Russian Space Program: News & Discussion #4

https://ria.ru/20221210/korabl-1837708153.html

MOSCOW, December 10 – RIA Novosti. Immersion of the crew of the Martian mission in artificial sleep would facilitate the interplanetary spacecraft by 50-70%, said Yuri Bubeev, deputy director for research at the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems (IBMP) of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
"According to preliminary estimates, the periodic "shutdown" of the crew will reduce the total mass of the ship by 50-70%, reduce the flight time, provide more reliable protection against radiation, due to the slowdown in metabolism," Bubeev said.
According to him, artificial sleep would allow during the expedition, "for example, to Mars and back" to refuse to provide the crew with tons of cargo for about a year and a half.

Earlier it was reported that "Roscosmos" and IBMP have entered into an agreement according to which by 2025 the possibilities of immersing astronauts in artificial sleep during flights to other planets will be studied. In the course of this work, as the director general of the Institute said in an interview with RIA Novosti, it was planned to study "psychotechnologies that induce altered states practiced in the traditional cultures of the peoples of Asia."

The final stage of preparation of the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft, which will fly to the ISS without a crew, has begun at Baikonur, by Natalia Yachmennikova for Rossiskaya Gazeta. 01.12.2023.

The final stage of preparation of the Soyuz MS-23 unmanned spacecraft and Progress MS-22 cargo spacecraft for launches to the International Space Station has begun at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Specialists reopened the ships that had been stored since December last year, conducted their external inspection and checked the initial state of the onboard systems.

According to Roskosmos, a scheme of ground-based test equipment was assembled to test the Soyuz MS-23. Comprehensive electrical tests of the ship and its preparation for leak tests in a vacuum chamber are planned in the near future. And on the Progress MS-22, the tightness of the refueling and water supply systems was checked, and the preparation of its cargo compartment for the placement of equipment to be delivered to the station began. The ship's radio equipment and control equipment will be tested and it will be prepared for filling tanks with drinking water.

The launches of Progress MS-22 and Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft by Soyuz-2.1a carrier rockets are planned for February.
Recall: on the eve of Roskosmos, a meeting of the state commission on the situation with the damaged Soyuz MS-22 manned spacecraft docked to the ISS was held. The conclusions of the working groups formed to find out the cause of the depressurization of the outer contour of the ship’s thermal control system radiator on December 15, 2022, the analysis of its technical condition and the development of further actions, as well as the recommendations of the Council of Chief Designers on changing the flight program of the Russian segment of the station in 2023 were considered.

The version of technical damage to the radiator was not confirmed. The conclusion about the breakdown of the radiator pipeline as a result of an impact by a sporadic meteoroid has been experimentally proven.

Based on the analysis of the state of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft, thermal calculations and technical documentation, it was concluded that the spacecraft should descend to Earth in an unmanned mode.

To ensure the necessary reliability, taking into account the positive statistics, the state commission decided to launch the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft on February 20 in an unmanned mode with the delivery of cargo to the station. On this ship, the Russians Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin, as well as the American Frank Rubio, will return to Earth. It was previously planned that they would land on the Soyuz MS-22 on March 28. So their stellar trip is extended.

https://rg.ru/2023/01/12/na-bajkonure-nachalsia-zakliuchitelnyj-etap-podgotovki-korablia-soiuz-ms-23-kotoryj-poletit-k-mks-bez-ekipazha.html

Space manager got lost in Cyprus
The former general director of the Khrunichev center is wanted for embezzlement

As it became known to Kommersant, Andrey Kalinovsky, the former general director of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Khrunichev State Space Research and Production Center, has been put on the international wanted list. According to investigators, he could steal almost 400 million rubles. when implementing contracts for the supply of cutting tools for an enterprise that is part of the Roscosmos structure. A top manager fled in Cyprus.

The decision to arrest Andrei Kalinovsky in absentia at the request of the investigation was made by the Savelovsky District Court of Moscow. It says that the ex-head of the Khrunichev State Space Research and Production Center should be placed in a pre-trial detention center for two months if he is detained in Russia or extradited from abroad. No one appealed against the decision to arrest, and on January 17 it entered into force. Thus, a card with the data of Mr. Kalinovsky should soon appear in the Interpol search database.

According to Kommersant, Mr. Kalinovsky is a defendant in a criminal case that the investigative department of the ICR for the Northern District of Moscow initiated on March 4, 2021 under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud on an especially large scale).

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Roskosmos has planned the deployment of the Russian orbital station for 2027, 01.24.2023

Roskosmos CEO Yuri Borisov said that the deployment of the Russian orbital station is scheduled for 2027.

He said this at the plenary meeting of the Royal Readings in Moscow.

“We will create a sovereign infrastructure for space manned flights to low Earth orbit. Its key element will be the Russian Orbital Station, the deployment of which we have planned for 2027, ”TASS quotes him.

Earlier, RSC Energia, which is part of Roscosmos, presented a model  of the Russian orbital station at the Army-2022 forum.

https://russian.rt.com/science/news/1101370-roskosmos-orbitalnaya-stanciya-2027