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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Senate Clears NASA to Buy Russian Spaceships |
| 2005-09-22 |
| I guess the Ruskies wouldn't take NASA off our hands. WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate approved Sept. 21 a bill that would clear the way for NASA to buy the Russian Soyuz vehicles it needs to continue to occupy the International Space Station beyond this year. The bill was introduced Sept. 15 by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) to provide temporary relief from provisions in the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000 that bar U.S. purchases of Russian human spaceflight hardware as long as Russia continues to help Iran in its pursuit of nuclear know-how and advanced weapons technology. Lugar’s bill, S. 1713, changes the law to permit NASA to buy any Russian space hardware or services it needs for the International Space Station program until 2012. The bill was approved the morning of Sept. 21 by unanimous consent, a Senate procedure that allows non-controversial legislation to bypass a floor vote. The U.S. House of Representatives also is considering amending the Iran Nonproliferation Act to permit NASA to buy Soyuz vehicles, but it has yet to take any legislative action. The House could either pick up and pass the Senate’s bill or introduce a bill of its own that would have to be reconciled with the Senate version before becoming law. Without relief from the Iran act, NASA could soon find itself unable to send its astronauts to the space station for extended stays. A Soyuz capsule set to carry a new two-person crew – and one space tourist – to the station Sept. 30 is the last one Russia is obligated to provide at no charge to the United States under a bilateral agreement. NASA and the U.S. State Department formally asked Congress in June to amend the Iran act to permit the United States to make use of Russian space technology in its space exploration plans. |
| Posted by:Mrs. Davis |
| #7 John: those new rockets are basically saturn-sized expendables made with the expensive and unreliable shuttle components (including the SRB's, which really ticks me off). IMHO it gives us the worst of both worlds. |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2005-09-22 19:48 |
| #6 Looked this up. There is indeed a nearly complete orbiter. The Russian shuttle flew just once into space in 1988. It carried no human crew. It was destroyed in a hanger collapse in 2002 along with the remaining Energia boosters. The "Buran Analogue" - a non spaceworthy version with jet engines used for aerodynamic tests sits in a junkyard in Bahrain. A number of non-flyable mockups remain. One is in Gorky park in Moscow. It was converted into an amusement park attraction. 4 more orbiters were constructed. One was 95% completed and is stored in Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. One was 40% completed. It was sold to a museum in Germany. One was 20% completed and was dismanted. The last was started but subsequently dismanted. |
| Posted by: john 2005-09-22 19:25 |
| #5 Didn't the roof of its hanger collapse and wreck the thing? No more Buran. American Atlas boosters now use Russian RD-180 engines. A complete Soyuz is a logical next (temporary) step. New US rockets are being developed so America is in no danger of losing its edge in space. |
| Posted by: john 2005-09-22 19:07 |
| #4 Why don't we just buy this from the Russians? From what I can gather they have a nearly complete one plus some spare parts. I bet the control systems are reeeaaal familiar too. |
| Posted by: Secret Master 2005-09-22 17:11 |
| #3 Legacy of putting all of our eggs in the Space Shuttle basket back in the 70s. |
| Posted by: AzCat 2005-09-22 16:47 |
| #2 A very sad day for the US space effort. |
| Posted by: DanNY 2005-09-22 15:35 |
| #1 blech... |
| Posted by: Phil Fraering 2005-09-22 15:16 |
