As they say, "Rat don't taste worth a damned! But if rats is all you got, you grit your teeth and eat with gusto!"
Posted on 07/28/2005 2:05:54 PM PDT by lizol
Russia to help evacuate Discovery’s crew, if need be
28.07.2005, 17.16
KOROLYOV, Moscow Region, July 28 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia will be prepared to provide its Soyuz spacecraft for evacuating the Discovery space shuttle’s crew, if necessary.
“By February 2006 we would be prepared to launch three manned Soyuz spacecraft, if the Discovery’s crew will have to be rescued,” the president and general designer of the Energia space rocket corporation, Nikolai Sevastianov said. “We shall do everything in our powers to cope with this complex task. If we exert the maximum effort, the crew would be evacuated by three Soyuz craft before February 2006,” he said.
For this, the entire timetable of manned and cargo spacecraft launches will have to be reconsidered.
Under the original schedule the Russian space agency Roskosmos is to launch two cargo spacecraft Progress – one in September and the other, in December, and one Soyuz spacecraft on October 1 that will take to the ISS the crew of the next main mission and one space tourist.
If a rescue operation proves necessary, Russia will be able to launch another, fourth Soyuz without a crew, because it can dock with the ISS automatically.
In case of this march of events the current crew – Sergei Krikalyov and John Phillips will have to wait for that vacant spacecraft to arrive.
“The ISS must always have experienced crew members capable of performing any complicated operations in orbit, including manual docking,” Sevastianov said.
Neither Russian nor NASA officials specified who would finance the launch of extra Soyuz spacecraft.
Okay, let me show my ignorance once again. What do the enviroterrorists have to do with the fuel tank lining?
That's right. It's high time we GRACIOUSLY accept helpfrom others instead of always being the helpers. In this case, no chest-thumping or flag waving may save our people, and yes, occasionally we do require assistance.
I assume Freepers will take this opportunity to put down yet another nation. To some, patriotism means hating everyone outside the U.S. and creating bad will, as if we're at a high school football game.
Thanks Valdy, from this "black sheep" Freep.
There are several threads. One should be coming by any minute.
EPA - type of freon used in making the insulation.
Google "shuttle insulation epa".
LVM
This is so embarressing that we as a superpower can't even get our damn space craft up and back. Hello folks, TIME TO WAKE UP!
They can get an unmanned supply capsel up there in no time, it's the manned crew missions that take time, but probably closer to a month.
I know. That's why I was commenting on a "rescue" with a seven month lag time. There wont be anybody left alive to rescue
they are all grounded.
maybe NASA can outsource the repair job, all the engineers are in India and China now, they might as well follow the herd.
US tech is dead, its over. NASA is an example of this, accelerated by the natural excesses of any government beauracracy. but in general, the US world leadership role in technology is eroding at an unbelievable rate. I see it at work every day - we don't innovate anymore, don't invent, every activity is focused on improving profits for the next quarter, and the resulting executive compensation.
Fame! A adoring public has fueled the ruin of many a star once risen. Elvis has left the launchpad. Full of drugs up the waz, fat as hog ready for the bacon pack, Elvis could do no wrong. If the drugs get him up there on stage -- so be it.
And if we all close our eyes and imagine how great a successful mission is, how magnificent the landing, how brave the crew, and how breath-takingly beautiful a landing is ... why just imagine!
The fuel gauges, the foam, the o-rings, the exquisitely fragile tiles, the dead-drop glide -- let's cross our fingers! That's just practical engineering of majestic famous projects!
Not necessarily.
The NASA person said that Atlantis would be considered in an emergency
We are second rate when you compare the manned programs of Russia and the United States. It's very sad after taking into account how much more we spend then the Russians.
The current grounding of the Space Shuttle fleet because of form falling off the ET is an embrassment. They had two years and a billion+ dollars, and they didn't fix a damn thing. MUST BE A UNION SHOP! "If it's not in my union contract, I ain't doin` it."
Holtz
JeffersonRepublic.com
NASA should be completely cut from the budget. 2 1/2 years a a billion or two later they still don't have the problem fixed.
Oh and the solution is to use the old foam, the non ecofriendly foam.
Take 1/10'th of NASA budget give it to Rutan and tell him to build a vehicle that will orbit and return.
The "big government" fans will no doubt rise now to defend NASA as they always do........
Well, you know the story about the space pen and NASA?
Does it involve some Russians and a pencil?
I just spent another 4 hours dismissing my Global Economics professor's rosey views of globalization. Funny how the ivory tower types (and he's a Brazillion here temperarly) never consider that those who get laid off from manufacturing can't just magically retrain to bioengineering or what have you and that they don't have the capacity and that there is not such a big demand as the number people who loose their jobs from manufacturing.
Yup and NASA spending $20 million on the space pen.
As they say, "Rat don't taste worth a damned! But if rats is all you got, you grit your teeth and eat with gusto!"
every activity is focused on improving profits for the next quarter, and the resulting executive compensation
---
Ive seen this first hand. Market forces will force those same execs to deal with it. If their product starts to crap out, then their bottom line is messed up.
In the meantime, though, America is the loser.
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