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Watch Russia launch crucial Space Station cargo at 12:55AM ET
The International Space Station has had a tough time getting supplies lately between two rocket explosions and an orbital failure, but it's going to get an important lifeline in the near future... hopefully. Russia is about to launch Progress 60, a cargo ship that will ferry over 3 tons of much-needed food, fuel and other equipment to the ISS. You won't have to wait until its expected Sunday arrival to find out how it fares, though. NASA is streaming the launch at 12:55AM ET -- tune in below and you'll have a sense of whether or not Progress 60 fares any better than its ill-fated predecessor. Update: After a successful launch, Progress 60 is on its way to the ISS. It's scheduled to dock with the station at 2:30AM ET Sunday, which will also be covered live on NASA TV.
Russia's deputy PM blames space failures on 'moral decay'
Russia's Roscosmos space program doesn't have a lot of cash to waste after its budget was cut by 35 percent in March. But an internal audit found that it flushed $1.8 billion down the toilet anyway, according to the Moscow Times. The nation's deputy prime minister said many of the losses were caused by "acts of fraud, abuse of authority and forgery of documents." Referring to two recent setbacks, including the loss of an ISS cargo ship, he added that "with such a level of moral decay, one should not be surprised at the high accident rate."
Russia grounds Proton-M rockets following an accident
Russia's space program just can't catch a break, it seems. A spokesperson tells RIA that the country has suspended all Proton-M rocket launches following an accident that destroyed one model carrying a Mexican satellite. Officials reportedly want to know why this vehicle failed before they let any others take off -- all they've determined so far is that the third stage's engine booster suffered a glitch. The move is understandable (both Russia and private launch services lean heavily on the Proton-M), but it also suggests that the nation's rocket problems are boiling to a head. Unless it finds a permanent solution, there may well be more incidents in the future. [Image credit: Roscosmos via AP]
Russia's broken ISS supply vessel burns up in the atmosphere
An out-of-control Russian spacecraft has finally met its demise after re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. Progress M-27M was supposed to perform a resupply mission with the ISS, but ground control quickly lost contact after its launch on April 28th. Since then, the craft has been orbiting and slowly descending towards the Earth due to natural atmospheric drag and the planet's gravitational pull. Now, Russia's Roscosmos space agency has confirmed that Progress M-27M broke through over the central Pacific Ocean on Friday morning (May 8th). Most of the craft is expected to have burnt up during re-entry, but there's a chance some debris survived. Engineers are still trying to work out why they lost control in the first place -- it occurred after separation with the Soyuz 2-1A rocket, although reports suggest the rocket, rather than Progress, was to blame. Thankfully, no-one was hurt and the ISS is in no immediate danger, given the crew still has plenty of supplies.
Russia's latest ISS supply ship is spinning out of control
The International Space Station has yet another problem on its hands. Russia's Progress 59 supply ship (you're looking at Progress 47 above) appears to have suffered a communications breakdown shortly after entering orbit, and it's been spinning out of control ever since. As you can see in the dizzying video below, it's not about to dock with the ISS any time soon. Ground control had originally hoped that it could get things in order for an April 30th rendezvous, but it's scuttling those plans unless it can rein in this wayward spacecraft. It's safe to say that the station crew would like a recovery as soon as possible. When Progress 59 is carrying 6,000 pounds of food, fuel and other essentials, a significant delay could cause more than a few headaches. [Image credit: NASA]
NASA is working with Russia on a new space station (update: not quite)
Russia is teaming up with the USA to build ISS 2.0 once the current one's funding runs out in 2024 -- at least according to Russia Today and state news agency TASS. The country's space agency, Roscosmos threatened in February to use the Russian ISS modules as a platform for a new base of its own after 2024, but now it looks like there will be a followup collaboration. This time around, both parties are looking for participation from other countries, as well as private industry, and are apparently even eyeing a team-up for potential missions to Mars. Russian news outlets report the announcement came during a news conference Saturday following the launch of a year-long mission (video of the launch and subsequent ISS docking is embedded after the break) to the current International Space Station. Update: After waiting to get in touch with colleagues in Russia, NASA responded to our inquiry and says "no new partnerships were announced." So what's the status of the ISS to 2024 and beyond? NASA's statement only confirms "interest in continuing international cooperation" but doesn't go further than that -- you can read it in full after the break.
Russia will resume space tourism in 2018
Russia's Roscosmos space agency is in a bind. It makes money ferrying American astronauts to the International Space Station, but it's going to have a lot of unclaimed seats once NASA starts using capsules from Boeing and SpaceX. The solution? It's resuming space tourism. When 2018 rolls around, Energiya (the main company handling manned trips) will fill the empty third chairs on Soyuz flights to the ISS with tech moguls and anyone else who has the time and money to enter Earth orbit just for kicks. It's not going to be as glamorous as purpose-built space tourism programs (whenever they're finally ready), but something tells us that Russia won't have a problem finding paying customers. [Image credit: NASA, Flickr]
Russia will keep its pieces of the International Space Station in orbit
The International Space Station isn't expected to maintain funding past 2024, but that doesn't mean that everything will come crashing down when the money runs out. Russia's Federal Space Agency has decided that it will keep its station modules in orbit after the ISS goes out of service, using these leftovers to create its own base -- its first since Mir was decommissioned in 2001. Besides serving as a symbol of national pride, the ad hoc station should help with future missions that should include a manned Moon landing around 2030. Of course, this all assumes that the ISS doesn't get another lease on life -- if it does, Russia may have to go back to the drawing board. [Image credit: NASA]
Why is an opera singer going to the ISS?
It's been a weird life for Sarah Brightman, starting out as a dancer before recording one-hit wonder I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper, later reinventing herself as a classical soprano. Now, if you recognize the name, it's probably because she sang the duet to Time To Say Goodbye, more commonly known as the "opera song" that played repeatedly during season two of The Sopranos. Now, however, the 54-year old is going to the International Space Station to become the first recording artist to perform in space, at a personal cost of anything up to $30 million.
NASA suspends most collaborative work with Russia due to Ukraine tensions
Blaming Russia's "ongoing violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," NASA has announced that it's suspending nearly all of its engagements with Roscosmos, the Russian space agency. Cooperation will, however, continue on the International Space Station "to maintain safe and continuous operation." The Space Agency says it's still committed to future human spaceflight launches on US soil, but without Russian assistance or extra funding, these will will have to wait until 2017. "The choice here is between fully funding the plan to bring space launches back to America or continuing to send millions of dollars to the Russians. It's that simple."
Russia plans over $50 billion in space spending by 2020, eyes space weapon deterrent by 2030
We've already seen the Obama administration announce its latest budget for NASA this week, and now President Vladimir Putin has announced that Russia will be spending more than $50 billion on its space-related efforts by 2020. The most immediate result of that will be the completion of the Vostochny Cosmodrome near Russia's border with China, which Putin says is still on track to see its first rocket launch as soon as 2015 and its first manned launch in 2018. With NASA decommissioning its shuttle program, all manned space launches currently take place at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan (as pictured above), and Putin says the new launch base will also be open for other countries to use. Beyond that, Putin says that Russia will also have what's being described as a space weapon deterrent system by the year 2030, although specifics on it unsurprisingly remain a bit light for the time being. Russia says it also remains committed to sending cosmonauts beyond Earth's orbit in the future, including to a permanent base on the moon that it says could be used as a future launching pad for flights to Mars. Unmanned missions will precede that, though -- indeed, a new Moon probe is set to be the first launch from the aforementioned Vostochny Cosmodrome. [Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls]
Russia and Europe team up for joint missions to Mars
We're not sure how George Smiley would feel at the news, but we're certainly pleased to see that Europe and Russia are teaming up to revive the moribund ExoMars missions. The ESA has signed a deal with Roscosmos, its Russian counterpart, that'll see the pair launch an orbiter to the Red Planet in 2016, followed by a rover mission two years later. Unsurprisingly, Russia will be chipping in the rockets, leaving Europe with the job of building the hardware that'll go on it. Now all the pair need to do is argue about how best to usurp Curiosity as the mayor of the Gale Crater.
NASA, Roscosmos pick seasoned astronauts for year-long ISS trip
We now know which two astronauts will have to pack their bags very, very well in the next three years: NASA's Scott Kelly and Roscosmos' Mikhail Kornienko have been picked for the year-long stay aboard the International Space Station in 2015. Both voyagers are old hands at space travel, having each spent a total of six months in orbit and at least some time on the ISS crew. There's no great shock in the choices when the mission will track the long-term effects of near-zero gravity on the human body -- after all, most of us would want a crew comfortable in its spacesuit boots for such an ambitious (though not record-setting) trip. Kelly and Kornienko will start a two-year training program shortly into 2013 that should have them in shape by the expedition's launch... and hopefully remind them to bring a good toothbrush.
Russia in talks for Moon base timeshare with European Space Agency, NASA
Whether or not you believe we actually put a man on the moon, there's about to be a whole gaggle of'em bouncing about the place and mucking things up in the name of Science. Taking that whole "one giant leap for mankind" motto a few baby steps further, is an in-development initiative that would see our former, space race frenemy Russia teaming up with the ESA and NASA to develop a Moon base. Citing recently discovered reservoirs of water located near the polar caps, Roscosmos chief Vladimir Popovkin believes the time is ripe to continue exploration of Earth's satellite via the installation of a settlement on its surface or an orbiting station. As with all things outer space, expect this cooperative project to take some time coming to fruition. After all, there are billions of dollars, not to mention a bevy of international egos on the line here.
