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Leonov on space history, UFOs
2005-03-18 09:54 * RUSSIA MARKS FIRST SPACE WALK ANNIVERSARY
MOSCOW, March 18 (RIA Novosti) - Soviet pilot-cosmonaut Alexei Leonov performed the first space walk in history exactly 40 years ago. Alexei Leonov and mission commander Pavel Belyayev flew aboard the Voskhod-2 spacecraft. In his written report to state-commission members (that was submitted after the flight), Alexei Leonov noted that all Voskhod-2 EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity)-control systems and the space suit's autonomous systems had functioned without a hitch. According to Leonov, he had spent 23 minutes and 41 seconds in outer space, floating freely for 12 minutes and nine seconds. I moved 5.35 meters away from the spacecraft, Leonov wrote. He approached the Voskhod-2 several times, subsequently moving away from it. In Leonov's words, space walks are quite feasible. Nor should man perceive them as something mysterious, Leonov noted. A cosmonaut wearing a special space suit replete with life-support systems can exist in outer space, performing purposeful and coordinated operations. One can perform manual work in outer space, conducting research, too, Leonov added. Leonov admitted later on that he and Belyayev had faced emergency situations more than once during their flight. Temperature-and-humidity levels increased considerably during the 26-hour space mission. Space-suit systems also developed a malfunction. Internal pressure rose, inflating the space suit. Consequently, Leonov faced numerous problems, while re-entering the rather narrow Voskhod-2 airlock. The spacecraft's guidance system was not up to the mark either. The descent module therefore had to land in the manual mode. And, finally, Alexei Leonov and Pavel Belyayev landed in the Perm region's Usolye district, rather than in a preset area. Both men had to spend nearly 24 hours in snow-bound taiga, before they were rescued. 2005-03-18 19:32 * SPACE WALKS ROUTINE FORTY YEARS ON MOSCOW. (Yuri Zaitsev, expert, Institute of Space Research, for RIA Novosti). Forty years ago to this day, a man first walked in space after stepping out of the Voskhod-2 craft piloted by cosmonauts Pavel Belyayev and Alexei Leonov. "When flying in space, you cannot avoid stepping into it, just like, for example, when you are sailing across the oceans, you cannot be afraid of falling overboard and learning how to swim ... A cosmonaut venturing out into space should be able to do all the necessary maintenance work (...). This is no fantasy, it is a necessity, and the more people go up into space, the more they will feel this need." These words from a space legend, chief designer of Soviet space rockets Sergei Korolyov, were prophetic. Today, space walks are a regular occurrence. The creation and maintenance of the International Space Station would have been impossible without long walks and work in space - specialists call it extravehicular activity. Since manned space exploration began, 240 space walks have been made (March 1, 2005 data). And if the first hundred of them took 27 years to perform, the second required only nine years. How were things forty years ago? In the second circuit of orbital flight Alexei Leonov, wearing a special spacesuit, stepped through a lock chamber into deep space. Five times the cosmonaut flew away from the ship and five times got back. All this time his spacesuit maintained room temperature within, while its external surface heated up to plus 60 degrees in the Sun, and cooled down to minus 100 degrees in the shade. In effect, the spacesuit was a kind of thermos consisting of several layers of aluminum-covered plastic film. Linings from screen-and-vacuum thermal insulation were also inserted in his gloves and footwear. True, the suit for space walks, compared with ones worn by cosmonauts during their early missions was now much heavier - 100 kilograms - compared with 30, but in zero gravity that played no role. Leonov performed all his movements relatively easily, and, with arms wide open, he hovered above the Earth in a vacuum. Problems began when the command to return came in. It proved to be a difficult exercise, as the spacesuit had become swollen in the outside vacuum. That was to be expected, but no one thought it would balloon to such an extent. Leonov just could not get into the lock hatch. Attempt followed attempt, but to no avail, while the oxygen supplies in the spacesuit (two 2-liter bottles) were calculated only for 20 minutes. True, in case of emergency, the lock was provided with a stand-by oxygen system linked by a hose to the spacesuit. But the time for a command to jettison the chamber was approaching rapidly after which the cosmonaut could practically never get back into the craft. In the end, after consulting with Belyayev, Leonov made an unorthodox decision. He bled the inside pressure in the spacesuit to the maximum and contrary to his instructions to enter the chamber and further the ship feet first, he "swam inside" headfirst and, fortunately, managed to do so. This was the result of grueling pre-flight training and the optimum selection of crewmembers. Many experts believed that someone devoid of a customary fulcrum could not perform a single movement outside the ship. Others thought that the infiniteness of space would strike such a fear into the cosmonaut's heart that he would not be able to detach himself from the craft at all. There were also fears for his psychological state. "If it becomes difficult, make decisions depending on the situation," Korolyov advised the cosmonauts before the blast-off. In the extreme case, the crew was allowed to "limit themselves to opening the hatch and ... sticking a hand outside." They looked to the Voskhod-2 crew to show particular teamwork and coordination, complete understanding, trust, and confidence in each other. So when the duties were assigned, account was taken of not so much of professional training as of individual psychological qualities. Psychologists said that Belyayev had willpower and self-control, which enabled him to keep his head in the most complex situations, logical thinking, and was determined when it came to overcoming difficulties and achieving tasks. Leonov was impetuous, courageous and determined, and was able to explode into activity on the slightest provocation. These two so dissimilar men complemented each other perfectly and formed, as the psychologists said, a "highly compatible group", which was able to successfully carry out the difficult program envisaging the first walk in deep space. The Americans, too, planned a space walk and hoped to be first. Edward White, a U.S. air force test pilot, was groomed for the mission. News of the Soviet space walk was received in the U.S. as another challenge. It was an era of open rivalry in space between the two superpowers, and American experts stepped up their efforts drastically. White was originally to have only taken a peep out of the craft's hatch. But following Leonov's flight, the program was altered literally on the fly. The upcoming flight with a space walk by an astronaut was announced by NASA on May 25, 1965, i.e., just over two months after the Belyayev-Leonov mission, and on June 3 the Gemini-4 spacecraft lifted off, carrying the astronauts James McDivitt and Edward White. Since the Gemini, as distinct from the Voskhod, had no lock chamber, the astronauts let out the air from the cabin and opened the access hatch. White pushed himself from the craft and "swam out" into space. He was linked with the ship by a gilded lifeline 7.6 meters long. The same line was supplying the oxygen for breathing. White spent 22 minutes outside the ship. In the forty years of extra-vehicular activities, the duration of a space walk has grown from 12 minutes (Alexei Leonov on March 18, 1965) to nine hours (James Shelton Voss and Susan Jane Helms who left the American shuttle Discovery on March 11, 2001 to work on the ISS). The first woman to make a space walk was Svetlana Savitskaya on July 25, 1984. Anatoly Solovyov has performed the most walks. He is credited with 16, spending a total of 78 hours and 32 minutes in space. Sergei Avdeyev made 10 walks totaling 42 hours. Jerry Ross leads the Americans with nine walks and 58 hours in space. 2005-03-18 23:10 * NO OTHER INTELLIGENT FORMS OF LIFE IN SOLAR SYSTEM, SAYS COSMONAUT MOSCOW, March 18 (RIA Novosti) - Terrestrial is the only intelligent life throughout the solar system. Alexei Leonov, the world's first to emerge into the open space, forty years ago, is positive on that point. "The people of Earth have a dream to meet someone outside our planet. Alas, that's an ungrounded desire. I know what I say," he remarked to a news conference on his sensational venture jubilee. "I led an expert commission that was delving into extraordinary events in space, and we never came on a single reliable instance-I swear." The Russian cosmonaut offered newsmen a retrospect of unusual celestial objects seen on Earth. He regards some as due to weather, others to space rocket launches. Their exhaust fumes often take bizarre shapes in the upper atmospheric layers. "Thus, many saw crosses, with huge rings round them, staying long in the sky, especially on fine cold weather. That was so near the Plesetsk space center, in the Saratov Region, and in the Baikonur space center, after Soyuz booster rockets were launched. Many people saw them, and thought they were UFOs. That was how myth-making started. "No one in the whole wide world, for that matter, has ever made a photograph in which something would clearly show that we could assuredly qualify as an UFO. "Besides, no shots are coming up now that almost all have mobile phones with a camera built in-just why?" reasoned Leonov. |
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Jim Oberg wrote: "When flying in space, you cannot avoid stepping into it..." And about the time he realized that the suit had swollen up to the point where he couldn't fit back into the airlock, he realized that he had indeed stepped into it, big time. ;-) The Russian cosmonaut offered newsmen a retrospect of unusual celestial objects seen on Earth. He regards some as due to weather, others to space rocket launches. Their exhaust fumes often take bizarre shapes in the upper atmospheric layers. "Thus, many saw crosses, with huge rings round them, staying long in the sky, especially on fine cold weather. We get those around here also; a fully developed parhelia ("Sun Dog") is a spectacular thing, and almost certainly what Ezekiel saw in the Bible: http://nsidc.org/arcticmet/images/ba...a/10002105.jpg Although you can't see it too well in this photo, that uppermost crescent-shaped feature is colored like an inverted rainbow. pat |
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On Sun, 20 Mar 2005 12:45:18 -0600, Pat Flannery
wrote: Jim Oberg wrote: "When flying in space, you cannot avoid stepping into it..." And about the time he realized that the suit had swollen up to the point where he couldn't fit back into the airlock, he realized that he had indeed stepped into it, big time. ;-) Leonov in the swollen spacesuit probably gave Pillsbury the idea for the Doughboy. The Pillsbury Doughboy first appeared in an October 1965 commercial. He should sue them for theft of intellectual property. ;-0 Rusty -- "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." - Groucho Marx |
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Rusty schrieb:
On Sun, 20 Mar 2005 12:45:18 -0600, Pat Flannery wrote: Jim Oberg wrote: "When flying in space, you cannot avoid stepping into it..." And about the time he realized that the suit had swollen up to the point where he couldn't fit back into the airlock, he realized that he had indeed stepped into it, big time. ;-) Leonov in the swollen spacesuit probably gave Pillsbury the idea for the Doughboy. The Pillsbury Doughboy first appeared in an October 1965 commercial. He should sue them for theft of intellectual property. ;-0 I'd say, Michelin's Bibendum has the older rights (1898). Harald |
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Harald Kucharek wrote: I'd say, Michelin's Bibendum has the older rights (1898). What makes Michelin's tire man interesting is that he's still made out of white natural rubber tires- he's pre-vulcanizing. :-) Pat |
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On Sun, 20 Mar 2005 13:42:29 -0600, Pat Flannery
wrote: What makes Michelin's tire man interesting is that he's still made out of white natural rubber tires- he's pre-vulcanizing. :-) ....Which explains the lack of pointed ears. OM -- "No ******* ever won a war by dying for | http://www.io.com/~o_m his country. He won it by making the other | Sergeant-At-Arms poor dumb ******* die for his country." | Human O-Ring Society - General George S. Patton, Jr |
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OM wrote: ...Which explains the lack of pointed ears. I knew somebody was going to come back with that. Now mention the natural chemical breakdown rate of vulcanized rubber tires due to increased UV flux- you know, every seven years you're screwed..... Pat |
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On Sun, 20 Mar 2005 14:05:37 -0600, Pat Flannery
wrote: OM wrote: ...Which explains the lack of pointed ears. I knew somebody was going to come back with that. ....And you knew damn well it was going to be me, right? Now mention the natural chemical breakdown rate of vulcanized rubber tires due to increased UV flux- you know, every seven years you're screwed..... ....Yeah, but does a man made out of rubber have to wear protection? OM -- "No ******* ever won a war by dying for | http://www.io.com/~o_m his country. He won it by making the other | Sergeant-At-Arms poor dumb ******* die for his country." | Human O-Ring Society - General George S. Patton, Jr |
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Pat Flannery wrote:
We get those around here also; a fully developed parhelia ("Sun Dog") is a spectacular thing, and almost certainly what Ezekiel saw in the Bible: No no no it was a SPACESHIP! I know this because I read it in a BOOK written by a NASA ROCKET SCIENTIST so it must be TRUE. [http://www.thelightside.org/EARSite/...blefiles1.html for more lunacy in the same vein] -- Happy, sad, cross and concentrating. |
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On Sun, 20 Mar 2005 18:56:51 -0600, rk
wrote: Well, it's selling on amazon.com. The Spaceships of Ezekiel by Josef F. Blumrich (Author) ....Blumrich's book is still in print? I remember reading that back when _Chariots of the Gods_ was making all the MUFON Morons wet their pants. At least his book *tried* to make sense. OM -- "No ******* ever won a war by dying for | http://www.io.com/~o_m his country. He won it by making the other | Sergeant-At-Arms poor dumb ******* die for his country." | Human O-Ring Society - General George S. Patton, Jr |
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