RussianSpaceWeb.com Site news Site map Testimonials About this site About the author Mailbox ADVERTISE SPONSOR NEW: May 25 Russian tropics: Interactive Guide to Guiana Space Center Site updates: To sign up for FREE periodic E-mail notifications about new features on this site, send E-mail with word "update" in the subject line. PICTURE OF THE DAY FUTURE LUNAR SHIP UNVEILED During the Farnborough Air Show last week, RKK Energia revealed a concept of the Russian-European ACTS spacecraft. Copyright © 2008 Anatoly Zak NEXT IN SPACE Aug. 19, 02:43 Moscow Summer Time: An enhanced version of the Proton rocket with the Briz M upper stage to launch Inmarsat 4-F3 satellite. See more in 2008... ... 2009 , ... 2010 , ... 2011 ... and beyond! HELP WANTED! Advertising manager/Marketer Contributing Editor/Reporter Contact Anatoly Zak for details. Epson T048120 Ink Cartridge Taylor Made Acknowledgments: Publisher would like to thank Alain Chabot from Université Sainte-Anne in Church Point, Nova Scotia, Canada, for his tremendous help in making this site possible, as well as following individuals for their support of this project: Nicholas Abadzis Christian Cognard Dave Cooper Mitch Davis Charles Durrett Stefan Eich Paul Feigelman Matthew Flammer Robert Godfrey Charles William Kauffman Manish Kumar Viktor Lapinskii James Lucas Robert McClimon Don Mitchell William Rierden Eugene Wan Andi Wuestner   TOP STORY Commander Sergei Volkov (top) operates the Strela hand-powered crane to position Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko during Tuesday's spacewalk. Credit: NASA TV Cosmonauts complete their second spacewalk Published: 2008 July 15 International Space Station Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko wound up a five-hour, 54-minute spacewalk at 7:02 p.m. EDT Tuesday after installing one experiment and retrieving another, NASA said. In this spacewalk, their second in less than a week, they also continued to outfit the station's exterior, including the installation of a docking target on the Zvezda service module . It will help with the docking of a Russian mini research module on the space-facing side of Zvezda. That module will be launched next year . The spacewalk was in Russian Orlan suits from the Pirs docking compartment . Volkov, the lead spacewalker or EV1, wore the suit with red stripes. Kononenko, EV2, wore the blue-striped suit. In other news: July 26: Soyuz-2-1b flies from Plesetsk for the first time July 16: Zenit-3SL launches comsat July 22: Russia completes German military constellation June 27: Proton launches classified payload MANNED SPACEFLIGHT Russia denies claims of future "tourist missions" Published: 2008 June 12; updated June 20; July 2 The Russian space boss flatly denied an announcement by US businessmen about the possibility of another tourist mission to the ISS. Russia and Europe to discuss lunar craft in Moscow Published: 2008 June 4 With the concept of the future Russian-European transport spacecraft finally decided, potential partners plan to work out technical details. European industry unveils a manned spacecraft proposal Published: 2008 May 29; updated June 5 Europe's chief aerospace company EADS Astrium unveiled a full-scale mockup of a three-seat vehicle, designed to enter the Earth orbit and eventually support lunar missions. Witness on the ground describes Soyuz TMA-11 landing Published: 2008 May 13 Although rescue helicopters often manage to document Soyuz landings, the Soyuz TMA-11 apparently made a rare touchdown, which was actually witnessed by people on the ground from a relatively short distance. Russia tries to chart its space future Published: 2008 April 15 Four years after NASA had announced its intention to return to the Moon, Russian future goals in space remained murky. On April 11, the eve of Cosmonautics Day, the outgoing Russian president Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting of his Security Council (known in Russian as Sovet Bezopasnosti ), with the official goal of considering various aspects of the Russian space program until 2020. MILITARY SPACE The first Soyuz-2-1b flies from Plesetsk Published: 2008 July 27 After a one-day delay by technical problem, the Soyuz-2-1b rocket flew its first mission from Plesetsk with a new-generation military satellite . According to the official Russian press, the launch vehicle blasted on July 26, 2008, at 22:31 Moscow Time, carrying a military satellite designed to work for seven years. Russia completes German military constellation Published: 2008 July 22 Russian government launched the fifth and last satellite for the network of German reconnaissance satellites. Proton launches classified payload Published: 2008 June 26 The Proton-K with Block DM upper stage rocket blasted off Site 81 in Baikonur Cosmodrome , Kazakhstan, on June 27, 2008, at 03:59 Moscow Time, the official Russian ITAR-TASS news agency reported. Rockot delivers satellites Published: 2008 May 23 A converted ballistic missile delivered a cluster of satellites, after a successful launch from Russia's northern cosmodrome. Mission to complete Russian GPS system takes off Published: 2007 Dec. 25 Russia launched a second trio of navigation satellites aimed to complete the national global positioning system. Russia launches military communications satellite Published 2007 Dec. 9; updated Dec 10 Russia successfully delivered a classified payload for the nation's armed forces, the official media reported. COMMERCIAL & APPLICATION SPACE Zenit-3SL launches comsat Published: 2008 July 16 The EchoStar XI broadcast satellite was successfully launched from its ocean-based platform on the Equator, marking its fourth successful mission of 2008 and its third mission for DISH Network, the Sea Launch company announced. Kap Yar serves as a spaceport again Published: 2008 June 19 Russia's original ballistic missile test site served as a spaceport for a rare orbital launch attempt. The Cosmos-3M rocket blasted off from the Kapustin Yar military range on June 19, 2008, at 10:36:45 Moscow Time, Russian space agency announced. Zenit-3SLB flies from Baikonur Published: 2008 April 28 The Zenit -3SLB, a variation of the Sea Launch -based launch vehicle, flew its first mission from Kazakhstan. The rocket equipped with a DM-SLB upper stage blasted off from Site 45 in Baikonur on April 28, 2008 at 09:00 Moscow Time. It carried Israel's AMOS-3 communications satellite. Proton fails during launch Published: 2008 March 15 The workhorse rocket of the Russian space program left its cargo in a useless orbit just half a year after a previous failure. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Russian scientists propose mission to "tag" dangerous asteroid Published: 2008 June 27; updated June 30 Like a potential criminal tagged with a GPS bracelet, the Earth-threatening space rock could be fitted with a tracking device, helping to watch its orbital movement with precision, Russian scientists said. Preparing Phobos-Grunt for flight: Events of 2008 Updated: 2008 July 1 By the beginning of 2008 , the Phobos-Grunt project was in an active development stage, with engineering versions of scientific instruments and the main spacecraft bus being manufactured. Russia to jump-start science in space Published: 2008 June 14 After a decade-long lull, Russian engineers prepare an array of scientific missions to go into the Earth orbit and beyond. In interview with RussianSpaceWeb.com during the ILA-2008 air and space show in Berlin , Georgy Poleshyuk outlined an ambitious program of planetary exploration starting with the Phobos-Grunt project, which aims to return soil samples from a Martian moon. Copyright © 2001, 2008 Anatoly Zak No part of this publication can be reproduced, copied or distributed in any form without written permission from the publisher.   Last update: August 13, 2008