Monthly Archives: September 2013

Published: Sept. 5, 2013 at 4:32 PM

MOSCOW, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- An experienced Russian cosmonaut scheduled to fly to the International Space Station in 2015 has resigned for reasons that are unclear, officials say.

Yury Lonchakov will formally leave his job Sept. 14, Irina Rogova of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center told RIA Novosti.

Russian media quoted the training center's head, Sergei Krikalev, as saying Lonchakov "found a more interesting job," but he did not elaborate.

No replacement has been announced announced for Lonchakov, who was set to fly as the commander of Expedition 44 to the ISS in May 2015 with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly.

Lonchakov, 48, had been a cosmonaut since 1998 and made three space trips between 2001 and 2009 spending a total of 200 days in orbit, and made two spacewalks with a combined duration of more than 10 hours.

The Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center has had organizational problems since 2009, when it was transferred from the Defense Ministry to the civilian Federal Space Agency.

One Russian cosmonaut told a newspaper last year the prolonged reorganization had affected cosmonauts' income and career prospects, breeding discontent among personnel.

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Russian cosmonaut set for space station mission resigns

A Japanese robot orbiting 370 kilometres above the Earth called home for the first time.

In video released today but filmed two weeks ago, Kirobo, Japan's first robot astronaut, spoke from the International Space Station.

"Robots take their first step towards a shining future," the one-kilogram, 34-centimetre-high automaton said as it floated around the ISS.

The researchers behind Kirobo a compound word made from the words Kibo, or "hope" in Japanese, and robot said this is the first time a robot has spoken from space.

Packaged into an insulated box, Kirobo was deployed to the space station aboard a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency cargo transfer vehicle mounted on an H-IIB rocket on Aug. 4.

Kirobo arrived at the space station six days later, and will stay there for about a year and a half, the aerospace agency said.

The robot is set to conduct experiments in space by taking verbal orders from astronaut commander Koichi Wakata and by remote-control from earth.

Wakata will also arrive at the space station toward the end of the year to directly communicate with the robot.

The other astronauts will not be able to interact with the visiting robot unless they speak Japanese, Kirobo's native tongue.

Kirobo was developed by Tokyo University, Toyota Motor Corporation, advertising agency Dentsu and Robo Garage. It is scheduled to return to earth in December 2014.

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Talking robot calls home from space station

A veteran Russian cosmonaut who was assigned to command the International Space Station in 2015 has unexpectedly resigned.

Cosmonaut Yuri Lonchakov tendered his resignation to the Russian federal space agency, Roscosmos, on Thursday. Russian news agencies, quoting the head of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, reported Lonchakov will be "formally discharged" on Sept. 14.

"He came and told me that he had found a better job than working in space," Sergei Krikalev, the training center's chief and the current record holder for most time in space by any human, told the Interfax news service. "Frankly, we were counting on him because he was not just in the unit, [but] he was assigned to a crew."

- Sergei Krikalev, chief of Russia's Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center

Lonchakov was scheduled to fly as the commander of the Russian spacecraft Soyuz TMA-16M, launching in March 2015 with Roscosmos cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, the space station's first two yearlong crew members. [Quiz: Do You Know the International Space Station?]

Once on board the orbiting laboratory, Lonchakov was set to join the Expedition 43 crew as a flight engineer before taking over command of the space station as the leader of Expedition 44 in May 2015. He was then to return to Earth in October 2015.

Lonchakov's replacement on the crew was not announced. Backing him up on the Soyuz TMA-16M crew was Alexei Ovchinin, a fellow Roscosmos cosmonaut.

Lonchakov, 48, joined the cosmonaut corps in 1997 and flew three spaceflights to the International Space Station. He first launched on NASA's space shuttle Endeavour as a member of the STS-100 crew in 2001, helping to deliver the Canadarm2 robotic arm during the 12-day mission.

The next year, he flew on board the first Soyuz TMA-class spacecraft, Soyuz TMA-1, for a 10-day flight to the space station.

Lonchakov's third and now final spaceflight began in October 2008 with the launch of Soyuz TMA-13, the 100th crewed Soyuz spacecraftto fly. Serving as an Expedition 18 flight engineer, Lonchakov spent 178 days in space, bringing his career total to 200 days (and 19 hours) off the planet.

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Russian Quits Space Station