backtop

Print 13 comment(s) - last by RoberTx.. on Dec 6 at 3:38 AM
NASA and the Russian space agency get together and discuss money issues

NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency both agreed upon a $141 million modification to the International Space Station contract in which Russia will help NASA astronauts and supplies get to the ISS.

The extension also has an addendum for two Soyuz space flights to go to and from the ISS while transporting trash for disposal.  NASA will be able to ship 110 pounds of supplies per person per flight to the ISS, 37 pounds of material back to Earth, and 66 pounds of trash disposal per flight.

Specifically, it includes Russian space officials training NASA astronauts on Soyuz launch and safety, crew rescue, and landing.  

The renewed contract will run through 2012, when the new nations will have to sign a new contract.

NASA currently plans to retire its space shuttle fleet in 2010, and the next-generation shuttle will not be available until at least 2016.

NASA's reliance on the Russian space federation has caused political tension in Washington, especially during the recent clash between Russian and Georgian forces.  The political tension led to talks of delaying the shuttle retirement until Orion is completed, but NASA officials said the shuttle may become unstable.  

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin previously decried a White House "jihad" to end the shuttle program before seriously looking into whether or not it would be plausible to delay the shuttle retirement.

The Orlando Sentinel also published an article claiming the U.S. space agency was looking into extending the shuttle until 2014, but it is unknown where those talks stand.

Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
Finally!
By FaceMaster on 12/3/2008 9:22:47 AM , Rating: 2
Hopefully we can share technology so America can finally benefit from all of the technological advances Russia has had recently.

It's good news for everybody.




RE: Finally!
By AssBall on 12/3/2008 10:30:41 AM , Rating: 2
Now we can use Russia's 40 year old spacecraft exclusively instead of our own. How exciting!!!


RE: Finally!
By gevorg on 12/3/2008 5:32:17 PM , Rating: 2
Russian Proton rockets are much simpler than Shuttle and carry less load, but thanks to their long proven record their failure ratio is lower than Shuttle's. This is why most of the launches to ISS are by Proton rockets, since they're safer than Shuttle (even before recent Shuttle problems). Shuttles are used primarily for payloads that are too big to fit on Proton or a hassle to reassemble in space.


RE: Finally!
By RoberTx on 12/5/2008 1:22:50 AM , Rating: 2
I have an Estes rocket that can lift even less than the Proton and is even more reliable. Wanna share some technology?


RE: Finally!
By abraxas1 on 12/3/2008 10:36:57 AM , Rating: 2
Heh, I'm guessing this is sarcasm. I will admit though the Russians are pretty good at keeping old tech running. They definitely follow the "If it aint broke, don't fix it" guidelines.


RE: Finally!
By Janooo on 12/3/2008 12:02:13 PM , Rating: 2
Shuttle was miscalculated. Operation cost is too high.
That's the reason America goes back to capsule; less expensive and safer.


RE: Finally!
By FaceMaster on 12/3/2008 12:37:32 PM , Rating: 4
'When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat the problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 billion to develop a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface including glass and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to 300 C. The Russians used a pencil.'


RE: Finally!
By bridgeman on 12/3/2008 4:01:40 PM , Rating: 2
Gah! Please, people, check your outlandish claims before you make them. Snopes exists for a reason.

http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp


RE: Finally!
By FaceMaster on 12/4/2008 7:23:07 AM , Rating: 2
Argh.. It's a JOKE. You don't see people complaining that chicken wouldn't cross the road. Stop trying to take a joke seriously and see it for what it is- a joke. Serious sites and bored clever people still need a laugh once in a while.


RE: Finally!
By RoberTx on 12/5/2008 1:37:26 AM , Rating: 2
A joke? I didn't hear anybody laugh. You got caught telling a big fat one. We'll all get caught sooner or later so don't feel special.


RE: Finally!
By FaceMaster on 12/5/2008 6:38:23 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
I didn't hear anybody laugh


Online, nobody can hear you laugh.


RE: Finally!
By RoberTx on 12/6/2008 3:38:49 AM , Rating: 2
Touche'


RE: Finally!
By RoberTx on 12/5/2008 1:32:03 AM , Rating: 2
There exists a common urban legend claiming that because a standard ballpoint pen would not work in zero gravity, NASA spent $11 million developing the zero-g capable Space Pen, with the humorous note that the Russians used a pencil. In fact, NASA programs have used pencils (for example a 1965 order of mechanical pencils but because of the danger that a broken-off pencil tip poses in zero gravity and the flammable nature of the wood present in pencils a better solution was needed.
NASA never approached Paul Fisher to develop a pen, nor did Fisher receive any government funding for the pen's development. Fisher invented it independently, and then asked NASA to try it. After the introduction of the AG7 Space Pen, both the American and Soviet (later Russian) space agencies adopted it. Previously both the Russian and American astronauts used grease pencils and plastic slates.


"Mac OS X is like living in a farmhouse in the country with no locks, and Windows is living in a house with bars on the windows in the bad part of town." -- Charlie Miller











botimage
Copyright 2012 DailyTech LLC. - RSS Feed | Advertise | About Us | Ethics | FAQ | Terms, Conditions & Privacy Information | Kristopher Kubicki