Tag: Russian
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Cosmonaut duo complete Russian spacewalk outside ISS
Two Russian cosmonauts ventured outside the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday in order to conduct a Russian spacewalk, known by its official designation of Russian EVA-30. The six hours, 15 minute spacewalk, the first since August last year, included the relocation of external hardware between modules, while the installation of debris panels will now take…
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Soyuz 2-1A closes 2011 with successful launch of six Globalstar-2 satellites
Russia has conducted the final orbital launch of 2011, as their Soyuz-2-1a/Fregat deploying six Globalstar communications satellites into orbit on Wednesday on behalf of Arianespace and Starsem. Liftoff was on schedule at 17:09:01 UTC (23:09 local time), from Site 31/6 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Russian Launch: Globalstar is one of three major networks of…
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Russian Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft launches to International Space Station
The Russian Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft – also known by its US designation of 29S – has launched toward the International Space Station (ISS) from the wintry Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan today at 1:16 PM GMT (7:16 PM local Kazakh time), carrying three crewmembers for the station’s current Expedition 30 and future Expedition 31 crews. Soyuz…
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Russian Proton M launches Luch-5A and AMOS-5 satellites
A Russian government Proton-M launch vehicle has successfully launched with two satellites – Russia’s Luch-5A and Israel’s AMOS-5 – on Sunday. Launch was nominal and on schedule at 11:17 GMT from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, ahead of a long flight profile which involved four burns of the Briz-M (Breeze-M) Upper Stage. Proton Launch: The Russian…
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Hope lost for Fobos-Grunt – likely to re-entry early in New Year
Despite a small period of time where it was hoped communications and commanding might be established with the stricken Fobos-Grunt spacecraft, it now appears the Russian probe’s future is one which will see it head towards a fiery end, as its orbit continues decay over time. The likely scenario now points to a destructive re-entry…
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Soyuz 2-1B successfully launches new Glonass-M satellite into orbit
Russia has successfully launched another Kosmos (Glonass-M) class satellite into orbit, following lift-off of their Soyuz 2-1B launch vehicle from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. Launch occurred at 08:25 UTC on Monday, with a successful spacecraft separation confirmed just over three hours later. Successful Launch: Glonass is the Russian version to the US Global…
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Fobos-Grunt recovery efforts underway after telemetry is received
After nearly all hope was lost, the silence of the Fobos-Grunt spacecraft has been broken, following a major breakthrough via a European Space Agency (ESA) tracking station in Perth, Australia. With the earlier confirmation a carrier signal having been established during one pass, the pace of progress is picking up, with news that received telemetry data…
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Soyuz TMA-02M spacecraft returns to Earth with three crewmembers
The Russian Soyuz TMA-02M spacecraft, also going by its US designation of 27S, has undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) and returned to Earth on Tuesday morning, carrying three members of the outgoing Expedition 29 crew. As the second of the new “digital” Soyuz TMA-M variants, a special attitude control test was performed post-undocking.…
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Russian engineers battling to restore stricken Fobos-Grunt spacecraft
Despite several valiant attempts, Russian experts are still unable to command the Fobos-Grunt spacecraft back to nominal operations – which is required for it to carry out two critical burns to head to its Phobos destination. The spacecraft is expected to wander around in Low Earth Orbit for some time, although controllers only have two…
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Russian Zenit-2 launches Fobos-Grunt – Battle on to save mission
A Russian Zenit-2 launch vehicle lofted Russia’s Fobos-Grunt spacecraft into orbit – launching at 02:16 local time on Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome – ahead of its sample return mission to Phobos, along with China’s first Mars probe, Yinghuo-1. However, both of the two planned burns to send it on its way to Mars failed, related to problems with the flight computer.…