Russian Space Program: News & Discussion #4

GarryB wrote:I wonder if they incorporated any exoskeleton stuff into its design at all?

These suits are vastly better than the old US suits which of course are rigid and connect together like Lego.

The previous Soviet suit essentially had a backpack that opened like a door for the cosmonaut to step in to the suit and close the backpack and seal them in.

The major joints would all then be tested one by one to make sure the seals are good and working properly and it would take about three quarters of an hour to be ready to go outside the spacecraft in open space.

The old US suits had to be assembled onto the astronaut piece by piece checking seals and joins as you went... took about 7 hours to get the suit on and tested before you could start your space walk... newer US suits copy the Soviet suits.

That's funny because apparently the new suit works according to the principle of a rigid ring connection, according to the article.

Although only between the lower half and upper half of the suit. So presumably you step into the lower half, and then just attach the top half to the ring.

MLM Nauka going up in space in about an hour:

owais.usmani wrote:MLM Nauka going up in space in about an hour:

Flawless launch, Nauka placed in a perfect parking orbit, will gradually increase its orbit using its onboard engines for a ISS docking on July 29.

so, it looks like the holiday is over and serious business begins. The FSB is preparing an order banning the disclosure of information about the development of space programs in Russia, including in the field of creating nuclear tugs.

owais.usmani wrote:

owais.usmani wrote:MLM Nauka going up in space in about an hour:

Flawless launch, Nauka placed in a perfect parking orbit, will gradually increase its orbit using its onboard engines for a ISS docking on July 29.

Relieved to hear the successful orbiting. I would have liked to monitor the subsequent altitude adjustment and final rendezvous. But unfortunately Anatoly Zak has apparently made this launch an 'Insider Content'. He has never done that before. I might as well stop visiting his site altogether.

Do you have alternatives to suggest for monitoring the flight progress?

Daniel_Admassu wrote:

Do you have alternatives to suggest for monitoring the flight progress?

Screw Anatoly Zak, just follow NASA and Roscosmos websites and Twitter feeds.

Zak is a US-based comprador... I like his site in general (except for his new-found love of pay-walls) but his anti-Kremlin political BS is intolerable.

Nevertheless, he runs the most detailed reports on Russian space by far and has done an invaluable service to his homeland in that regard. I am saying this with all sincerity.

Now he is reporting 'technical problems' with the Nauka module en route to the ISS on his title of the launch article which I can't access. And it is driving me crazy.

Anyone who has access please report. Thanks.

That would be a massive fail now wouldn't it

All this hoo-haa about the Nauka model. Years of development. And in the end it just ends up as a piece of space junk in orbit

Total telemetry failure on ground station

It's still en route to ISS but this will now be an interesting trip with fully optional arrival at intended destination

My oh my, the clown who spread the BS that Russian railway tunnels were too small for the Angara to operate out of
Vostochny is some go to expert on the subject of Russian space activity.

And to all you dismissive clowns who assume out of your ass that any problem with Russian launches are 100% Russia's
fault. Go and get fcuked. Americans were sabotaging the Bulava SLBM production and all of its problems went away
when a local nest of these freaks installed during the golden era of the 1990s was removed. It is a fact that the
yanquis attempt to smear Russia on all levels and sabotage is a prime tool for such activity. There is always some
loser who will sell out for the dream of a 4 car garage drywall toilet "mansion" in US exurbia to live up the fake American
dream.

Russia needs to stop playing fair with these NATzO clowns and pull out of the ISS project now.

I don't properly recall the narrow railway tunnels saga, but, apart from his political commentary, usually Zak's technical reporting is well sourced and accurate.

We still don't know what the nature of this latest problem is. No updates from either Roscosmos or NASA. It could be a minor telemetry glitch or failure to deploy a radiator or anything really. In any case I am hoping it would be minor.

If the Nauka fails to dock

I'd fully support sending Rogozin, as well as the previous heads of Roscosmos - up there as the next intended payloads

We'll give them a fighting chance. A rendevous trajectory with the ISS in their little capsule. If they miss the meet-up, it's on them.

please give me good news that they will dock, I am already having a bad day on the avionics announcement of the other aircraft. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nauka_(ISS_module) 7th attempt will be with Rogozin being sent there

1. Rumors about problems come from anonymous "sources".
2. the presence of multiple failures is not unusual. The main thing is that these failures are not critical and do not lead to the failure of the mission
3. The docking is scheduled for July 29. This is one of the longest trips to the ISS, and it is due to the large mass of the module. In the end, no one except Russia is yet able to deliver new modules to orbit in this way.

We must give Rogozin his due - he had enough balls to at least try. He knew perfectly well that to write off a module that had been under construction for so long and to launch a module that had been under construction for so long were about the same death sentences.
now all fans of cosmonautics should hold their fists for the success of the mission, and not engage in the spread of hysterical rumors.

Power modules has always been a weak spot for Russian space engineering, specially since the advent of electronics in space. Phobos-soil and Angosat come to mind.

During my undergraduate I remember that power electronics was not regarded as high as the logic ones by students because it was not as interesting. But it is power mosfets that get you at the end in projects. I sometimes fear a misinformed bunch like my batch is running the electronic design teams at Lavochkin and Krunitschev.

Hoping things will not turn out to be anything related to PE with Nauka.

Scorpius wrote:
We must give Rogozin his due - he had enough balls to at least try. He knew perfectly well that to write off a module that had been under construction for so long and to launch a module that had been under construction for so long were about the same death sentences.
now all fans of cosmonautics should hold their fists for the success of the mission, and not engage in the spread of hysterical rumors.

Fk that. I'm pulling out the trampoline already. Ready for its first client in its capacity as a human space launch platform.

So, Russia has launched a robotic spacecraft capable of autonomous flight for years, to the orbital station, which is the pinnacle of human efforts to explore space. How many missions of this level have you seen over the past decade? Think better about this, and not about what the morons who drink the coolaid of their own Western exclusivity are trying to tell you.

Wikipedia (hear me out, I know how you feel about the platform, just out of sources here), says that there were several problems initially but the telemetry ones were not very serious. The serious one is with the propulsion system. Not stated what it really is. Hope it will get resolved over the next few days as the initial altitude boost was due in few hours but was delayed by 24 hours. Once it clears the LEO transfer orbit they will have ample window to figure out the rest of the problems. Otherwise it will begin altitude decay.

Scorpius wrote:
now all fans of cosmonautics should hold their fists for the success of the mission, and not engage in the spread of hysterical rumors.

Yes, they should... but they won't.  Cuz they are mean-spirited s who would rather see the mission fail (and have something to bitch about) rather than it to be successful and accept that Roskosmos & Rogo just might have done something right...

Dunno why some people come to this site given their fucked up attitudes.  

Daniel_Admassu wrote:Power modules has always been a weak spot for Russian space engineering, specially since the advent of electronics in space. Phobos-soil and Angosat come to mind.

During my undergraduate I remember that power electronics was not regarded as high as the logic ones by students because it was not as interesting. But it is power mosfets that get you at the end in projects. I sometimes fear a misinformed bunch like my batch is running the electronic design teams at Lavochkin and Krunitschev.

Hoping things will not turn out to be anything related to PE with Nauka.

Phobos-Grunt wasn't a power supply issue. Maybe you are thinking about the solar telescope Koronas-Foton (it died prematurely because the solar battery charging system could not keep the batteries adequately replenished following the periods of orbital darkness).

Big_Gazza wrote:

Daniel_Admassu wrote:Power modules has always been a weak spot for Russian space engineering, specially since the advent of electronics in space. Phobos-soil and Angosat come to mind.

During my undergraduate I remember that power electronics was not regarded as high as the logic ones by students because it was not as interesting. But it is power mosfets that get you at the end in projects. I sometimes fear a misinformed bunch like my batch is running the electronic design teams at Lavochkin and Krunitschev.

Hoping things will not turn out to be anything related to PE with Nauka.

Phobos-Grunt wasn't a power supply issue.  Maybe you are thinking about the solar telescope Koronas-Foton (it died prematurely because the solar battery charging system could not keep the batteries adequately replenished following the periods of orbital darkness).  

You are right, now that I re-read the wikipedia article. I remembered it was a failure a firmware control module but wrongly assumed it was due to a failed power supply. It actually was a bus conflict between two redundant control systems. I stand corrected.

As they say - it's too early to cuss
But the perfect time to panic

Daniel_Admassu wrote:Nevertheless, he runs the most detailed reports on Russian space by far and has done an invaluable service to his homeland in that regard. I am saying this with all sincerity...

Zak lives in USA so in that regard Roskosmos has definitely been doing an invaluable service to his homeland