PICTURE OF THE DAY

SPACE AT ILA-2008

ILA-2008 air and space show took place in Berlin, Germany, on May 29-June 1, 2008. Copyright © 2008 Anatoly Zak

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July 17: Zenit-3SL to launch the Echostar XI satellite from the Sea Launch platform in the Pacific Ocean.

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Acknowledgments:

Publisher would like to thank Alain Chabot from Université Sainte-Anne in Church Point, Nova Scotia, Canada, for his tremendous help in making this site possible, as well as following individuals for their support of this project:

Nicholas Abadzis

Christian Cognard

Dave Cooper

Mitch Davis

Charles Durrett

Stefan Eich

Paul Feigelman

Matthew Flammer

Robert Godfrey

Charles William Kauffman

Manish Kumar

Viktor Lapinskii

James Lucas

Robert McClimon

Don Mitchell

William Rierden

Eugene Wan

Andi Wuestner

TOP STORY

Russian scientists propose mission to "tag" dangerous asteroid

Published: 2008 June 27; updated June 30

Like a potential criminal tagged with a GPS bracelet, the Earth-threatening space rock could be fitted with a tracking device, helping to watch its orbital movement with precision, Russian scientists said.

According to RIA Novosti news agency, a team at NPO Lavochkin, the chief-developer of the nation’s planetary spacecraft, proposed an unmanned mission, which could place a radio beacon on the surface of the asteroid 2004 MN4 Apophis. The 350-meter space boulder, discovered in 2004, is expected to pass as close as 36,000 kilometers from Earth in 2029 and, according to some estimates, the gravitational pool of our planet could put it on a collision course with Earth in 2036.

Details inside ALSO: See our special on the history of the Phobos-Grunt project here

In other news:

Russia denies claims of future "tourist missions"

Published: 2008 June 12; updated June 20; July 2

The Russian space boss flatly denied an announcement by US businessmen about the possibility of another tourist mission to the ISS.

On June 11, 2008, a private contractor selling seats onboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft claimed that it would finance a dedicated tourist mission to the International Space Station, ISS, in 2011. The Soyuz flight, carrying one professional cosmonaut and two paid tourists, would be conducted in addition to regular launches financed by the Russian government. In the past, Russian authorities only allowed tourists to take a single seat onboard taxpayers' paid missions, to offset the cost of the cash-strapped Russian space program. However with the station construction nearly completed and its long-duration crew scheduled to increase from three to six, the regular Soyuz missions would have no seats available for paid passengers.

Although popular Western press hailed the latest claims about the dedicated tourist space mission as a new breakthrough in orbital commerce, the head of the Russian space agency, Roskosmos, Anatoly Perminov said he had no information of such plans. In the official statement published on the agency's web site, Perminov said that "there is simply no seats for space tourists." Possibly, he referred to already scheduled missions, rather than a dedicated commercial flight. As of June 12, RKK Energia, a Russian company, which builds and operates the Soyuz spacecraft, neither confirmed or denied claims made by its US-based salesmen. At the very least, the situation indicated a breakdown of communications between the Russian space agency, its main contractor and its overseas sales representatives.

Even if such mission does take place, skeptics believe that "private investors" would still use Russian taxpayers' money to pay for the full infrastructure of the manned space flight, including the spacecraft, its rocket booster, the network of ground control stations and other services. Observers also point out a potential minefield "commercial" missions present for relations between space station partners. Even though Russia does not publicly disclose amounts it charges its private clients for joy rides in space, these rates are apparently lower than those paid by NASA and other space station partners for transporting their crew members to the ISS.

In 2011, Russia plans to conduct four manned missions of the Soyuz spacecraft to the ISS to support permanent occupation of the outpost by rotating international crews. The additional tourist mission would mean five manned launches that year. Currently, Russia conducts two manned missions annually, however in 1980, six piloted Soyuz spacecraft lifted off to support Salyut-6 orbital station.

On Friday, commenting on the situation, Yuri Makushenko, Director of Business Development at RKK Energia told RussianSpaceWeb.com that "the door to the fifth (additional) Soyuz launch in 2011 or 2012 is not closed provided necessary funding." Makushenko said that such option was evaluated at RKK Energia, however the project was at the very initial stage and no actual production work on the Soyuz ship for the fifth mission in 2011 had taken place. He explained the contradictory statements by Roskosmos as possible misunderstanding.

Only on July 2, 2008, Roskosmos finally confirmed that an agreement with an unnamed private investor had been reached to start funding the construction of a dedicated spacecraft for a possible tourist mission in 2011. Terms of the agreement with the investor envisioned further tourists flights beyond 2011, the agency said.

Russia and Europe to discuss lunar craft in Moscow

Published: 2008 June 4

With the concept of the future Russian-European transport spacecraft finally decided, potential partners plan to work out technical details.

European industry unveils a manned spacecraft proposal

Published: 2008 May 29; updated June 5

Europe's chief aerospace company EADS Astrium unveiled a full-scale mockup of a three-seat vehicle, designed to enter the Earth orbit and eventually support lunar missions.

Witness on the ground describes Soyuz TMA-11 landing

Published: 2008 May 13

Although rescue helicopters often manage to document Soyuz landings, the Soyuz TMA-11 apparently made a rare touchdown, which was actually witnessed by people on the ground from a relatively short distance.

Russia tries to chart its space future

Published: 2008 April 15

Four years after NASA had announced its intention to return to the Moon, Russian future goals in space remained murky. On April 11, the eve of Cosmonautics Day, the outgoing Russian president Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting of his Security Council (known in Russian as Sovet Bezopasnosti), with the official goal of considering various aspects of the Russian space program until 2020.

Proton launches classified payload

Published: 2008 June 26

The Proton-K with Block DM upper stage rocket blasted off Site 81 in Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on June 27, 2008, at 03:59 Moscow Time, the official Russian ITAR-TASS news agency reported.

According to the Russian Space Forces, VKS, the launch went as scheduled and at 04:06:30 Moscow Time, the vehicle established radio-contact with ground control. The separation between the payload and the upper stage was scheduled for 10:37 Moscow Time on June 27, 2008.

Although the nature of the payload in this mission was not officially announced prior to launch, the Proton rockets were long known to deliver two types of military satellites: the communications and early-warning satellites. Both are delivered into geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometers above the Earth surface. Following this launch, however, the semi-official Interfax news agency quoted Aleksei Kuznetsov, secretary of Defense Minister confirming that the purpose of the launch was to replenish the SPRN early-warning system. The network is known to employ 71Kh6 satellites equipped with infra-red sensors to detect exhaust plumes of missiles.

Rockot delivers satellites

Published: 2008 May 23

A converted ballistic missile delivered a cluster of satellites, after a successful launch from Russia's northern cosmodrome.

Russia orbits German milsat

Published: 2008 March 27

After a two-day delay by bad weather, Russian Cosmos 3M rocket lifted off from the Russian cosmodrome Plesetsk on March 27, 2008, at 20:15 Moscow Time.

Mission to complete Russian GPS system takes off

Published: 2007 Dec. 25

Russia launched a second trio of navigation satellites aimed to complete the national global positioning system.

Russia launches military communications satellite

Published 2007 Dec. 9; updated Dec 10

Russia successfully delivered a classified payload for the nation's armed forces, the official media reported.

Kap Yar serves as a spaceport again

Published: 2008 June 19

Russia's original ballistic missile test site served as a spaceport for a rare orbital launch attempt. The Cosmos-3M rocket blasted off from the Kapustin Yar military range on June 19, 2008, at 10:36:45 Moscow Time, Russian space agency announced. The rocket carried a cluster of six 115-kilogram satellites for the US-based Orbcomm commercial communications network, including five operational spacecraft, known as Quick Launch and one experimental Coast Guard Concept Demonstration Satellite, or CDS. The total mass of the payload section was announced at 1,070 kilograms. The satellites were expected to provide global communications and navigation data for 10 years.

The rocket successfully delivered its payload into a near-circular orbit with the inclination 48.4 degrees toward the Equator and the altitude between 660 and 675 kilometers, some 33 minutes after liftoff. The mission was originally expected in the fourth quarter of 2007, and later slipped to the first quarter of 2008, May 22 and May 30, 2008. This was the first orbital launch attempt conducted in Kapustin Yar since 1999.

Zenit-3SL launches comsat

Published: 2008 May 21

The Sea Launch international venture launched a communications satellite into orbit from an ocean-based platform on the Equator, the company announced.

Zenit-3SLB flies from Baikonur

Published: 2008 April 28

The Zenit-3SLB, a variation of the Sea Launch-based launch vehicle, flew its first mission from Kazakhstan. The rocket equipped with a DM-SLB upper stage blasted off from Site 45 in Baikonur on April 28, 2008 at 09:00 Moscow Time. It carried Israel's AMOS-3 communications satellite.

Proton fails during launch

Published: 2008 March 15

The workhorse rocket of the Russian space program left its cargo in a useless orbit just half a year after a previous failure.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Preparing Phobos-Grunt for flight: Events of 2008

Updated: 2008 July 1

By the beginning of 2008, the Phobos-Grunt project was in an active development stage, with engineering versions of scientific instruments and the main spacecraft bus being manufactured.

Russia to jump-start science in space

Published: 2008 June 14

After a decade-long lull, Russian engineers prepare an array of scientific missions to go into the Earth orbit and beyond.

In interview with RussianSpaceWeb.com during the ILA-2008 air and space show in Berlin, Georgy Poleshyuk outlined an ambitious program of planetary exploration starting with the Phobos-Grunt project, which aims to return soil samples from a Martian moon.