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Above: Possible technological heritage, which could benefit the ACTS program. Russia, Europe favor enlarged Soyuz capsule for future lunar ship Published: 2007 Oct. 23; updated Oct. 29; Dec. 28 Russian and European space officials chose a bell-shaped crew module as a preferred configuration for the next-generation manned spacecraft. Resembling Russian Soyuz spacecraft, the new vehicle will be larger and heavier than its predecessor in order to accommodate from four to six people on a journey to the lunar orbit. The current size of the Soyuz limits the crew by three people. The decision to focus on the particular design of the crew module represents a major milestone for the Russian-European project, aiming manned expeditions to the Moon. It is a result of the latest round of joint efforts by the European and Russian specialists, which started in early September 2007. Designers came up with as many as 10 possible configurations of the future spacecraft, including winged and wingless gliders, aero-capture vehicles and traditional capsules of various shapes. Engineers then conducted so-called “trade-off analysis,” considering pros and cons of each configuration for missions to the Moon and in the low-Earth orbit. On October 18, 2007, during a meeting in Moscow, European and Russian space industries presented European Space Agency, ESA, and Russian space agency, Roskosmos, with the results of their studies. A day later, representatives from two space agencies met to consider a framework for the future agreement. In the wake of the Moscow meeting, ESA and Roskosmos issued a joint letter to the industry on October 24, 2007, asking to develop a preliminary concept of a modular vehicle, including the reentry capsule, a habitation module and the service/propulsion module. "We narrowed down the design concept for the future work," Manuel Valls, Head of the Policy and Plans in the Human Spaceflight and Exploration Directorate of the European Space Agency, ESA, told RussianSpaceWeb.com. For the design of the reentry capsule, agencies preferred a concept known in the Russian space industry as a “headlight.” The term appeared in the early 1960s, when Soviet engineers chose the shape of the Soyuz crew module, resembling a headlight of a typical car at the time. Now, almost half a century later, Russian and European engineers hope to correct a major shortcoming of the Soyuz crew module – its extremely small size. "Have you seen the interior of the Soyuz’s reentry craft? Can you squeeze another person in there?" Nikolai Bryukhanov, RKK Energia's leading engineer working on prospective space systems, asked rhetorically about the possibility of upgrading the existing Soyuz spacecraft. According to the agreement between Europe and Russia, industries would evaluate vehicles carrying from four to six people. Preliminary concepts of such spacecraft should be ready by mid-December 2007. Rocket and the lander In the complex engineering picture of the lunar expedition, a transport ship would be only one piece of a puzzle. Simultaneously, Europe and Russia would have to build a lander, delivering astronauts to the surface of the Moon, along with rockets sending the expedition into orbit. Both Russian and European officials indicated that neither side would lobby for the development of a giant rocket, which would be capable of lifting the entire expedition in a single launch. Instead, the transport ship with the crew and the lander will likely ride separate rockets into the Earth orbit, where they link up for a journey to the Moon. (It is the scenario NASA adopted for its program of return to the Moon.) Unlike the Soyuz spacecraft, its namesake rocket has still potential for upgrades to carry heavier cargo. Conveniently, the Soyuz rocket will soon receive a brand-new launch pad at the European space center in French Guiana. Although officially, the Soyuz is coming to the equatorial site to launch commercial satellites, Europeans quietly conducted a feasibility study on its potential use for manned missions from the spaceport. In Guiana, the Soyuz launch pad would be just few miles away from its larger European counterpart – the Ariane-5 rocket, which looks to be close to a weight category needed to carry a lunar lander. "At this stage, only general consideration to the design of the lander is given," Valls said, "We are not doing the work on the Moon lander..." Sharing responsibilities Along with design aspects of the project, Europe and Russia will have to resolve a difficult and politically loaded issue of rights and responsibilities in the new project. Given limited budgets for space, both sides need each other to accomplish such an expensive and risky enterprise as the lunar expedition, yet, both have to watch their internal constituencies and lobbies satisfied. On one side, Europe wants independent access to space for its astronauts, rather than to be a sub-contractor for traditional Russian spacecraft developers. On the other hand, Russia is adamant about preserving its own technical independence with a full complement of spacecraft, rockets and workforce to support it. Unlike post-Soviet 1990s, Russian space industry is no longer a beggar willing to take any paying job. All these conflicting political requirements could be as important as the reentry capsule’s shape and the crew size. If this is not enough, mutual suspicions between Europe and Russia in the larger geopolitical scene of the last few years, from energy disputes to missile defense, further complicate the weather around any Russian-European cooperative venture. Yet, when the ministerial council of the EU will meet again to discuss lunar ambitions at the end of 2008, European leaders would have several other political issues to consider. One is a glaring fact that NASA is four years ahead with its decision to return astronauts to the Moon and the United States seems determined to do alone, if necessary. Next, on the horizon are rising giants of Asia, including China and India, who made their wishes for exploring the Moon loud and clear. At this historic juncture, Russia and Europe can hardly afford to stay out of the journey to the Moon. The question is how to do it, and in the closing weeks of 2007, their space leaders might make a critical move. Push into 2008 At the year-end press conference at the official Interfax news agency on Dec. 27, 2007, the head of Roskosmos, Anatoly Perminov said that the "competition for the best project of a new-generation manned spacecraft would be completed by April 2008." According to Perminov, the program could involve cooperation with India and Europe. According to Perminov, the cooperation with the Europeans was in active mode and the latest round of contacts had taken place at the beginning of December 2007. However, hinting about possible hurdles in negotiations with the Europeans, Perminov said that "we don't know to what level of cooperation Europe would go in the development of such system." He stressed that a special agreement with Europe on the cooperation in the development of the manned spacecraft might be required in the near future. Published: 2008 Jan. 24 The last ACTS meeting of 2007, between European and Russian space officials took place at ESA facility of ESTEC, in Noordwijk, Netherlands, in the middle of December. The event included both agencies' and industry officials and had original goal of finalizing an engineering concept of the spacecraft. However, according to sources involved in negotiations, more studies of alternative concepts were deemed necessary before the final configuration would be agreed upon by all sides. According to some reports, an Apollo-like, cone-shaped capsule, capable of accommodating six people, was proposed as an alternative to a "headlight" shape of the crew module, which was deemed favorite in October 2007. If the alternative configuration is approved, the future Russian-European spacecraft would closely resemble NASA's yet-to-be built Orion spacecraft, an itself a carbon-copy of the American Apollo capsule. Unlike the Soyuz, the Apollo and Orion consist of two rather than three modules: the conical command module and the barrel-shaped service module. The Soyuz features an additional habitation module, which provides a critical safety and other engineering advantages for the crew, according to many engineers. Sources familiar with the Russian-European negotiations stressed that although two agencies had recommended the industry to concentrate on the "headlight" shape of the crew module for their future studies, door remained opened to alternative architectures. Although a cone-shaped design is mostly associated with the American Apollo capsule, Soviet designers employed a similar configuration in the design of the heavy transport ship, known as TKS. As early as 2005, Moscow-based Khrunichev enterprise proposed to a follow-on version of the TKS transport ship as a base for the next-generation lunar ship. The vehicle would provide larger, more capable foundation for the future spacecraft then Soyuz. However representatives of RKK Energia, the Soyuz developer, were quick to point out shortcomings of the TKS: “We are not dismissing their (Khrunichev’s) ideas," says Nikolai Bryukhanov, RKK Energia's leading engineer working on prospective space systems, "however let’s not forget that TKS is itself designed for (only) three people and, unlike us (RKK Energia), they haven’t really built it for a very long time.” The latter is probably the strongest argument -- the last TKS reentry vehicle flew in the 1980s, while RKK Energia “eats and drinks” manned spaceflight for more than four decades. As of beginning of 2008, a basic timeframe of the ACTS project called for additional studies of the spacecraft architecture to go on until the end of January. Then another high-level meeting of the industry and agency officials was tentatively expected in the first half of February 2008, with the hope to finally choose the architecture of the future spacecraft. It would be followed by negotiations on a basic framework for cooperation on the new vehicle. This effort would outline rights and responsibilities of two sides in the program. Both agencies still hope to present a cooperative proposal for the development of the ACTS spacecraft to a ministerial conference of countries-members of European Space Agency scheduled for the end of November 2008. Back to basics: another Apollo clone? Published: 2008 Feb. 1 After long and winding road toward the design of a next-generation spacecraft, Russian and European space officials found themselves in the 1960s with a replica of NASA's Apollo spacecraft. According to reliable sources within the industry, two space agencies chose the concept featuring a cone-shaped crew module and a service module, as a base for the 21-century lunar spaceship. The latest concept was reportedly approved during a previously anticipated meeting of Russian and European engineers in Moscow in the last week of January 2008. The 15-18-ton spacecraft would measure five meters in diameter and could carry crew of six, providing 2.5 cubic meters of habitable volume for each person. To reach orbit, the yet-to-be built vehicle would also need a new launcher, deriving from the Zenit rocket. Unlike its predecessor manufactured in Ukraine, the new rocket booster would be developed in Russia and fly from a future space center in Vostochny in the Russian Far East. Russian-European space project hits a snag... again Published: 2008 Feb. 23 An early cooperative effort of European and Russian space agencies to develop a manned lunar spacecraft run into a new obstacle. According to sources within the European aerospace industry, on Friday, February 22, 2008, engineers at EADS-Astrium, the main contractor of the European Space Agency, in Bremen, Germany, received the order to stop all work on the Advanced Crew Transportation System, ACTS. The ACTS program envisioned the development of a Russian-European spacecraft capable of carrying humans into orbit around the Moon and supporting expeditions to its surface. Even in its very early stage, the project had already experienced a number of delays as a result of the infighting within the Russian space industry. The cooperative program also faced growing criticism in Russia for its perceived dependency on Europe, as the Russian government was asserting more confidence in its ability to fund the industry. In the recent interview to a Russian newspaper, Vitaly Lopota, the head of RKK Energia, Russia's prime developer of manned spacecraft, told that Russia would maintain leadership in the development of the next-generation spacecraft. APPENDIX ACTS program timeline: 2007 Aug. 21: the Russian space agency, Roskosmos, announced that it reached an agreement with Europe to form a working group on the development of a new manned transported system, which could support missions to the International Space Station, ISS, as well as lunar expeditions and even flights to Mars. Talks between head of Roskosmos Anatoly Perminov and the head of the European Space Agency, ESA, Jean-Jacques Dordain had been taking place at the MAKS-2007 air and space show in Zhukovsky, Russia. 2007 early September: European and Russian specialists initiate combined studies aimed to choose architecture of the future lunar spacecraft. 2007 Oct. 18: In Moscow, European and Russian space industries presented European Space Agency, ESA, and Russian space agency, Roskosmos, with the results of their studies. A day later, representatives from two space agencies met to consider a framework for the future agreement. The enlarged headlight-shaped crew module is considered favorite. 2007 middle of December: European and Russian space officials meet at ESA facility of ESTEC, in Noordwijk, Netherlands. A cone-shaped module emerges as favorite. 2008 end of January: Meeting in Moscow considers cone-shaped capsule as a preferred configuration of the crew module of the ACTS spacecraft. 2008 Feb. 22: Engineers at EADS-Astrium in Bremen, Germany, received an order to stop all the work on the ACTS project.
Writer and illustrator: Anatoly Zak; last update: February 23, 2008 Editor: Alain Chabot; last edit: February 23, 2008 All rights reserved |
MULTIMEDIA GALLERY To order images and animations contact Anatoly Zak
Artist rendering of a reported concept, which would "marry" the propulsion section of the European ATV cargo ship with a Russian-built reentry vehicle. Click to enlarge. Copyright © 2006 Anatoly Zak
Even a heavily modified Soyuz spacecraft is unlikely to satisfy requirements of the ACTS program due to a crew size limited by three. Click to enlarge Copyright © 2007 Anatoly Zak
A concept of enlarged Soyuz for as many as eight people, considered in mid-1990s could serve as a starting point for the ACTS development team. Click to enlarge. Copyright © 2007 Anatoly Zak
A mockup of the European ATV cargo ship (right) next to the model of the Ariane 5 rocket (not to scale). Russian firm RKK Energia was a subcontractor in the development of major components for the ATV. Click to enlarge: 400 by 300 pixels / 40K Copyright © 2005 Anatoly Zak
For the next-generation spacecraft, a cone-shaped capsule could provide an alternative to the crew module in the form of a "headlight" inherited from the Soyuz. Copyright © 2005 Anatoly Zak
Artist interpretation of the proposed ACTS crew module in comparison to the Soyuz spacecraft. Click to enlarge. Copyright © 2008 Anatoly Zak
A speculative drawing showing the ACTS spacecraft in lunar orbit. Click to enlarge. Copyright © 2008 Anatoly Zak
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