Soyuz TMA-13 Launch from Baikonur (Full)

Oct. 12, 2008 - Baikonur Cosmodrome.
A Russian Soyuz spacecraft rocketed into orbit and set off after the international space station Sunday, carrying two fresh crew members and a U.S. computer game designer who paid some $30 million for a chance to follow in his astronaut father's footsteps.
On board are Soyuz commander and Expedition 18 flight engineer Yury Lonchakov, Expedition 18 commander Mike Fincke and Richard Garriott, the sixth space tourist to book a flight to the international space station (ISS). Garriott, the son of former Skylab and shuttle astronaut Owen Garriott, is the designer of a series of successful multiplayer computer games. He said before launch "this price tag is the majority of my wealth."

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• soyuz
• tma-13
• launch
• baikonur
• cosmodrome
• gagarin
• pad
• michael
• fincke
• yuri
• lonchakov
• expedition
• 18
• garriot
• space
• iss

[bboucharde]

Russian liquid-fueled space launch vehicles are based on a venerable, proven design, using a very conservative engineering philosophy: If it works, don't tinker with it. We (USA) need a system like this one. We had it with the Saturn V and then abandoned it. Saturn V could have been enhanced and modernized to become as good as the current Russian equipment has proven to be.

[SergeiPilipenko]

The Soyuz and Shuttle rockets must be compared correctly. Russia has a very large range of rocket types for various tasks. The Soyuz is the safest, most effective, economic, reliable, and ecologically clean rocket for transporting cosmonauts. It can carry 7 tons. For heavy cargos Russia has the Proton rocket that can carry 30 tons. By the way, the Shuttle has no rescue system as opposed to the Soyuz, and must not carry cosmonauts at all, I think. The US government disregards cosmonauts lives.

[chillaxer1993]

@bboucharde thats what the new shuttle derived launch system will be like.  liquid fueled rockets are very expensive. with nasa's reduced budget thanks to the retard obama. they're going to use an apollo like rocket with orion on top. and it will have 2 SRB's on the side.

[Enatbyte]

@bboucharde No problem. Thank you for yours.

[bboucharde]

@Enatbyte Thank you for your thoughts.

[Enatbyte]

@bboucharde We as humans have decided to try new things and we are better off because of it.

[Enatbyte]

@bboucharde Not true. LEDs can be made much smaller, use vastly less power than conventional bulbs, are more durable than glass bulbs, and produce much less heat making them more efficient. Also they do last longer. ( just speaking from experience) I'm not saying everything new is better, but if we settle for what we have today we can't expect to move forward in the world. What if the cavemen decided that hunting and gathering worked so they shouldn't try farming.

[bboucharde]

@Enatbyte Not every new thing is "better." LED lamps are "new," but beyond longer life (claimed by the Chinese OEM's who make 100% of them), they are inferior to metal halide, HPS, & fluorescent light sources. Many kinds of daily objects & tools are not as durable or effective as designs from 50 years ago. The US military replaced the superior M-14 with the inferior M-16. Detroit replaced muscle cars of the mid-60's (like Chevelle SS 396) with the little plastic look-alike kiddie cars of today.

[Enatbyte]

@bboucharde Yeah I think we should stick to old technology. Who needs new and better things anyways? We could have just stuck to the Mercury program. Progress is something that should be avoided, not encouraged. Just think how much better off we would be if no one had tried to improve upon the wagon. Why would we ever need an au-to-mo-bile? If only we still lived in the stone age.

[centurion180ad]

GOD, blabber blabber blabber......  get rid of mister blabber mouth!

[bboucharde]

For comparison, a three-man Soyuz TMA launch costs about $120 million, but it is difficult to compare US vs. Russian costs. Plus, some of the Russian developmental costs have long since been amortized, a benefit of sticking with one good system and continually improving it over the decades---That may not be politically and culturally possible in the USA, though that might change after our hyperinflation or dollar collapse---We may learn to do more with a lot less.