Whoever they pick....I hope they have more fun than Kondratyev had.
Posted on 03/15/2017 6:28:24 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Roscosmos hopes to expand its reach further, with missions planned to the Moon and even Mars.
Towards this end, on Tuesday, March 14th, the agency announced that it is conducting a recruitment drive for new cosmonauts. All are welcome, the agency stressed, to apply to become the next-generation of space explorers (provided they meet the criteria). And if all goes as planned, a few lucky applicants will be the first members of the Russian space program to “fly to the Moon.”
Understandably, Roscosmos is hoping to jump start its space exploration program again and recapture the momentum it enjoyed during the Soviet Era. In addition to Sputnik and sending the first man and woman into space (as part of the Vostok program), the Soviet space program also produced a reusable spacecraft by the 1980s that was similar to the Space Shuttle (known as the Buran program).
...
Intrinsic to this is a proposed crewed mission to the Moon, which is scheduled to take place in 2031. Roscosmos has also been developing the next-generation spacecraft that will replace the Soyuz-TMA, which has been the workhorse of the space program since the Soviet era.
Known as the the Federatsiya (Federation) capsule, this vehicle is scheduled to make its first crewed flight to space sometime in 2023 from the Vostochny cosmodrome in the Russian far east. As you can see from the images, it bears a striking resemblance to the Orion capsule. Unveiled at the 12th International Aviation and Space Salon in Moscow (MAKS-2015), this capsule will carry the first Russian cosmonauts to the Moon.
(Excerpt) Read more at universetoday.com ...
Are these cosmonauts dissidents?
The Buran WAS the space shuttle. They reverse engineered it from open source plans. They were pretty good at it. Look up the TU-4 bomber. Perfect copy of the Boeing B-29.
CC
Hmm, how on earth do the Ruskies think they’re going to pay for this. Moon rocks maybe? Stardust? They are just full of borscht!
They abandoned their moon program when they couldn't get their heavy lift booster to work. Far as I know, they still don't have a booster that can reach the moon.
For that matter, neither do we. Saturn V is long gone.
Orionsky...although Orion was a lousy name. Orion should properly be powered by nukes.
Buran actually did fly, once, unmanned. But the Russians didn’t get the thermal protection problem solved correctly and the reentry from that one flight damaged the bird enough to make it unflyable.
Whoever they pick....I hope they have more fun than Kondratyev had.
Well good for them for at least trying. Russia should be our natural ally. Now that the Orthodox Church has been restored I believe that the chances of our nations collaborating are much greater. Putin claims to be a Christian.
Wouldn’t mind having Cady Coleman along for the ride.
Having ridden in Russian made automobiles I will say no thankyou
Mother Russia...yes the Russian Orthodox Church was always strong. I hope Putin decides that he DOESN'T want to be a czar or tsar, but just a humble president.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.