Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 12-07-2015 07:33 AM
RSC Energia release
RSC Energia competition to find the best name for the new spacecraft: A public vote has begun
The creativity competition for the best name of the new-generation Crew Transportation Spacecraft (CTS) was organized by RSC Energia with participation of Roscosmos and URSC.
The competition launched on August 27, 2015, and generated a lot of interest among Russian public. The most active participants are residents of Moscow, St. Petersburg and eastern regions of Russia aged 25 to 40. Altogether, 5817 names were proposed.
The competition organizing committee selected the top ten entries:
Federatsia (Federation)
Gagarin
Rodina (Motherland)
Zvezda (Star)
Leader
Galactica (Galaxy)
Mir (Peace)
Zodiac
Astra
Vector
The next phase of the competition — the public vote — will last from December 4 to 23, 2015.
The voting will determine three options, out of which the judging panel will select the best. The winner will be awarded the top prize — a visit to Baikonur offering an opportunity to witness the launch of a manned transportation spacecraft Soyuz to the International Space Station in the spring of 2016.
The results of the competition will be announced on January 15, 2016.
Additional information about the competition is posted on the official website of RSC Energia.
The new-generation Crew Transportation Spacecraft (CTS) developed by RSC Energia is intended for delivery of people and cargo to the moon and a space station in a low Earth orbit.
The spacecraft is reusable, its design incorporates advanced technologies, some of which are without equals in the world's space industry. In particular, the CTS reentry vehicle will be made of composite materials, and have a reusable docking assembly. State-of-the-art avionics will allow meeting the challenges of the spacecraft rendezvous and docking in a more efficient manner, and improving the crew safety during launch and return to Earth.
The CTS crew can be as large as four. The spacecraft will be able to stay in free flight for a period of up to 30 days, and stay attached to a space station for a period of up to one year. The total mass of the spacecraft during its flight to the space station will be 14.4 metric tons (19 tons during a mission to the moon), the mass of the reentry vehicle will be 9 metric tons. The length of the spacecraft is 6.1 meters. The nominal g-load during descent is 3g. The spacecraft orbital insertion is to be performed by the heavy launch vehicle Angara-A5V.
music_space Member
Posts: 1179 From: Canada Registered: Jul 2001
posted 12-21-2015 05:57 PM
Spartan instrumentation, by the looks of it. I like how it ties in with Vostok and Voskhod.
The picture angle may be deceiving, but it almost looks like you could stack two more seats. Kind of with Apollo-Skylab-rescue configuration, but on top instead of underneath.
Philip Member
Posts: 5952 From: Brussels, Belgium Registered: Jan 2001
posted 12-24-2015 04:25 AM
Spartan approach works... Indeed the "space pen" and pencil story all over.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 12-25-2015 03:18 PM
The public vote has ended. The three top names were:
Gagarin (10,389 votes)
Vector (4,866 votes)
Federation (3,604 votes)
The competition jury, chaired by Roscosmos director Igor Komarov, will determine the winner on Jan. 11, 2016 and will announce the results on Jan. 15, 2016.
Lou Chinal Member
Posts: 1306 From: Staten Island, NY Registered: Jun 2007
posted 01-08-2016 02:42 PM
I bet the "Star Trek" fans will want "Federation".
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 01-15-2016 04:26 PM
The winning name has been announced. From RussianSpaceWeb.com:
The new ship would be named Federatsiya, a Russian word for "federation." Referring to the political structure of the Russian state, the name continued a tradition of the Soyuz spacecraft, whose name meant "union," reflecting the official name of the Soviet state — the Soviet Union. Runner-up names in the contest, such as Gagarin and Vektor, were reserved for future space projects, the agency's announcement said.
dom Member
Posts: 855 From: Registered: Aug 2001
posted 01-22-2016 09:45 AM
The public are asked to pick a name but are then over-ruled by a Putin crony who decides the name that came third is more appropriate. It really should have been 'Spaceship Gagarin'.
Even NASA bowed to pressure and changed the name of the first space shuttle from 'Constitution' to 'Enterprise'. Somehow I can't see that happening here!
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 01-22-2016 09:51 AM
From the start, it was said that the public would identify the top candidates and then a committee of officials would decide the winner. The public poll was never going to decide the name.
The voting will determine three options, out of which the judging panel will select the best.
And NASA didn't rename OV-101. If it was up to the space agency, it would have probably been the Constitution. The White House decided to name it Enterprise in response to a grassroots letter-writing campaign.
dom Member
Posts: 855 From: Registered: Aug 2001
posted 01-22-2016 09:59 AM
Then what's the point in asking the public?
Yes, I knew Star Trek fans were mainly responsible for the space shuttle name change and used it as an example of how the public can get it just right.
'Gagarin' is an infinity better name for a spaceship, much better than this bland, political 'Federation' nonsense.
'Soyuz' or 'Union' by the why at least had a double-meaning because as it was originally designed to be part of a complex of ships that would dock with each other in orbit.
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 01-22-2016 10:10 AM
The point of asking the public as to identify the top three options from the 10 that were selected from the organizing committee.
The public doesn't always need to pick the winner for a poll to be valid. If it was up to the public, Node 3 on the International Space Station would be named "Colbert," when NASA's choice of "Tranquility" was much more appropriate.
The public also lobbied for OV-101 to be Enterprise, an orbiter that ultimately never entered space.
Generally, you can only use a name once (Columbia, Challenger and Endeavour notwithstanding). Maybe the judges thought Gagarin was best reserved for future exploration vehicles.
dom Member
Posts: 855 From: Registered: Aug 2001
posted 01-22-2016 11:24 AM
Robert, whilst 'Colbert' was obviously a joke name for the ISS module - 'Gagarin' clearly wasn't!
The fact is that 10,000 plus Russians wanted 'Gagarin' as the name of their country's new spacecraft (twice as many as the next most popular suggestion) but it was stopped by a bunch of politicians.
David C Member
Posts: 1015 From: Lausanne Registered: Apr 2012
posted 01-22-2016 12:19 PM
I too think the public isn't always right. They were wrong with Enterprise (a flight vehicle would have been far better) and Gagarin deserves a more ambitious future project.
Hart Sastrowardoyo Member
Posts: 3445 From: Toms River, NJ Registered: Aug 2000
posted 01-22-2016 12:48 PM
Although, at that time no one knew Enteprise would never fly in space (hence its OV - Orbital Vehicle designation.) If I recall correctly, even as late as 1980 NASA was still hedging on whether or not Enterprise would be converted.
As for using a name only once: Wasn't there a memo which stated Enterprise should be reserved/considered for a later shuttle?
Robert Pearlman Editor
Posts: 42988 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
quote:Originally posted by dom: ...it was stopped by a bunch of politicians.
Again, the rules — announced in advance of anyone taking part — stated clearly that the public was only voting to determine the top three options out of the 10 chosen by committee. The final decision was always going to be the choice of the judges, who were never under any obligation to choose the name that received the most public votes. Otherwise, why have judges at all?
The public got a chance to take part in the process. Never was it advertised that the public would be able to make the decision.
dom Member
Posts: 855 From: Registered: Aug 2001
posted 01-22-2016 05:29 PM
Well, my congratulations to the judges for picking the most bland and boring of the three names...
SkyMan1958 Member
Posts: 867 From: CA. Registered: Jan 2011
posted 02-22-2016 01:41 AM
The video is in Russian, but audio wise there is only music.
RSC "Energia" has summed up the contest for the name of the next generation crewed transport spacecraft. After an open popular vote, a majority of the jury members chose the name "Federation".
posted 12-07-2015 07:33 AM
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