credit: Energia
This would seem to make perfect sense with the potential cargo return crunch that could occur if Shuttle is retired in 2010 and NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services demonstration and Commercial Resupply Services programmes do not deliver in time. With ESA's member states hobbling that agency's efforts to turn its Automated Transfer Vehicle into a re-entry capable craft for cargo return the Russians once again are readying themselves to coin it in
The Soyuz cargo return vehicle idea was presented by Energia official Nikolay Bryukhanov at the ISTS' 26th International Symposium on Space Technology and Science, held in Hamamatsu city in Japan in 2008
Bryukhanov's presentation was about the future of Russian space transportation systems and bar perhaps a hopeful slide referring to Kliper (surely a dead duck?) it contains interesting material about Crew Space Transportation System aka CSTS, known to the Russians as Advanced Crew Transportation System (ACTS), and gives the impression that whenever the ISS' working life is ended the Russian segment will actually live on by undocking from the US segment, which is likely to splashdown in the Pacific ocean
On ACTS Bryukhanov's presentation explains that the vehicle's powered descent rockets ignite between 600m (1,970ft) and 800m altitude and that precision landing sytems engaged at 30m, I guess that's when those landing legs are extended. It shows an extended service module section for lunar ACTS flights
Looking at the ISS on the left hand side of this image the smaller left side portion of the ISS structure with the blue solar arrays, not the larger move coloured arrays, is part of the Russian ISS segment and the science power modules that Russia plans to launch in 2014 and 2015 can just about be made out (with those arrays). Looking at the space station image on the right it becomes clear that this new station is in fact made of the science power modules and other modules
credit: Energia
Bryukhanov's presentation was about the future of Russian space transportation systems and bar perhaps a hopeful slide referring to Kliper (surely a dead duck?) it contains interesting material about Crew Space Transportation System aka CSTS, known to the Russians as Advanced Crew Transportation System (ACTS), and gives the impression that whenever the ISS' working life is ended the Russian segment will actually live on by undocking from the US segment, which is likely to splashdown in the Pacific ocean
On ACTS Bryukhanov's presentation explains that the vehicle's powered descent rockets ignite between 600m (1,970ft) and 800m altitude and that precision landing sytems engaged at 30m, I guess that's when those landing legs are extended. It shows an extended service module section for lunar ACTS flights
Looking at the ISS on the left hand side of this image the smaller left side portion of the ISS structure with the blue solar arrays, not the larger move coloured arrays, is part of the Russian ISS segment and the science power modules that Russia plans to launch in 2014 and 2015 can just about be made out (with those arrays). Looking at the space station image on the right it becomes clear that this new station is in fact made of the science power modules and other modules
credit: Energia
on January 8, 2009 4:09 PM | Reply
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modify the Soyuz for cargo-return isn't a so complex job, but the returned payload can be only very small and light (less than 1 ton MAX) however, it should be enough to bring back to Earth several experiments and other small things from ISS at VERY cheap prices (at least 20-30 times LESS other options)
well, since they're developing new Soyuz-derived vehicles, I suggest them to develop and build (also) MY idea of a (simple, safe, reliable and very cheap) Multipurpose Orbital Rescue Vehicle (MORV) to be sold to NASA, ESA and to (future) private companies (like Bigelow) that want to build Space Stations and Space Hotels:
http://www.gaetanomarano.it/articles/017morv.html
one futher good idea is to adopt a "cold propulsion" (like those planned for the HL-20) for the MORV (rather than a two weeks life cryogenics propulsion or a six months life hypergolic propulsion) so that these rescue vehicles may remain docked to the ISS for YEARS
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on January 8, 2009 5:32 PM | Reply
Very small? 500kg is a fair bit. As you say Soyuz has to be cheaper. More cheaper flights to bring back experiments etc can't be bad. The Russians just have to wait for CRS and HTV to fail now.
on January 8, 2009 5:53 PM | Reply
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never said it's "bad" but just said it's "small" and, yes, 0.5 mT is "very much" compared with the "zero" cargo-return available after the Shuttle retirement...
however, I did not believe the CRS will fail (especially the one made by the experienced Orbital Science) nor will fail the HTV (that, for what I know, hasn't any cargo-return version planned)
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on January 9, 2009 5:08 AM | Reply
This is a puzzling article! Is no one aware that the current PROGRESS spacecraft IS an unmanned Soyuz with the habitation module replaced by a cargo version? Rather reminds me of the RUS rocket which is a ressurrected Vulcan(cancelled in '76) launch vehicle. Or could it be that as the current SOYUZ TM manned spacecraft is an update of the original Soyuz, so is this. Hardly new though, is it? Mind you it'll be operational before Ares1 I've no doubt!
on January 9, 2009 4:35 PM | Reply
Kris,
The unique thing about this proposal is that it is an *unmanned* cargo return capsule. It is probably very little different from the current Soyuz, but that is why it has all of that return cargo capacity. Note that it very likely has a significantly smaller cargo capacity for launch to orbit than the Progress vehicles due to the need for a return capsule, so it would probably not completely replace them.
I sure hope that most of the ISS isn't just thrown away in 2015 like the slides imply. What a waste!