Keep the shuttle flying: Fwd: Russian space corporation has no plans to postpone launch to ISS

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: March 16, 2016 at 8:29:32 AM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Russian space corporation has no plans to postpone launch to ISS

ROSCOSMOS. COMPLETE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ILV "Soyuz-FG"
15.03.2016 16:58
March 15, 2016 at Baikonur cosmodrome specialists RCC "Progress" completed a total build space rocket (RKN) "Soyuz-FG", which is March 19, 2016 must provide the delivery crew manned spacecraft "Soyuz TMA-20M" on the ISS.
In accordance with the schedule of works, assembly and test building site 112 operations carried out by the space docking head (transport manned spacecraft "Soyuz TMA-20M" under the nose fairing) from the third stage of the launch vehicle (LV) "Soyuz-FG". Then the head of the space has been docked propulsion systems and emergency rescue "package" of the first and second stage of the launch vehicle.
Also today, a meeting of the technical guidance, where it was decided to space rocket ready to be exported to the launch pad. Beginning of transport is scheduled for 4:00 MSK March 16, 2016.
Start manned spacecraft "Soyuz TMA-20M» is scheduled for 00:26 MSK March 19, 2016. As a part of the main crew of the ISS-47/48 cosmonauts Alexei Ovchinin (commander), Oleg Skripochka and NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams. Backup crew - Sergei Ryzhikov Andrei Borisenko and Robert Kimbrough.

ROSCOSMOS. ANNOUNCEMENT
03.16.2016 9:32
Today, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome hosted removal of the carrier rocket "Soyuz-FG" with the manned spacecraft "Soyuz TMA-20M" on the launch pad. According to weather conditions installation space rocket has been postponed to the launch pad. The timing of this operation will be determined at the working meeting on the technical management ILV trials at 14:00 MSK based on the actual condition and forecast meteorological situation in the vicinity of the starting position. Transferring launch, scheduled for March 19, 2016, is not being considered.
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A check inspection of the SC Soyuz TMA-20M was performed
March 14, 2016
At Baikonur launch site the preparations continue for the launch of Soyuz TMA-20M transport manned vehicle under the International Space Station program.
In the assembly/test building prime (Russian cosmonauts OVCHININ Alexey Nikolaevich and SKRIPOCHKA Oleg Ivanovich, NASA astronaut Jeffry WILLIAMS) and backup (RYZHIKOV Sergei Nikolaevich (Roscosmos), BORISENKO Andrei Ivanovich (Roscosmos) and Robert KIMBROUGH (NASA)) crews of the Soyuz TMA-20M transportation manned spacecraft made a check inspection of the spacecraft in the launch configuration and also made an inspection of the SC Progress MS-02.

A check inspection of the SC Soyuz TMA-20M was performed
March 14, 2015
At Baikonur launch site the preparations continue for the launch of Soyuz TMA-20M transport manned vehicle under the International Space Station program.
In the assembly/test building prime (Russian cosmonauts OVCHININ Alexey Nikolaevich and SKRIPOCHKA Oleg Ivanovich, NASA astronaut Jeffry WILLIAMS) and backup (RYZHIKOV Sergei Nikolaevich (Roscosmos), BORISENKO Andrei Ivanovich (Roscosmos) and Robert KIMBROUGH (NASA)) crews of the Soyuz TMA-20M transportation manned spacecraft made a check inspection of the spacecraft in the launch configuration and also made an inspection of the SC Progress MS-02.

OAO RSC Energia is a leading enterprise of rocket-space industry, the prime organization for manned space systems. The Corporation is working to develop unmanned space and rocket systems (launch vehicles and inter-orbital transfer), high-tech systems for various applications to be used in non-space fields. Since August 2014 the Corporation is headed by Vladimir Solntsev.

RSC Energia press-center

Orbital module of the LV Soyuz-FG with SC Soyuz TMA-20M was transported for the general integration with LV
March 14, 2016
At Baikonur launch site the preparations continue for the launch of Soyuz TMA-20M transport manned vehicle under the International Space Station program.
Orbital module of the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle, containing the Soyuz TMA-20M manned spacecraft was transported from the spacecraft processing facility for the general integration with LV.

Orbital module of the LV Soyuz-FG with SC Soyuz TMA-20M was transported for the general integration with LV
March 14, 2015
At Baikonur launch site the preparations continue for the launch of Soyuz TMA-20M transport manned vehicle under the International Space Station program.
Orbital module of the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle, containing the Soyuz TMA-20M manned spacecraft was transported from the spacecraft processing facility for the general integration with LV.

OAO RSC Energia is a leading enterprise of rocket-space industry, the prime organization for manned space systems. The Corporation is working to develop unmanned space and rocket systems (launch vehicles and inter-orbital transfer), high-tech systems for various applications to be used in non-space fields. Since August 2014 the Corporation is headed by Vladimir Solntsev.

RSC Energia press-center

© 2000 - 2016 S.P. Korolev RSC "Energia"

March 16, 2016 09:33
Soyuz-FG launch to ISS not to be delayed - Roscosmos
BAIKONUR, March 16 (Interfax-AVN) - The launch of a Soyuz-FG rocket from Baikonur for delivering the next crew to the International Space Station (ISS) has not been delayed although high winds have hindered the rocket's placing on the launch pad, Roscosmos has told Interfax-AVN.
"The Soyuz-FG launch vehicle coupled with the Soyuz-TMA-20M manned spaceship was delivered to the launch pad in Baikonur today. 'Verticalization' of the launch vehicle was postponed due to weather conditions (winds exceeding 15 meters per second). Yet the launch was not delayed," a Roscosmos representative said.
The time of LV stabilization will be determined at a meeting of technical supervisors at 2 p.m. Moscow time, with due account of the wind speed, he said.
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No decision to postpone Soyuz spacecraft launch to ISS — space corporation

March 16, 8:20 UTC+3
A source in the aerospace industry earlier told TASS that the installation of the Soyuz-FG carrier rocket at the launch site had been postponed because of strong wind

A rocket at Baikonur (archive)
© Sergey Savostyanov/TASS
BAIKONUR, March 16. /TASS/. No decision has been taken yet to postpone the launch of the manned Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft because of the postponement of the installation of the Soyuz-FG carrier rocket at the Baikonur launch site. The time of the carrier rocket's installation at the launch site will be determined after a meeting of the technical management to be held at 14.00 Moscow Time, the Roscosmos state corporation told TASS on Wednesday.
"No decision to postpone the launch has been taken. The time of the vertical adjustment of the space mission vehicle will be determined at the meeting of the technical management at 14.00 Moscow Time," Roscosmos said.
A source in the aerospace industry earlier told TASS that the installation of the Soyuz-FG carrier rocket at the launch site had been postponed because of strong wind.
The Soyuz TMA-20M manned spacecraft is to bring the International Space Station (ISS) a new crew, which comprises Russian cosmonauts Alexei Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka and NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams. The backup crew includes Russians Sergei Ryzhikov and Andrei Borisenko and U.S. astronaut Robert Kimbrough.
The manned spacecraft is to be launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome (Kazakhstan) on March 19 at 00.26 Moscow Time. The docking with the ISS should take pace about six hours after the launch - at 06.12 Moscow Time.

Russian space corporation has no plans to postpone launch of rocket to ISS
March 16, 9:51 UTC+3
A source in the aerospace industry earlier told TASS that the installation of the Soyuz-FG carrier rocket at the launch site had been postponed because of strong wind
MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/. The Roscosmos State Corporation has no plans to postpone the launch of the Soyuz-FG carrier rocket with the Soyuz manned spacecraft because of unfavorable weather conditions at Baikonur cosmodrome located in Kazakhstan, the corporation has said.
"The postponement of the launch scheduled for March 19, 2016, is not considered so far," says a statement obtained by TASS on Wednesday.
The installation of the Soyuz-FG carrier rocket at the cosmodrome's launch site was earlier postponed because of strong wind. "The time of this operation will be determined at a meeting of the technical management to be held at 14.00 Moscow Time, taking into account the actual situation and the meteorological situation in the launch site area," the state corporation said.
According to Kazakhstan's Hydrometeorological Service, the unfavorable weather conditions will persist for at least three days, with wind gusts reaching speeds of up to 28 meters per second.
The Soyuz TMA-20M manned spacecraft is to bring the International Space Station (ISS) a new crew, which comprises Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka and NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams. The backup crew includes Russians Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko and US astronaut Robert Kimbrough.
The manned spacecraft is to be launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on March 19 at 00.26 Moscow Time. The docking with the ISS should take place about six hours after the launch - at 06.12 Moscow Time.
After this launch, senior officials of the Russian space industry are planning to travel to the country's new Vostochny spaceport in Russia's Far East where the Soyuz-2 carrier rocket is to be brought to the launch pad. This event will mark the end of test operations and the beginning of preparations for the first launch from Vostochny due to be held in April.
© 2016 TASS

'Year of Yuri Gagarin' Logo Added to Rocket Launching Next Space Station Crew
By Robert Z. Pearlman, collectSPACE.com Editor | March 15, 2016 05:48pm ET
NASA astronaut Jeff Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka pose with the 'Year of Yuri Gagarin' logo added to their Soyuz TMA-20M rocket fairing.
Credit: RSC Energia
Yuri Gagarin, the first person to fly into space, will be joining the three-member crew launching to the International Space Station this week, in the form of his smiling face decorating the side of their rocket.
The cosmonaut's image was added to the booster to mark the Russian space agency's year-long commemoration of Gagarin's historic April 12, 1961 flight. The blue and white portrait was applied to the fairing – or launch shroud – that will shield the Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft as it ascends to space on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Friday (March 18).
The launch, scheduled for 5:26 p.m. EDT (2126 GMT; 3:26 a.m. Kazakh time), will bring cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka and NASA astronaut Jeff Williams to the space station for a planned docking later that night at 11:12 p.m. EDT (0312 GMT March 19).
Ovchinin, the commander and only rookie flier aboard the Soyuz, will be the 544th person to follow Gagarin into orbit. Ovchinin, Skripochka and Williams will fly from "Gagarin's Start," the same launch pad that the first cosmonaut used to begin his Vostok 1 mission 55 years ago. [Yuri Gagarin: Photos of the First Man in Space]
The Soyuz rocket's decoration reproduces the logo for the "Year of Yuri Gagarin," a jubilee celebration announced by Roscosmos in late February.
"To commemorate this milestone in human [space] history, Roscosmos proclaims 2016 to be the Year of Yuri Gagarin and plans a number of interesting events," Russian space officials stated in a release. "Let's remember together how it was and dream about the future — because it is just the beginning!"
The cosmonauts already onboard the space station helped to launch the celebration, holding a sign reading "Gagarin. Lift-Off!" in Cyrillic.
"Dear friends, we declare that the jubilee for the 55th year of manned flight into space is the 'Year of Gagarin,'" said Mikhail Kornienko, who with astronaut Scott Kelly returned to Earth on March 1, ending a record 340-day mission.
"Our new motto is 'Lift Your Head Up!' because every time we [do], we can see the stars," added Yuri Malenchenko, who will welcome Ovchinin, Skripochka and Williams onto the space station.
The "Year of Yuri Gagarin" logo reads "POYEKHALI! [GO!] 55."
Credit: Roscosmos
According to Roscosmos, additional events and exhibitions are planned to mark the "Year of Yuri Gagarin."
"We invite all those who are interested in space, dream of distant planets and for who Russia's space activities are a part of life to join us," stated the space agency.
Yuri Gagarin, who would have turned 82 on March 9, died in a training jet crash on March 27, 1968. Vostok 1 was his only flight into space.
The fairing displaying Gagarin's portrait will be jettisoned from the Soyuz rocket about two minutes and 40 seconds into Friday's launch.
See the placement of the 'Year of Yuri Gagarin' logo on the Soyuz rocket at collectSPACE.

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