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starship-design: Russia Charts Course to Moon, Mars



                                                                        
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
 Russia Charts Course to Moon, Mars                                           
      
 Aviation Week & Space Technology                                             
      
 10/13/2003, page 29                                                          
      
                                                                              
      
 Frank Morring, Jr.                                                           
      
 Bremen, Germany                                                              
      
 (Embedded image moved to file: pic06359.gif)                                 
      
                                                                              
      
 Cash-strapped Russia charts course to Moon, Mars after completing its 
station      
 components                                                                   
      
                                                                              
      
 Big Plans                                                                    
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
 Russia may or may not have the money to keep supplying the International 
Space     
 Station while NASA's space shuttle is grounded, but it has big ideas for 
future    
 human space exploration that would follow some of the same technology tracks 
the   
 U.S. space agency is pursuing.                                               
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
 Those include a nuclear-assisted Mars landing by 2025, with a permanent base 
on    
 the red planet by mid-century, and construction of a polar-orbiting 
human-tended   
 space station for Earth monitoring and microgravity research. A permanent 
lunar    
 base is also on the drawing boards at the Russian space agency Rosaviakosmos 
      
 (RKA), as are plans to complete Russia's half of the ISS by 2009.            
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
 "It is possible to consider flights to the Moon and Mars," RKA Director 
General    
 Yuri Koptiev told the 54th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) here 
Sept.   
 30. "We believe that technology is available to permit us to do that, and we 
also  
 believe that an organization similar to the one for the ISS should be the 
basis    
 for implementation of such ambitious projects."                              
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
 Koptiev endorsed the exploration-technology strategy adopted by NASA 
Administrator 
 Sean O'Keefe, who is pushing nuclear energy for both power production and    
      
 propulsion in space under "Project Prometheus." O'Keefe argues that          
      
 nuclear-electric propulsion would enable a host of space exploration 
activities,   
 including a rapid transit to Mars that would reduce the time a crew is 
exposed to  
 space radiation.                                                             
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
 Russia already supplies the U.S. with the plutonium fuel it uses for its     
      
 deep-space radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), and has sold an 
unfueled 
 Topaz space reactor to the U.S. Energy Dept. for study. Like O'Keefe, 
Koptiev      
 argued that advances in space nuclear power are needed to move human 
explorers     
 beyond low-Earth orbit.                                                      
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
 "The really important thing is the development of new technologies, 
especially in  
 the propulsion areas, which will allow us to step considerably forward in 
space    
 exploration," Koptiev said. "I have in mind electric jet propulsion 
technology and 
 nuclear power used for these purposes."                                      
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
 President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed space 
cooperation    
 during a September summit at Camp David, Md. Among items on the space agenda 
was   
 the ongoing discussion in the White House about next steps for human 
exploration,  
 which would have a heavy dose of international cooperation (AW&ST Oct. 6, p. 
49).  
 Among objectives Bush is believed to be considering is a return to the Moon, 
which 
 would mesh with Russian plans.                                               
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
 (Embedded image moved to file: pic27624.jpg)(Embedded image moved to file:   
      
 pic20537.pcx)                                                                
      
 Russia has plans to complete its half of the International Space Station and 
move  
 on to ambitious missions beyond low-Earth orbit. International cooperation 
on the  
 ISS model would be a key element of any future efforts.                      
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
 Koptiev presented a slide that called for building a permanent base on the 
lunar   
 surface "in cooperation with the U.S. and other countries." One suggested    
      
 objective of such a project would be mining the fusion fuel helium 3, which 
is     
 believed to permeate the lunar regolith. NASA has also studied the idea over 
the   
 years, but left it on the back burner because there are no fusion reactors 
to burn 
 helium 3. Russia, too, did not list a date for a permanent lunar base.       
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
 For Mars exploration, however, Koptiev presented a schedule that would see 
human   
 missions spending 15-60 days exploring on the surface and from orbit in 
2025-35.   
 After that would come missions of as much as a year on the surface or in 
Martian   
 orbit, leading to a permanent base for detailed exploration of Mars and as a 
      
 jumping-off point for missions to more distant planets.                      
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
 In addition to space nuclear power, Koptiev called for more work on 
closed-loop    
 environmental control and life support systems, and on robotic aids to human 
      
 explorers. He said his agency already has plans "to investigate how an       
      
 interplanetary mission would be implemented."                                
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
 Koptiev's remarks came at an IAC plenary session on the space station, where 
heads 
 or representatives of the principal ISS partner agencies unanimously 
predicted     
 completion of the orbiting laboratory despite the obstacles caused by loss 
of the  
 shuttle Columbia Feb. 1. NASA's O'Keefe praised Russia in particular for its 
      
 commitment to the ISS partnership in the wake of the disaster, and 
Koptiev--while  
 stressing the need for more "balance" in funding the stop-gap resupply 
measures    
 that rely on Russian hardware--reiterated Russia's plans to stay the course. 
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
 "We believe that by the year 2008 the ISS core will be completed, and the    
      
 operational lifespan will be not less than until 2016," he said through an   
      
 interpreter. "Our main objective here is to reach a permanent crew of six at 
a     
 minimum, as soon as possible."                                               
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
 The Russian space chief said he expects his agency will get a $100-million 
budget  
 boost in 2004, which is significant in Russian terms. Koptiev joked to 
reporters   
 that it's Russia's "secret" how it can accomplish the feats it does in space 
with  
 a relatively tiny budget, although most observers consider that a function 
of low  
 space industry salaries and Soviet-era investments.                          
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
 Russia's plans for the ISS include development of a multipurpose laboratory 
module 
 for the nadir docking port of the Zarya module, which could be attached as 
early   
 as 2006. Russia and the European Space Agency have discussed joint 
development of  
 the facility, which would provide a second docking port for a Soyuz rescue 
vehicle 
 for three crew-members, allowing the ISS crew size to grow from its nominal 
three  
 to six (AW&ST June 16, p. 190).                                              
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
 Other ISS elements in the Russian pipeline include the science and power 
module, a 
 Russian-side solar array planned for 2007. A research module for the nadir 
port of 
 the Zvezda module could be ready by 2009, according to Koptiev.              
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
 Harking back to the old Space Station Freedom, the non-Soviet predecessor to 
the   
 ISS, Koptiev suggested a two-module space station that would orbit with an   
      
 inclination to the Equator of at least 73 deg. for Earth observation, and be 
      
 visited only periodically by humans to minimize disturbances to the 
microgravity   
 environment on board.                                                        
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
 Although Russia has sent two non-professional space tourists to the ISS, 
Koptiev   
 said he did not expect that to be a significant space activity in the 
future, at   
 least at Russia's reported $20-million fare.                                 
      
                                                                              
      
                                                                              
      
 "We don't believe that this area of space exploration is the main one, 
because     
 there are no queues occurring in the tourist bureaus around the world so 
far," he  
 said.