"Long Covered-Up Near-Disaster
of Soyuz-5 (1969)
Was Almost Repeated Forty Years Later"
image: courtesy of 'Newton' magazine, Tokyo
"Soyuz spacecraft separates into
three parts
only moments before flaming entry into the
atmosphere -- this is how it's supposed to look."
Credit: Painting of nominal separation courtesy of
Andrey Sokolov; schematic of three modules, Russian
Space Agency.
"But
in April 2008 the crew cabin and
its equipment section hung up for several critical
minutes and hit the atmosphere in an improper
orientation, without the critical heat shield facing
forward."
artwork of hung-up modules, NASA
Jim
Is First American Journalist at New ‘Yasniy’
Launch Site in Siberia
On June 28, 2007 Jim was at the new 'Kosmotras'
satellite launch base at Yasniy, Orenburg Region,
Siberia, to watch a 'Dnepr' rocket carry the Bigelow
Aerospace "Genesis-II" space module prototype
into orbit. He will be writing about this experience
for several magazine clients in the months to come.
Conferences,
conventions, industry seminars, university activities,
private groups, educational and hobby programs, and
other audiences of any size seeking entertaining and
informative talks on various aspects of outer space
(particularly on the occasion of the 50th anniversary
of the birth of the Space Age) are encouraged to contact
Jim Oberg soon for their necessary scheduling of talks
in the coming academic year. His
expanded repertory of topics now includes several
new offerings and updated old favorites.
These programs can be tailored to specific length
and focus needs.
Are
you going to Russia’s Baykonur Cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan to attend the launch of a manned ‘Soyuz’
spaceship, a commercial communications satellite,
a scientific probe, or any other reason? The long-mysterious
and super-secret spaceport has become a mecca for
‘space tourists’ of the 21st Century,
but understanding what you will see, or even what
you are actually seeing once you get there, is hindered
by decades of secrecy, by the fog of cultural barriers,
and by the impenetrability of “technical jargon”
associated with “rocket science”. Now
a solution is available – a world expert on
penetrating “Soviet space secrets” is
available to expand the value of your experience.
Jim Oberg can triple the appreciation of your experience
by careful pre-trip organization and briefings, and
as desired by personal interpretative and explanatory
services on site. For more
details, go HERE.
Novosti,
February 27, 2007: New Kourou Launch Pad Can Conduct
Manned Flights
News
item (my translation), quoting Anatoliy Perminov,
head of the Russian Space Agency, while visiting the
European launch center at Kourou, French Guyana: "Yes,
of course, over the long term, the ‘Soyuz-ST’
[booster] which will be launched from Kourou can be
used also for manned launches. This promising manned
transport system, developed now together with the
European partners, can be used for organizng, from
Kourou, the launches of manned spacecraft."
Jim
returns from triumphant 'Earth
Orbit' educational program for American Museum of
Natural History (New York, NY).
This program involved fourteen
travelers who visited the Hayden Planetarium, the
NASA Goddard Space Center, the National air &
Space Museum, Capa Canaveral
and the Kennedy Space Center, then Russian space sites
such as various museums (including some usually closed
to
the public), the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center,
and the Baykonur Cosmodrome, where they attended the
Soyuz TMA-7 blastoff on October 1.
A
more detailed report is in preparation but here are
a few photos from the expedition courtesy of Josette
Dominguez.
(Sep
22) With Story Musgrave at the Saturn/Shuttle
‘Vertical Assembly Building’ (VAB)
at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida
(Sep
26) Examining SFOG canister (‘Solid
Fuel Oxygen Generator’) inside Mir mockup
at ‘Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center’.
A unit like this one malfunctioned in February
1997 and nearly killed six crewmen, including
a visiting american astronaut.
(Sep
26) Peering into Soyuz ‘Orbital Module’
trainer at ‘Gagarin Cosmonaut Training
Center’, Star City, NE of Moscow
(Sep
29) At edge of Soyuz flame pit an hour after
booster installation on the launch pad, two
days prior to blastoff. L-R: Jim, Jo Dominguez,
Doug Grimes (MirCorp Travel), Alicia Stevens
(Discovery Tours, AMNH).
Oberg
testifies before Congress on Chinese moon plans
"Tuesday,
Jul. 19, 2005, 3:00 PM // Wisconsin Public Radio, "Ideas
Network" Ben Merens: While NASA engineers continue
to examine the Space Shuttle, Ben Merens and his guest
examine the planned mission, as well as the history,
and future of the shuttle program.
Guest: Jim Oberg, former Space Shuttle mission control
engineer."
New Oberg
presentation for industrial safety conferences:
“Flaws
in the ‘NASA Safety Culture’ and Their
Lessons for Earthside Safety”
This presentation shows how many notorious space disasters
were not due to inherent hazards of space, but were
due to violating well-known principles of hi-tech
safety. It provides explanations for the Challenger
and Columbia shuttle catastrophes and for the 1999
Mars robot fleet disaster... More...
"Curmudgeon's
Corner" space blog names Oberg "best space
reporter" of 2004.
Mark Whittington at 'Curmudgeon's
Corner', a blog that covers technology and spaceflight
and other topics, put together his year in space awards
for 2004, and the full text is on his home page.
"Best space reporter.
James Oberg,
for actually knowing of what he writes and talks about,
which is not necessarily true for all reporters on
the space beat."
Jim
was featured in the 'Unsolved History' program on
the Discovery Channel, that premiering on Thursday,
July 15, 2004. The results of his investigations were
reported in detail, and he is shown taking part in
a dramatic reconstruction of what happened in the
747's cockpit that night (he plays the part of the
co-pilot). Order
the program
“Toward a Theory of Space
Power”, James Oberg, remarks delivered May 20,
2003, Washington Roundtable on Science & Public
Policy, sponsored by the George C. Marshall Institute,
Washington, DC. 28 pages. $10.00 postage paid ($12.00
outside North America). A recent book by Everett Dolman,
Astropolitik: Classical Geopolitics in the Space Age,
speaks of the importance of space and space-faring
nations and has high praise for Oberg’s work.
Dolman writes, “Strategy, grand strategy in
particular, is not simply the efficient military application
of force. Since grand strategy is ultimately political
in nature, that is to say the ends of national strategy
are inextricably political, yet the means or dimensions
of strategy are not limited.” He goes on to
define six or seven things that make up a grand strategy,
and concludes by saying, “To date, only James
Oberg’s Space Power Theory [now out of print
with an expanded version in preparation], a comprehensive
effort commissioned by the United States Space Command,
approaches the requirements laid out above.”
Astronomy
magazine monthly column.
Jim writes
a monthly column for ‘Astronomy’ magazine that
discusses upcoming events in space exploration. ADOBE PDF
FORMAT
"But
in April 2008 the crew cabin and
