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Russian rocket heads to launch site for blast off
Source: Agencies |
December 14, 2010, Tuesday
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AS a Soyuz spacecraft slowly rolls to its launchpad on the icy cold steppes of Kazakhstan, even the most seasoned space fan cannot help but be spellbound by the sight.
With NASA finally retiring the shuttle program next year, the Russian workhorse is now set to become the world's only lifeline to the International Space Station. That predicament is provoking mixed feelings of concern over excess reliance on Russia's space program and enduring admiration for the hardiness of the Soviet-designed Soyuz.
"The vehicle is a rugged 'one trick pony,' no frills or luxuries, and can take any licking and keep on ticking," said James Oberg, a veteran of NASA Space Shuttle Mission Control in Houston.
The next Soyuz mission begins on Thursday, when NASA astronaut Catherine Coleman, Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev and the European Space Agency's Paolo Nespoli of Italy lift off from the Baikonur cosmodrome.
In a procedure polished over more than four decades of Soyuz launches, the carrier rocket was horizontally rolled out of its hangar on a flatbed train at 7am local time yesterday and carefully carried to the blast off site in the winter darkness.
In contrast to NASA's distinctive winged shuttle, which is reusable but exorbitantly expensive to operate, the Soyuz can only be used once. It is a relatively streamlined craft consisting of a tiny capsule sitting atop powerful booster rockets.
The name, which comes from the Russian word for "union," is both a tribute to its Soviet design and a reference to the Soyuz's ability to dock with other modules. That detail was a must even to begin thinking about long-term space missions or possible travel beyond the Earth's orbit.
Whereas the shuttle's viability has been hamstrung by countless delays, the last time a Soyuz launch was postponed was as far back as 1971.
But American reliance on Russian spacecraft has drawn some criticism in the United States.
"Moscow uses it for leverage and has raised the price to NASA over the years to US$50 million now," said Brian Harvey, an expert on the history of the Russian space program. "But a shuttle launch costs US$550 million a go, so it's still good value."
With NASA finally retiring the shuttle program next year, the Russian workhorse is now set to become the world's only lifeline to the International Space Station. That predicament is provoking mixed feelings of concern over excess reliance on Russia's space program and enduring admiration for the hardiness of the Soviet-designed Soyuz.
"The vehicle is a rugged 'one trick pony,' no frills or luxuries, and can take any licking and keep on ticking," said James Oberg, a veteran of NASA Space Shuttle Mission Control in Houston.
The next Soyuz mission begins on Thursday, when NASA astronaut Catherine Coleman, Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev and the European Space Agency's Paolo Nespoli of Italy lift off from the Baikonur cosmodrome.
In a procedure polished over more than four decades of Soyuz launches, the carrier rocket was horizontally rolled out of its hangar on a flatbed train at 7am local time yesterday and carefully carried to the blast off site in the winter darkness.
In contrast to NASA's distinctive winged shuttle, which is reusable but exorbitantly expensive to operate, the Soyuz can only be used once. It is a relatively streamlined craft consisting of a tiny capsule sitting atop powerful booster rockets.
The name, which comes from the Russian word for "union," is both a tribute to its Soviet design and a reference to the Soyuz's ability to dock with other modules. That detail was a must even to begin thinking about long-term space missions or possible travel beyond the Earth's orbit.
Whereas the shuttle's viability has been hamstrung by countless delays, the last time a Soyuz launch was postponed was as far back as 1971.
But American reliance on Russian spacecraft has drawn some criticism in the United States.
"Moscow uses it for leverage and has raised the price to NASA over the years to US$50 million now," said Brian Harvey, an expert on the history of the Russian space program. "But a shuttle launch costs US$550 million a go, so it's still good value."
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