Star Wars.

How about we all admit that the United States WILL militarize space. It goes without saying and even such declarations as this:

Trump has insisted that American law will recognize the possibility of private property on the Moon. And of course right behind such is going to be landlords and rentierism.

compound all those reasonable fears. Yet another round of the US promoting "liberty", "democracy" and "free market" on inter-planetary level. Of course, martians have been worrying about US interference in their internal affairs for decades now:

And who would blame them. Russians, seeing martians' concerns decided to address this issue by keeping their space program in good shape and, apart from sending own satellite "inspector" to look after latest and most advanced American spy aka Keyhole, they decided to deal with the US Star Wars aspirations head-on.

The U.S. Space Command said Wednesday it is tracking a direct-ascent anti-satellite (DA-ASAT) missile test Russia conducted to prove if it can interfere with or destroy satellites in low earth orbit. "Russia's DA-ASAT test provides yet another example that the threats to U.S. and allied space systems are real, serious and growing," Gen. John "Jay" Raymond, SPACECOM commander and U.S. Space Force Chief of Space Operations, said in a released statement. "The United States is ready and committed to deterring aggression and defending the nation, our allies, and U.S. interests from hostile acts in space." Space Command officials said the most recent test follows unprofessional behavior observed in February when two Russian satellites, Cosmos 2542 and 2543, tailed an American satellite, USA 245, also known as the KH-11. Time Magazine reported the Russian satellites loitered within 100 miles of KH-11, activity Raymond called "unusual and disturbing," similar to Russia's past risky, high-velocity confrontations in international airspace.

Ah, yes, good ol' "unprofessional behavior" argument. You know, you can recall those Vietnamese, Iraqis, not to speak of Afghan tribes behaving absolutely "unprofessionally" deciding not to surrender but to fight back, with a considerable success. Indeed, how "unprofessional" is this. But if Afghans with AK-47s and some RPGs can wreck a havoc on the ground, Russians, being barbaric and backward, and highly unprofessional, people for some reason developed this unprofessional capability to fight extremely effectively in all existing domains (I am speaking Pentagonese here) and, in fact, can deter back anything the United States can throw at them, including space. Of course Star Tre... pardon me US Space Command issued a hilarious statement:

"This test is further proof of Russia's hypocritical advocacy of outer space arms control proposals designed to restrict the capabilities of the United States while clearly having no intention of halting their counterspace weapons programs," Raymond said.

Actually, hypocrisy is a defining characteristic of the US approach to arms control, that is until the gun has been placed next to US temple and the American side was "convinced" that it is better to talk than to fight. Hypocrisy, however, was exhibited immediately in the continuation of Raymond's statement:

"Space is critical to all nations and our way of life. The demands on space systems continue in this time of crisis where global logistics, transportation and communication are key to defeating the COVID-19 pandemic," Raymond said. "It is a shared interest and responsibility of all spacefaring nations to create safe, stable and operationally sustainable conditions for space activities, including commercial, civil and national security activities."

No shit, pardon my Latin, last time I checked Raymond was a general and in command of a combat arm of US Armed Forces which, somehow, is not about "shared interest" not to speak of responsibility. Let alone "sustainable conditions" (whatever that means) because militaries everywhere, by definition, exist for only ONE purpose--to disrupt these very "sustainable conditions" for any opponent. I know, I have a graduate degree in disruption of "sustainable conditions". But this all pales compared with "sharing" because Trump announcing plans for mining the Moon somehow doesn't sound as "sharing" and is in direct violation of the United Nations 1966 Outer Space Treaty (US is a signatory to it) and this treaty is quite explicit: 

outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means;

States shall not place nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit or on celestial bodies or station them in outer space in any other manner;

In other words, and I quote:

There is no claim for sovereignty in space; no nation can “own” space, the Moon or any other body.

But I am sure Mr. Raymond knows all that and he surely informed POTUS that Moon, same as Iraq, Yugoslavia, Vietnam or, for that matter, Syria is a sovereign entity and is recognized as such by international law. And here we all have to do a simple research and pull up America's record in regards to this law thingy. Well, doesn't look good. So, Russians decided to make sure that declarations about "sharing" will not result in some space shit designed to attack Russia being in space without proper supervision and doing so Russians developed anti-satellite weapons. Simple, really. This is such an irritating factor in US "strategies", those damn unprofessional backward Rooskies who don't get those very liberating and extremely democratic American weapons. This is not mention the fact that rumors circulate that those "non-existent" Peresvet laser complexes are also capable to deal with satellites and, yes, this is so unprofessional, because as we know only Jedis can have light sabers and fight for all that is good, just and democratic in this world and beyond--you know where no man has gone before.     

Postoponed! Again?

By now you probably figured it out that I consider Elon Musk and most what he peddles as some wonder technology a glamorous fraud. But now it becomes really ridiculous and I wonder if these two news-pieces are related. 

First, of course, being yet another, now indefinite, delay of Falcon Heavy static tests. This was going on now for many days. As article states:

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket — described as “the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two” — is in position on a launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center, but the static-fire engine test set for today has been postponed indefinitely due to logistical and safety concerns. An Atlas 5 rocket will roll out to a nearby launch pad on Thursday.

But what caught my attention was a yesterday's piece on reputable Space.Com which reads as an indictment of Musk's faulty engineering: 

Safety Panel Raises Concerns about SpaceX Falcon 9 Pressure Vessel for Commercial Crew Missions 

Could these two be connected and could it be a start of a long overdue process of unmasking Musk as a fraudster that he is? It is one thing to produce some shitty electric jalopy which exists mostly for satisfaction of tender egos of some rich liberal boys, who are still stuck in infancy--but dealing with serious space vehicles, especially ones carrying manned missions is a totally different universe altogether.  And even if Falcon Heavy's tests finally commence at some point of time, there are already serious doubts about Musk and his "company", whose financial records are guarded better than Fort Knox, are adequate for the immense task of space exploration. But, I guess, for a generation (or two) of iPhone users who think that it is real hi-tech, the idea that some Tesla will be launched to Mars seems quite attractive, despite total imbecility of the concept. 

In related news: Tesla Model 3 now will be (at some point) able to follow voice commands. Yes, all my life I was waiting for this "feature", that is granted that those who would want that thing will have to continue waiting for years before their car will be delivered. As Ben Stein used to say:

UPDATE: Finally. 

Following a successful SpaceX Falcon Heavy test, a real launch is imminent 

Russia As A "Gas Station".

Well, it happened. Make no mistake, not before some financial violations and outright theft were uncovered and labor issues were resolved, and not before the first launch was delayed by a day--automatics did the job. But the first launch from brand new space port Vostochnyi did happen today and it was a success. 

 

Putin Was Also There. 

 

What is the significance of this event? It is enormous. But before I proceed with elaborations, here is a bit of a stroll down the memory lane. The name of the guy is James Oberg. He passes in the USA as an "expert" on Soviet/Russian space program. He wrote a truck load of books on the issue and, actually, does know some people in Russia and visited not for once Russia's space facilities. For decades the guy was a doom speller for Russia's space program.

James Oberg Profile 

Here how he positions himself (from his site):

Oberg is widely regarded as a world authority on the Russian and Chinese space programs. He has several times been invited to testify before Congress about the problems facing the Russian space industry and the prospects for China in space, and regularly lectures at government 'think tanks' on these themes. He is a Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society and in 1993 was invited to become the first foreign member of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics. He is also on the editorial board of "Air & Space" magazine, sponsored by the Smithsonian's "National Air and Space Museum", and of SPECTRUM, the monthly magazine of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, and writes a monthly column on upcoming space missions for 'Astronomy' magazine. He provides expert assessment and forecasts of Russian space industrial and technological elements for corporate and government clients.

Do you get my drift? Well, it is becoming a tradition in Western "expert" community to suffer from what Bryan MacDonald defines as Russophrenia--that is a condition where the sufferer believes Russia is both about to collapse, and take over the world. Since 2013, instances of this ailment have reached epidemic-like proportions in certain parts of Washington, London and Brussels.  

Well, at least James Oberg changed his tune somewhat as of lately and he is, indeed, a good engineer--there was never doubt about that. However, by far  most seriously affected by Russophrenia are Russian-born "experts", such as odious Yuri Karash who peddles, very often to the point of being ridiculous, US "vision" of space and aeronautics, which is expected from the graduate of a bunch of US "Ph.D" programs in all kinds of pseudo political "science" fields. According to Karash, the prospects for Russia to break free of its tendency to commercialize old tech instead of developing new things is unlikely: “There is no coherent and logical space policy in Russia. Whatever happens serves the interests of separate groups, not national interests.” Karash of the Academy of Cosmonautics said that “space science programs will most likely just remain at the ‘propaganda’ level, with just enough funding for the state-controlled media to create an impression that Russian space science is still alive.”

These are people who have been proven wrong again and again and here is this "again" again, for all to see. What is their expertise' worth? Very little. But then again, this pattern repeats itself over and over again. See any mainstream Western "analytical" materials on Russia's military--a pile of rubbish mostly. Launching a new space port is a huge event since there are only a handful of nations in the world who can afford to do it and I don't mean just financial aspect of it. Obviously, creating such an immensely complex and truly hi-tech structure is enormously expensive. But most importantly, it is also a testament to the industrial prowess of the nation which builds one--from sophisticated automatics, to complex electronics, to software, to material science and, in the end, to the rocketry itself. This is what I long defined (see my Military Power posts) as main pillars of national might--enclosed technological cycle(s). Very few of those come more complex than that. Here are characteristics:

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NEW COSMODROME  

THE TECHNICAL AREA is designed to prepare the launch, including fueling. In 121 buildings totaling 170,000 square meters can accommodate 1,800 workers. Constructions, utilities and transportation lines are located in a 42-hectare area.

THE ASSEMBLY AND TESTING FACILITY OF THE CARRIER ROCKET is designed for equipment, assembling, incoming inspection and separate and integrated tests of the carrier rocket. It maintains a precisely preset temperature and humidity. The total area of the building is almost 45,000 square meters, and the height is 37 m.

THE SPACECRAFT ASSEMBLY AND TESTING FACILITY where space vehicles, upper-stage and launching units are prepared and tested. The assembly of the space ascent unit is carried out here requiring the highest air purity.

LAUNCH SITE – 83 buildings of total area of 45,000 square meters. Up to 270 people can work here simultaneously.

THE INDUSTRIAL AND CONSTRUCTION BASE – repair and engineering works, warehouse, highway authority, checkpoint, administrative and amenity building, 34,000 square meters in total.  

THE TOWN OF TSIOLKOVSKY.  12,000 people will live here, drive their children to four kindergartens and two schools. There will be sports complexes, malls, cafes, restaurants and parking areas. The town is being built in two stages: at first for 7,000, then for 5,000 more.
  
  In the end, Vostochny, as well as Plesetsk Cosmodrome, will be able to launch a family of brand new Angara rockets. Not too shabby for a country which is about to collapse and is unlikely to develop anything new according to many "experts".  It is also pretty good for a country which, as Senator John McCain thinks, is merely a Gas Station. Yet, there are some lessons to be learned from all that and some good to be taken out, especially against a very symbolic background of the 71st Anniversary of the meeting at Torgau on Elbe River on 25 April 1945.  

Emphasis on bridge-building between Russia and U.S. at Elbe ceremony

It seems almost by providence that US and Russia are still tied very close to each-other in space. It is this frontier that holds both an enormous promise but also poses an enormous risk. It was always my contention that despite other nations entering the space age, none of them holds a candle to Soviet/Russian and American achievements in space. Both Russia and the US still remain true space superpowers, both have an immense potential in space exploration. Will there be a cooperation in both near and deep space (which is a way to go) exploration or will it be a dream buried by the geopolitical realities and heating up of the Cold War 2.0? I don't know, I am not an "expert" in the field but the possibilities are tantalizing. It is an interesting and symbolic fact that Alexey Leonov, a first man in the open space, was present three days ago at the dedication of  the monument to the Soviet-American linkup at Elbe in 1945. 

General Bruce McClintock and cosmonaut Alexei Leonov. Source: Moskva Agency

 Can there be a real linkup in space to eventually travel to stars?

It Happened 55 Years Ago........

Simple Russian guy, a junior Air Force officer launched humanity on the new path.............

 Taming Of Fire

 

This Is More Like it

Amidst the stream of worrying news, the glimmer of hope. I guess people who have practical tasks to work with are way more sensible, not to mention on the different thinking plane, especially when it is about space exploration. NASA and Roscosmos agreed to build a new ISS and to coordinate efforts in preparation to Mars mission. How 'bout that--it is cool, it is necessary from every point of view, be it economics, science or, even, geopolitics. It is all for the better, because in space exploration there are only two entities: first--US and Russia, and second--the rest of the world. It is only natural for two countries to cooperate in such a massive endeavor. 

Russia announces plan to build new space station with NASA 

I wonder if John McCain or Vicki Nuland (and her hubby) will have aneurisms. 

Russia & US agree to build new space station after ISS, work on joint Mars project 

As they say--God Speed, or Poekhali.