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MSNBC (Oberg): Next-generation Russian spaceship unveiled
MSNBC (Oberg): Next-generation Russian spaceship unveiled
Getting the money to build it may not be so easy http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6623693/ By James Oberg, NBC News space analyst // Special to MSNBC Updated: 12:03 a.m. ET Dec. 1, 2004 HOUSTON - Russian space officials on Tuesday unveiled a full-scale high-fidelity mockup of the spacecraft they hope will replace the veteran Soyuz space capsule. Descriptions of the Kliper (for "clipper ship") vehicle have been widely circulated in the space community but today's presentation in Moscow was the most detailed yet. The Energia Rocket and Space Corporation, the organization that has built all of Russian's human space vehicles for the past half century, hosted the media event at its headquarters in Korolyov, a Moscow suburb. Deputy General Designer Valeriy Ryumin, himself a former cosmonaut, called the craft "a spaceship of the future" and boasted that "neither the United States nor Europe have anything of the kind." But significant roadblocks still remain between today's unveiling and the fulfillment of Ryumin's boast. The actual first test flights of the vehicle, perhaps about 2010, will require funding levels that the Russian government has so far been unable to provide. Furthermore, because the 13-ton spacecraft is twice the size of the Soyuz, it will need to use a different launch vehicle. Current plans call for it use the powerful Zenit booster rocket, which is built in Ukraine. Reliable commercial relations must be maintained for years to come, and the current political instability in Ukraine could impact the expected cost of the launch vehicle. etc etc |
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