Everything is calm in orbit

The Progress cargo spacecraft, launched on July 3 from Baikonur, successfully docked with the International Space Station. The proven Soyuz-U rocket virtually guaranteed the successful completion of the supply mission.

Oxygen, water, foodstuffs and hygiene products were delivered to the station; in general, the crew was saved from the fate of Mark Watney, the hero of the book The Martian . Although there is still no real threat of starvation on the ISS, the situation of losing two supply ships in a row has never occurred in the history of astronautics.

And today I wanted to talk a little about something else. Over the past couple of months, the news feeds from our media have periodically been blown up with reports of any incidents on the ISS. At first, the Progress engines did not turn on to correct the station's orbit. Then the attempt was repeated, and everything started successfully, but the news of the failure on Progress was superimposed on the Proton-M missile crash. As a result, both messages worked with a cumulative effect in forcing an already gloomy atmosphere.
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Then, a month later, the Soyuz engines worked by themselves when they tested the radio link. And again, there was a wave of tension in the media, and many are experiencing the fate of the national astronautics.

I would like to say to all sympathizers of Roscosmos that such news is not a reason for sadness, but vice versa.

Human technology is imperfect in principle, so everyone has malfunctions and failures. The difference between ours and the "western partners" is in the information policy. Therefore, when the gas analyzer fails in the American segment, the whole world will immediately know about it. Astronauts describe in detail in the blog how they are looking for the cause of the alarm and eliminate the problem.



Such sincerity and openness to the public is not characteristic of Roscosmos. In our country, according to Soviet traditions, they are recognized only after they understand that it is already impossible to hide, often when the whole world already knows.

But now a new team has come to the press service of Roskosmos. They are young, hot, and want to compete with NASA in the information field. And they understand that such competition is impossible without openness. Therefore, reports of minor incidents on the ISS are the result of attempts by the press service of the Russian Space Agency to gain public confidence. They are still learning, not everything is working out for them, and they meet with very tough resistance to the entire space industry, for which such sincerity is alien.

I think it was only because of the previous accident of the Progress M-27M that it was possible to coordinate the broadcast of the video from the onboard camera of the Progress M-28M.


(Seen at 12 minutes)

Even this broadcast is a small victory. But not always so good. After all, honestly reporting a malfunction is not even half the battle. We must also get a professional comment on the possible causes, and most importantly, the consequences of the incident. So that the journalists did not get a stinging line "We spontaneously turned on the engine", but also an explanation that the station will not fall from this, that the remaining fuel will be enough, and most importantly, there is nothing extraordinary in such a failure, and that such, for example , it was already on the "World" in 1995, and on the ISS in 2011 ...

And it is here that the good intentions of newcomers stumble upon the traditional secrecy of the space industry. The overwhelming majority of specialists and officials will not want to give a comment, at best fearing to hurt subcontractors or a smut, and at worst, just to take no responsibility for their words. Without a kick, the direct sanction of the head of Roscosmos will not fly. No one will talk.

Therefore, the news comes out in one line, and journalists are beginning to ring round everyone who has or has nothing to do with the incident, and, if anonymity is preserved, many languages ​​are untied. As a result, they can say that it would be better, no one really knew anything. But I still can't hide it, and the first timid attempts by Roskosmos to be honest is a desire to catch rumors creeping in before. Therefore, we can only hope that the inertia of the system will gradually take over, not to believe the loud headlines, and not to read newspapers before dinner.

You can also subscribe to specialists from the space industry, who already know about the existence of social networks, and as far as possible and know how, they are trying to interact with the public: test cosmonaut Mark Serov , director of the research and analytical center of the Ordinary Computing Complex Dmitry Pyson . I will also recommend experts who understand space affairs: Ivan Moiseyev , Philip Terekhov ( lozga ).

Well, I try to clarify the situation as much as possible.