Russia's Cosmonauts Inside the Yuri Gagarin Training Center
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TAXIS AND TOURISTS Roughly every six months the Soyuz spacecraft at ISS needs to be exchanged for a fresher vehicle. If a resident crew rotation is not scheduled, a visiting Soyuz crew can be launched to take the next Soyuz to the Station and bring home the older craft. With limited numbers of experienced cosmonauts available and the requirement for a Soyuz commander to be flight experienced, the Russians have trained European astronauts as Soyuz Return Commanders, qualified in undocking, separation, de- orbit and landing activities. This has amended the traditional Russian cosmonaut roles and responsibilities and reflects the international flavour of the current Taxis and tourists 303 The ISS-6 crew (Ken Bowersox, Don Pettit and Nikolay Budarin) receive congratula- tions from Maj.-General Pyotr Klimuk on completion of their training and passing their exams programme (and the need to obtain funds for the national programme by bartering seats). One of the first ESA astronauts to complete this type of training was Thomas Reiter.
The opportunity also arose to `market' the third seat on Soyuz to those able and willing to pay for it (currently US$20 million), continuing the plan that originated towards the end of the Mir programme. The general rule in the Soviet / Russian programme since the 1977 Soyuz 25-Salyut 6 docking failure was to have at least one member of the crew flight experienced. The flight profile of a taxi mission to and from the ISS allowed for the flight of two Russian rookies for flight experience, or one rookie and an ESA or Canadian astronaut if no `fare paying' passengers could be found. Of course, selling seats to ESA or Canada was an option when Expedition crews were being rotated as part of a Shuttle assembly mission. Offering seats to `millionaire' individuals or organisations caused resentment in many unflown Russian cosmonauts, who lost their only chance of flying in space, just as they did during the Interkosmos missions in the late 1970s and early 1980s. When the inadequately prepared, but Russian trained Dennis Tito flew on a Soyuz visiting mission to ISS, he was prevented from accessing the American elements of the station because NASA felt he was not sufficiently skilled, especially in NASA safety procedures. As a result, the ISS partners developed a series of requirements for any `guest' cosmonaut, who now have to pass safety and familiarisation training at NASA JSC before they can fly in space. 37 The Russians 304 Joint programmes The ISS-4 crew lay flowers at the Korolyov statue at RKK Energiya during a post-flight ceremony. (from left) Dan Bursch, Yuri Onufriyenko, and Carl Walz demanded a minimum six-month training programme for any tourist candidate, but paying several million dollars for a short training programme and a flight as a passenger on a Russian mission with nothing to do during the flight was fine, as long as it did not involve the American elements or astronauts. Of course, on ISS this was impossible, so rules had to be agreed, and for the only other millionaire passenger to date (South African Mark Shuttleworth), the flight had to include a programme of experiments or investigations that made the investment worthwhile. For European astronauts (ESA or a national space agency), qualification as Flight Engineer and Soyuz Return Commander was combined with an extensive science programme to be carried out during a few days of exchange onboard the station, which would not interrupt the flow of resident operations. Taxis and tourists 305 Table 20 ISS Soyuz `Taxi flights' and Visiting Missions (2000±2005) ISS
Soyuz mission Science
Commander Flight Engineer 3rd Seat
Soyuz up/down Mission
Back-up Back-up
Back-up S1 TM 31/(STS-102) ISS-1 Gidzenko Krikalev
Shepherd (NASA FE-2)
Dezhurov Tyurin
Bowersox (NASA) S2 TM 32/TM 31 ± Musabayev Baturin Tito (US SFP) Afanasyev Kozeyev
± S3 TM 33/TM 32 Andromeda Afanasyev C. Haignere Kozeyev (CNES)
Zalyotin Kuzhelnaya ± S4
Gidzenko Vittori (ESA) Shuttleworth (S.A SFP)
Padalka Kononenko ± S5
Odissea Zalyotin
De Winne (ESA) Lonchakov Lonchakov Lazutkin ± The loss of Columbia in February 2003 changed future crew assignments to a two-person core crew and delivery to and from the station via Soyuz TMA craft, restricting the seats available for ESA or Space Flight Participants. TMA 1 brought back the ISS-6 resident crew of Bowersox, D. Thomas and Budarin. S6 TMA 2/TMA 2 ISS-7 Malenchenko Lu (NASA) ± Kaleri
Foale (NASA) ± S7 TMA 3/TMA 3 ISS-8/
Kaleri Foale (NASA) Duque (ESA) Cervantes Tokarev McArthur
Kuipers (ESA) (NASA)
Duque returned with the ISS-7 crew aboard TMA 2 S8 TMA 4/TMA 4 ISS-9/ Padalka
Fincke (NASA) Kuipers (ESA) DELTA Sharipov
Chiao (NASA) Thiele (ESA) Kuipers returned with the ISS-8 crew aboard TMA 3 S9 TMA 5/TMA 5 ISS-10 Sharipov
Chiao (NASA) Shargin
Tokarev McArthur(NASA) ± Shargin returned with the ISS-9 crew aboard TMA 4 S10
TMA 6/TMA 6 ISS-11/
Krikalev Phillip (NASA) Vittori (ESA) Eneide
Tyurin Tani (NASA) Thirsk (CSA) Vittori returned with the ISS-10 crew aboard TMA 5 Paying for the pleasure ± Space Flight Tourist Cosmonauts The chance to buy a seat on a Soyuz has been a contentious issue and has resulted in only two flights to date, although many have been rumoured, planned and attempted until the finances fail to materialise. In recent years, there has been the opportunity to sample elements of `cosmonaut training' via such organisations as Space Adventures where, for a fee, tourists can sample a flight on a MiG jet to the edge of space, weightlessness in parabolic flight, suiting up in an Orlan EVA suit, a ride on the centrifuge or tours of the space facilities. This is about as close to space as most people can get, but for a few million dollars more the ultimate trip is possible. 306 Joint programmes Roberto Vittori exiting the Soyuz TMA simulator. He is an Italian ESA astronaut who has flown two missions to ISS The second entrepreneur to experience a Soyuz flight to the ISS was South African Mark Shuttleworth in April 2002, the year after Dennis Tito. Upon hearing that an opportunity to fly in space was open to him, Shuttleworth's first hurdle was the mountain of bureaucracy he had to go through to convince the Russian space authorities that he was genuine and committed in his application to fly. Shuttleworth reasoned that volunteering for a medical experiment programme and conducting an extensive scientific research programme offered a different reason for his flight into space, other than just being able to afford it. Working with medical specialists early in training also helped him prepare for the rigours of space flight and get the most from a short, abbreviated training programme. Negotiations were part of the `training' in order to work with the Russians, and it was a challenge for him to get as much `training' out of them as possible. Shuttleworth has said that a third of his training at TsPK was on Soyuz systems, a third on ISS systems and a third on survival training. During water survival training on the Black Sea, he was told that recovery took Taxis and tourists 307 around thirty minutes and was asked how long he could hold his breath ± just in case. Shuttleworth was assured that, even after a space flight, the Soyuz would not sink and that a water landing was unlikely. He was also told that the training model he was to practice in also `probably would not sink.' For one test, it was planned to induce violent motion sickness in the crew inside the cramped, hot Soyuz, in a strong swell, but that day the water was calm and a team of divers had to sway the spacecraft in the water to achieve the desired effect. Shuttleworth commented that the best way to prepare for a space flight was by daily conditioning on the vestibular chair, not the most popular cosmonaut training device, but which apparently worked very well. He would certainly use this method again if he took a second space flight. He noted that the training for a Soyuz flight was excellent and well thought out practice for preparing crews for flights into space, but it was still nothing like achieving the real thing. As cosmonauts have often stated, the best training for space flight is in space itself. 38 There have been two or three others who have undergone `tourist' training, but did not progress to a flight: Mark Shuttleworth in the centrifuge at IMBP as part of his medical examination prior to his selection as a tourist cosmonaut. (Courtesy Mark Shuttleworth) 308 Joint programmes . Lance Bass ± an American pop singer, who completed some initial sessions but failed to generate the required funding to pay for the mission. . Lori Garver ± a former NASA manager who completed a lot of PR work but no training. . Greg Olsen ± the American industrialist, who failed a medical test but did complete some ISS training. However, in July 2005, he resumed training, for a flight in October 2005. The US$ 20 million fee includes half a million for the training at TsPK. The biggest cost is for the launch, which goes to Energiya. Future cosmonaut training for ISS With the gradual winding down of the Shuttle programme, the opportunity for flights to ISS will focus on Soyuz and its planned replacement, currently known as Klipper (although this programme remains funded only by Energiya, not the Russian government, and it is unclear whether there has been any cosmonaut involvement as yet). NASA has said that its work on ISS will be completed by 2016, and it is possible that operational activities on board ISS will be handled by Russia and European nations (as well as Japan), while American astronauts focus on certifying the new Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) that will lead to a return to the Moon and provide baseline data for possible flights to Mars. Presumably, the opportunity for crew seats to ISS will be expanded for cosmonauts to draw upon the decades of experience on Salyut and Mir space stations. Whether the facilities at TsPK will be expanded to incorporate training equipment and simulators that will allow cosmonauts to fly on the CEV is at this time uncertain. What is clear is that the training of Russian cosmonauts for ISS is already encompassing training facilities around the world. An indication of future operations was revealed in reports of continuing difficulties in reaching agreements over future crewing of ISS. On 3 May 2005, Aleksey Krasnov, head of the RSA, indicated that the Russians would launch only Russian cosmonauts to the ISS on Soyuz, and once the Shuttle resumes flight, the American resident crew members would be launched on that and not Soyuz (though Soyuz training for emergency landing would still have to be completed). From 2006, crewing will focus on Russian cosmonauts working on expanding the Russian segment. However, the Americans desire to launch one American on every Soyuz, and will agree to deliver a Russian resident crew member on the Shuttle. Comments from the Europeans, Japanese and Canadians were not reported at the time. 39
1 D.J. Shayler: The proposed USSR Salyut and US Shuttle docking mission c.1981, Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, 44, no. 11, 1991 2 US-Russian Cooperation in Space, Office of Technical Assessment, Congress of the United States, OTA-ISS-618, April 1995 References 309
3 Phase 1 Programme Joint Report, George C. Nield and Pavel Mikailovich Vorobiev Editors, NASA SP-1999±6108 (in English), January 1999, Section 7 ± Crew Training 4 `Implementing the Agreement between the National Aeronautics and Space Administra- tion of the United States of America and the Russian Space Agency of the Russian Federation on Human Spaceflight Cooperation', (undated) copy in the STS-60 Mission Archive File, Charles F. Bolden Collection, NASA JSC History Collection, University of Clear Lake, Houston, Texas; photocopy in AIS Archives 5 Russian Space Agency (RSA) sponsored Mission Specialist Standards of Conduct Agreement, (dated 11 October 1992); original copy in the STS-60 Mission Archive File, Charles F. Bolden Collection, NASA JSC History Collection, University of Clear Lake, Houston, Texas; photocopy in AIS Archives 6 Cosmonauts tour KSC and dream of flying on the Space Shuttle, Spaceport News, NASA KSC Space Centre, 28 August 1992, p 4 7 Cosmonauts selected to fly on a Space Shuttle, NASA News 92±166, 6 October 1992 8 Cosmonauts begin training at JSC, Kelly Humphries, JSC Space News Round Up, 31, No 44, p 113, November 1992 9 STS-60 Russian MS Basic Training Status, 4 January 1993, DG6/CAPPS, NASA JSC, presentation by Dennis Beckman, DT48/STS-60 Flight Section Head; original copy in the STS-60 Mission Archive File, Charles F. Bolden Collection, NASA JSC History Collection, University of Clear Lake, Houston, Texas; photocopy in AIS Archives 10 NASA memo DT48±93±121, dated 3 December 1993, Subject: Lessons Learnt from Training the Russians for STS-60, from Dennis D. Beckman, DT48/STS-60 Flight Section Head; original copy in the STS-60 Mission Archive File, Charles F. Bolden Collection, NASA JSC History Collection, University of Clear Lake, Houston, Texas; photocopy in AIS Archives 11 For a comparison of a typical Shuttle crew's training hours after completing Ascan training, see Women in Space: Following Valentina, by David J. Shayler and Ian Moule, p 210, Springer-Praxis 2005 12 NASA News, 93±061, 3 August 1993 13 STS-60 Press Kit, February 1994, p 15±16; also, Crew Task Assignments, STS-60 Query Book, PAO Archives, NASA JSC 14 NASA News 93±070, 8 September 1993 15 STS-63 Press Kit, February 1995; also, Crew Task Assignments, STS-63 Query Book, PAO Archives, NASA JSC 16 American Flights to Mir (Space Shuttle), David J. Shayler, in The History of Mir 1986± 2000, pp 71±85, Editor Rex Hall, British Interplanetary Society, 2000 17 NASA News 94±039, 3 June 1994 18 NASA News 96±171, 22 August 1996 19 Star-Crossed Orbits, p 160, James Oberg, McGraw Hill 2002 20 STS-84 Crew Assignments, Query Book, PAO archives, NASA JSC; Women In Space: Following Valentina, already cited, pp 278±279 21 NASA News 96±18, 30 January 1996 22 STS-86 Crew Assignments (dated 11 August 1997), Query Book, PAO Archives, NASA JSC
23 NASA News 97±33, 4 March 1997 24 Novosti Kosmonavtiki, 28 July-10 August 1997 25 Ref 19, p 162 26 STS-89 Crew Assignments, Query book, PAO Archives, NASA JSC 27 STS-91 Crew Assignments, Query book, PAO Archives, NASA JSC 310 Joint programmes
28 Mission Data for All Manned Missions, pp 33±37, in History of Mir 1986±2000, already cited
29 Women in Space: Following Valentina, already cited, p 320±322 30 Phase One Overview, Tom Holloway, Programme Director presentation handout, 14 December 1994 31 Shuttle-Mir history website, http://space flight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/history NASA Human Spaceflight website with related links 32 NASA News (JSC) 96±18, 30 January 1996 33 NASA News (JSC) 97±269, 17 November 1997 34 The International Space Station, From Imagination to Reality, Editor Rex Hall, British Interplanetary Society, 2002 35 Telephone interview with Andre Kuipers by Bert Vis, May 2005 36 ISS Expedition Journal ± Training, by Astronaut Clayton Anderson, http://space flight.nasa.gov/station/crew/andersonjournals/index.html 37 Principles Regarding Processes and Criteria for Selection, Assignment, Training and Certification of ISS (Expedition and visiting) Crew members, ISS Multi-lateral Crew Operational Panel, Revision A, November 2001 38 Shuttleworth's Space Experience, by David J. Shayler, an account of the L.J. Carter Memorial Lecture 2004, BIS/RAeS London, 24 March 2004, Spaceflight 46, No 6, June 2004, pp 261±263, British Interplanetary Society; interview with Mark Shuttleworth by D. Shayler, London, 28 April 2004 39 RIA News Agency, Moscow 3 May 2005 References 311
Zvyozdnyy Gorodok ± the town The Central Committee of the Communist Party agreed the establishment of a cosmonaut training centre on 11 January 1960. This was soon followed by a decision by the Head of the Air Force that the first commander of the training centre would be Colonel Yevgeniy Karpov and that he would have a staff of 250 specialists. The training centre would be a military unit, with the responsibility to house the staff and their families. To that end, the town of Zvyozdnyy Gorodok was constructed. The monument on the main road to Star City. This is about a kilometre from the main entrance
An Aerial view of Star City circa 1970. On the left are Dom 2 and 4 and the smaller block 5. At the end of the main pedestrian road is the House of Cosmonauts. Also visible are blocks 10 and 11, in the foreground right. The old Orbita hotel is the small block at right angles to these two blocks STAR CITY IS BORN Zvyozdnyy Gorodok (or Star City) is a military (or closed) town, which means it is completely surrounded by a perimeter fence with guarded gates for cars and pedestrians. It has no civilian mayor, and it is the responsibility of the commander of the training centre to look after the town and all its inhabitants. For many years, it was a secret location that was not shown on any maps, nor signposted on the road system. The soldiers, many of whom are conscripts, guard the gates, clear up the snow, and do general maintenance work around the town. There is an armed officer and guards operating at night and the police also have a station in the town. A pass is required to enter the town, either on foot or by vehicle, and this can only be obtained from a current resident or on an official visit. Security is tight and has increased in recent years. The decision about where the training centre should be located was taken at the highest level within the Soviet political system. A number of factors were taken into account, according to officials who were around in 1960. It had to be close to Moscow, given that all the major establishments involved in the development of the human space effort were based there and the initial training of the 1960 selection was 314 Zvyozdnyy Gorodok ± the town An aerial view circa 1970. In the foreground are Dom 2, 4 and the smaller block 5. In the bottom right of the photo, the site of the Gagarin memorial is being cleared but the statue has not yet been constructed. The photo also shows the school, the shop complex and the House of Cosmonauts taking place in Moscow at various medical and military establishments. It also had to be close to an airfield for access to Baykonur and other parts of the Soviet Union, and near a railway link with access to central Moscow. But it had to be off the beaten track and not in the public gaze, on a green field site that had the capacity for development. The decision on the site was made in the summer of 1960, when the `Green Village' site was identified. It met many of the criteria laid down by the Air Force, particularly that it was very remote and anonymous. The site chosen was close to the military air base at Chaklovskiy and was already in use by the military, although it only had a few buildings located on it. The site was close to the single railway line from Moscow to the town of Monino, which was the site of a leading Air Force academy and another military air base. It was a healthy site, with lakes and a marsh, and with plenty of opportunity to develop as demand directed. Responsibility for construction of the town and the centre was given to one of Karpov's deputies, E. Cherkasov, a deputy director for administration. The construction of Zvyozdnyy Gorodok was undertaken by engineers and construction troops and the cosmonauts and senior managers came to live in nearby Chaklovskiy Star City is born 315 The school, which was constructed in 1967, is named after Vladimir Komarov in late 1961 while they waited for their homes and the centre to be constructed. They commuted to Moscow for most of their training sessions. The first major tower block, Dom 2 (Russian for house), was ready for occupation by cosmonauts of the 1960, 1962 and 1963 selections on 6 March 1966. It also became the home for some senior figures in the centre's administration. The first housing blocks were completed in 1964 (Dom 10) and 1965 (Dom 11) and the cosmonauts moved in immediately. Plans to build three more similar blocks were Download 3.5 Mb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: 
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