Experts make efforts to restore communication with Foton-M research satellite

Experts have been trying to restore communication with the Foton-M research satellite that so far fails to receive commands from the Earth, the Mission Control Centre (MCC) outside Moscow told Itar-Tass on Thursday. 

“We currently receive telemetric data from Foton, however, we cannot transmit commands from the Earth to the satellite so far, that is we have only one-way connection. Experts are now trying to restore the communication.”


Russia launched its fourth Foton-M research satellite last Friday to begin a sixty-day mission for an array of creatures and biological experiments. Liftoff atop a Soyuz-2-1a rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome occurred at 02:50 a.m., local time on July 18.
http://en.itar-tass.com/non-political/742066
24/7/14
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Related:

• Le bio satellite Foton-M avec des organismes vivant à son bord lancé depuis le Baïkonour

• Russia Launches Animals Into Space on One-Month Journey 

• Ρώσοι κοσμοναύτες πραγματοποιούν εργασίες στο ανοικτό διάστημα....

• Όλοι οι γερβίλοι του δορυφόρου βιολογικών ερευνών «Bion-M1» πέθαναν...

• Russia's Bion-M1 biological research satellite, which recently carried rodents, microorganisms and plants on a month-long space flight, successfully accomplished its mission, an official said on Wednesday, despite the death of most of the animals on board.

Le bio satellite Foton-M avec des organismes vivant à son bord lancé depuis le Baïkonour

La fusée Soyouz-2.1a, décollée depuis le cosmodrome de Baïkonour dans la nuit du samedi, a mis en orbite l’appareil spatial Foton-M № 4, à bord duquel se trouvent cinq geckos, des mouches drosophiles, des micro-organismes et des graines de plantes supérieures.

L’appareil restera en orbite pendant 60 jours. Pendant le vol orbital, 20 expériences seront effectuées à bord du Foton-M.


Précédemment, le directeur adjoint de l'Institut des problèmes biomédicaux de l'Académie des sciences de Russie, Vladimir Sytchev a indiqué que des expériences menées aideraient à savoir plus sur les effets que l’homme ressent en apesanteur.
french.ruvr.ru
19/7/14
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Sur le même sujet:

• Russia Launches Animals Into Space on One-Month Journey 

• Ρώσοι κοσμοναύτες πραγματοποιούν εργασίες στο ανοικτό διάστημα....

• Όλοι οι γερβίλοι του δορυφόρου βιολογικών ερευνών «Bion-M1» πέθαναν...

• Russia's Bion-M1 biological research satellite, which recently carried rodents, microorganisms and plants on a month-long space flight, successfully accomplished its mission, an official said on Wednesday, despite the death of most of the animals on board.

UN initiative strengthens drought monitoring and early warning in Asia-Pacific

UN, 1 July 2014 – Although drought is a “silent killer” in Asia and the Pacific, access to scientific information and knowledge remain a challenge for many countries in the region, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) said today at a milestone forum on drought monitoring and early warning.
“Over the past three decades, it is estimated that droughts in the region have affected more than 1.3 billion people and caused damages of over $53 billion,” Shamika Sirimanne, Director of ESCAP’s Information and Communications Technology and Disaster Risk Reduction Division, said today in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The meeting, organized by ESCAP and the Sri Lanka Ministry of Technology and Research, drew senior Government representatives, regional experts and UN agencies to exchange good practices and discuss strategies to reduce the impacts of agricultural drought and help save lives.
Ms. Sirimanne emphasized that efforts to reduce the impacts of drought require timely access to satellite-derived data. “Signs of drought can be observed from space long before they are visible to the human eye. Advances in space technology allow us to monitor the condition of crops, or the availability of water, from satellite images, and sharing this information through regional cooperation will save lives and protect livelihoods.”
However, despite significant progress in monitoring agricultural drought, access to satellite-derived data and knowledge for improving early warning remains a challenge for many countries in Asia and the Pacific.
In 2013, ESCAP launched the Regional Drought Mechanism – a platform providing timely and free satellite-based data; products; and training to regional drought-prone countries – to enhance the capacity of Governments for agricultural monitoring and early warning. When combined with information collected on the ground, the data leads to more effective detection of potential drought conditions.
“For example, satellite images can detect the onset of drought in specific areas or provinces, allowing time for local authorities to take immediate action, such as informing farmers to switch to more drought-resistant crops or implementing water management strategies,” Ms. Sirimanne elaborated.
The Sri Lankan Minister of Technology and Research, Patali Champika Ranawaka warned, “This year may witness the beginning of another El Niño period affecting Sri Lanka – possibly with serious implications for agriculture, one of the most important sectors for the country.”
“We have great hope that ESCAP’s Regional Drought Mechanism will help Sri Lanka address this issue by expanding our options for monitoring and responding to agricultural drought, in the meantime effectively harnessing the potential of space technology applications towards this end,” he added
Currently, the Mechanism is being piloted in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Its initial work in Mongolia and Sri Lanka – supported by two regional service nodes – demonstrates clearly the efficiency and effectiveness of the initiative.
Supported by China and India, the regional service nodes were established under the Regional Drought Mechanism to provide the pilot countries with satellite imagery, services, expert training and capacity development.
Though several of the pilot countries already experience severe drought conditions due to regular climate oscillations, including El Niño and La Niña, climate change projections indicate that drought is likely to become more frequent and severe in the future.
Given these challenges, forum participants recognized the importance of coordination and cooperation across the relevant ministries and initiatives in the region and looked at practical ways to improve early warning through enhanced integration with climate change trends, and new scientific modelling techniques.
Recommendations from the forum will provide guidance for strengthening the effectiveness of the Regional Cooperative Mechanism and will feed into the national disaster management plans of the pilot countries.
Participating countries benefit from: enhanced access to space-based data; capacity building in preparedness and response; strengthened institutional coordination and policies at the country level; and Regional and South-South cooperation and support networks.
[un.org]
1/7/14
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Pentagon plans multi-billion dollar project to combat space junk

Later this month the US Pentagon plans to award a massive contract to one of the two most influential American contractors for a project that, if all goes according to plan, will be able to identify space debris before it becomes a threat to the Earth.
Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon Co. are competing for the $6 billion contract to design and construct Space Fence, a radar system that will eventually be able to track large bodies of space matter. The plan is being put into place so that the government can not only better predict the bodies that may come into contact with Earth (such as the asteroid that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, for instance) but also to better protect satellites that could be destroyed while in orbit.

“There’s a lot of stuff up there, and the impact of the new space fence will be able to track more objects and smaller objects,” Joan Johnson-Freese, a professor of national security affairs at the US Naval College, told the Sydney Morning Herald, adding that the technology “is a necessity, but not sufficient…We need to move on to an active plan for removal.”

• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has estimated that 500,000 chunks of man-made material floats around the Earth.

 Any one of those could damage or completely knock out the 1,200 operational satellites owned by various nations that are responsible for providing Internet access, banking functions, cell phone connections, Global Position System mapping, and other necessities.

• The debris smashes together so fast – a combined speed of 22,000 miles per hour, six times the speed of a high-velocity bullet – that the collision is accompanied by a massive shockwave, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“It literally shakes the satellite apart,” Felix Hoots, a distinguished engineer at the Aerospace Corporation, a government-funded space research group, told the paper. “The [fence] is going to give us a lot more data and see a lot more objects than we’ve seen before.”
US Air Force general William Shelton said during a speech earlier this year that the military issued more than 10,000 warnings of close calls to American and international satellite operators. The risk is growing, though, as a generation of satellites enters old age and break down. China intentionally destroyed one of its own satellites with a rocket in 2007, for example, sending 2,500 more pieces into space.
“If maybe a two-to-three-centimeter sized object can be lethal to fragile satellites, we’ve got a lot of traffic in space that we need to be worried about and we just can’t track it right now,” he told the Journal.
rt.com
17/5/14
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Related:

• Japan's Launching A Giant Net Into Orbit To Scoop Up Space Junk (video fr) 

• Russian satellite hit by remnants of destroyed Chinese spacecraft (VIDEO)

• Δορυφόροι από ανακυκλωμένα διαστημικά «σκουπίδια» σε τροχιά

• Weltraumschrott: Eine Müllabfuhr für die Umlaufbahn.....

• Εν αναμονή του «φαινομένου του Κέσλερ»

• Comment faire le ménage dans l'espace ?

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The carrier rocket Proton-M has burnt up in the dense layers of the atmosphere. - Where did fragments of Proton-M fall

The carrier rocket Proton-M, which was launched from Baikonur together with the communications satellite Express-AM4R, has burnt up in the dense layers of the atmosphere, an official of Russia's Federal Space Agency has told Itar-Tass.
"Some small fragments of the rocket could fall onto Earth. An impact area is being ascertained," the space official said. According to the data given by him, the engine of the third stage of the carrier rocket failed at an altitude of 161 km because of deviation of the Proton-M from the flight path. "There was an angle-and-bank error," he said.

According to the source, the toxic components of the rocket fuel remaining in the third stage of the Proton and the booster unit Briz-M most likely burned up in the dense layers of the atmosphere. Satellites of the Exress series have been insured for 2.5 billion roubles.

Contact was lost in the 540th second

An emergency cutout of the propulsion unit of the Proton-M carrier rocket occurred between the separation of the second and third stages, an official at Roscosmos (Russia's Federal Space Agency) has told Itar-Tass.

"Contact with the carrier rocket was lost in the 540th second after liftoff," the official specified, adding, "It is known that the nose cone did not separate from the rocket". Third-stage engines for Proton space rockets are manufactured at the Voronezh-based OAO "Khimavtomatika Design Bureau" (KBKhA) space-rocket industry enterprise.
The carrier rocket Proton-M was to deploy into orbit the highest-powered and technologically effective commsat which was intended to become a third spacecraft of the Express series launched in 2014.

Non-deployment of the satellite

The non-deployment of the communications satellite Express-AM4R into orbit was caused by an abnormal situation, Irina Zubareva, press secretary of the Roscosmos director, told Itar-Tass on Friday.
"An abnormal situation developed during the insertion in the operation of the third stage of the carrier rocket, and the spacecraft Express-AM4R was not deployed into orbit. State commission members are now busy analyzing telemetric data, seeking to find out the causes of the abnormal situation," she said.

Where did fragments of Proton-M fall 

Fragments of the carrier rocket could fall in unforeseen debris impact areas, a space industry source has told Itar-Tass. "In any case, Proton-M rocket fragments did not fall in the grounds of Baikonur, or in general in the territory of Kazakhstan. Most probably, this happened (when the rocket was) already far away, in an off-normal impact area," the source said.

"All the causes and a possible impact area are being ascertained. No information has been received from Baikonur so far, since people monitoring the Proton-M liftoff are in a bunker at the moment of liftoff proper," the source specified. He added, "The breakdown occurred during the operation of the third stage of the carrier rocket, prior to the acceleration unit's separation".
"The Proton-M carrier rocket at this moment is most likely in a non-intended orbit. The propulsion unit emergency cutout, which happened in the 540th second (of the flight) during the operation of the third stage, was not necessarily to result in its fall," a source at Russia's Federal Space Agency has told Itar-Tass.
[itar-tass.com]
16/5/14
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Related:

• Proton Rocket Carrying Turkish Satellite Readies for Launch (video Launch of Sirius FM-6)

• Russia’s Proton-M Rocket Puts US Satellite,Sirius FM-6, into Orbit.(video)

• Unsuccessful launch rocket "Proton-M". Explosion of rocket Proton-M. Baikonur (VIDEO online)

Russia Set to Boost Space Cooperation With India, China

Russia is set to develop its space cooperation with India and China, the head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos Oleg Ostapenko said on Thursday.

“Recently, we received an invitation from Japan to discuss an array of questions,” he added.

The announcement was made amid threats of Russia’s western partners to freeze or cut cooperation with Russia amid tensions over Ukraine and Crimea secession. NASA threatened to cut space ties with Russia, but Roscosmos has yet received no official notifications.
The Russian space chief said that despite belligerent rhetoric, Russia’s space cooperation with European partners remains unharmed.

“We are now communicating with the space agencies of France, Germany and, particularly, with the European [Space Agency],” he told journalists.

• Russia and its BRICS partners India and China have a long history of cooperation, including in space. 
•  
• In July 2004, Russia and India signed a protocol to boost cooperation in space including space launches and joint development of the GLONASS satellite navigation system.

Deputy head of Roscosmos Sergey Savelyev said in mid-April that Russia and China are coordinating on major future research projects in space and agreed last year to expand it.
[en.ria.ru] 24/4/14
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Related:

• ESA to continue space cooperation with Russia unlike NASA

• ‘We Did Not Tell NASA to Stop Cooperation With Russia’ – US State Department

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• Scientists Warn NASA on Ethics of Space Travel

• Το πρόγραμμα Exomars ξεκίνησε. Η Ρωσία δήλωσε ότι θα ενταχθεί στην αποστολή, και θα παραχωρήσει πυραύλους Proton.

• Το πρόγραμμα ExoMars στην τελική ευθεία...

La lumière de la Lune pourrait remplacer l'éclairage public (chercheurs suédois)

Des chercheurs suédois proposent de modifier la surface de la Lune en vue de renoncer à l'utilisation de l'éclairage public.

Le projet consiste à créer sur la surface du satellite de la Terre des territoires spéciaux qui reflèteraient les rayons du Soleil. Cela permettrait de rendre le ciel nocturne aussi clair que durant la journée.


Les chercheurs estiment que cela contribuera à économiser l'énergie électrique et diminuera les volumes de CO2 rejetés dans l'atmosphère.

Par contre, on ne sait pas comment modifier la surface de la Lune.
french.ruvr.ru
23/4/14

Malaysia plane search: China is adjusting 10 satellites to help trace plane

BEIJING: With the fate of the Malaysian airplane continuing to be elusive, China announced Monday evening it had started using satellites to search for it. China is adjusting the orbit of up to 10 of its satellites to assist the 9-nation hunt for flight MH370, which is missing with 239 people on board.

China's People's Liberation Army said that Xian Satellite Monitor and Control Center had launched an emergency response using high-resolution satellites to assist the search on Monday evening.

The rare move resulted in the Xian Center purging the original commands of several satellites, which are meant for full services in weather monitoring and communication and replacing them with commands on different aspects of the search, it said.

A report from Kuala Lumpur said Malaysian authorities are awaiting the latest satellite imagery for any signs of wreckage from the air plane, wich is believed to have vanished in the South China Sea. It did not name the country, which had engaged the services of its satellites but indicated that the focus of satellite search was to look for debris as hopes of finding the plane intact had evapourated.

The Chinese move came after intense efforts by ships and airplanes deployed by nine countries failed to throw up any clue about what happened to the 11-year old Boeing, which was last cited on a radar at the Ho Chi Minh City air traffic control area in Vietnam at 1:20 a.m. Beijing time on Saturday.
Malaysia's director-general of civil aviation Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said it had concentrated its efforts on the South China Sea but would now extend its search to the west coast of the peninsula.
 timesofindia.indiatimes.com
11/3/14

Proton Rocket Carrying Turkish Satellite Readies for Launch (video Launch of Sirius FM-6)

MOSCOW, February 14 (RIA Novosti) – A Proton rocket carrying a Turkish satellite is scheduled to lift off early Saturday in the first launch of Russia’s largest rocket this year, the Russian space agency told RIA Novosti.
The launch from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan will be the sixth since a three-month suspension after one of the rockets exploded shortly after liftoff in July. The accident sent 600 tons of highly-toxic flaming propellants raining down on the surrounding Kazakh countryside.

The Turksat-4A, manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric of Japan, arrived at Baikonur by plane last month and was rolled out atop a Proton-M earlier this week.
The five-metric-ton telecommunications satellite will be stationed in a geosynchronous orbit through successive burns of the Russian Briz-M upper stage.
It will provide television broadcast and data services for customers in Turkey as well as in Europe, Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East, according to Turksat.

• Moscow and Astana quarreled over the nearly $90 million cleanup bill following the July accident. Kazakhstan has repeatedly called for a reduction in launches of the rocket over concerns about the environmental impact of its highly-toxic fuel.

The Russian space agency Roscosmos said last year that the Proton is slated for retirement after 2020, following the introduction later this decade of the new Angara rocket to be launched from Russia’s Far Eastern Vostochny Cosmodrome.
Kazakh media reported earlier this week that a bilateral working group in Moscow would finalize recommendations on the frequency of launches of the Proton. A Kazakh space official said last week that there would be 10 launches of the Proton this year, down from a planned manifest of 14, without explaining the decrease.
Moscow currently leases Baikonur – the launch site of Sputnik and Yury Gagarin and the only facility capable of launching the Proton – from Kazakhstan for $115 million annually.
 http://en.ria.ru/russia/20140214/187533128/Proton-Rocket-Carrying-Turkish-Satellite-Readies-for-Launch.html
14/2/14 
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• Russia’s Proton-M Rocket Puts US Satellite,Sirius FM-6, into Orbit.(video)

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  • Unsuccessful launch rocket "Proton-M". Explosion of rocket Proton-M. Baikonur (VIDEO online) 

• In the most recent failure on August 7 Russia’s Proton carrier rocket launched from the Baikonu

 

Lander and rover ready to perform exploration tasks.

video cctv

This was the fifth time the rover and the lander took photos of each since they arrived eight days ago. Scientists in Beijing have been processing them and say scientific tasks can now begin.

"Ten pictures have been taken at five spots so far, and all of them are better than we expected. The rover has moved in a semi-circle around the lander. Afterwards, they will begin to conduct scientific explorations of the geography and geomorphology of the landing spot and nearby areas, and materials like minerals and elements there. 


We will also explore areas 30 meters and 100 meters beneath the lunar soil. The exploration will continue longer than we planned, because all the instruments and equipments are working very well," said Wu Weiren, chief designer of China Lunar Probe Program.
 cntv.cn
22/12/13
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Related:
 

• Full video: Journey to the moon: Yutu separates from lander (3 video)

• China launches probe and rover to moon (video cctvnews)

• China to launch Chang'e-3 lunar probe early Monday (video cctvnews)

 

 

Full video: Journey to the moon: Yutu separates from lander (3 video)

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China's "Jade Rabbit" separates from lander 
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BEIJING, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- 
China's first moon rover, Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, separated from the lander early on Sunday, several hours after the Chang'e-3 probe soft-landed on the lunar surface.
The six-wheeled rover touched the lunar surface at 4:35 a.m., leaving deep trace on the loose lunar soil. The process was recorded by the camera on the lander and the images were sent to the earth.

The transfer mechanism with Yutu aboard unlocked at 4:06 a.m. with one side reaching the moon's surface, allowing the rover to descend to the surface following a ladder mechanism.
After the separation, the rover and lander will take photos of each other and start their own scientific explorations.
Chang'e-3 landed on the moon's Sinus Iridum, or the Bay of Rainbows, at 9:11 p.m. Saturday, making China the third country in the world to carry out such a rover mission after the United States and former Soviet Union.
In ancient Chinese mythology, Yutu was the white pet rabbit of the lunar goddess Chang'e. The name for the rover was selected following an online poll that collected several million votes from people around the world.
 http://english.cntv.cn/program/newsupdate/20131215/100540.shtml
15/12/13
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• China launches probe and rover to moon (video cctvnews)

• China to launch Chang'e-3 lunar probe early Monday (video cctvnews)

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  • Chinese lunar rover lands on moon. -The mission makes China the third country to carry out a rover mission after US and former Soviet Union.

China landed an unmanned spacecraft on the moon on Saturday, state media reported, in the first such "soft-landing" since 1976, joining the United States and the former Soviet Union in managing to accomplish such a feat.

Scientists burst into applause as a a computer generated image representing  the spacecraft was shown landing on screens at a Beijing control centre, state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) showed on Saturday, 12 days after Chang'e-3  blasted off on a Long March-3B carrier rocket.

Landing was the "most difficult" part of the mission, the Chinese Academy of Sciences had said in an online post written on the official Chang'e-3 Weibo page.
The probe, which was fitted with shock absorbers in the legs to cushion the impact of the landing, performed a "free-fall" for the crucial final few metres of descent.

"Chang'e-3 is completely relying on auto-control for descent, range and velocity measurements, finding the proper landing point, and free-falling,"  Chang'e-3's microblog said before the landing. "At this stage, the Earth base is effectively powerless, and there is only about 10 minutes to finish the process."
Ambitious programme...............http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2013/12/china-first-lunar-rover-set-touchdown-2013121454636469941.html

•  

China launches probe and rover to moon (video cctvnews)

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XICHANG, Sichuan, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- China launched the Chang'e-3 lunar probe with the country's first moon rover aboard early on Monday, marking a significant step toward deep space exploration.
The probe's carrier, an enhanced Long March-3B rocket, blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China at 1:30 a.m.
Chang'e-3 is expected to land on the moon in mid-December to become China's first spacecraft to soft land on the surface of an extraterrestrial body.
It is also the first moon lander launched in the 21st century.

The probe entered the earth-moon transfer orbit as scheduled, with a perigee of 200 kilometers and apogee of 380,000 kilometers.
"The probe has already entered the designated orbit," said Zhang Zhenzhong, director of the launch center in Xichang. "I now announce the launch was successful."
"We will strive for our space dream as part of the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation," he said.
Amid efforts to promote lunar probe campaign among the public, the Chinese Academy of Sciences opened a microblog account for the Chang'e-3 mission, attracting more than 260,000 fans who continuously posted congratulatory comments.
The probe's soft-landing is the most difficult task during the mission, said Wu Weiren, the lunar program's chief designer. "This will be a breakthrough for China to realize zero-distance observation and survey on the moon."
More than 80 percent of technologies and products of the mission are newly developed, he said.
The Chang'e-3 will lay a solid foundation for manned lunar orbit mission and manned lunar landing. China has not revealed the roadmap for its manned mission to land on the moon.
So far, only the United States and the former Soviet Union have soft landed on the moon.
Chang'e-3, comprising a lander and a moon rover called "Yutu" (Jade Rabbit), presents a modern scientific version of an ancient Chinese myth that a lady called Chang'e, after swallowing magic pills, took her pet "Yutu" to fly toward the moon, where she became a goddess, and has been living there with the white rabbit ever since.
Tasks for the moon rover include surveying the moon's geological structure and surface substances, while looking for natural resources.
A telescope will be set up on the moon, for the first time in human history, to observe the plasmasphere over the Earth and survey the moon surface through radar.
The lunar probe mission is of great scientific and economic significance, said Sun Zezhou, chief designer of the lunar probe.
The mission has contributed to the development of a number of space technologies and some of them can be applied in civilian sector, he said.
Chang'e-3 is part of the second phase of China's lunar program, which includes orbiting, landing and returning to the Earth. It follows the success of the Chang'e-1 and Chang'e-2 missions in 2007 and 2010.
After orbiting for 494 days and intentionally crashing onto the lunar surface, Chang'e-1 sent back 1.37 terabytes of data, producing China's first complete moon picture.
Launched on Oct. 1, 2010, Chang'e-2 verified some crucial technologies for Chang'e-3 and reconnoitered the landing area. It also made the world's first lunar holographic image with a resolution of 7 meters.
Currently, Chang'e-2 is more than 60 million km away from the Earth and has become China's first man-made asteroid. It is heading for deep space and is expected to travel as far as 300 million km from the Earth, the longest voyage of any Chinese spacecraft.
China is likely to realize the third step of its lunar program in 2017, which is to land a lunar probe on moon, release a moon rover and return the probe to the Earth.
The moon is considered the first step to explore a further extraterrestrial body, such as the Mars.
If successful, the Chang'e-3 mission will mean China has the ability of in-situ exploration on an extraterrestrial body, said Sun Huixian, deputy engineer-in-chief in charge of the second phase of China's lunar program.
"China's space exploration will not stop at the moon," he said. "Our target is deep space."
China sent its first astronaut into space in 2003, becoming the third country after Russia and the United States to achieve independent manned space travel.
Despite fast progress of the lunar mission, China is still a newcomer in this field.
The former Soviet Union first landed its probe on the moon on Jan. 31, 1966, while the United States first sent human beings to the moon in 1969.
About a day before the launch of Chang'e-3, India's maiden Mars orbiter, named Mangalyaan, left the Earth early on Sunday for a 300-day journey to the Red Planet.
Chinese space scientists are looking forward to cooperation with other countries, including the country's close neighbor India.
Li Benzheng, deputy commander-in-chief of China's lunar program, told media earlier that China's space exploration does not aim at competition.
"We are open in our lunar program, and cooperation from other countries is welcome," he said. "We hope to explore and use space for more resources to promote human development."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-12/02/c_132932922.htm
2/12/13 (asia time)
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Related:

• China to launch Chang'e-3 lunar probe early Monday (video cctvnews)

  
  

   

China to launch Chang'e-3 lunar probe early Monday (video cctvnews)

A mission to land the first spacecraft on the moon’s surface in over 40 years is set to begin on Monday. China will send its Chang’e-3 probe at around 1:30am local time, from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

It’s the first time China has attempted a soft landing on any extra-terrestrial surface. Scientific data from the moon’s surface will be sent directly back to earth, and a telescope will be installed on the moon.


The Chang’e-3 mission is the second phase of China’s lunar program, which involves the various stages of orbiting, landing and returning to Earth, ahead of a potential manned lunar mission. It follows the success of the Chang’e-1 and Chang’e-2 missions in 2007 and 2010. Preparations for the launch are reported to be going well at the launch center.
cntv.cn
30/11/13
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Russia’s Proton-M Rocket Puts US Satellite,Sirius FM-6, into Orbit.(video)

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MOSCOW, October 26 (RIA Novosti) - A US telecoms satellite, Sirius FM-6, was put into orbit on Saturday by Russia’s Proton-M rocket, a spokesman for the Russian space agency Roscosmos said.
“Satellite Sirius FM-6 separated from the Briz-M upper stage at the designated time,” the spokesman said.
The launch of the US satellite, which took place on October 25, was originally scheduled for October 20, but was twice delayed on the request of the US space agency NASA because a US communications station in South Africa was not working properly.


Sirius FM-6 is a high-power geostationary satellite built by Space Systems/Loral for SiriusXM, America’s largest radio broadcaster by revenue and one of the world’s largest pure-play audio entertainment companies.

The six-ton satellite, which has a service life of 15 years, “will help with the delivery of commercial-free music and premier sports, news, talk, entertainment and Latin programming, traffic and weather to more than 25 million subscribers,” according to International Launch Services (ILS), the operator of Proton launches.
ria.ru
26/10/13
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Related:

• Unsuccessful launch rocket "Proton-M". Explosion of rocket Proton-M. Baikonur (VIDEO online) 

• In the most recent failure on August 7 Russia’s Proton carrier rocket launched from the Baikonur

 

Unsuccessful launch rocket "Proton-M". Explosion of rocket Proton-M. Baikonur (VIDEO online)

 -

A Russian Proton-M rocket carrying three GLONASS navigation satellites crashed soon after takeoff from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur cosmodrome.
Immediately after takeoff, the rocket swerved to one side, tried to correct itself, but instead veered in the opposite direction. It then flew horizontally and started to come apart with its engines in full thrust.

Making a huge arch in the air, the rocket plummeted back to earth and exploded on impact close to another launch pad used for Proton commercial launches....


The crash was broadcast live across the country and fears of a possible toxic fuel leak immediately surfaced following the incident. While no such leak has been confirmed, the rocket was initially carrying over 600 tons of toxic propellants.
There have reportedly been no casualties to surroundings structures and the town of Baikonur was not affected.  

An accident board headed by Aleksandr Lopatin, deputy head of Russia’s space agency Roskosmos, has been created to investigate the crash.
 http://rt.com
2/7/13
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****Se estrella el cohete ruso Proton-M segundos después de su lanzamiento
El cohete portador ruso de clase pesada Proton, que llevaba tres satélites del sistema de navegación GLONASS, se estrelló menos de un minuto después de su lanzamiento desde el Cosmódromo de Baikonur (VIDEO YouTube)
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Related:

• In the most recent failure on August 7 Russia’s Proton carrier rocket launched from the Baikonur

• Το πρόγραμμα ExoMars στην τελική ευθεία

 

 

Russia Designs New Spaceship

MOSCOW, December 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russian space rocket corporation Energia has completed the technical design of a new manned spacecraft whose flight tests are due to begin in 2017, Energia President Vitaly Lopota said on Wednesday.
“We have completed the technical design project taking into account the fact that the new spaceship is to fly to the Moon, among other places,” he said.
Energia won the spaceship design tender in April 2009.

Federal Space Agency Roscosmos head Vladimir Popovkin earlier said the new spaceship will be created by 2018 and will be able to fly not only to the International Space Station (ISS) but also to the Moon.
There will be several spacecraft modifications depending on whether the flight will use a terrestrial or lunar orbit, or carry out in-flight repair and maintenance of other spacecraft and the deorbiting of malfunctioning satellites and large fragments of space debris.
Earlier on Wednesday Lopota rejected as a “non-market” measure the idea of establishing an engine holding company in the domestic space industry.
Popovkin previously said Russia planned to create a single holding company for booster rocket production to integrate the country’s leading space vehicle producers Khrunichev and TsSKB Progress, and also an engine-building sub-holding company to include engine makers Energomash, the Khimavtomatiki design bureau, the Voronezh mechanical works, Proton PM and other firms.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered the government in summer to work out a plan to improve Russia’s space industry organizations, after a string of mishaps that he said have compromised Russia’s image as a leading space power.
In the most recent failure on August 7 Russia’s Proton carrier rocket launched from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan failed to deliver two satellites onto their designated orbit because of a suspected mishap in the engines of its Briz-M booster.
.en.rian.ru
26/12/12