >Pathfinder spacecraft, a parachute will deploy to slow the >spacecraft down, and airbags will inflate to cushion the landing. >Upon reaching the surface the spacecraft will bounce about a dozen >times and could roll as far as a half-mile (about one kilometer). >When it comes to a stop, the airbags will deflate and retract, and >the petals will open, bringing the lander to an upright position >and revealing the rover. > > Where the Pathfinder mission consisted of a lander, with >science instruments and camera, as well as the small Sojourner >rover, the Mars 2003 mission features a design that is dramatically >different. This new spacecraft will consist entirely of the large, >long-range rover, which comes to the surface inside a Pathfinder >landing system, making it essentially a mobile scientific lander. > > Immediately after touchdown, the rover is expected to give us >a virtual tour of the landing site by sending back a high >resolution 360-degree, panoramic, color and infrared image. It will >then leave the petal structure behind, driving off as scientists >command the vehicle to go to rock and soil targets of interest. > > This rover will be able to travel almost as far in one Martian >day as the Sojourner rover did over its entire lifetime. Rocks and >soils will be analyzed with a set of five instruments. A special >tool called the "RAT," or Rock Abrasion Tool, will also be used to >expose fresh rock surfaces for study. > > The rover will weigh about 300 pounds (nearly 150 kilograms) >and has a range of up to about 110 yards (100 meters) per sol, or >Martian day. Surface operations will last for at least 90 sols, >extending to late April 2004, but could continue longer, depending >on the health of the rover. > > "By studying a diverse array of martian materials, including >the interiors of rocks, the instruments aboard the Rover will >reveal the secrets of past martian environments, possibly providing >new perspectives on where to focus the quest for signs of past >life," said Dr. Jim Garvin, NASA Mars Program Scientist at NASA >Headquarters. "Furthermore, the Rover offers never-before-possible >opportunities for discoveries about the martian surface at scales >ranging from microscopic to that of gigantic boulders. This is a >key stepping stone to the future of our Mars exploration program." > > One aspect of the Mars Rover's mission is to determine history >of climate and water at a site or sites on Mars where conditions >may once have been warmer and wetter and thus potentially favorable >to life as we know it here on Earth. > > The exact landing site has not yet been chosen, but is likely >to be a location such as a former lakebed or channel deposit - a >place where scientists believe there was once water. A site will be >selected on the basis of intensive study of orbital data collected >by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, as well as the Mars 2001 >orbiter, and other missions. > > The alternative mission, which had been under consideration >for the 2003 opportunity, was a Mars scientific orbiter, which >featured a camera capable of imaging objects as small as about two >feet (60 cm) across, an imaging spectrometer designed to search for >mineralogical evidence of the role of ancient water in martian >history, and other science objectives. > > Teams at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA, >and Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, CO, conducted separate, >intensive, two-month studies of the missions. > > "Both teams did an absolutely superb job in preparing these >proposals in a very compressed time frame," said Dr. Weiler. "They >both deserve a lot of credit for what they were able to achieve." > > "This project can be accommodated within the President's >budget request for NASA and we will spend the next few weeks >refining our budget estimates and other requirements, plus the >impacts and the consequences of sending two rovers to Mars instead >of one," said Hubbard. "When we have fully addressed all of the >issues, which may take several weeks, we will announce our final >plans." > > - end - _______________________ Charles P. Vick Research Analyst Federation of American Scientists phone: (202) 675-1025 fax: (202) 675-1024 email: cpvick@fas.org http://www.fas.org/ From dconst+@pyrrhus.cimds.ri.cmu.edu Fri Jul 28 16:58:46 2000 Date: Fri, 28 Jul 2000 11:58:46 EDT From: dconst+@pyrrhus.cimds.ri.cmu.edu dconst+@pyrrhus.cimds.ri.cmu.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] Fwd: Supply vessel for space station to be launched Sunday Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 12:20:22 PDT Organization: Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) MOSCOW, July 27 (AFP) - The supply vessel Progress is to be launched Sunday to link up to the International Space Station (ISS), the Russian space control center (TSOUP) said Thursday. The vessel will provide fuel, technical equipment, food, and water for the space ship that will get its first team in October. Progress will be launched from the Baikonur base in Kazakhstan with the support of space craft Soyuz, the same soucre said. Two American spaceships and a second Progress vessel are expected to join the ISS before the team of US commander William Shepherd and Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalyov arrive on October 30. All systems of the Zvezda module, which was launched Wednesday, "function well", TSOUP reported. Zvezda is a module comprising the living and working quarters of the ISS and housing the navigation and guidance systems until the American-built module Destiny takes over. -- Of course, it is no news for members of this list ;) -- Constantine "Kostya" Domashnev From JamesOberg@aol.com Fri Jul 28 18:43:31 2000 Date: Fri, 28 Jul 2000 13:43:31 EDT From: JamesOberg@aol.com JamesOberg@aol.com Subject: [FPSPACE] Did China Radio Greetings to GT-5 in 1965? Historical 1965 US/China space interaction question: In Gordon Cooper's new book LEAP OF FAITH page 124 he relates that on GT-5's first pass over China he and Conrad heard "a pinging in our ears" that came from high-power radar tracking from China. Next came a feminine voice over their radio, saying "Good evening Gemini-5, for your pleasure we will play some music." I've never heard of such EMI during Gemini, or of non-NASA radio signals reaching astronauts. Is there any independent documentation of this incident? Recall GT-5 was in a 32.6 deg inclination orbit so would have overflown southern China. From dm.harland@cableol.co.uk Fri Jul 28 19:03:07 2000 Date: Fri, 28 Jul 2000 19:03:07 +0100 From: David M Harland dm.harland@cableol.co.uk Subject: [FPSPACE] Did China Radio Greetings to GT-5 in 1965? JimO asked: Is there any independent documentation of this incident? Three Gemini 5 transcripts have just been posted by NASA at: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history One is the PAO commentary, the other two are two versions of the TEC transcript, which includes on-board tape as well as air-ground. There may well be clues in the TEC transcripts, strange remarks about some radio interference, maybe just suspicious-looking blacked out lines. These image-scanned PDF files, and so fairly bulky. ------ In Gordon Cooper's new book LEAP OF FAITH page 124 he relates that on GT-5's first pass over China he and Conrad heard "a pinging in our ears" that came from high-power radar tracking from China. Next came a feminine voice over their radio, saying "Good evening Gemini-5, for your pleasure we will play some music." I've never heard of such EMI during Gemini, or of non-NASA radio signals reaching astronauts. From AZak@HQ.SPACE.com Fri Jul 28 20:14:32 2000 Date: Fri, 28 Jul 2000 15:14:32 -0400 From: Anatoly Zak AZak@HQ.SPACE.com Subject: [FPSPACE] Fwd: Supply vessel for space station to be launched Sunday I think while copying from ClariNet to France-Presse they missed somthing. Progress does not go up until Aug. 6 as far as I know. Anatoly Zak -----Original Message----- From: dconst+@pyrrhus.cimds.ri.cmu.edu [mailto:dconst+@pyrrhus.cimds.ri.cmu.edu] Sent: 28 èþëÿ 2000 ã. 11:59 To: fpspace@friends-partners.org Subject: [FPSPACE] Fwd: Supply vessel for space station to be launched Sunday Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 12:20:22 PDT Organization: Copyright 2000 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet) MOSCOW, July 27 (AFP) - The supply vessel Progress is to be launched Sunday to link up to the International Space Station (ISS), the Russian space control center (TSOUP) said Thursday. The vessel will provide fuel, technical equipment, food, and water for the space ship that will get its first team in October. Progress will be launched from the Baikonur base in Kazakhstan with the support of space craft Soyuz, the same soucre said. Two American spaceships and a second Progress vessel are expected to join the ISS before the team of US commander William Shepherd and Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalyov arrive on October 30. All systems of the Zvezda module, which was launched Wednesday, "function well", TSOUP reported. Zvezda is a module comprising the living and working quarters of the ISS and housing the navigation and guidance systems until the American-built module Destiny takes over. -- Of course, it is no news for members of this list ;) -- Constantine "Kostya" Domashnev _______________________________________________ FPSPACE mailing list FPSPACE@friends-partners.org http://fpmail.friends-partners.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/fpspace From lklaes@bbn.com Thu Jul 27 20:30:00 2000 Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 15:30:00 -0400 From: Larry Klaes lklaes@bbn.com Subject: [FPSPACE] Fungi on Mir? >From What's New for Jul 28, 2000: 3. ADVENTURES ON MIR: THERE'S A FUNGUS AMONG US. The view from the world's most expensive tourist destination is being obscured by living scum spreading over the windows. Courageous cosmonauts must now live with fast-multiplying microorganisms. After years of relative dormancy, these stowaways from planet Earth appear to be rapidly mutating from solar radiation. Some 250 species of bacteria and fungi inhabit Mir--and they've turned aggressive, munching on anything organic, including electrical insulation. Ecotourists can now have a, ugh, microbiology experience. From dconst+@pyrrhus.cimds.ri.cmu.edu Fri Jul 28 20:31:50 2000 Date: Fri, 28 Jul 2000 15:31:50 EDT From: dconst+@pyrrhus.cimds.ri.cmu.edu dconst+@pyrrhus.cimds.ri.cmu.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] Re: Re: Fwd: Supply vessel for space station to be launched Sunday > I think while copying from ClariNet to France-Presse they missed something. > Progress does not go up until Aug. 6 as far as I know. In a sense the article is correct: Aug 6 is a Sunday. I have noticed another disrepancy: > All systems of the Zvezda module, which was launched Wednesday This is correct only in a sense that July 12 was a Wednesday. -- Constantine "Kostya" Domashnev From wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Fri Jul 28 21:23:18 2000 Date: Fri, 28 Jul 2000 16:23:18 -0400 (EDT) From: Dwayne Allen Day wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] Fwd: Supply vessel for space station to be launched Sunday On Fri, 28 Jul 2000, Anatoly Zak wrote: > I think while copying from ClariNet to France-Presse they missed somthing. > Progress does not go up until Aug. 6 as far as I know. Heh, heh... AFP does not exactly have a stellar record when it comes to space stuff. Remember the "NASA sex experiment"? DDAY From wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Fri Jul 28 21:24:32 2000 Date: Fri, 28 Jul 2000 16:24:32 -0400 (EDT) From: Dwayne Allen Day wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] Fungi on Mir? On Thu, 27 Jul 2000, Larry Klaes wrote: > >From What's New for Jul 28, 2000: > 3. ADVENTURES ON MIR: THERE'S A FUNGUS AMONG US. The view from > the world's most expensive tourist destination is being obscured > by living scum spreading over the windows. Courageous cosmonauts > must now live with fast-multiplying microorganisms. After years > of relative dormancy, these stowaways from planet Earth appear to > be rapidly mutating from solar radiation. Some 250 species of > bacteria and fungi inhabit Mir--and they've turned aggressive, > munching on anything organic, including electrical insulation. This represents a global threat! I saw something like this happen with Triffids! DDAY From kgottschalk@uwc.ac.za Sat Jul 29 14:50:00 2000 Date: 29 Jul 2000 15:50:00 +0200 From: KEITH GOTTSCHALK kgottschalk@uwc.ac.za Subject: [FPSPACE] new names for Mir & ISS A modest proposal: MirCorp will I'm sure allow Mir to be renamed after any donor / sponsor who will pay for a Progress full of propellants to top up its orbit, for as long as they keep up paying for thjis er, progress :) :) :) Also, if Alpha alias Ralpha alias Freedom alias ISS needs its fifth name, surely BOTH Congress & the Duma could agree that a) the next module is called "the Cheque is in the Post"; b) the Giant Space Thingy as a whole is called "You're Welcome" keith From wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Sun Jul 30 19:23:45 2000 Date: Sun, 30 Jul 2000 14:23:45 -0400 (EDT) From: Dwayne Allen Day wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] new names for Mir & ISS On 29 Jul 2000, KEITH GOTTSCHALK wrote: > A modest proposal: > > MirCorp will I'm sure allow Mir to be renamed after any > donor / sponsor who will pay for a Progress full of > propellants to top up its orbit, for as long as they keep up They would have to be offered a lot of money to do this. MirCorp's business strategy involves capitalizing on the Mir "brand," and if they change the name to "Space Station Pizza Hut" then they lose any additional money that they might get from that brand. They've stated that their real goal is to slap corporate logos all over it "like NASCAR" (a form of stock car racing in the United States). I think there are problems with this idea (the primary one being that nobody will pay for a logo that cannot be seen on television all the time). Another idea is to rename Mir components, so that Spektr might become "the DuPont Research Wing" or something like that. DDAY From kkees@worldonline.nl Mon Jul 31 00:09:37 2000 Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2000 01:09:37 +0200 From: C. van den Berg kkees@worldonline.nl Subject: [FPSPACE] A Russian on STS-100 ... This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0023_01BFFA8B.FEDDA540 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable A Look at a Potential Russian Crewmember... Today I heard from a very reliable source (sorry no name) that a Russian = (sorry again no name) will fly on STS-100/Endeavour in April 2001. We = may be just days (?) away from an announcement of this, so I thought = this would be an opportune time to share my thoughts. Who is the = prospective cosmonaut for the STS-100 slot? A rookie? No I don't think = so! Yes, two times a rookie flew on STS (Sharipov on STS-89 and Tokarev = on STS-96), however both men trained for a very, very long time. = Sharipov received his cosmonaut qualification in March 1992 and flew in = Jan 1998 (after almost 6 years!); Tokarev received his cosmonaut = qualification in April 1991 and flew in May 1999 (after more than 8 = years!). Given the fact that the latest class of cosmonauts received = their qualification in Dec. 1999, I doubt that one of them will fly in = April 2001. No, my guess is that a highly qualified cosmonaut will fly = on STS-100.=20 If we look at the remaining "cosmonaut pool", we learn: Afanasyev -- ISS taxi crew #1 Avdeyev -- no assignment yet ! "available" Baturin -- EO-30 (mir); BU EO-29 (mir) Budarin -- was ISS crew 0, now "available" Dezhurov -- ISS crew #3=20 Gidzenko -- ISS crew #1 Kaleri -- just returned from EO-28, "available" Kuzhelnaya -- ISS taxi crew #1 Kondakova -- ISS crew #5 Korzun -- BU ISS crew 0; ISS crew #5=20 Krikalyov -- ISS crew #1 Malenchenko -- STS-106; ISS crew #6 Morukov -- STS-106, soon "available" ? Musabayev -- EO-30 (mir); BU EO-29 (mir) Onufrienko -- ISS crew #4 Padalka -- was ISS crew 0, now "available" Poleshchuk -- "available" Revin -- BU ISS taxi crew #1 Sharipov -- EO-29 (mir) Tokarev -- BU ISS taxi crew #1 Treshchov -- BU ISS crew 0; ISS crew #7 (?) according to Novosti = Kosmonavtiki No. 5, 2000 Tyurin -- ISS crew #3 Usachov -- ISS crew #2 Vinogradov -- EO-29 (mir) Zalyotin -- just returned from EO-28; "available"=20 ISS Taxi crew #2 will fly in 2002 (I think that it will be no surprise = that the BU's for Taxi crew #1 will be named; Tokarev and Revin). But = who will backup Taxi crew #2? And who will backup EO-30 (mir)? My guess = is that the team Padalka and Budarin (the old ISS "zero" crew) will stay = together and they fit in in one of those slots. Ehhh? Kaleri and = Zalyotin have flown recently and that brings us to the "short list" of = "most available cosmonauts", only two! Avdeyev Poleshchuk Predicting a cosmonaut is maybe "silly work". Perhaps this is the = byproduct of the system that selects the cosmonauts, but here's my pick: = AVDEYEV. Yes, Poleshchuk was in training for a shuttle mission, but = missed STS-71(if I recall correct ) in 1995, a long time ago. Why = Avdeyev? Why not Avdeyev? Any other ideas? Please feel free to share = your insights in this forum. Mark my words: AVDEYEV WILL FLY ON STS-100 = IN APRIL 2001. Kees van den Berg Gemini Productions ------=_NextPart_000_0023_01BFFA8B.FEDDA540 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
A Look at a Potential Russian Crewmember...
 
Today I heard from a very reliable source (sorry no name) that a = Russian=20 (sorry again no name) will fly on STS-100/Endeavour in April 2001. We = may be=20 just days (?) away from an announcement of this, so I thought = this=20 would be an opportune time to share my thoughts. Who is the = prospective=20 cosmonaut for the STS-100 slot? A rookie? No I don't think so! Yes, = two=20 times a rookie flew on STS (Sharipov on STS-89 and Tokarev = on STS-96),=20 however both men trained for a very, very long time. Sharipov received = his=20 cosmonaut qualification in March 1992 and flew in Jan 1998 (after almost = 6=20 years!); Tokarev received his cosmonaut qualification in April 1991 = and=20 flew in May 1999 (after more than 8 years!). Given the fact that = the latest=20 class of cosmonauts received their qualification in Dec. 1999, I doubt = that one=20 of them will fly in April 2001. No, my guess is that a highly=20 qualified cosmonaut will fly on STS-100.
 
If we look at the remaining "cosmonaut pool", we learn:
 
Afanasyev --  ISS taxi crew #1
Avdeyev -- no assignment yet ! "available"
Baturin -- EO-30 (mir); BU EO-29 (mir)
Budarin -- was ISS crew 0, now "available"
Dezhurov --  ISS crew #3
Gidzenko --  ISS crew #1
Kaleri -- just returned from EO-28, "available"
Kuzhelnaya -- ISS taxi crew #1
Kondakova --  ISS crew #5
Korzun --  BU ISS crew 0; ISS crew #5
Krikalyov --  ISS crew #1
Malenchenko -- STS-106; ISS crew #6
Morukov -- STS-106, soon "available" ?
Musabayev -- EO-30 (mir); BU EO-29 (mir)
Onufrienko -- ISS crew #4
Padalka -- was ISS crew 0, now "available"
Poleshchuk -- "available"
Revin -- BU ISS taxi crew #1
Sharipov -- EO-29 (mir)
Tokarev -- BU ISS taxi crew #1
Treshchov -- BU ISS crew 0; ISS crew #7 (?) according to Novosti=20 Kosmonavtiki No. 5, 2000
Tyurin -- ISS crew #3
Usachov -- ISS crew #2
Vinogradov -- EO-29 (mir)
Zalyotin -- just returned from EO-28; "available"
 
ISS Taxi crew #2 will fly in 2002 (I think that it will be no = surprise that=20 the BU's for Taxi crew #1 will be named; Tokarev and Revin). But who = will backup=20 Taxi crew #2? And who will backup EO-30 (mir)? My guess is that the team = Padalka=20 and Budarin (the old ISS "zero" crew) will stay together and they fit in = in one=20 of those slots. Ehhh? Kaleri and Zalyotin have flown recently and = that=20 brings us to the "short list" of "most available cosmonauts", only=20 two!
 
Avdeyev
Poleshchuk
 
Predicting a cosmonaut is maybe "silly work". Perhaps this is the = byproduct=20 of the system that selects the cosmonauts, but here's my pick: AVDEYEV. = Yes,=20 Poleshchuk was in training for a shuttle mission, but missed STS-71(if I = recall=20 correct ) in 1995, a long time ago. Why Avdeyev? Why not Avdeyev? = Any other=20 ideas? Please feel free to share your insights in this forum. Mark my = words:=20 AVDEYEV WILL FLY ON STS-100 IN APRIL 2001.
 
 
Kees van den Berg
Gemini Productions
 
 
------=_NextPart_000_0023_01BFFA8B.FEDDA540-- From barnesy@asiaonline.net Mon Jul 31 04:48:34 2000 Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2000 11:48:34 +0800 From: Phil Barnes barnesy@asiaonline.net Subject: [FPSPACE] Beijing 'plans second unmanned spaceflight' Josephine Ma writes in today's (31 July 2000) South China Morning Post ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- The mainland may launch a second unmanned spacecraft in October - less than a year after the first test launch. The semi-official China News Service (CNS) yesterday quoted an unnamed source as saying preparation for the second test was under way. "According to sources, China is now busy preparing for the launch of the second unmanned spacecraft, including conducting more technical tests and verification of data," the agency reported. "It is expected that the launch will be some time before or after October." Meanwhile, quoting a source from the Institute of Carrier Rocket Technology, CNS said selection of China's first batch of astronauts had been completed. The candidates were being trained and "waiting for the order to go into space," it said. October was apparently chosen to coincide with the National Day celebrations. The mainland routinely schedules major events on political dates to maximise their propaganda value. Last year a massive military parade was held in Beijing on National Day to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic. China launched an unmanned spacecraft - Shenzhou - from the Jiuquan Satellite Centre in Gansu province on November 20 last year. The flight was hailed by propagandists as a giant step for China in its race to catch up with advanced powers like the United States. Official media frequently remind the public that the mainland is close to joining the other powers by sending people into space. However, the CNS report hinted that it might be years before China would actually have manned space flights. It said the first such flights did not happen in the Soviet Union and the US until they had launched seven and 21 unmanned spacecraft respectively. Shenzhou was launched with China's Long March 2-F rocket and it completed 14 orbits in 21 hours. Mainland experts were particularly excited about the successful retrieval of the unmanned capsule - from the grasslands of Inner Mongolia - and hailed it as a milestone in China's space programme. CNS said the project to send astronauts into space was the largest, most complicated and technically most difficult project China had undertaken. Rocket expert Wang Yongzhi was quoted by CNS as saying China would first attempt to send astronauts into low orbit. They would eventually conduct space walks and experiments. Space dockings and a space laboratory were also being planned. The project, apart from being a symbol of national pride, is seen by military experts as instrumental in enhancing the mainland's ability to conduct space surveillance and perfect its missile technology. However, funding would remain a major obstacle to the development of China's aeronautics industry, they said. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------- Phil Barnes Hong Kong From kkees@worldonline.nl Mon Jul 31 15:01:37 2000 Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2000 16:01:37 +0200 From: C. van den Berg kkees@worldonline.nl Subject: [FPSPACE] A Russian on STS-100... (second posting) This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_00CD_01BFFB08.9B7046C0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable I predicted AVDEYEV on STS-100. Rex Hall came with a very interesting = speculation. I quote: "it is about turns and I think it might be the Air = Forces turn this time around." This is quite an interesting theory. Rex is right: it is maybe no = coincidence that civilians and military men change seats each time = around: Feb. 94 -- STS-60: Krikalyov - civilian Nov. 94 -- STS-63: Titov - air force June 95 -- STS-71: Budarin - civilian + Solovyov - air force May 97 -- STS-84: Kondakova - civilian Sep 97 -- STS-86: Titov - air force Nov 98 -- STS-88: Krikalyov - civilian (originally scheduled for Dec 97 = !) Jan 98 -- STS-89: Sharipov - air force June 98 --STS-91: Ryumin - civilian May 99 -- STS-96: Tokarev - air force May 00 --STS-101: Usachyov -- civilian Sep 00 --STS-106: Malenchenko -- air force + Morukov -- civilian STS-100: air force But: the crew on STS-101 was reassigned on the inserted mission STS-106. = So the scheme was originally as follows: STS-96: Tokarev - air force (was originally Malenchenko -- also air = force !!) STS-101: Morukov -- civilian + Malenchenko -- air force STS-100: civilian And if we look at the numbering and not (expected) launchdates: STS-96: air force STS-100: civilian STS-106: air force + civilian This brings the chance for a civilian to 66.7% and 33.3% for air = force... So, whose turn is it this time? It could be a civilian or a = military man. Rex said that two possible people are Zalyotin and Kotov. = Both have been based at Houston previously. However, I stay with the = civilian AVDEYEV. What I didn't tell is that I've been wrong every time = I predicted a Russian crewmember on STS... We'll see... Kees van den Berg Gemini Productions. ------=_NextPart_000_00CD_01BFFB08.9B7046C0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
I predicted AVDEYEV on STS-100. Rex Hall came with a very = interesting=20 speculation. I quote: "it is about turns and I think it might be the Air = Forces=20 turn this time around."
 
This is quite an interesting theory. Rex is right: it is maybe no=20 coincidence that civilians and military men change seats each time = around:
 
Feb. 94 -- STS-60: Krikalyov - civilian
Nov. 94 -- STS-63: Titov - air force
June 95 -- STS-71: Budarin - civilian + Solovyov - air force
May 97 -- STS-84: Kondakova - civilian
Sep 97 -- STS-86: Titov - air force
Nov 98 -- STS-88: Krikalyov - civilian (originally scheduled for = Dec 97=20 !)
Jan 98 -- STS-89: Sharipov - air force
June 98 --STS-91: Ryumin - civilian
May 99 -- STS-96: Tokarev - air force
May 00 --STS-101: Usachyov -- civilian
Sep 00 --STS-106: Malenchenko -- air force + Morukov -- = civilian
STS-100: air force
 
But: the crew on STS-101 was reassigned on the inserted mission = STS-106. So=20 the scheme was originally as follows:
 
STS-96: Tokarev - air force (was originally Malenchenko -- also air = force=20 !!)
STS-101: Morukov -- civilian + Malenchenko -- air force
STS-100: civilian
 
And if we look at the numbering and not (expected) = launchdates:
 
STS-96: air force
STS-100: civilian
STS-106: air force + civilian
 
This brings the chance for a civilian to 66.7% and = 33.3% for=20 air force... So, whose turn is it this time? It could be a civilian or a = military man. Rex said that two possible = people are=20 Zalyotin and Kotov. Both have been based at Houston previously. However, = I stay with the civilian AVDEYEV. What I didn't tell is that = I've=20 been wrong every time I predicted a Russian crewmember on STS... We'll=20 see...
 
Kees van den Berg
Gemini Productions.
------=_NextPart_000_00CD_01BFFB08.9B7046C0-- From DPieson@APROJECT.RU Mon Jul 31 16:48:56 2000 Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2000 19:48:56 +0400 From: Dmitry Pieson DPieson@APROJECT.RU Subject: [FPSPACE] FW: News from Buran Orbiter site Just got this: News (31/07/2000) from a site http://www.buran.ru and other information: You can see new archival publication in our bibliography (In Russian): 1. "Space Shutttle" (about Buran Orbiter) - http://www.buran.ru/htm/modelist.htm Of what the BURAN is made? 2. The story about metal materials in a design of the Buran Orbiter - http://www.buran.ru/htm/inside.htm How the ship is arranged? 3. The detailed drawings of a reusable space-rocket complex "Energy - Buran" - http://www.buran.ru/htm/cherch.htm Earlier changes and additions of a site are shown on page http://www.buran.ru/htm/news.htm Best regards, Dr. Vadim P.Lukashevich ( vadimlu@cityline.ru ) webmaster of site Dmitry Pieson From wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Mon Jul 31 18:08:52 2000 Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2000 13:08:52 -0400 (EDT) From: Dwayne Allen Day wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu Subject: [FPSPACE] Parliament Report Recommends Bigger, Bolder British Space Program I'm forwarding this. I don't know where it originally appeared. DDAY **************************** Parliament Report Recommends Bigger, Bolder British Space Program A recent report by a committee of the British Parliament recommends that the nation increase the size and scope of its space activities, although not necessarily in conjunction with the European Space Agency. The report, titled "U.K. Space Policy", was released earlier this month by the Select Committee on Trade and Industry of the British Parliament, after a several-month review of current and planned space activities in the U.K. One of the key recommendations of the report was a suggestion that Britain's space agency, the British National Space Centre (BNSC), get its own annual budget. Currently, the BNSC is funded by contributions from a number of other government agencies, rather than a single budget decided by Parliament. "BNSC was set up as an ad hoc arrangement in 1985," the report noted. "It is now time to review the role, status, and organization of BNSC." The committee recommended a public review of the BNSC that could lead to a separate budget for the BNSC. "This review should also consider the possibility of giving BNSC or its successor body its own budget, in addition to the existing budgets of BNSC's partners, in order to ensure that the U.K. space program reflects the long term public policy interests of the U.K." In any case, the committee stated in its report that British space efforts should receive more funding. They noted that current civilian space funding -- about 181 million pounds (US$275 million) in 1999-2000 -- is not only a smaller fraction of the nation's gross domestic product than many other nations, including France, Germany, Canada, Japan, and the U.S., but is less in inflation-adjusted amounts than the mid-1990s. "Unless it is suggested that funding has achieved an abnormally low rate of return," the committee concluded, "it is evident to us that if the U.K. is to play a significant role in global space activities, there will need to be an increase in the U.K. Government's expenditure on civil space over the next planning period." The committee recommended that additional funds be used not just to extend current programs, but to develop new programs. As an example, the report referred to Beagle 2, the British-developed lander for ESA's Mars Express mission. The government did provide some funding for Beagle 2 last year, but project officials are still working to raise private funding for the full cost of the mission. "Beagle 2 is an example of an innovative approach to funding and of a project which seems to have won funding despite, rather than because of, the system," the committee noted. "It would be a sad comment on the seriousness of the U.K. contribution to space science if the necessary funding could not be found. The project is entitled to expect Government support in finding ways to fill the funding gap which we understand has yet to be filled." The committee also noted the U.K.'s lack of participation in launch vehicle development, be it work on the Ariane 5 or technology development of future reusable launch vehicles. "The general perception among all those involved is that the Government and BNSC are following a policy of no involvement in launchers," the committee concluded. "It is our strong impression that in BNSC there is a less than open mind on the case for Government assistance to launcher development." While the committee recommended that Britain do more in space, it did not necessarily conclude it should do more with ESA, even though the U.K. is not generally perceived as a major player within the multinational space agency. "Any withdrawal from ESA programmes would have serious detrimental consequences for the UK space industry," the committee recommended. "However, if the UK space budget is increased by a significant amount, careful consideration should be given as to whether this increase should redress the current balance of national as against ESA spend." The committee's differences with ESA stem from the space agency's policy of "juste retour", where the number of contracts a participating nation receives from an ESA program is in proportion to the amount of funding that nation provides. While Britain has done well under juste retour, British officials argue that it is not the most efficient way to do business. "We think that these things should be settled on the basis of who is the best person to do the work, rather than trying endlessly to balance exactly the amount coming back in work versus how much you put in," the report quoted Lord Sainsbury, British science minister. While the U.K. does have a space policy, the committee concluded the policy only supports the status quo, and that the nation needs to do more related to space. "The latest space strategy document is admirable in many respects but limited in ambition. We hope that its successor will be able to announce something beyond a modest continuation of existing programs, and that the civil space program will be funded on a less cautious basis." ______ >From the July 31, 2000, issue of SpaceViews http://www.spaceviews.com/ From jeff@spaceviews.com Mon Jul 31 19:32:30 2000 Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2000 14:32:30 -0400 From: Jeff Foust jeff@spaceviews.com Subject: [FPSPACE] Parliament Report Recommends Bigger, Bolder British Space Program > I'm forwarding this. I don't know where it originally appeared. See the end of the article: :-) > >From the July 31, 2000, issue of SpaceViews http://www.spaceviews.com/ > The article is online at http://www.spaceviews.com/2000/07/24a.html and you can read the original report itself at: http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199900/cmselect/cmtrd ind/335/33502.htm (beware line wrapping!) or through a link at the BNSC's web site, http://www.bnsc.gov.uk/ Jeff Foust Editor, SpaceViews -- http://www.spaceviews.com jeff@spaceviews.com Add my contact information to your Palm: http://signature.coola.com/?jeff@spaceviews.com From JamesOberg@aol.com Mon Jul 31 20:32:41 2000 Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2000 15:32:41 EDT From: JamesOberg@aol.com JamesOberg@aol.com Subject: [FPSPACE] Dead Russian Identified; Drinking Denied The Houston Chronicle / July 28, 2000, Friday 3 STAR EDITION Russian space specialist who drowned identified A Russian mission control specialist who drowned in a Webster apartment complex pool was identified Thursday as Yevgeniy Mironov, 37. He and two fellow Russians were celebrating the Tuesday linkup of a Russian-built module to what is becoming the international space station when he drowned Wednesday in the Leeward apartments pool at 444 Medical Center Blvd. Mironov was a member of the Russian flight control team working at the Johnson Space Center since April 1999. ¯------------------------------ TASS / July 29, 2000, Saturday US space centre staff shocked at Russian expert's death By Vladimir Rogachev NEW YORK, July 29 U.S. and Russian specialists working in the U.S. space mission centre in Houston, Taxas, are shocked at the death of Russian expert Yevgeny Mironov and express condolences to his relatives, a Russian Rosaviakosmos representative in Houston, Sergei Kulik, told Itar-Tass by telephone. The U.S. and Russian experts work at the centre within the international space station programme. Mironov, 37, drowned on the night to Wednesday in a swimming pool in the residential complex near the U.S. space centre, where he arrived from Moscow just a day before on a business trip. The space centre received an official conclusion of U.S. medical experts on Friday, according to which, the death was a result of an accident in the water. It was not linked with alcohol or drugs or caused by intentional acts. According to the Russian spokesman, the staff is indignant at the Russian and U.S. media reports accompanied by conjectures, unverified facts and distortions concerning the accident. Kulik expressed gratitude to the space centre's leadership and staff for their moral support for the Russian specialists at this difficult period.