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This essay explores the interrelationship between space and identity in contemporary Russian literature. The focus lies on the metaphorical meanings of travelling as a way of constructing post-Soviet Russianness as it appears in Natal′ja Ključarëva's novelRossija: obščij vagon. The metaphorical meanings embedded in a journey of Nikita, Ključarëva's hero on the move, in the geographical space of today's Russia are juxtaposed with the legendary train travel in Venedikt Erofeev's novelMoskva-Petuški. This exploration will start from a brief look at the significance of space in the constitution of Russian national identity and worldview. Then it moves to the introduction of the two main theoretical frameworks, Jurij Lotman's semiotic theory of literary space and geocriticism, which will be applied in the analysis of the literary texts. Apart from tracking the metaphoric articulations of space and travel in Ključarëva's and Erofeev's novels, they will also be placed into the Russian tradition of literary train trips. The main question addressed here is how the implied worldviews concerning Russianness and the path of Russia are constructed and communicated as spatial categories and metaphors in the mentioned narratives, in which spatial reference with metaphoric significance obviously plays a crucial role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The two-day stay of crew in a limited inhabited volume of the Soyuz-TMA spacecraft till docking to ISS is one of the most stressful parts of space flight. In this paper a number of possible ways to reduce the duration of the free flight phase are considered. The duration is defined by phasing strategy that is necessary for reduction of the phase angle between the chaser and target spacecraft. Some short phasing strategies could be developed. The use of such strategies creates more comfortable flight conditions for crew thanks to short duration and additionally it allows saving spacecraft’s life support resources. The transition from the methods of direct spacecraft rendezvous using one orbit phasing (first flights of “Vostok” and “Soyuz” vehicles) to the currently used methods of two-day rendezvous mission can be observed in the history of Soviet manned space program. For an advanced Russian human rated spacecraft the short phasing strategy is recommended, which can be considered as a combination between the direct and two-day rendezvous missions. The following state of the art technologies are assumed available: onboard accurate navigation; onboard computations of phasing maneuvers; launch vehicle with high accuracy injection orbit, etc. Some operational requirements and constraints for the strategies are briefly discussed. In order to provide acceptable phase angles for possible launch dates the experience of the ISS altitude profile control can be used. As examples of the short phasing strategies, the following rendezvous missions are considered: direct ascent, short mission with the phasing during 3–7 orbits depending on the launch date (nominal or backup). For each option statistical modeling of the rendezvous mission is fulfilled, as well as an admissible phase angle range, accuracy of target state vector and addition fuel consumption coming out of emergency is defined. In this paper an estimation of pros and cons of all options is conducted. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This report describes current and future solar-terrestrial space missions of the Russian Federal Space Agency. They are discussed in the context of the International Living With a Star activity aimed at consolidation of efforts in developing a balanced cooperative program of solar-terrestrial and space weather oriented research. We provide information on several missions that are at different stages of realization: solar observing – CORONAS-F, CORONAS-PHOTON, and INTERHELIOPROBE; and magnetospheric – RESONANCE, ROY, and INTERBALL-PROGNOZ. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Whereas only a few years ago the United States and Russia were competitors in the space race, joint participation is now being encouraged in the form of international conferences and technical cooperation. In response to the free flow of information, this paper presents a discussion of technical and operating data for Russian water-recovery and air-revitalization systems, and examines their operating parameters in relation to U.S. system constraints. The advantages of studying existing hardware are numerous, including the availability of flight data, alternative technologies for research and design at reasonable costs and time frames, and joint interactions for a new generation of life-support systems with maximum closure capabilities. The paper introduces operational characteristics, design flow rates, and power requirements of six environmental control systems. The analysis of flow rates and power consumption demonstrates that the hardware developed and tested in Russia can be used for future joint space missions. In addition, the hardware has performed safely under flight conditions with little maintenance required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]