Russian Space Program: News & Discussion #1

kvs wrote:That is a good idea.  The missiles should launch EMP bombs and not warheads.   They just have to get within range of the
satellite to fry it.  Even though satellites are built to be shielded from ionizing particle bombardment, a magnetic field is not
stopped by any metal shell.  A good EMP bomb will generate a strong magnetic field in addition to electric field.

Wouldn't they be protected from EMP radiation? I hate to admit it, but I'm an amateur when it comes top this topic so....

Mike E wrote:

kvs wrote:That is a good idea.  The missiles should launch EMP bombs and not warheads.   They just have to get within range of the
satellite to fry it.  Even though satellites are built to be shielded from ionizing particle bombardment, a magnetic field is not
stopped by any metal shell.  A good EMP bomb will generate a strong magnetic field in addition to electric field.

Wouldn't they be protected from EMP radiation? I hate to admit it, but I'm an amateur when it comes top this topic so....

A metal cover (Faraday cage) only neutralizes the electric field (the mobile electrons in the metal react and basically
cancel it out inside the cage). But magnetism is not stopped by this mechanism and penetrates inside the cage. There
is really no way to shield from an EMP weapon unless you make the electronics very resistant to stray currents of large
amperage. That is not feasible. So the current effort is to develop photonics to replace the electronics. Photonic
circuits are immune to EMP. But there are no photonic controllers in satellites just yet or any time in the next 10-20
years judging by the current level of research.

kvs wrote:

Mike E wrote:

kvs wrote:That is a good idea.  The missiles should launch EMP bombs and not warheads.   They just have to get within range of the
satellite to fry it.  Even though satellites are built to be shielded from ionizing particle bombardment, a magnetic field is not
stopped by any metal shell.  A good EMP bomb will generate a strong magnetic field in addition to electric field.

Wouldn't they be protected from EMP radiation? I hate to admit it, but I'm an amateur when it comes top this topic so....

A metal cover (Faraday cage) only neutralizes the electric field (the mobile electrons in the metal react and basically
cancel it out inside the cage).  But magnetism is not stopped by this mechanism and penetrates inside the cage.   There
is really no way to shield from an EMP weapon unless you make the electronics very resistant to stray currents of large
amperage.  That is not feasible.  So the current effort is to develop photonics to replace the electronics.  Photonic
circuits are immune to EMP.  But there are no photonic controllers in satellites just yet or any time in the next 10-20
years judging by the current level of research.

Photonics? You mean using lasers over electric charges? Funny you should bring that up, I've been contemplating that the Russian MOD should go full ahead and develop laser based electronics, due to the fact that it gels well with Russian doctrine of high ECM resistant devices. Photonics is a field that if Russia spends the sum of money to develop (financing by nationalizing the Central Bank, and issuing 100 trillion Rouble loans at 0% interest with 50-100 year maturities) it could help Russia as it would be 'dual-use' technology that could be used for the military such as creating a 2nd generation AESA radar for iteration of the PAK-FA T-50 based on laser/photonics electronics (giving it extreme ECM resistance at previously unheard of levels) as well as civilian purposes such as applying photonics for future iterations of the Yota-Phone, as it's said that laser based electronics will be by default several times more powerful and efficient that electric charge based devices (giving Yota-Phone's a large technical edge over Samsung and Apple based devices, to make it competitive).

kvs wrote:

Mike E wrote:

kvs wrote:That is a good idea.  The missiles should launch EMP bombs and not warheads.   They just have to get within range of the
satellite to fry it.  Even though satellites are built to be shielded from ionizing particle bombardment, a magnetic field is not
stopped by any metal shell.  A good EMP bomb will generate a strong magnetic field in addition to electric field.

Wouldn't they be protected from EMP radiation? I hate to admit it, but I'm an amateur when it comes top this topic so....

A metal cover (Faraday cage) only neutralizes the electric field (the mobile electrons in the metal react and basically
cancel it out inside the cage).  But magnetism is not stopped by this mechanism and penetrates inside the cage.   There
is really no way to shield from an EMP weapon unless you make the electronics very resistant to stray currents of large
amperage.  That is not feasible.  So the current effort is to develop photonics to replace the electronics.  Photonic
circuits are immune to EMP.  But there are no photonic controllers in satellites just yet or any time in the next 10-20
years judging by the current level of research.

Thanks for your insight, and in that case, an EMP based ASAT missile would be a great option. That plus a militarized space tug (to reach into different orbits and altitudes) and....

Nice

In 2017, the Russian orbital group supplemented by two radar satellites

Russia’s Draft 2016-2025 Space Program to Be Ready Next Month: Space Chief

Russia’s new federal 2016-2025 space program will be submitted to the Russian government in December, the head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Oleg Ostapenko, said Wednesday.

“I think that the new federal space program will be submitted to the Russian government in December,” he said.

“The program is yet to be approved. Once it is approved, I will be ready to name specific figures and where these funds will go,” he told RIA Novosti on the sidelines of the Airshow China-2014 space exhibition.

The previous space program for 2006-2015 was adopted by the Russian government in October 2005 with changes introduced to the plan in 2007, 2008 and 2011.

This program includes the creation of various satellite communication and navigation systems and the launch of spacecrafts intended for research of the Sun, the Moon and Mars.

Russia will begin in 2017 to deploy its own orbital space station

The crew of Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft returned to Earth
Russian Aviaton » Monday November 17, 2014 14:18 MSK

On November 10th 2014 the descent module of manned Soyuz TMA-13M transport manned spacecraft landed normally north to Arkalyk city (Kazakhstan) at 06:58 Moscow time. The crew of ISS-40/41 long-duration mission formed by commander Maxim Suraev (Roskosmos) and flight engineers Reid Wiseman (NASA) and Alexander Gerst (ESA) returned to Earth, press-service of the Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) reports.

"It was the debut flight for Reid Wiseman and Alexander Gerst, and the second one in Maxim Suraev’s career. During his debut flight Maxim Suraev logged 169 days in space (from September 30th 2009 to March 18th 2010) as commander of Soyuz TMA-16 and flight engineer of ISS-21/22 mission. On September 30th 2010 Maxim Suraev was awarded with the title of the Hero of Russia", - the press-service added.
Follow us on: Follow ruaviation on Twitter

On May 28th 2014 Suraev started his second ISS mission as the commander of Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft. During the expedition the Roscosmos’ cosmonaut carried out over 600 sessions and 51 scientific experiments. Together with Alexander Samokutyaev he performed a spacewalk and spent 3 hours 41 minutes outside the station. Now his mission has been successfully completed; he has logged a total of 334 days in space.

“A “space” generation of Drosophila melanogaster insects returned to Earth together with the crew members (the first generation of the insects born after the flight of Foton-M No.4 spacecraft). The insects were sent to ISS on October 29th 2014 onboard the Progress M-25M transport spacecraft. This experiment was aimed at studying the impact of repeated zero-G conditions on a multicellular organism. These studies are of great importance for the science in terms of deep space exploration,” Roscosmos noted.

Prior to arrival of the next ISS crew the following cosmonauts will be working at the station: Barry Wilmore (commander, NASA), Alexander Samokutyaev (flight engineer, Roscosmos) and Elena Serova (flight engineer, Roscosmos).

Nice

Russia’s Satellite Constellation to Comprise 150 Spacecraft by 2025

Soyuz TMA-15M carrying new crew docks with International Space Station

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-russian-rocket-ban-20141213-story.html

For more than a decade, the United States military has depended on buying Russian-made rocket engines to launch its most crucial satellites. On Friday, Congress said no more.

Despite lobbying from a joint venture of Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp., the Senate voted 89-11 to approve a bill Friday that would ban the Pentagon from awarding future rocket launch contracts to firms using Russian engines.

Yeah, Congress-critters are real pros in all fields of science and engineering.

F*ck em!

Previous sales of Russian rocket engines probably kept a few companies afloat but now they will have work from government orders of their own to fill so this really effects Russia rather less than it effects US launch efforts.

Explorer says one-tonne meteorite is lying on bottom of lake in Russia’s Karelia

PETROZAVODSK, December 12. /TASS/. A meteorite weighing about one tonne is lying buried deep in sand on the bottom of Lake Vygozero in Russia’s northwestern republic of Karelia, Vadim Chernobrov, the leader of a team of researchers, said on Friday.

“A celestial body flew from the easterly direction, from a low population area at about 08:00 a.m. Moscow time on December 1. This meteorite was making practically no noise while falling and the most loud sound it produced was the sound of it hitting the ice,” Chernobrov, who heads the Kosmopoisk (Space Research) association, told journalists, adding that this was the reason that so few people had witnessed its fall when it was still dark. “Divers managed to sense the object under sand on the lake’s bottom.”

Magnetic field distortion has been registered over the meteorite crater. Divers failed to lift the heavy object from the bottom because of thin ice. “All observable factors - the flight direction, whop, specific crater testifying to the velocity of the fall - all indicate that it was a meteorite,” he said. “It is a unique case having no precedents in the history.”

A probable meteorite fall in Lake Vygozero was reported on December 2, when two fishermen called to the local emergencies services to say they had seen a trace along the coastline as though something had plowed up the soil. The trace ended in a clearing in the lake’s ice. They said one of them had come closer to the clearing to see a crater but he could not tell exactly what was down there - the bottom was sandy and covered with silt. When rescuers reached the scene, they also saw the trace and a 12-metre bank caving and a clearing in the lake. An amateur diver said he had seen a four-metre crated on the bottom, but no objects in the vicinity.

Meteorite attacks hit the headlines after the notorious meteorite fall near Russia’s Urals city of Chelyabinsk on February 15, 2013. A 10,000-tonne meteorite with a diameter of about 17 meters entered the Earth atmosphere and broke into numerous fragments, the bulk of which fell down in Russia’s Urals Chelyabinsk region. A shock wave that followed the fall of the meteorite broke windows in more than 4,700 houses in Chelyabinsk. Astronomers said the Chelyabinsk meteorite was the biggest celestial object to hit the Earth since the Tunguska event in 1908, when a huge meteorite exploded over Russia’s Siberia. In 2013, the meteorite shower was observed in five Russian regions - the Tyumen, Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk and Kurgan regions, and in the republic of Bashkortostan.

Eyewitnesses said they had first seen a bright flash in the sky and had heard the sound of explosion. More than 1,500 people, including more than 300 children, sought medical help after the incident, and as many as 69 people, including 13 children, were hospitalized.

Several fragments of the meteorite have already been found. The biggest one measuring 12 centimetres in diameter was lifted from the bottom of Lake Chebarkul. These fragments are now being studied by scientists.

kvs wrote:http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-russian-rocket-ban-20141213-story.html

For more than a decade, the United States military has depended on buying Russian-made rocket engines to launch its most crucial satellites. On Friday, Congress said no more.

Despite lobbying from a joint venture of Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp., the Senate voted 89-11 to approve a bill Friday that would ban the Pentagon from awarding future rocket launch contracts to firms using Russian engines.

Yeah, Congress-critters are real pros in all fields of science and engineering.

F*ck em!

...Hahahahaha, here's the level of scientific knowledge in U.S. Congress:



...Rep. Paul Broun is the chair of the U.S. congressional science and technology committee no less!

Here's another one, U.S. congressional rep. Hank Johnson believes islands that are overpopulated could capsize...

GarryB wrote:Previous sales of Russian rocket engines probably kept a few companies afloat but now they will have work from government orders of their own to fill so this really effects Russia rather less than it effects US launch efforts.

I have also seen talk of China having interest in buying engines from Russia, and/or licencing production, although I'm not sure for what rocket program of theirs.

Would love to see more cooperation between China and Russia regarding Space... would love to see India get involved there too.

Space exploration is important stuff and I would like to see the two countries with the largest populations involved the the nation with the longest space travel history.

Successfully

And this is a major event because this was the 400 Proton launch ! ! ! !

Russian telecommunications satellite communications "Yamal-401" launched into the target orbit

I guess ISS is as good as dead

In Russia will create a national space station

Ok this is gonna sound silly, but what are the possibilities of constructing a space shipyard, from what i understand there are 3 main problems with space travel:
1:Speed/propulsion
2:Atmosphere
3:Gravity

Building a shipyard in space would allow us to create larger spacecraft that can act as launch platform/supply base for entry/reentry crafts that will go exploring other planets, this should resolve most of our atmospheric problems (not to mention a number of propulsion issues as well).

What do you guys think, too soon, cause i think we're late as hell, since we landed on the moon almost half a century ago FFS?

For example:

Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center confirmed that is plans to perform 11 launches of Proton-M rockets in 2015

Russian Aviaton » Tuesday December 16, 2014 00:30 MSK

The plans for performing 11 launches of Proton-M rockets in 2015 are preliminary ones, TASS reports with reference to Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center.

“This is the preliminary program. The document will be finalized later,” a representative of the center said.
Follow us on: Follow ruaviation on Twitter

Earlier a source close to the rocket and space industry reported that 11 launches of Proton-M launch vehicles will be performed next year.

“The first launch will be performed on January 30th (Proton-M launch vehicle with Inmarsat-5F2 satellite),” he reminded. The next launch may be performed in February: a military satellite will be placed into orbit.

In spring five launches of Proton-M launch vehicles will be performed (“Express-AM7”, “Express-AM8”, “MexSat-1” (Mexico), “Glonass-M” (three satellites), “Inmarsat-5F3),” the source said.

In summer two Proton-M rockets with TurkSat-5B (Turkey) and Eutelsat-9B will be launched. “In autumn two Proton-M launch vehicles should place into orbit “Express-AMU-1” and “Intelsat-31” spacecraft,” he added.

It was reported earlier that two more Proton-M rockets will be launched in 2014: on December 16th (Yamal-401 spacecraft) and on December 28th (Astra-2G satellite).

AlfaT8 wrote:Ok this is gonna sound silly, but what are the possibilities of constructing a space shipyard, from what i understand there are 3 main problems with space travel:
1:Speed/propulsion
2:Atmosphere
3:Gravity

Building a shipyard in space would allow us to create larger spacecraft that can act as launch platform/supply base for entry/reentry crafts that will go exploring other planets, this should resolve most of our atmospheric problems (not to mention a number of propulsion issues as well).

What do you guys think, too soon, cause i think we're late as hell, since we landed on the moon almost half a century ago FFS?

For example:

There has been talk of space elevators since forever. They would make orbital assembly and launch practical. But even with carbon nanofibre materials
the structure is just too large to stay intact.

For now there are plans to assemble Mars mission vehicles by launching to LEO of multiple payloads. This gets around the need for one ginormous
launcher but it is not Star Trek.

kvs wrote:

AlfaT8 wrote:Ok this is gonna sound silly, but what are the possibilities of constructing a space shipyard, from what i understand there are 3 main problems with space travel:
1:Speed/propulsion
2:Atmosphere
3:Gravity

Building a shipyard in space would allow us to create larger spacecraft that can act as launch platform/supply base for entry/reentry crafts that will go exploring other planets, this should resolve most of our atmospheric problems (not to mention a number of propulsion issues as well).

What do you guys think, too soon, cause i think we're late as hell, since we landed on the moon almost half a century ago FFS?

For example:

There has been talk of space elevators since forever.   They would make orbital assembly and launch practical.   But even with carbon nanofibre materials
the structure is just too large to stay intact.  

For now there are plans to assemble Mars mission vehicles by launching to LEO of multiple payloads.   This gets around the need for one ginormous
launcher but it is not Star Trek.

Curses, i was trying to avoid the space elevator (should of used a different pic), i meant a shipyard without an elevator, where men and supplies could be ferried to/from earth via spacecraft/toughs.

The main problem is that construction in zero gravity is a pain in the backside.

It remains cheaper to actually launch larger pieces built on the ground and attach them together in space than to launch all the bits and build it in space.

Production on the moon would be easier with low gravity but with no atmosphere it becomes propellent intensive too.

If the building materials could be found on the moon and extracted to be used there then it would be much more practical.

In earth orbit if you could scoop up old bits of space junk and use them... melt them in some nuclear furnace and then use them to make new components it might kill two birds with one stone....

Russian astronomer Leonid Yelenin has discovered his third comet

GarryB wrote:The main problem is that construction in zero gravity is a pain in the backside.

It remains cheaper to actually launch larger pieces built on the ground and attach them together in space than to launch all the bits and build it in space.

Of course, prefabricate them, launch them in to space and then manually or remotely attach them to each other.
Same for the ships.

Production on the moon would be easier with low gravity but with no atmosphere it becomes propellant intensive too.

If the building materials could be found on the moon and extracted to be used there then it would be much more practical.

But then we're talking about mining and production facilities too, might as well be talking colonization.
And honestly an orbital shipyard would be much easier to work with thanks to its close proximity to Earth, rather then a Moon base.

In earth orbit if you could scoop up old bits of space junk and use them... melt them in some nuclear furnace and then use them to make new components it might kill two birds with one stone....

Always a fan of recycling, but wouldn't a nuclear furnace make those components radio active?