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Soyuz Space Capsule Modified For First Female Space Tourist
Moscow, Russia (AFP) Aug 25, 2006 Russian space engineers are modifying a Soyuz capsule for the first female space tourist ahead of a launch for the International Space Station (ISS) next month, officials said Wednesday. "A woman's organism is different, that's why we need to modify some of the life systems in the capsule," Nikolai Sevastyanov, head of the RKK Energia space corporation was quoted by ITAR-TASS as saying. Anousheh Ansari of the United States is set to blast off from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 14, taking the place of Japan's Daisuke Enomoto, who failed medical tests this month. A Russian space expert, who preferred to remain anonymous, told AFP the main change on the capsule for Ansari would be to provide "special equipment for the toilet." Engineers will also replace a seat in the Soyuz that had been tailor-made for Enomoto with another that fits Ansari and come up with a programme of scientific tests for Ansari to carry out, Sevastyanov said. Ansari's trip is set to be formally approved at a meeting next week. "We have taken a preliminary decision on the participation of Anousheh Ansari for the September mission," Igor Panarin, a spokesman for Russian space agency Roskosmos, told AFP. Ansari, a US national of Iranian origin, and fellow crew members Mikhail Tyurin from Russia and Michael Lopez-Alegria of the United States, are taking final tests this week at the Star City training centre near Moscow. Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman to fly into space aboard the Vostok-6 capsule in 1963.
Source: Agence France-Presse Related Links Rocket Science News at Space-Travel.Com
One-Two Particle Punch Poses Greater Risk for Astronauts
Upton NY (SPX) Aug 25, 2006It doesn't just matter how much radiation an astronaut is exposed to, time and the order in which charged particles strike human cells are important factors as well. That's the main finding of a study simulating radiation exposure conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and published in the September 2006 edition of Radiation Research. |
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