News Russia eyes Soyuz upgrades for mission around the moon

[IronRain]

Spaceflight Now: Russia eyes Soyuz upgrades for mission around the moon

Space tourism firm Space Adventures says two customers have paid deposits for a flight around the moon on a Soyuz spacecraft, but the trip requires major changes to the Russian crew capsule, a vehicle that has seen only incremental upgrades in recent decades.

While the Virginia-based company works with Russian engineers to make the venerable Soyuz ferry craft ready for a lunar voyage, Space Adventures president Tom Shelley said last week he expects prices for tourist trips to the International Space Station to fall once U.S.-built capsules begin flying astronauts into low Earth orbit.

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"We are going to have to change the heat shield because you're re-entering at a significantly higher speed" on a lunar mission, Shelley said, adding engineers are considering whether to guide the Soyuz landing capsule to a "skip re-entry" in which the spacecraft would dip into the atmosphere to dissipate speed before plunging to the surface to a parachute-assisted touchdown.

The Soviet-era Zond robotic circumlunar missions, intended to pave the way for future human voyages, pioneered the skip re-entry technique in the 1960s.

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[RGClark]

Spaceflight Now: Russia eyes Soyuz upgrades for mission around the moon

Could also use the SpaceX Pica-X material for the heat shield.

Bob Clark

 

[steph]

Cool idea nonetheless. Perhaps the most accessible one today. New space race anyone?

 

[fsci123]

I would be laughing if it ends up being the Russians that are second to the moon instead of the Chinese...

 

[Urwumpe]

Well, you know... who laughs last, has the longest Ping communication delay.

 

[RisingFury]

Lots of talk, little action. I'll believe it when I see it.

Which (man rated!!!) Russian launcher is capable of propelling a Soyuz on a lunar mission anyway?

 

[IronRain]

Lots of talk, little action. I'll believe it when I see it.

Which (man rated!!!) Russian launcher is capable of propelling a Soyuz on a lunar mission anyway?

None so far:

The probable flight plan calls for the moon-bound crew to fly to the space station on a Soyuz rocket and spacecraft for a few days, then undock and rendezvous with a habitation module and Block DM propulsion stage launched separately atop a Proton booster.
The Block DM engine would propel the Soyuz capsule on a trajectory once around the far side of the moon and back to Earth.

 

[MattBaker]

Which (man rated!!!) Russian launcher is capable of propelling a Soyuz on a lunar mission anyway?

The new Angara when it's done (first version has a test flight this month).

 

[Kyle]

Actually, this could happen. I'll take a wild guess and say the two customers who've paid $300 million aren't in it for a Soyuz-to-ISS two week deal and that certainly would be enough to motivate Russia to fly around the Moon. Will it happen in 2017? Don't know, but it's definitely feasible.

 

[RisingFury]

The new Angara when it's done (first version has a test flight this month).

Will it be man rated? Wiki says unmanned, but I really don't know much about Russian launch vehicles.

 

[fsci123]

Later I'm going to attempt an ISS undock with moon transfer on orbiter. See if my theory about the inclination mismatch is correct...

 

[Kyle]

Later I'm going to attempt an ISS undock with moon transfer on orbiter. See if my theory about the inclination mismatch is correct...

It's possible, Zond TLIs were in a 51.6 degree inclination.

 

[Krikkit]

Lots of talk, little action. I'll believe it when I see it.

Which (man rated!!!) Russian launcher is capable of propelling a Soyuz on a lunar mission anyway?

As I understand it the upgraded Soyuz would launch on the old faithful Soyuz FG. There is no better man-rated LV in the world, IMO.

The Soyuz would dock with a separate habitation module and transfer stage, which would be launched seperatly, probably on a Proton.

Imbedded pic doesn't seem to be working so here is a link an artist conception.
http://www.parabolicarc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/SA-Lunar-Vehicle.png

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Later I'm going to attempt an ISS undock with moon transfer on orbiter. See if my theory about the inclination mismatch is correct...

It's easy enough to do on off-plane intercept, IMFD makes it easy. I'm sure TransX can do it too.

 

[jedidia]

So... we'd potentially have the first moon-mission coming up using orbital infrastructure. That sounds kind of exciting.

But I don't see much point in meeting the transfer stage at ISS, instead of just by itself in a better suited inclination. Is there any kind of justification for that, except maybe just the passengers wanting a stop at ISS before going onwards?

 

[SHADO]

But I don't see much point in meeting the transfer stage at ISS, instead of just by itself in a better suited inclination. Is there any kind of justification for that, except maybe just the passengers wanting a stop at ISS before going onwards?

Maybe to get a drink and use the space toilet? :embarrassed:

 

[DanM]

Am I the only one who is somewhat concerned by this? I'm all for more people getting into space, and it does make sense that the rich are the first, but what bothers me is the fact that humanity's first return to the Moon is a vacation for the super wealthy. I won't pretend that the Apollo missions were all about science and exploration (it was mostly politics), but I feel like there are much more noble causes that could draw humans back to the Moon.

The last thing I want to see is space becoming the next Mount Everest (once the frontier of human exploration, now a glorified tourist trap).

 

[fsci123]

Am I the only one who is somewhat concerned by this? I'm all for more people getting into space, and it does make sense that the rich are the first, but what bothers me is the fact that humanity's first return to the Moon is a vacation for the super wealthy. I won't pretend that the Apollo missions were all about science and exploration (it was mostly politics), but I feel like there are much more noble causes that could draw humans back to the Moon.

The last thing I want to see is space becoming the next Mount Everest (once the frontier of human exploration, now a glorified tourist trap).

We'll someone or something is going to have to keep those rich tourists happy and alive during their stay. Eventually a circa-lunar flight will evolve into a landing which will eventually evolve into hotels then cities...

 

[RisingFury]

The last thing I want to see is space becoming the next Mount Everest (once the frontier of human exploration, now a glorified tourist trap).

There's always Olympus Mons. Universe will always present us with new frontiers for exploration.

 

[DanM]

There's always Olympus Mons. Universe will always present us with new frontiers for exploration.

The point I'm making is that some things (or certain aspects of things) need to be preserved.

Mt. Everest should be preserved as a monument to nature, and not be trashed and exploited for profit (like has happened).

I think it is necessary that the main role of outer space should be very pure human progress. That isn't to say that space tourism or any other profitable activities should be kept out of space. Is is just important that we, as a species, exercise judgement as to what our main goals of space exploration are.