TYB
Soviet-era cosmonaut Vyacheslav Zudov, who survived only Soyuz splashdown, dies
June 14, 2024
Soviet-era cosmonaut Vyacheslav Zudov, whose failed docking with a Russian space station ended with the first and only emergency splashdown in a Soyuz spacecraft, has died at the age of 82.
Zudov's death on Wednesday (June 12) was reported by Roscosmos, Russia's federal space corporation.
"[His] two-day spaceflight became, without exaggeration, dramatic," read a statement from the space agency.
"The landing of 'Radon' (the call sign that the cosmonaut chose for himself) turned out to be no less dangerous."
Selected for the cosmonaut corps with the third group of Soviet Air Force recruits in October 1965, Zudov was chosen to command his first and, what would turn out to be, his only spaceflight. On Oct. 14, 1976, he and pilot Valery Rozhdestvensky launched on board Soyuz 23 on what was planned to be at least a two-week, if not two- to three-month, stay on the Salyut 5 space station.
The Soyuz 23 flight was intended as a return to operations for the orbiting outpost after a previous Soyuz crew was forced to terminate their mission earlier that year. Instead, Zudov and Rozhdestvensky faced a similar outcome.
During their approach to Salyut 5, the autonomous docking system failed, leaving no way for Zudov and Rozhdestvensky to reach the space station.
They had been trained on how to manually dock, but could not fly a rendezvous. Abandoning their mission and limited by the Soyuz's battery reserves, the two cosmonauts spent a day in orbit and then began their descent back to Earth.
The Soviet Union developed the Soyuz to touch down on land, using a main parachute and braking thrusters to provide a "soft" landing. Cosmonauts did train for contingency water landings, but such a splashdown had yet to occur.
Soyuz 23 targeted a landing near its launch site at the Baikonur Cosmodrome (today in Kazakhstan), but the weather did not cooperate and the spacecraft came down 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) off the shore of Lake Tengiz, which, in mid-October, had already partially frozen over.
Complicating matters, the Soyuz's main parachute did not separate and its reserve canopy inadvertently deployed. Once saturated, both chutes acted like an anchor, pulling the capsule below the water.
Although rescue teams were able to reach the site, the local conditions delayed their ability to access the capsule. Zudov and Rozhdestvensky had to power down and remain inside the spacecraft for several hours until their descent module could be hauled out of the water and onto solid land.
Zudov and Rozhdestvensky were cold but healthy. They logged a total of 2 days and 6 minutes in space.
Vyacheslav Dmitriyevich Zudov was born on Jan. 8, 1942 in Bor, a town on the left bank of the Volga River across from Nizhny Novgorod in Russia.
He graduated from the Higher Military Pilot School in Balashov in 1963 and became a military transport pilot in the Soviet Air Force.
In addition to his own Soyuz 23 mission, Zudov served as backup commander for the Soyuz 15, Soyuz 21, Soyuz 35 and Soyuz T-4 missions before he retired from the cosmonaut corps on May 14, 1987.
For his service to the space program, Zudov was named Hero of the Soviet Union and awarded the Order of Lenin, among other honors.
Zudov was married to Nina Nikitina and together they had two daughters, Natalya and Yelena. He was preceded in death by his Soyuz 23 crewmate, Rozhdestvensky, who died in 2011.
A memorial service for Zudov will be held Friday (June 14) at the Federal Military Memorial Cemetery, a national cemetery of Russia, located on the northeastern outskirts of Moscow.
https://www.space.com/cosmonaut-vyacheslav-zudov-obituary
U.S. to rely on commercial satellites to image spacecraft in orbit
June 13, 2024
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is turning to the commercial satellite imagery industry for help monitoring objects in Earth’s orbit. The agency on June 12 released a request for information seeking input from companies in the emerging non-Earth imagery (NEI) market.
NEI refers to imaging spacecraft, satellites, and space debris in orbit. It’s a relatively new market for commercial satellite operators, facilitated by regulatory reforms in 2022 that lifted long-standing restrictions on U.S. companies imaging and collecting detailed data on satellites in space.
NGA said it plans to conduct market research and initiate a dialogue with industry on providing commercial NEI data and analytics to meet U.S. government and allies’ requirements for intelligence about objects in space.
According to the request, the agency wants to better understand unclassified non-Earth imaging capabilities and data analytics, including imagery of uncooperative platforms.
Demand for space domain awareness
With growing orbital congestion and risks posed by potential adversaries, enhancing space situational awareness has become an imperative for national security, U.S. officials have said.
With the rise of space powers like China and aggressive Russian anti-satellite weapons development, there has been an acknowledgment that the U.S. needs to tap commercial remote sensing companies for data on potentially hostile spacecraft.
NGA said leveraging commercial NEI capabilities represents an opportunity to augment existing government systems. The agency is the nation’s primary source of geospatial intelligence for the Department of Defense and the U.S. intelligence community.
Responses to the RFI are due July 12. Only U.S.-owned companies are eligible for this program. NGA said the market research will inform an upcoming five-year procurement of non-Earth imagery.
https://spacenews.com/u-s-to-rely-on-commercial-satellites-to-image-spacecraft-in-orbit/
Senate Armed Services Committee advances 2025 defense policy bill
June 15, 2024
The Senate Armed Services Committee on June 14 cleared its version of the fiscal year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act. The bill is now headed to the Senate floor.
The legislation, which has yet to be released in full, includes compromise language on a long-standing dispute over the transfer of Air National Guard space units to the active-duty Space Force.
According to an executive summary released by the committee, the bill navigates the contentious issue of how to integrate existing Air National Guard space operations into the Space Force.
Also on Friday the House passed its own version of the NDAA. However, the House bill carries significant baggage in the form of controversial social policy amendments, setting the stage for a likely showdown with the Democratic-controlled Senate.
These partisan riders, championed by House Republicans, touch on hot-button issues such as abortion access for service members, diversity initiatives, and gender-affirming care.
Democrats said their inclusion threatens to upend the typically bipartisan nature of the defense authorization process.
Space policy provisions in the SASC bill:
Requires the U.S. Air Force to transfer certain space functions of the Air National Guard to the U.S. Space Force. But such transfer should not reduce the end strength for the affected state Air National Guard organizations.
Requires DoD to convene private equity firms to discuss opportunities in the competition space and address “adversarial predatory investment strategies.”
Authorizes DOD to identify poor-performing contractors and require approval for additional contracts.
Authorizes the designation of a Program Executive Office for space-based air and ground moving target indication.
Directs a review of DOD efforts to acquire new moving target indicator capabilities and related programs.
Authorizes the establishment of a Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve program and requires a report on commercial insurance for DoD space support services.
Requires DOD to designate a Program Executive Officer for Space Command, Control, and Integration to acquire a system to support a combined operations center at the National Space Defense Center.
https://spacenews.com/senate-armed-services-committee-advances-2025-defense-policy-bill/
That's amore
New York resident reports seeing two women abducted by 'giant white cubes' UFOs
10:02 ET, JUN 13 2024
New York state is a hotspot for unidentified aerial phenomena, with numerous reports of mysterious objects like discs and orbs in the sky.
While there's a rich history of such sightings in New York, it's rare to hear about direct interactions between these airborne anomalies and humans.
Many dismiss these supposed encounters as hoaxes or the products of vivid imaginations.
Yet, a recent claim by a New Yorker has raised eyebrows: they allege to have seen what might be a close encounter of the fourth kind near Lake George.
The Mutual UFO Network defines this type of encounter as one involving human abduction by a UFO or its occupants.
A local from New York State insists they saw a UFO abduction by Lake George.
Skeptics may scoff at such a report, but a submission to the National UFO Reporting Center describes an incident involving "two white cubes" that allegedly abducted two individuals "up into the sky" in upstate New York.
The event was reported to have occurred on May 28, at approximately 8:30 PM, close to Lake George, NY.
The account states that two women were seen strolling down Schoolhouse Road when, out of the blue, two white cubes materialized above them and "took them (the women) up into the sky" before vanishing.
According to the dramatic claim, the "cubes" first abducted one woman, and then immediately lifted the other into the sky. Were there more eyewitnesses?
The initial witness insists that a girl walking her dog nearby, about fifty yards away, also observed the purported disappearance. In their submission to NUFORC, the original witness notably included parentheses around the term 'women', suggesting these individuals might have been "beings" or entities mimicking humans.
A brief investigation of the Lake George area's Spot Crime webpage reveals no new missing person cases since 2020.
Google searches yield no recent police activity or press releases pertaining to two missing women.
https://www.irishstar.com/news/us-news/new-york-ufo-abduction-claim-33024275
Donald Trump's UFO Admission Raises Eyebrows
Jun 14, 2024 at 1:57 PM EDT
In a recent interview, former President Donald Trump addressed the topic of unidentified flying objects (UFOs), confirming that he is often asked about the topic.
Trump, known for his unconventional approach and candid remarks, touched on the subject during a sit-down with Logan Paul for his Impaulsive podcast where he was asked about his knowledge of UFOs and the government's handling of related information.
"I want to talk to you about aliens, UFOs, UAPs [Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena]. The disclosure we've seen in Congress recently, it's confusing and upsetting for a lot of Americans," said Paul on the podcast.
"I have met with pilots…they are not conspiratorial, they are not crazy, and they tell me stories that they've seen things that you wouldn't believe," stated Trump
"Am I a believer? No, I can't say I am. But I have met with people, serious people, that say there are some really strange things flying around out there."
Trump then digressed onto other "aliens", eliciting the podcast host's laughter.
"I know there are illegal aliens out there but those are the ones that come through the border. We have plenty of them. Those are the ones…when you say aliens, I say are they illegal aliens?
These might be illegal but we don't want to test them, because if they can go four times faster we're not gonna test them." Paul is an influencer and wrestler, with over 20 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, who has publicly endorsed Trump.
When asked if there was a chance that information about aliens was being hidden from him, Trump said: "I guess so. You have the deep state. And you do have the deep state…"
Trump then acknowledged the possibility of otherworldly life forms, even though he'd said he doesn't believe they exist:
"It's very possible there is something. And why wouldn't there be? You look at the universe and you see all of the different planets and you see… look, here we are, one relatively small planet.
Why wouldn't there be, on a planet that's 400 times the size? Why wouldn't there be something, somebody?"
Newsweek reached out to Trump's office on Friday for comment.
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trumps-ufo-admission-raises-eyebrows-1913016