Posted on 08/21/2005 6:47:40 PM PDT by KevinDavis
It's all but official—Russia and Europe will soon embark on a cooperative effort to build a next-generation manned space shuttle. Speaking at the Paris Air Show, in Le Bourget, France, in June, Russian space officials confirmed earlier reports from Moscow that their partners at the European Space Agency would join the Russian effort to build a new reusable orbiter, dubbed Kliper. After the cautious optimism they expressed at the beginning of 2005, Russians are now confident that their European partners will be on board for the largest, boldest Russian endeavor in spaceflight in more than a decade.
"The prospects of our cooperation [with Europe] are very good, and I think we [soon] will see official statements to this effect," said Alexander Derechin, the head of international relations at S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corp. Energia (known as RKK), in Korolev, Russia's prime developer of manned spacecraft. The question now is what contributions in hardware and expertise the European partners will provide.00
According to Vladimir Daneev, head of the division responsible for the development of Kliper at RKK, his company will likely seek European expertise in the development of the spacecraft's crew module, onboard avionics, and thermal protection. "We now want to understand which available European and Russian systems are best suited for this project," Daneev said.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectrum.ieee.org ...
Oh, ok. This will keep me up nights being so excited I can hardly wait. Not.
This spacecraft will never make it back cause it will be loaded down with Vodka, German beer and French whine.
The french and russians might as well bring the chinese with them as well. To make the whole picture much clear.
So will the 'next' space shuttle still be based on the designs they stole from us?
Most likely...
So will the 'next' space shuttle still be based on the designs they stole from us?
Unlike NASA, which spends billions of dollars and gives us reams of paper and lots of "good" reasons why things don't work.
And the design they stole from us has long since been scrapped. They are ahead of us on that one.
It's lunacy, but if they do create a new one, they ought to try and make it capable of going higher than just low earth orbit, capable of landing where it launches, and less dependent on the integrity of those darned tiles.
Well, at least now we know exactly how far behind us they are in the space race - 30 years.
"So will the 'next' space shuttle still be based on the designs they stole from us?"
No. They only stole those designs as a reminder of what not to build.
More on the Kliper from "Encyclopedia Astronautica," looks like the launcher will be version of the R7 with a LOX/LH2 upper stage called Onega.
http://www.astronautix.com/craft/kliper.htm
Anyway - better than American (low-alcohol p**water) beer. Vashe zdorovie! Prost! Santé!
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