Russian astronomers opposed the inclusion of the eROSITA telescope without the consent of Germany
Russian astronomers categorically opposed the inclusion of the German eROSITA telescope, contrary to the will of European partners who turned it off at the end of February. This telescope is part of the Spektr-RG Space Observatory, which also includes the ART-XC telescope developed at the ICI RAS. "Newspaper.Ru" discussed with experts what consequences a unilateral decision by Roscosmos could lead to.
The eROSITA telescope was built by the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and was intended to work in conjunction with ART-XC. After the aggravation of relations between Russia and Western countries in connection with the Russian operation in Ukraine, German specialists put the device into sleep mode. On the fourth of June, the head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, made it clear that he intended to turn on the power of eROSITA contrary to the decision of the German side.
"I have instructed to begin preparations for the restoration of the German eROSITA telescope at the Spektr-RG space Observatory in conjunction with the Russian telescope," Rogozin said in a broadcast on the Rossiya-24 channel.
"Those who made the decision [in Berlin] by disabling the German telescope for Russophobic political reasons, there was no moral right to do so. The work of the space observatory is necessary for science. We will correct the mistake of the Germans and turn on their telescope at our Spektr-RG observatory," Dmitry Rogozin said.
The scientific director of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in which the development of the Russian part of the joint observatory was carried out, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Lev Zeleny indicated in a conversation with Gazeta.Ru" the position of scientists.
"Our institute - all scientists - categorically object to this proposal. This objection is both for political and technical reasons," he said.
The decision of the head of Roscosmos to turn on the German telescope caused a lot of questions in the scientific community. Scientists of the ICI RAS do not yet understand who will give commands to the telescope, and which side - Russian or German - will receive scientific data from it, and most importantly - how the German colleagues of Russian scientists will react to the decision of Roscosmos.
- Academician Zeleny thinks.
In his opinion, every space agency should manage its own device, even if it works on someone else's spacecraft. "Technically, we can turn it on, but the specific teams sent on board must be formed in Germany," Lev Zeleny added.
Academician Rashid Syunyaev, scientific director of the Spektr-RG project, also opposed the uncoordinated inclusion of the German telescope.
"This is a wonderful device, absolutely world-class, which has already given a lot of data. We all dream that he will return to active work. But this is a surprisingly complex device, and if we decide to disregard agreements with partners and turn it on ourselves, it can simply ruin it," he said in an interview with Interfax. - This device must be switched on by agreement with the German side. We need to explain and negotiate so that both sides understand that in the distant future - in 10-20-30 years - it will be possible to put foreign extra-class devices on our satellites again, and actions with them will be at least coordinated."
At the same time, Syunyaev said that even without the German half of the Spektr-RG apparatus, it does not stand idle. The Russian ART-XC works normally, but it cannot replace eROSITA. ART-XC is sensitive to harder, high-energy rays, and the German device was supposed to conduct observations in the softer, long-wavelength part of the spectrum.
Alexander Sergeev, the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences, also objects to the unilateral inclusion of eROSITA. He has already stated his position in a letter to the leadership of Roscosmos from the Academy of Sciences.
"Our management of eROSITA is not an easy task and in some sense even risky. Because we did not create this device and we did not operate it. This technique is very serious, unique, and our scientists have concerns, will we be able to manage properly in principle? Colleagues express concern about whether we will spoil the device with this," Sergeyev told Interfax.
However, some experts advocate the inclusion of the German telescope, despite the opinion of scientists.
"In this situation, which has developed through no fault of our own, I do not see any ethical problems. It is impossible to behave more unethically than the West behaves towards us. They themselves destroyed all the norms of interaction - ethical, moral, and just human," he told the newspaper.Ru" corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics named after K. E. Tsiolkovsky Andrey Ionin.
At the same time, he does not see a problem in the fact that Russia's unilateral decision to turn on the German telescope may cause a protest by German astronomers and damage their relations with Russian scientists.
- said the expert.
At the same time, he suggested not to send data from the telescope to the German side, but to put it in open access.
"As in all such projects, we will publish scientific data in open access - and then, whoever wants, uses it. After all, we consider ourselves free from all obligations, and it will be good for real scientists if their device works. I think that relations between scientists will not deteriorate," the expert added.
In addition, Rogozin himself wrote in his Telegram channel that national interests should come first: "Our scientific community and our space industry should act harmoniously and exclusively in the interests of national science and be guided solely by our interests. The observatory should serve higher science, and not the whims of petty European politicians, whose name no one knows and does not want to know."
Finally, the official Telegram channel of Roscosmos offered a historical analogy of the situation. "In February 1966, the Soviet automatic interplanetary station Luna-9 made a soft landing on the lunar surface for the first time in the world. The director of the British radio astronomy observatory "Jodrell Bank" Bernard Lovell intercepted a Soviet radio signal, which transmitted the first panoramic images of the Moon. As a result, foreign media published the pictures earlier than Soviet newspapers. For some reason, in that situation, it was not perceived in the West as "piracy" and theft of scientific data," the report says.
When the decision is made to turn on the German telescope and Lavochkin's NGO, the appropriate command is given in Roscosmos to the newspaper.Ru" it was difficult to report.
Pavel Kotlyar
