On Thursday, August 30, RSC Energia held a meeting of the General Designer’s Review Board for the Russian Segment (RS) of the International Space Station (ISS).
Following the introductory speech of General Designer of RSC Energia Evgeny MIKRIN, the General Designer’s Review Board reviewed the launch readiness of manned transportation spacecraft of a new series (MTS) Soyuz МS-02 and launch vehicle Soyuz-FG, the readiness of the ISS, launch and range facilities, LOCT and MCC equipment and personnel, search and rescue vehicles, crew medical support, the Expedition crews for the upcoming work.
RSC Energia General Designer for Manned Space Systems Sergei ROMANOV reported on the implementation phases of the program of the ISS space transportation support, readiness of spacecraft Soyuz ТМА-20М for flight completion, the progress of prelaunch processing of the manned transportation spacecraft Soyuz MS-02, and presented the flight program of the ISS Russian Segment for the upcoming period.
RSC Energia First Deputy General Designer Vladimir SOLOVIEV presented the results of the ISS flight, reported about the results of science experiments and further work plans. He pointed out that the condition of the onboard systems and resources available on the Russian Segment of the ISS, the ground control assets, mission control personnel are ready for the launch of Soyuz MS-02 on September 23, 2016, and the beginning of the next Increment.
Reports on the readiness of all spacecraft and station systems were also made by chief designers, responsible representatives of RSC Energia and associate contractors.
Reviewed were the readiness of launch vehicle Soyuz-FG to launch spacecraft Soyuz МS-02; the readiness of the launch site and ground infrastructure for upcoming operations with Soyuz МS-02. A conclusion on the readiness of the MCC-M hardware and personnel for activities on the launch of Soyuz MS-02 was made, and the readiness of search and rescue vehicles was reported. The representative of the Institute of Biomedical Problems of RAS reported on health status of the crews working on the ISS and receiving training for the flight. The representative of the Cosmonaut Training Center confirmed that the crewmembers are ready to fulfill the upcoming program of activities on the ISS.
Leading Institute TsNIIMash issued a conclusion on the technical readiness of the rocket and space complex Soyuz-FG/Soyuz MS-02 to the implementation of the ISS flight program activities.
Summarizing the results of the session, the General Designer’s Review Board approved RSC Energia proposals on the return the tree-men crew on Soyuz ТМА-20М on September 7, 2016, outstanding activities plan to prepare Soyuz MS-02 for launch on September 23, 2016 and on the delivery of the prime expedition of three crewmembers to the ISS; on providing authorization to the ISS RS to proceed with the program of the next phase of the ISS operations. The ISS-49/50 prime crew consists of Russian cosmonauts Sergei RYSHIKOV and Andrei BORISENKO, as well as NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams.
The meeting was attended by representatives of State Corporation ROSCOSMOS, URSC, foreign space agencies, Federal Bio-Medical Agency (FBMA) of Russia, Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia), companies of rocket and space industry and some other organizations involved in the ISS program.
