Next Russian manned craft

[xenomorph555]

Ok so I thought we should discuss the next russian manned spacecraft (if there is going to be one). When will it appear, what will it be, will it replace the good soyuz?

Currently they are working on the PPTS (terrible name, I am disappointed Russia), personally I do not think it will succeed, possible flight but die out like the other craft that have been worked on before (Kliper, csts, tks, zarya).

They also have interest in reviving maks, they also seem very serious from a document I have read, however it's unlikely to go anywhere.

[SuperWeegee4000]

I'm hoping they do something with the PPTS. Soyuz is incredible, but it's aging.

Also, wow, that's a lot of run-on sentences.

[xenomorph555]

It's entirely possible they will keep both, soyuz for leo and ppts for moon, mars and a apollo-soyuz esqe test program with an orion-ppts.

[astropapi1]

If they have any hopes of a moon landing in the near future, they should get working on that new PPTS. Soyuz doesn't really work for anything else than LEO, and taking wings further than that isn't that useful. I think they should do something like NASA's COTS and focus on "deep" space exploration.

[xenomorph555]

They could always return the LOK spacecraft.

[kiwi1960]

I'd like to see them stop their bickers and jointly develop one with *all* space faring nations.... why not combine the best of both Russia and Nasa, and have technical help and components supplied by China, India and Japan.

I'd also like the Russians to go ahead with their idea of a reusable space ship, which would never land on Earth but be restocked and refuelled while in Earth orbit, to visit other planets and moons... such an idea is highly overdue.

[jwenting]

why not? Because space programs are by their very nature political. And there's no way the Russians are going to let any degenerated country like the US join their space program, not when they're on a collision course towards an armed confrontation.

Today Ukraine, tomorrow Latvia, next week Alaska!

Putin's on a roll, why stop when you're ahead? And why cooperate with the US when the US don't even have a space program worth mentioning? A few companies shooting up communications satellites and garbage cans for the ISS, things the Russians can do very well without the Americans.

And the Chinese are the same.

Maybe SpaceX or Lockheed Martin can set up a joint venture with them, but not the US government.

[xenomorph555]

Actually russia and china are very open to cooperation, it's the US who have to much pride to work with others.

Also they tried to cooperate on a ship, the CSTS, it turned out a mess.

[Motokid600]

Maybe, but Russia is too busy trying to spark world war 3, so...

[xenomorph555]

Not really, if the entire cold war didnt start ww3 then annexing a state won't cause it.

[comicbstudeo]

well the ISS went well and that was joint (hence the name)

[Albert VDS]

And why cooperate with the US when the US don't even have a space program worth mentioning? A few companies shooting up communications satellites and garbage cans for the ISS, things the Russians can do very well without the Americans.

Roscomos' only capability, which NASA doesn't have, is that they can send people into LEO. So they have a dependable manned spacecraft and rocket, in few years SpaceX will have a more capable spacecraft(and it only took them less than 15 years).

Roscosmos is very lacking in space science, their last successful missions was more than 25 years ago. The next mission is Exo Mars together with ESA, but I hope that works out better than their last Phobos Mission attempt.

It didn't even leave Earth orbit because of last minute problems and hasty fixes when they actually should have scrubbed.

[@:-)]

PTK-NP is not the name of the ship, the way the good news about Angara gone unnoticed.

[Idobox]

Russia also tried to collaborate with the EU, and the EU cancelled it.

[TheExplosionist]

Russia also tried to collaborate with the EU, and the EU cancelled it.

The EU has to tow the yank line.

I continue to find it highly amusing the yanks have no manned space craft of their own since the space shuttle retired.

[Skyler4856]

Hey guys, let's keep this argument from devolving into an ethno-centric political squabble, in the best interest of the forums.

[Nibb31]

I continue to find it highly amusing the yanks have no manned space craft of their own since the space shuttle retired.

I fail to see what's amusing about it.

[Mazon Del]

Really one of the bigger barriers to NASA cooperation with someone like Russia or China is the fact that a huge amount of space technologies are export controlled. NASA is watched a bit more closely than the days of the Russian Buran program, when the Russians literally asked NASA for design documents, and NASA (in the interest of getting more people into space) gave them just about everything they could. This wouldn't have necessarily been a problem, except that a lot of the technologies were certainly dual use. The ceramic tiles for instance were used on the Buran, but also to protect the hull of the Ekranoplane (not sure on spelling there) from the exhaust of launching its supersonic anti-carrier missiles.

[kiwi1960]

why not? Because space programs are by their very nature political. And there's no way the Russians are going to let any degenerated country like the US join their space program, not when they're on a collision course towards an armed confrontation.

Today Ukraine, tomorrow Latvia, next week Alaska!

Putin's on a roll, why stop when you're ahead? And why cooperate with the US when the US don't even have a space program worth mentioning? A few companies shooting up communications satellites and garbage cans for the ISS, things the Russians can do very well without the Americans.

And the Chinese are the same.

Maybe SpaceX or Lockheed Martin can set up a joint venture with them, but not the US government.

Not so, at the height of the cold war, Both the US and Soviet space programs actually worked together and cooperated. Take Venus for example, Russia consulted with Nasa so the Russian probe could be landed in a location both agencies wanted explored... the only sour note was the joint US - Soviet link up in space, neither side wanted to scrap their docking port for the others because it would be seen as a sign of weakness... somehow, I think THAT aspect by decided py politicians, in the end, Nasa sent up an adapter so both sides could keep their docking ports...

And today... even with the crisis in the Ukraine, Russia is still keeping the I.S.S. supplied and providing a taxi service for American astronauts... I'm betting that if the USA still had the Shuttle... they would tell the Russians where to go...

But... no shuttle, the US *needs* Russia so while they work out sanctions... the taxi service is one thing they cannot stop...

Oh, and NASA and the Soviets... ALWAYS... shared their data with each other.

[J.Random]

PPTS (terrible name, I am disappointed Russia)

That's our long tradition to give names only when the craft is ready for mass production. Same with tanks or jets. They're often called "object", "product" or "prospective something-something system/complex" while in design phase. PAK FA, for example, is also T-50, or "product 701" and in production it will probably be Su-with-index-number "Not Necessarily Scary/Badass Name". Same with PPTS - giving a name before it's finished is considered as kind of a bad omen, I guess.

Roscosmos is very lacking in space science, their last successful missions was more than 25 years ago.

Google Radioastron, for example. What Roscosmos is lacking in is PR, not science.

Edited April 26, 2014 by J.Random

[Idobox]

That's our long tradition to give names only when the craft is ready for mass production. Same with tanks or jets. They're often called "object", "product" or "prospective something-something system/complex" while in design phase. PAK FA, for example, is also T-50, or "product 701" and in production it will probably be Su-with-index-number "Not Necessarily Scary/Badass Name". Same with PPTS - giving a name before it's finished is considered as kind of a bad omen, I guess.

Given the number of projects that are cancelled or shelved, it is a good idea to keep the good names for stuff that actually happens.