Expert Andrey Ionin told what tasks the national orbital station will solve
Russia has long been deprived of the opportunity to conduct experiments in space that would concern the testing of new security technologies, it is impossible to conduct them on the ISS, Andrei Ionin, a member of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics named after K.E. Tsiolkovsky, told Gazeta Ru. But the United States has been conducting such experiments aboard the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle for more than 10 years. The creation of a visited ROSS station will balance this situation, the expert believes. Also in the interview, he expressed his guesses about the experiments on the X-37B, explained why the station should not be inhabited, but visited, and how ROSS would fit into the Lunar Program of Russia and the BRICS countries.
- On July 26, the head of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, announced Russia's withdrawal from the ISS project from 2024 and presented to President Putin the project of the future Russian ROSS orbital station. It is said that the station will not be inhabited, but visited. What tasks will it solve?
- ROSS, first of all, is needed to solve national security problems in space. There are a lot of such tasks and they are getting more and more every day, and it was impossible to solve these tasks on the ISS.
Its first flight took place in 2010. He flies for several years in space, then returns with the results of experiments. The general public does not know what is happening on board. The format of the orbital station, which is proposed by the head of Roscosmos, in my opinion, opens up even more opportunities for solving such tasks.
- Why don't we make an analogue of the X37-B?
- We know how to make orbital stations, this is important. Each country has its own specialization. As a result, it may also be more economically profitable. However, it is difficult to compare with the X37-B, little is known about this project. The only thing that was reported from the very beginning was that this was a Pentagon project. And the second:
- Can you guess why they need protection?
- These may be some kind of biological experiments with the effects of radiation, there may be tests related to the possibility of long-term storage of nuclear charges in space. Because until now, no one knows how nuclear warheads will behave in the conditions of cosmic radiation. And while it is not clear, there is no possibility to place nuclear weapons in space. However, these are just my fantasies and guesses.
Andrey Ionin
Image source: Valery Sharifulin/TASS
- Vladimir Solovyov, the General Designer of RSC Energia, said earlier that the construction of a new Russian orbital service station will begin in 2028. At the first stage, the node and gateway modules will enter the ROSS, and then the basic and scientific-energy modules will dock. What are these modules for?
- Nodal is like a Lego part that is able to join absolutely all other parts. All other modules will be docked to it, cargo and manned ships will join the gateway. This is a kind of constructor in which it will be possible to change modules as they age. This is the next step in terms of the logic of creating space systems.
- According to the description that accompanied the station layout presented by Yuri Borisov yesterday, only 2-4 people will be able to be at the station at the same time. Is it a little or a lot?
- There are quite enough people for the tasks outlined above. After all, people often create obstacles for conducting experiments. The presence of astronauts on board creates microgravity and other interference, since many systems on the ship are forced to work. The presence of a person immediately complicates the station. He needs to rest, keep working, train. Therefore, there should be food, water, and so on at the station. ROSS, on the other hand, should be simple and effective for solving the tasks set.
- In the same scheme, external jobs are also indicated. There are 48 of them. What is it?
- These are the places on the station's skin that are intended for the installation of special-purpose equipment. There should be as many such places as possible.
- The volume of hermetic compartments is 667 cubic meters. Is that a lot?
- These are places where people can stay. The ISS has significantly more, of course, - 916. But I repeat once again - the station will be visited, it will solve specific tasks. We don't need another ISS, Salyut or Mir.
- And why do we need a production module and a service platform at ROSS?
- It's a long-standing idea to deploy some kind of production in space. We tried to make ultra-pure crystals there, bioprinting. And the maintenance platform is needed for a nuclear tug. Besides,
- That is, ROSS will solve technological problems?
- yes. And one of them is also the creation of the Zeus nuclear tug. This is a breakthrough direction of development. Well, it's no secret that the country's defense capability also depends on him. The creation of a lunar and Martian project is impossible without it. The entire technology run-in related to Zeus will take place at ROSS.
- Will the national orbital station solve any political tasks?
- of course. Russia is a member of various associations, such as BRICS, SCO, EEU. Space projects are the best tool for developing such a partnership. And plus, humanity has come to a stage where the next steps in space exploration can only be dictated by universal tasks. Their implementation in the national format, from my point of view, is simply impossible.
- why?
- This is due to the scale of these tasks. There is a depletion of resources on Earth, humanity needs new goals for development, people are forced to admit that they are gradually being displaced from the economy by artificial intelligence, they must come up with protection from meteorites in order to avoid the death scenario following the example of dinosaurs. Space exploration provides answers to these challenges.
New resources can be found on other planets, artificial intelligence in space becomes a welcome assistant - since there are few hands, the development of new areas gives the prospect of being protected from meteorites or environmental disasters. It is no coincidence that Elon Musk is promoting his project the Mars project, raising the idea of creating a reserve springboard for humanity, and Jeff Bezos comes up with the idea that it is necessary to take all industry, harmful industries into space, creating near-Earth industrial cities.
I observe attempts to justify all programs - lunar, Martian for their governments - but it does not work. There are no American, or Russian, or Chinese tasks there. There are only universal tasks there.
- But ROSS will still be a national station?
- ROSS will close the peripheral direction. The main route for Roscosmos is the implementation of a universal program on the moon. And the BRICS format is the most understandable here, about 35-40% of the world's population is already in these countries, and there will be even more in the "BRICS plus". And this union is built on the principle of equality of countries. The lunar project fits the ideology of BRIX as much as possible, it is built on joint problem solving. And Russia should become a leader there.
Anna Urmantseva
