Cosmonaut news: 2007
News of the Cosmonaut Group, Отряд Космонавтов, for 2007. For ISS cosmonaut training reports, see the news section of the Energiya site. There is also a Cosmonaut assignments thread at NASASpaceflight.com.
February
Февраль
5/2
Energiya official press release: February 5, 2007. Korolev, Moscow region. “New appointments have been recently made in the S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia Management.” Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalyov has a new assignment: Vice-President of Manned Flights.
Sergei Shamsutdinov posted an entry in the NK forum saying that he had spoken with Sergei K. and confirmed that he was keeping his flight status (backup for Soyuz TMA-12; commander of TMA-14 to launch in March 2009). He also added that only 15 out of the 36 active cosmonauts have flown, and Kozeev and Lazutkin are to leave soon. In his opinion, Baturin and Shargin will make no more flights. If Vinogradov’s very frank interview in NK is any indication, he will fly no more either. Thus there remains only 10 skilled cosmonauts! Such is the consequence of Russia’s involvement in space tourism.
March
Март
Cosmonaut deployments (thanks to Rex Hall at Astroaddies!):
| Mission | Prime | Backup |
|---|---|---|
| MKS-14/TMA-9 | Tyurin; Lopez-Alegria (NASA) | |
| Shuttle | S. Williams (NASA) | |
| MKS-15/TMA-10 | Yurchikhin, Kotov, Simonyi (SFP) | Romanenko, Kornienko, Chamitoff (NASA) |
| Shuttle | Anderson (NASA) | |
| MKS-16/TMA-11 | Malenchenko, Whitson (NASA), Malaysian cosmonaut | Sharipov, Fincke (NASA) |
| Shuttle | Tani (NASA) | Magnus (NASA) |
| Shuttle | Eyharts (ESA) | De Winne (ESA) |
| MKS-17/TMA-12 | S. Volkov, Kononenko, South Korean cosmonaut | |
| Shuttle | Magnus (NASA) | Stott (NASA) |
| MKS-18/TMA-13 | Sharipov, Fincke (NASA) | Lonchakov, Barrett (NASA) |
| Shuttle | Wakata (JAXA) | Noguchi (JAXA) |
| Shuttle | Chamitoff (NASA) | Creamer (NASA) |
Other cosmonaut assignments – March 2007:
| MKS Group 1 | Padalka, Baturin, Tokarev |
| MKS Group 2 | Val’kov, Skvortsov |
| MKS Group 3 | Revin, Skripochka, Moshchenko, Shargin |
| MKS Group 4 | Ivanishin, Samokutyayev, Shkaplerov, Tarelkin |
| MKS Group 5 | Artem’yev, Borisenko, Serov, Aimbetov, Aymakhanov |
| Candidate Group | Initial Training |
| Houston | Kondrat’ev |
| ESA-st | Eyharts, De Winne |
| Canada | Thirsk |
| Japan | Wakata, Noguchi |
| IMBP | Morukov, Ryazanskii |
| Energiya Dept. 291 | Lazutkin, Kozeev |
| Postmission | Tokarev |
| ZAO | Zhukov |
Aleksandr Kaleri is preparing at Energiya for the ISS-18/TMA-13 flight in 2008 (too early to begin training at GCTC yet).
26/3
NASASpaceflight.com: information via Anik.
New information from Sergey Shamsutdinov (one of editors of Novosti Kosmonavtiki magazine): On March 6 the Russian Main Medical Commission (GMK) has declared Konstantin Kozeev and Aleksandr Lazutkin unusable to spaceflight due to medical problems, therefore they will leave RSC Energia’s Cosmonaut Group very soon… Also the new commander for the backup Expedition 17 crew is Gennadii Padalka now (instead of Sergei Krikalyov)… And Yuri Lonchakov, not Michael Barratt, will be the commander of the backup Expedition 18 crew…
Sergei is still commander of ISS-19/TMA-14, but does not want to train in the backup crew (too busy).
30/3
Some unflown cosmonauts from the Cosmonaut Group appeared on a show called What? Where? When?, «Что? Где? Когда?» on 30 March on the First, Первому channel, competing against television viewers. The participants: Sergei Zhukov (team captain), Anatolii Ivanishin, Sergei Ryazansky, Aleksander Samokutyaev, Anton Shkaplerov, Mukhtar Aimakhanov (Kazakhstan). Unfortunately they lost (6:3). (NK news №617, №618; photogallery of the event.)
April
Апрель
29/4
Current status of the cosmonauts.
| Cosmonauts of GCTC Detachment | |
|---|---|
| Baturin, Yurii Mikhailovich | Deputy Commander of GCTC Detachment, Instructor-Cosmonaut-Tester of 2nd Class, 2 spaceflights |
| Ivanishin, Anatolii Alekseievich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Kondrat’ev, Dmitrii Yur’evich | Commander of Group of GCTC Detachment, Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Kotov, Oleg Valeriovich | Commander of Group of GCTC Detachment, Cosmonaut-Tester, 1 spaceflight |
| Lonchakov, Yurii Valentinovich | Commander of GCTC Detachment, Cosmonaut-Tester of 2nd Class, 2 spaceflights |
| Malenchenko, Yurii Ivanovich | Instructor-Cosmonaut-Tester of 2nd Class, 3 spaceflights |
| Padalka, Gennadii Ivanovich | Instructor-Cosmonaut-Tester of 2nd Class, 2 spaceflights |
| Romanenko, Roman Yur’evich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Samokutyaev, Aleksandr Mikhaylovich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Sharipov, Salizhan Shakirovich | Deputy Commander of GCTC Detachment, Cosmonaut-Tester of 3rd Class, 2 spaceflights |
| Shkaplerov, Anton Nikolaevich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Skvortsov, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Sura’ev, Maksim Viktorovich | Commander of Group of GCTC Detachment, Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Tarelkin, Evgenii Igorevich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Tokarev, Valerii Ivanovich | Commander of Group of GCTC Detachment, Cosmonaut-Tester of 3rd Class, 2 spaceflights |
| Val’kov, Konstantin Anatolievich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Volkov, Sergei Aleksandrovich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Cosmonauts of RSC Energia Detachment | |
| Artem’ev, Oleg Germanovich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Borisenko, Andrei Ivanovich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Kaleri, Aleksandr Yur’evich | Instructor-Cosmonaut-Tester of 1st Class, 4 spaceflights |
| Kononenko, Oleg Dmitrievich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Kornienko, Mikhail Borisovich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Kozeev, Konstantin Mirovich | Cosmonaut-Tester of 3rd Class, 1 spaceflight |
| Krikalyov, Sergei Konstantinovich | Instructor-Cosmonaut-Tester of 1st Class, 6 spaceflights |
| Lazutkin, Aleksandr Ivanovich | Cosmonaut-Tester of 3rd Class, 1 spaceflight |
| Revin, Sergei Nikolaevich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Serov, Mark Vyacheslavovich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Skripochka, Oleg Ivanovich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Tyurin, Mikhail Vladislavovich | Cosmonaut-Tester of 3rd Class, 2 spaceflights |
| Vinogradov, Pavel Vladimirovich | Commander of RSC Energia Detachment, Instructor-Cosmonaut-Tester of 3rd Class, 2 spaceflights |
| Yurchikhin, Fyodor Nikolaevich | Cosmonaut-Tester of 3rd Class, 2 spaceflights |
| Cosmonauts of IMBP Detachment | |
| Morukov, Boris Vladimirovich | Commander of IMBP Detachment, Cosmonaut-Researcher of 3rd Class, 1 spaceflight |
| Ryazanskii, Sergei Nikolaevich | Cosmonaut-Researcher |
| Cosmonauts not included in Detachments | |
| Moshchenko, Sergei Ivanovich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Zhukov, Sergei Aleksandrovich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Shargin, Yurii Georg’evich | Cosmonaut-Tester of 3rd Class, 1 spaceflight |
| Russian cosmonaut candidates | |
| Misurkin, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich | Candidate for cosmonaut-tester for GCTC Detachment |
| Novitskii, Oleg Viktorovich | Candidate for cosmonaut-tester for GCTC Detachment |
| Ovchinin, Aleksei Nikolaevich | Candidate for cosmonaut-tester for GCTC Detachment |
| Ponomarev, Maksim Vladimirovich | Candidate for cosmonaut-tester for GCTC Detachment |
| Ryzhikov, Sergei Nikolaevich | Candidate for cosmonaut-tester for GCTC Detachment |
| Serova, Elena Olegovna | Candidate for cosmonaut-tester for RSC Energia Detachment |
| Tikhonov, Nikolai Vladimirovich | Candidate for cosmonaut-tester for RSC Energia Detachment |
30/4
GCTC preparation Groups:
| Mission | Prime | Backup |
|---|---|---|
| MKS-16 (ISS Expedition 16) | Whitson | Fincke |
| Malenchenko | Sharipov | |
| Tani | Magnus | |
| Eyharts | De Winne | |
| Reisman | Kopra | |
| MKS-17 (ISS Expedition 17) | Volkov | Padalka |
| Kononenko | Sura’ev | |
| Magnus | Stott | |
| MKS-18 (ISS Expedition 18) | Fincke | Lonchakov |
| Sharipov | Barratt | |
| Wakata | Noguchi | |
| Chamitoff | Creamer |
ISS preparations – 30 April 2007:
| MKS-gr1 (ISS Group 1) | Baturin, Kaleri, Tokarev |
| MKS-gr2 (ISS Group 2) | Kondrat’ev, Skvortsov, Valkov |
| MKS-gr3 (ISS Group 3) | Moshchenko, Revin, Skripochka, Shargin |
| MKS-gr4 (ISS Group 4) | Ivanishin, Samokutyaev, Tarelkin |
| MKS-gr5 (ISS Group 5) | Aimbetov, Artem’ev, Aymakhanov, Borisenko, Serov |
| EP-13 (Visiting Crew 13) | Prime/Backup: Shukor/Bin Khaleed |
| OKP (General Space Preparation) | Novitskii, Misurkin, Ovchinin, Ponomarev, Ryzhikov, Serova, Tikhonov |
| Yuzhnaya Koreya (South Korea) | Ko San, Yi So-yeon |
Cosmonauts not included in GCTC preparation groups:
- Yurchikhin and Kotov are performing spaceflight aboard ISS as the Expedition 15 commander and flight engineer-1 accordingly
- Tyurin is on post-flight rehabilitation at GCTC
- Shkaplerov is GCTC representative at JSC (replacing Dmitrii Kondrat’ev, who was there twice more than previous representatives)
- Kozeev, Krikalyov, Lazutkin and Vinogradov are working in RSC Energia
- Morukov and Ryazanskii are working in IMBP
- Zhukov is working in Roskosmos
June
Июнь
15/6
From Novosti Kosmonavtiki news №633:
The new (2006) group of cosmonauts will prove their proficiency in free flight and under the canopy of a parachute
The new group of cosmonauts admitted to general spaceflight preparation in October of last year, today begin the first serious test. As Yurii Gidzenko – the head of the Special Preparation Department of the Cosmonaut Preparation/Training Center (TsPK, ЦПК) – informed an ITAR-TASS correspondent, “from 14 June to 14 July in Yeysk, the cosmonauts candidate for will undertake the first of two stages of special parachute preparation (SPPK, Специальной парашютной подготовки, СППК)”. Such preparation is intended to determine the speed of thinking, control and other qualities of the future cosmonauts, he specified.
Seven recruits – among whom there is one woman, an engineer from Rocket & Space Corporation Energiya, Elena Serova – will demonstrate the psychological stability and skill to operate in an extreme situation, which is so necessary in the cosmonaut profession. Before the candidates start tests from a great height, they will undertake more than 20 fact-finding jumps from heights of 1 km up to 1.5 km, Gidzenko specified. That completed, the future cosmonauts will demonstrate these qualities during 2-3 control jumps from a height of 2.5-3 km, to where they will be flown with a Mi-8 helicopter.
Before the “examination” test, each candidate will receive their task on a card at which he can glance only before jumping from the flying machine, explained the ITAR-TASS correspondent in TsPK’s search and rescue and paraborne service. In the set time before opening a parachute, in free fall mode, and then under a parachute canopy, the examined should solve the tasks put in “ticket” in a set time and, through a built-in helmet microphone, comment on the actions in an extreme situation.
Comments are stored on a small dictaphone fixed to the belt of the cosmonaut, then psychologists will analyse this, and physicians will decipher the data from special devices monitoring the condition of the basic bodies during a jump. The sensors of these devices are attached to the body of the examinee, enabling them to monitor his medical parameters in online mode, TsPK said. Besides this, an operator flying by a line records the pose and behaviour of the cosmonaut on a videocamera, and these records are analyzed also by experts on the ground.
The second stage of SPPK for the new group will take place in following year. “Now we shall teach the cosmonauts to jump with a parachute and to speak during a jump, which in itself is not easy, and at the second stage the card with tasks becomes more difficult,” Gidzenko explained.
Russian version, Русская версия
19/6
NASASpaceflight.com forum posting by Anik is news that R. Romanenko and M. Kornienko are now in MKS Group 2 and MKS Group 3. At the beginning of June the Expedition 17 backup commander G. Padalka was replaced by M. Sura’ev. The new Expedition 17 backup flight engineer-1 is O. Skripochka.
20/6
GCTC preparation groups:
| Mission | Prime | Backup |
|---|---|---|
| MKS-16 (ISS Expedition 16) | Whitson | Fincke |
| Malenchenko | Sharipov | |
| Tani | Magnus | |
| Eyharts | De Winne | |
| Reisman | Kopra | |
| MKS-17 (ISS Expedition 17) | Volkov | Sura’ev |
| Kononenko | Skripochka | |
| Magnus | Stott | |
| MKS-18 (ISS Expedition 18) | Fincke | Lonchakov |
| Sharipov | Barratt | |
| Wakata | Noguchi | |
| Chamitoff | Creamer |
| MKS-gr1 (ISS Group 1) | Baturin, Padalka, Tokarev |
| MKS-gr2 (ISS Group 2) | Kondrat’ev, Romanenko, Skvortsov, Val’kov |
| MKS-gr3 (ISS Group 3) | Kornienko, Moshchenko, Revin, Skripochka, Shargin |
| MKS-gr4 (ISS Group 4) | Ivanishin, Samokutyaev, Tarelkin |
| MKS-gr5 (ISS Group 5) | Aimbetov, Artem’ev, Aymakhanov, Borisenko, Serov |
| EP-13 (Visiting Crew 13) | Prime/Backup: Shukor/Bin Khaleed |
| OKP (General Space Preparation) | Novitskii, Misurkin, Ovchinin, Ponomarev, Ryzhikov, Serova, Tikhonov |
| Yuzhnaya Koreya (South Korea) | Ko San, Yi So-yeon |
Cosmonauts not included in GCTC preparation groups:
- Yurchikhin and Kotov are performing spaceflight aboard ISS as the Expedition 15 commander and flight engineer-1 accordingly
- Tyurin is on post-flight rehabilitation
- Shkaplerov is GCTC representative at JSC
- Kaleri, Kozeev, Krikalyov, Lazutkin and Vinogradov are working in RSC Energia
- Morukov is working in IMBP
- Ryazanskii is on special parachute preparation with OKP cosmonauts
- Zhukov is working in Roskosmos
September
Сентябрь
5/9
Cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa!
S.P. Korolev RSC Energia, Korolev, Moscow region. Cosmonaut tester of the S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation cosmonaut team Mikhail Borisovich Kornienko, upon his return to Moscow after climbing mountain Kilimanjaro (5895 meters high) as a member of a team of three mountaineers, was received by the Head of the Federal Space Agency A.N. Perminov.
M.B. Kornienko accomplished this climb while being on vacation. On the highest peak of Africa he left one copy of the Roskosmos commemorative badge and planted the flag of S.P. Korolev RSC Energia. The second copy of that badge that had been to the top of Kilimanjaro, M.B. Kornienko handed over to the Head of Roskosmos.
A.N. Perminov pointed out the high level of preparedness of the cosmonaut tester for working in extreme conditions, which allowed him, the only one of the whole team, to overcome the difficulties of the climb in its final phase.
Russian Federal Space Agency: Космонавт вышел на «малую» орбиту – покорил Килиманджаро (Cosmonaut has reached a “small” orbit – he conquered Kilimanjaro).
17-23/9
GCTC preparation groups:
| Mission | Prime | Backup |
|---|---|---|
| MKS-16 (ISS Expedition 16) | Whitson | Fincke |
| Malenchenko | Sharipov | |
| Tani | Magnus | |
| Eyharts | De Winne | |
| Reisman | Kopra | |
| EP-13 (Visiting Crew 13) | Shukor | Bin Khaleed |
| MKS-17 (ISS Expedition 17) | Volkov | Sura’ev |
| Kononenko | Skripochka | |
| Chamitoff | Kopra | |
| MKS-18 (ISS Expedition 18) | Fincke | Lonchakov |
| Sharipov | Barratt | |
| Magnus | Stott | |
| Wakata | Noguchi | |
| Kopra | Creamer | |
| MKS-19 (ISS Expedition 19) | ? | Walker |
| MKS-gr1 (ISS Group 1) | Baturin, Kaleri, Padalka, Tokarev |
| MKS-gr2 (ISS Group 2) | Kondrat’ev, Romanenko, Skvortsov, Val’kov |
| MKS-gr3 (ISS Group 3) | Kornienko, Moshchenko, Revin, Shargin |
| MKS-gr4 (ISS Group 4) | Ivanishin, Samokutyaev, Tarelkin |
| MKS-gr5 (ISS Group 5) | Aimbetov, Artem’ev, Aymakhanov, Borisenko, Serov |
| EP-13 (Visiting Crew 13) | Prime/Backup: Shukor/Bin Khaleed |
| OKP (General Space Preparation) | Novitskii, Misurkin, Ovchinin, Ponomarev, Ryzhikov, Serova, Tikhonov |
| Yuzhnaya Koreya (South Korea) | Ko San, Yi So-yeon |
Cosmonauts not included in GCTC preparation groups:
- Yurchikhin and Kotov are performing spaceflight aboard ISS as the Expedition 15 commander and flight engineer-1 accordingly
- Shkaplerov is GCTC representative at JSC
- Kozeev, Krikalyov, Lazutkin, Tyurin and Vinogradov are working in RSC Energia
- Morukov & Ryazanskii are working in IMBP
- Zhukov is working in Roskosmos
October
Октябрь
15/10
Current status of the cosmonauts. (Changes since the last list in April are bolded):
| Cosmonauts of GCTC Detachment | |
|---|---|
| Baturin, Yurii Mikhailovich | Deputy Commander of GCTC Detachment, Instructor-Cosmonaut-Tester of 2nd Class, 2 spaceflights |
| Ivanishin, Anatolii Alekseievich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Kondrat’ev, Dmitrii Yur’evich | Commander of Group of GCTC Detachment, Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Kotov, Oleg Valeriovich | Commander of Group of GCTC Detachment, Cosmonaut-Tester, 1 spaceflight |
| Lonchakov, Yurii Valentinovich | Commander of GCTC Detachment, Cosmonaut-Tester of 2nd Class, 2 spaceflights |
| Malenchenko, Yurii Ivanovich | Instructor-Cosmonaut-Tester of 1st Class, 4 spaceflights |
| Padalka, Gennadii Ivanovich | Instructor-Cosmonaut-Tester of 1st Class, 2 spaceflights |
| Romanenko, Roman Yur’evich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Samokutyaev, Aleksandr Mikhaylovich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Sharipov, Salizhan Shakirovich | Deputy Commander of GCTC Detachment, Cosmonaut-Tester of 2nd Class, 2 spaceflights |
| Shkaplerov, Anton Nikolaevich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Skvortsov, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Sura’ev, Maksim Viktorovich | Commander of Group of GCTC Detachment, Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Tarelkin, Evgenii Igorevich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Tokarev, Valerii Ivanovich | Commander of Group of GCTC Detachment, Cosmonaut-Tester of 2nd Class, 2 spaceflights |
| Val’kov, Konstantin Anatolievich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Volkov, Sergei Aleksandrovich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Cosmonauts of RSC Energia Detachment | |
| Artem’ev, Oleg Germanovich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Borisenko, Andrei Ivanovich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Kaleri, Aleksandr Yur’evich | Instructor-Cosmonaut-Tester of 1st Class, 4 spaceflights |
| Kononenko, Oleg Dmitrievich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Kornienko, Mikhail Borisovich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Kozeev, Konstantin Mirovich | Cosmonaut-Tester of 3rd Class, 1 spaceflight |
| Krikalyov, Sergei Konstantinovich | Instructor-Cosmonaut-Tester of 1st Class, 6 spaceflights |
| Lazutkin, Aleksandr Ivanovich | Cosmonaut-Tester of 3rd Class, 1 spaceflight |
| Revin, Sergei Nikolaevich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Serov, Mark Vyacheslavovich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Skripochka, Oleg Ivanovich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Tyurin, Mikhail Vladislavovich | Cosmonaut-Tester of 2nd Class, 2 spaceflights |
| Vinogradov, Pavel Vladimirovich | Commander of RSC Energia Detachment, Instructor-Cosmonaut-Tester of 2nd Class, 2 spaceflights |
| Yurchikhin, Fyodor Nikolaevich | Cosmonaut-Tester of 3rd Class, 2 spaceflights |
| Cosmonauts of IMBP Detachment | |
| Morukov, Boris Vladimirovich | Commander of IMBP Detachment, Cosmonaut-Researcher of 3rd Class, 1 spaceflight |
| Ryazanskii, Sergei Nikolaevich | Cosmonaut-Researcher |
| Cosmonauts not included in Detachments | |
| Moshchenko, Sergei Ivanovich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Zhukov, Sergei Aleksandrovich | Cosmonaut-Tester |
| Shargin, Yurii Georg’evich | Cosmonaut-Tester of 3rd Class, 1 spaceflight |
| Russian cosmonaut candidates | |
| Misurkin, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich | Candidate for cosmonaut-tester for GCTC Detachment |
| Novitskii, Oleg Viktorovich | Candidate for cosmonaut-tester for GCTC Detachment |
| Ovchinin, Aleksei Nikolaevich | Candidate for cosmonaut-tester for GCTC Detachment |
| Ponomarev, Maksim Vladimirovich | Candidate for cosmonaut-tester for GCTC Detachment |
| Ryzhikov, Sergei Nikolaevich | Candidate for cosmonaut-tester for GCTC Detachment |
| Serova, Elena Olegovna | Candidate for cosmonaut-tester for RSC Energia Detachment |
| Tikhonov, Nikolai Vladimirovich | Candidate for cosmonaut-tester for RSC Energia Detachment |
November
Ноябрь
10/11
NASASpaceflight.com posting by Anik:
According to Sergei Shamsutdinov (one of editors of Russian Novosti Kosmonavtiki magazine), the new GCTC representative at JSC is Aleksandr Samokutyaev now, which has replaced Anton Shkaplerov.
December
Декабрь
12/12
Cosmonaut candidates visit the Khrunichev Center
Today, for the purpose of acquaintance with the activities of one of the most important enterprises of the rocket-space industry, the cosmonaut candidates and the instructors of the Yu. A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center visited GKNPTs Khrunichev.
The state space scientific and industrial center named after M.V. Khrunichev was selected on purpose. The old enterprise has almost a half-century length of employment in the field of creation and operation of rocket-space technology.
The Center has a special role in the implementation of the manned programs of the USSR and Russia. Here was created the “Salyut” orbital manned stations and the TKS transport supply ships, the large-dimension modules for the Mir orbital complex, and the FGB Zarya and SM Zvezda modules for the International Space Station. At present, according to the ISS program, work is conducted here on the creation of the third module, the Multifunctional Laboratory Module.
The manager of the rocket-space plant, Victor Latyshev, described all this to his guests. The instructors of TSPK – V. Kolyasnikov, A. Radchenya and A. Larin – and also the cosmonaut candidates O. Novitskii, A. Ovchinin, S. Ryzhikov, A. Misurkin, M. Ponomarev, E. Serova and N. Tikhonov visited the assembly shops of the space center, and with their eyes they saw the process of assembling the “Proton-M” heavy carrier rocket, and boarded the full-scale copy of the legendary complex Mir.
Taking into account that the encounter in GKNPTs Khrunichev passed on the threshold of the New Year, the center management presented memorable gifts to the cosmonaut candidates.
«Кандидаты в космонавты посетили Центр имени Хруничева», Khrunichev.