Throwing CZ-4C (Yaogan-9)

China has thrown today on March 5 to 04:55 UTC a rocket CZ-4C (CZ4C-5) from the ramp number 2 of the complex LA4 of the Center of Throwing of Jiuquan with the satellite of remote observation Yaogan-9. It is a question of the first lazamiento of a CZ-4C from Jiuquan. The official announcement of the throwing took place only one day earlier.
The Yaogan-9 (, "Satellite of Remote Detection nº 8") - named sometimes Yaogan Weixing (weixing it means simply "satellite" in mandarin) - will devote himself to tasks of military recognition. At present one believes that the series Yaogan serves like "cover" for two types of satellites spies: a version electroóptica and other one with radar of synthetic opening. Nevertheless, the images of this throwing show a caul different from the employees in previous missions, what suggests a new version of satellites Yaogan.
Long March CZ-4C () is a version of the rocket Long March with three stages thrown normally from the ramp number 1 of the spatial center of Taiyuan, although in this occasion it has detached from the Center of Jiuquan. It has a mass to the throwing of 254,3 and a few dimensions 45,8 m long and 6,15 m wide (3,35 m without the aerodynamic stabilizers). His capacity is 2800 kg in a low orbit heliosíncrona (SSO) and 1500 in GTO. The first stage of the CZ-4 is the longest of the series with a few dimensions of 24,66 x 3,35 m and a mass of 193,10 t. He uses an engine YF-21C of 2961,6-3190 kN of propulsion and 2556-2754 s of specific impulse. The YF-21C is an engine of four cameras and each of the units receives the designation YF-20C.

Current rockets family Long March (CALT).

Long family Goes. The CZ-4C is the last one for the right.

Scheme of a CZ-4 (CALT).

YF-21C.

Engine YF-21 of a CZ-4C (globalsecurity.org).
The second stage, of 7,52 x 3,35 m and 39,5 t, uses an engine YF-24B with an Isp of approximately 292 s, divided in a principal engine YF-22 (DaFY 20-1) of 742 kN and one vernier with four cameras YF-23 (DaFY 21-1) of 11,8 kN each one. The entire propulsion of the second stage is 789,1 kN.

The second stage of a CZ-4C (CALT).


Scheme of the engine YF-24B (Xinhua/CALT).
The CZ-4C incorporates a third stage of new design. His dimensions are 5,15 x 3,35 m and it weighs 18 t. It has capacity of multiple ignitions and includes a new navigation system. This stage uses an engine YF-40A of two cameras with a propulsion 100,8 kN and a specific impulse of 300 centuries.


image of the third stage with two nozzles of the YF-40A (globalsecurity.org).

Engine YF-40A (CALT).

Cauls of the CZ-4.
The Center of Throwing of Jiuquan () is placed in the Province of Gansu, in desert plenary meeting of Gobi. From this center they detach the CZ-2F with the crewed ships Shenzhou on board. Until there is inaugurated the new center of Wenchang (), Jiuquan is the most modern center of throwing of the country. The facilities are divided in two areas: the dedicated one to the integration of vehicles - in the one that emphasizes the Building of Vertical Assembly, very similar to the American VAB (but smaller) - and other one with two throwing ramps.

Three Chinese cosmodromes in assets: XSLC (Xichang), TSLC (Taiyuan) and JSLC (Jiuquan) (CALT).

The center of Jiuquan seen in Google Earth: to the right two ramps (Google) are seen.

Ramp number two (Google).

Area of integration of Jiuquan (CALT).

Interior of the building of vertical assembly (CALT).




Throwing (CCTV/Xinhua).

Caves in Titanium?

Titanium is a fascinating world where the methane plays the same role as the water in the Earth, including the sceneries sculpted one. From the landing from the probe Huygens in 2005, there remained clear the presence of forms created seemingly by the action erosiva of liquids.
Now, scientists of the team of the probe Cassini, working in collaboration with fans of unmannedspaceflight.com, have discovered what there might be areas kársticos in this moon of Saturn. The areas kársticos take place in the Earth when the water dissolves entire rock layers, creating spectacular sceneries with hills, vales and tables. The area of Titanium where these sceneries have been is named a Sikun Labyrinthus (78th South, 29th West) and, up to the date, it has constituted the whole puzzler since it was possible to observe for the first time in the images of radar obtained by Cassini. Of course, there are differences with our planet: instead of water, the causative liquid of the erosion is a miscellany of methane and ethane - with a stickiness different from that of the water, while the "rocks" are formed probably by water ice covered by a layer of organic substances, for not speaking about the bajísimas temperatures. On the other hand, the presence of areas kársticos, although exciting, it does not stop being a hypothesis that futures sobrevuelos of the Cassini it might reveal false.
Nevertheless, in the Earth, the areas kársticos are characterized for having big number of caves, what does that I wonder...: will there be caves in Titanium?

Recreation in 3D of Sikun Labyrinthus (JPL/NASA).


Sikun Labyrinthus in an image of radar of the Cassini (JPL / basket / Mike Malaska).

Cycle of the methane in Titanium (NASA).

Long March CZ-7

Another day we were speaking about the future Chinese rocket Long March CZ-5 and as how his modular structure would serve to create several pitchers' families. It was rumored that one of these families, the Series 300, would be named a Long March CZ-7, but now it seems that we have official assertion on the name.
The design of the new Chinese rockets will allow to throw different versions using three types of modules, 5, 3,35 and 2,25 meters in diameter, respectively. The 5 meters module, H5, will use cryogenic fuels (liquid hydrogen and oxygen) with two engines YF-77 of 50 tons of propulsion at the level of the sea (67,3 t in the gap). The 3,35 m module, K3, will make use of kerosine and LOX (kerolox) together with two engines YF-100 of 120 t and 300-336 s of Isp. These engines will have aptitude to change his propulsion between 65-100 %. Finally, the 2,25 m module, K2, will use only one engine kerolox YF-100. Except the 5 m module, which can only be used like central stage, the others can be used like accelerating (boosters) or central modules. Long March CZ-5 - series 500 - will use combinations of all the modules and will have a maximum capacity in 25 tons LEO, while Long March CZ-6 and CZ-7 they will use the modules K3 and K2.
Long March CZ-7 (Series 300) would have a capacity maximum in LEO of 10 t and 6 t in GTO. The CZ-7 will include the second stage of kerolox K0 (8 x 3,35 m) with four engines of 15 t of propulsion. For throwings to GTO it will be possible to use a third cryogenic stage H0 3,35 m. The Series 200, or It Gives March CZ-6, the second stage incorporates kerolox of 8 x 2,25 m into an engine of 15 t. The smallest version of the Series 200 will be able to put in LEO 1,5 t.
The family CZ-7 - with capacity for 5-10 t in LEO - would be located this way between the children CZ-6 and the big one CZ-5. Since it is a question of a status of capacities at present offered by the rockets Long March hipergólicos already existing, the CZ-7 will be the family last to be introduced. The CZ-7 also will substitute the CZ-2F at the time of throwing the crewed ships Shenzhou and the laboratories Tiangong.



Use of the different modules to form several families (CZ-5, CZ-7 and CZ-6) with different versions (CALT).

Proton Phase IV in 2012

The company ILS (International Launch Services), in charge to offer the pitcher Russian Protón M on the international market, he has announced that he tries to put in service an improved version of this rocket in 2012. As result of the progress of the quality in the manufacture of this pitcher, implemented during the called Phase IV, the Protón-M/Briz-M will be able to put in orbit of geostationary transference (GTO) up to 6,3 tons, a valuable increase on 5:65 current tons (the current version also can throw 6,3 tons in GTO as maximum, but in a slightly favorable inclination for the commercial missions). The Phase III should put himself in service during this year and he will allow to increase up to 6,15 t the capacity to GTO. Khrúnichev, the company that makes the Proton and takes part for the most part in ILS, also is developing the rocket Angará for the Russian government. Seemingly, this development of the Proton has been financed by capital deprived of ILS. In addition to the Phase IV, ILS Proton Duo glides to put in service the system ILS in 2012 to put in geostationary orbit two satellites at the same time. At present, the Proton can only realize this operation if one of the satellites has been constructed exclusively for this intention.
Torrent Hannah Montana S03E30 Miley says Goodbye? online

50 years of the first cosmonauts

In 1959 the first crewed ship of the history chief was taking form in the office of design OKB-1 of the "engineer" Serguéi Korolyov. With the name of 3KA, the ship would be a crewed version of the project known as "Object K", which target was to put in orbit a satellite it spies. This satellite known later like Zenit, was characterized for possessing a curious spherical capsule - sharik-. Thus Korolyov might make real finally his sleep of the stars reach simultaneously that it kept on developing spatial systems for the military men.
There had come the hour of deciding who would be chosen to pilot it 3KA, for which the Academy of Sciences of the USSR met in the spring 1959 in order to clarify what type of professionals had to be the future pilots of the Soviet spaceships. Nevertheless, although there was hefted the possibility of using pilots of race cars or sailors, the Air Force pressed so that the candidates for future cosmonauts were selected exclusively of between his pilots, decision that, on the other hand, was logical most logical. A matter that today still has not been solved is what role played in this position the decision of the NASA of that his first astronauts were military pilots. In April, 1959 Mercury Seven it would know the world to: did it influence this fact to another side of the iron curtain?
Colonel general Filip To. Agaltsov would be the manager of the process of selection of the cosmonauts. The Air Force had to agree with the Korolyov engineers to need his specifications at the time of choosing the candidates. The engineers of the OKB-1 wanted young "specimens" and of low height that they were fitting without problems in the spherical capsule 3KA. The candidates had to be between 25 and 30 years old and his height did not have to exceed 1,75 meters - if possible, with less than 1,70 meters-. While the astronauts of the NASA were experienced pilots, the future cosmonauts scarcely had begun his military careers.
In June, 1959 the final specifications for the selection processes were approved by the high Soviet institutions, the Academy of Sciences of the included USSR. The Institute of Medicine of the Aviation, directed by the lieutenant general Vladimir Yazdovski, would be the manager of carrying out the medical tests. The same August there were inspected the records of approximately 3000 pilots who were fitting with the general criteria. On October 3, 1959 one had already limited the number of candidates to approximately two hundred, which were sent to Moscow in groups of twenty for the final examinations, which were including rigorous medical tests. At the end of 1959, the number of candidates was already only twenty.
On January 11, 1960 the commander in chief of the Air Force, the Marshall Konstantín Vershinin, accepted to create a center dedicated exclusive to training the future cosmonauts under the control of the lieutenant general Nikolay Kamanin, not without certain resistance of Korlyov, which wanted to supervise closely the whole process. The center would be named a TsPK (Center of Cosmonauts' Training) and in 1968 it would get the name for which is famous in the whole world: City of the Stars.
On having inaugurated his new charge, Kamanin approved on twentieth of February, 1960 the list of twenty candidates for cosmonaut:
1 - Iván Nikoláyevich Anikeyev (1933-1992).
2 - Pavel Ivánovich Belyayev (1925-1970): Cosmonaut 16 - 1 mission.
3 - Valentín Vasilyevich Bondarenko (1937-1961).
4 - Valeri Fyódorovich Bykovsky (1934-): Cosmonaut 11 - 3 missions.
5 - Valentín Ignatievich Filatyev (1930-1990).
6 - Yuri Alekséievich Gagarin (1934-1968): Cosmonaut 1 - 1 mission.
7 - Viktor Vasiliévich Gorbatko (1934-): Cosmonaut 44 - 3 missions.
8 - Anatoli Yakóvlevich Kartashov (1932-2005).
9 - Yevgueni Vasiliévich Khrúnov (1933-2000): Cosmonaut 38 - 1 mission.
10 - Vladimir Mijáilovich Komárov (1927-1967): Cosmonaut 13 - 2 missions.
11 - Alekséi Arjipovich Leónov (1934-): Cosmonaut 17 - 2 missions.
12 - Grigori Grigorievich Nelyubov (1934-1966).
13 - Andrián Grigorievich Nikolayev (1929-2004): Cosmonaut 7 - 2 missions.
14 - Pavel Romanovich Popóvich (1930-2009): Cosmonaut 8 - 2 missions.
15 - Mars Zakirovich Rafikov (1933-2000).
16 - Gueorgui Stepanovich Shonin (1935-1997): Cosmonaut 40 - 1 mission.
17 - Guerman Stepanovich Títov (1935-2000): Cosmonaut 4 - 1 mission.
18 - Valentín Stepánovich Varlámov (1934-1980).
19 - Boris Valentínovich Volynov (1934-): Cosmonaut 36 - 2 missions.
20 - Dmitri Alekséievich Zaikin (1934-).
Some, like Belyayev and Komárov, they were not fulfilling the requisites of age imposed by the OKB-1, but they were chosen by his exceptional piloting talent. At the end of February, 1960, twelve of twenty candidates were accepted permanently in the TsPK. Pável Popóvich and his wife - curiously, also I pilot - would be the first ones in living in the TsPK. Between March 9 and June 17, 1960, eight remaining candidates would be accepted progressively. The training would begin officially on March 14.
Only one year later, young Yuri To. Gagarin would turn into the first human being in the space on board of 3KA, by that time baptized like Vostok.

The first group of cosmonauts in May, 1961 in Sochi together with Serguéi Korolyov.

The cost of the space for the NASA

The Space Review dedicates an interesting article about the cost of the spatial activities of the USA, a topic of which it is very difficult to find precise information due to the problem of the adjustment of the inflation and other corrections. According to the article of Lafleur, we can use the following numbers - in dollars of 2010 - as reference:

• Cost of the Program Apollo: 110 billion dollars.
• Mercury: 1600 millions.
• Gemini: 7300 millions.
• Skylab: 10 billions.
• Apollo-Soyuz (North American part): billion.
• Spatial ferry: 198,6 billions.
• Entire ISS: 150 billions until 2015.
  
• ISS (USA): 72,4 billions.
• ISS (Russia): 12 billions.
• (THIS) ISS: 5 billions.
• ISS (Japan): 5 billions.
• ISS (Canada): 2 billions.

Of course, to interpret this information we must bear in mind the different extension in the time of every program. As an image costs more than thousand words, this nice graph will allow us to understand better these numbers:

He is worth while comparing these numbers with the graphs on the American crewed spatial program that appeared in the report of the Commission Augustine. For example, here we have the evolution of the budget of the NASA in proportion American GDP (without correcting the inflation):

Or it is different, very similar, of the budget of the NASA with regard to the federal budget:

In the report also this graph of the budget was appearing after correcting the inflation:

In this another graph we can see the percentage of expense of the budget of the NASA in the crewed spatial program (red line):

At present, the NASA dedicates 50 % approximately to these activities, a number quite lower than what many people think.

Budget of the NASA for 2007 compared with that of other spatial agencies.
These numbers reveal that, although the age Apollo implied the highest expense level, it was not supernatural at all compared with the current budget. Unfortunately, also there is shown up the money thrown to the garbage in projects that did not end in anything, how the SEI of Bush father or Constellation Program of Bush son.

Progress of the Angará

The project of the new pitcher Angará advances to a rhythm slower than sure, but it advances. The family of rockets Angará uses two different modules named URM (УРМ, Универсальный Ракетный Модуль, "Universal Modules - rockets"). The URM-1, with 133 tons of fuel (kerosine and LOX), use an engine RD-191 and they will be used in the first stage of the pitcher. The URM-2, with 36 tons of fuel, uses an engine RD-0124A (14D23) - the same employee in the rockets Soyuz-2.1b - of 194,3 kN and 359 s, constructed by the company KB Khimavtomatiki, and it will be used in the second stage.
From the last April, the company Khrúnichev - principal contractor of the Angará - has carried out tests of ignition of the module URM-1 in the facilities IS-102 of NITs RKP (ancient NII KhIMMASh), close to the city of Peresvet. In whole there have been realized three series of tests of ignition (OSI), the last one on November 26 of last year.




You try the URM-1 in the installation IS-102 (Khrúnichev).
And after the URM-1, now l and it touches the shift to the URM-2, which has been already transported to the IS-102 by the beginning of the tests of ignition, which will take place during the next months. The URM there are constructed by PO Polyot, company that is part of the complex Khrúnichev.



The URM-2 in the IS-102 (Khrúnichev).
The Angará 1.1, with 2 tons of capacity in LEO, will only use an URM-1 of the first stage and a Briz-KM del Rockot like the second phase. The Angará 1.2, with 3,7 tons in LEO, will be the primea version with an URM-2. The first throwing of the Angará is foreseen for 2012.



The family Angará de Khrúnichev.

The Angará 1.1 (Khrunichev).

The first stage of the rocket surcoreano KSLV-1 is basically similar to the URM-1 of the Angará.

A model of the Angará 1.1 along with a Kosmos-3M in the factory of PO Polyot (PO Polyot).