Conference 7.286::space

    adviser to the TBS space project
    Yasuyo OTA		Deputy Director, Tokai University Medical School
    			Hospital
    
    Shigeo Kobayashi	Professor, Aeorospace System
    			Engineering Dept
    			Tokyo Metropolitan College of Science and
    			Technology,  Member specialist, Long-term Policy
    			subcommitee, National Space Activities Commission
    
    Takashi Tachibana	Non-fictin writer
    
    Jun Nishimura	Director, Institute of Space
    			and Aeronautica Science (ISAS)
    			Member specialist,
    			Long-term Policy Subcommittee,
    			National Space Activities Commission
    
    Kunio Hirao		Professor Emeritus, Institute of Space and
    			Aeronautical Science Professor, Areospace
    			Engineering Dept Tokai University
    
    Sadao Murayama	Former Director, Physiochemical Dept
    			National Science Museum
    

    Experiment 1: Frog in Space (FRIS) project
    
    The TBS Cosmos-Reporte will send bac a variety of reports
    back to earth during the 6 days aboard the MIR complex,
    one in particularly will bhe the coverage of an experiment using
    frog.
    
    On Earth, frogs sit, swim, walk and jump,
    they keep their ortentation and posture by seeing the surround scene
    they jump at anything small whic sways
    they run away from anything long, thingk it is its natural enemy the
    snake
    
    How then wil it behave in spae, whre therre is no gravity.
    
    
    A special TBS program on the collection and selecton fo the
    Frogs will be shown.  They will be green Japanese Treefrogs,
    2 o 3 cm long.  A total of 1500 frogs will be collected but
    only 6 will be chosen to go with the cosmonauts aboard MIR.
    It will go on to tell about the costom design contain for
    trnasportation of the Frogs into Orbit.  Once in space
    the Frogs wil be given various stimuli to determine how they 
    will react and possible adapt to life in space.. Do they
    get 'space sickness', can they jump?? These an many other
    question will be investigated.
    
    For this experiment they have been working with Dr. Akemi Kurotani
    and other of the National Institute of Space and Aeronautical
    Space Science (ISAS) Ministry of Education.
    
    

    EXPERIMENT 2:  Using Amateur TV to Broadcast Live from MIR
    
    
    According to an agrrement between TBS and the Soviet partners,
    live relay from MIR will be allowd only once a day for 10 min in the
    case of TV and twice a day for 20 min each in the case of radio, and
    only from the Soviet territory were the Soviet ground receiving sttin
    is located.
    
    The solution to this problem may be the varous prepartion experiments
    and developing a transmitter and an antenna to install on MIR.
    
    This will be an Amateur TV via Amateur radio freq and can be be quite
    possible to send and receive them anywhere in the world.
    
    A small radio transmitter will be loaded onto MIR, then linked to and
    ENG camera, and video and radio waves will be sent to earth as the
    space staton passes over Japan.
    
    There are reports that the brigtness is said to be that of 
    z<eor to first magnitude star, or in other words, bright
    enought to be pohotgraphed.
    
    
    Again, any help here will be of great interest,
    does anyone know the format
    is it FAST SCAN IF SO WHAT FORMAT
    is it SLOW SCAN 
    
    thanks john
    

    I can look for the live coverage when it happens. TBS maintain a feed
    from the US which may be used to relay the live material from the USSR.
    
    It would help if you can give me more accurate dates/times when we get
    closer to the flight.
    
    Standards conversion should not be a problem if anyone taped the other
    shows. Japan uses NTSC.
    
    gary

during launch time and landing 24 hr TBS coverage
each day 19:00 t 20:00 Japan time for communication sessions
    
Lauch time 2nd December 1990 + - 5 min Moscow Time
Docking    4th December 1990 +- 15 min Moscow Time
Landing   10th December 1990 +0  1 hr  Moscow Time

cheers john

    

From: [email protected] (GERALD NADLER)
Newsgroups: clari.tw.space,clari.news.hot.east_europe,clari.news.tv
Subject: Japanese journalist chosen for space flight
Date: 12 Nov 90 20:03:48 GMT
  
	MOSCOW (UPI) -- A veteran Japanese TV correspondent was chosen
Monday to be the first newsman to fly in space, a Dec. 2 mission with
Soviet cosmonauts that wil cost the Japanese $10 million. 

	Toyohiro Akiyama, 48, a former Washington bureau chief for the
Tokyo Broadcasting System, was selected Monday over Rioko Kikuti, 26,
the first woman cameraman for TBS. A linguist who knows Chinese and
has learned Russian, Kikuti will be the alternate for the flight. 

	A seasoned pair of Soviet cosmonauts will accompany Akiyama to
the Mir station: Musa Manarov, 39, who spent an entire year aboard the
Mir, and Col. Viktor Afanasyev, a rookie cosmonaut but a veteran pilot
who has mastered 40 different types of aircraft. 

	The backup Soviet crew will be Sergei Krikalev and Anatali
Artsebarskiy. 

	Akiyama's selection was announced at Star City where the two
Japanese cosmonaut candidates had been training since October, including 
intensive tutoring in Russian to allow them to fly on the mission. 

	Akiyama will be the first journalist to ever go into space and
giving that first to a foreigner set off such howls of anger by Soviet
newsmen that a future flight has been reserved for a Soviet journalist
still to be chosen from among eight candidates. 

	The flight for which TBS is paying $10 million will bring at
least 150 representatives and newsmen from the television station to
Baikonur for the launch Dec. 2. Another 100 Soviet television and
radio correspondents are also expected to cover the lift-off. 

	``It will almost be like a summit conference,'' said Toshio
Koike, the Moscow bureau chief of TBS and who was briefly a strong
candidate for the historic flight. 

	``I wanted to fly just as the others did,'' he said, but
explained that problems with his teeth disqualified him. 

	For the Soviets, the mission is a first venture in earning
money for their space expertise after years of training and flying
with astronauts from Eastern bloc or ``friendly'' countries for
propaganda purposes. 

	In line for future pay-as-you-go flights are Austria and
Germany while a French astronauts will also fly in what will be the
third mission for the French. A flight with a British astronaut is now
in doubt because of sponsoring problems. 

	Since 1978, astronauts from 13 nations have flown with the
Soviets, including pilots from all the Eastern European nations plus
Syria, India, Mongolia, Vietnam, Cuba, Afghanistan, and France twice. 

	Akiyama will stay for about a week aboard the Mir and then
return with the present crew aboard the station, Gennady Strekalov,
49, and Gennady Manakov, 40. 

From: [email protected]
Date: 2 Dec 90 13:42 -0800
Subject: Soyuz TM-11 mission launched to the Soviet's Mir space station

     The USSR successfully launched its Soyuz TM-11 flight to their
Mir space station according to Radio Moscow.  On board were Musa
Manarov (Soyuz TM-4 flight of Dec. 1987, 366 day mission on Mir), Vikor
Afanasyev, and Japanese journalist Toyehiro Akiayama.  Launch time was
about 11:15 Moscow time (12:15 am PST).  They will rendezvous with
Gennadi Manakov and Gennadi Strekalov at the Mir space complex in
about two days. 

     Just before this mission, on Nov. 28th, the Progress M-5
separated from the Mir space complex at 9:15 am Moscow Time (1:15 EST)
(it had arrived on Sept. 29th).  The experimental return cargo capsule
was ejected from the Progress and landed successfully in Soviet
central Asia about two hours later (TASS report Nov. 28th).

     Upcoming missions to Mir over the next two years are listed as:

May 1991: British Juno flight (still listed in spite of funding problems)
Nov. 1991: Austrian mission
Mar. 1992: German flight: (Radio Moscow has dropped the term West German)
Aug. 1992: French Antares mission (longish duration)
Dec. 1992: Spanish flight.

    (Dates from Oct. 1990 BIS Spaceflight confirmed on the Radio
Moscow discussion of the present launch). Note that this suggests that
every crew change in the next two years will be a mission in which a
western astronaut pays for at least part of the mission launch cost. 
In point of fact it is probable that the charges they have means that
the whole launch cost for the entire crew is carried by the outside
groups (cost of a launch in a Soviet A-2 Soyuz booster is about $10
million). 

     One last point, with the Columbia's STS-35 launch on the Astro
mission early this morning, (about 1:50 am EST time) and the Soyuz
launch (about 3:15 am EST) this 1.5 hours must be one of the shortest
times between manned missions to date. 

     I am glad to be back on the net after my move from MIT Lincoln
Lab to here at Simon Fraser University. My reports on the Russian
program will be somewhat brief for the next few months though I will
try to get up to speed soon (a professor's life seems one giant set of
grant applications at this point).  For those wishing to comment
please note my new address. 
 
                                        Glenn Chapman
                                        School of Engineering Science
                                        Simon Fraser Univ.
                                        Burnaby, B.C. Canada
                                        [email protected]
                                        or glennc%[email protected]
 

    Well, I got the launch coverage, live from Soviet TV around 3:10am
    (EST) Dec 2. Lots of background coverage (I assume that's what it was,
    I don't grok Russian) of the various visitors. I think I even spotted
    our roving reporter (John Biro).
    
    gary

From: [email protected] (GERALD NADLER)
Newsgroups: clari.news.gov.international,clari.news.hot.east_europe
Subject: Soviets launch Japanese reporter
Date: 2 Dec 90 13:39:01 GMT
  
	BAIKONUR COSMODROME, U.S.S.R. (UPI) -- A Japanese broadcaster,
a chain smoker who quit cold turkey to be the first journalist in
space, rode a Soviet rocket aloft Sunday carrying the talisman Yuri
Gagarin took in man's first space flight. 

	Toyohiro Akiyama, 48, smiled as the liftoff neared and
pronounced himself feeling fine before he soared aloft at 1:13 p.m. in
a picture- perfect launch trailing a fireball of exhaust gases agains
the near cloudless sky. 

	``I'm looking out the window now,'' were Akiyama's first words
from space seconds after his Soyuz TM-11 spacecraft slipped into
orbit. The transmission was then cut off as the spacecraft began to
chase the Mir space station where he will spend six days making daily
radio and television broadcasts. 

	Tokyo Broadcasting System, which is paying $10 million to $12
million for the ``cosmoreporter'' mission, brought in dozens of
reporters and technicians and 20 cameras to cover the launch. 

	The mission is the first commercial attempt by the Soviet
Glavkosmos space agency to launch cosmonauts for a fee after a decade
of propaganda flights with cosmonauts from Communist or friendly
countries. 

	For Sunday's blastoff one camera recorded the actual pushing
of the launch button in the underground control bunker while another
in the fire pit below the rocket immediately melted after televising
the blastoff to Tokyo via Moscow. 

	The TBS staff also brought in 2 tons of food, water and
equipment including rice cookers, and served a delicious lunch before
the launch at the observation post about six-tenths of a mile from the
launch site. 

	Japanese reporters sitting at a table on the Kazakhstan steppe
in front of the observation post barked live reports into microphones
and television crews swung their cameras in every direction. 

	The effortless launch made Akiyama, a former Vietnam War
correspondent and Washington bureau chief who is now chief editor of
foreign news for TBS, the first journalist and the first Japanese to
fly in space and turned him into an overnight hero in Japan. 

	He also became the world's 241st cosmonaut and Japan became
the 20th nation to have a man in space. 

	``It seemed so simple, without any problems, like a train
leaving and arriving at a station on a timetable,'' said TBS President
Izumi Tanaka, 59. ``Yesterday I was thinking the launch would be so
difficult that I went to the rocket pad. (But) after opening the door
of the capsule I also wanted to go into space.'' 

	Tanaka did not rule out a possible second flight with the
disappointed backup cosmonaut, TBS camera operator Rioko Kikuchi, 26,
the darling of the training program at Star City outisde Moscow. 

	``Watching Rioko Kikuchi I thought we might have to do it
again,'' Tanaka said. 

	Kikuchi, who suffered appendicitis Monday and underwent an
operation, watched the launch from a bus, still weak from her
emergency surgery. 

	Akiyama, who kicked a four pack a day cigarette habit for the
assignment, roared into space with Musa Manarov, who spent 366 days
aboard the Mir in his last outing, and mission commander Viktor Afanasiev. 

	Asked in a pre-launch news conference what he was looking
forward to after the mission, Akiyama said: ``To smoke.'' But first,
he added, ``I want to be up as soon as possible, away from Earth. 

	``It's the same thing I have been doing in training, so I am
not afraid.'' 

	Akiyama, the father of two, carried four good luck charms into
space -- one from TBS, one from Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu
and one from his father plus Yuri Gagarin's doll that the world's
first cosmonaut used to confirm zero gravity. 

	The Gagarin doll, which was taken from Baikonur's space
museum, hangs suspended by a string until weightlessness is reached,
when it floats free, the string useless. 

	During the rocket's nine-minute ride to weightlessness, the
playful Manarov gave the Gagarin doll a slap, causing it to swing back
and forth. 

	Akiyama's wife Kyoko, who watched the launch on television
monitors and spoke to her husband just before liftoff by the
television link, said the launch ``was not so frightening, rather it
was impressive and moving. It was beautiful. 

	``He is calm, and now I should be calm because he is OK,'' she
said. ``I am convinced he is OK.'' 

	Akiyama took off from the same pad that launched the space age
with Sputnik in 1957 and then inaugurated manned flight with Gagarin
in 1961. Akiyama's was the 328th successful launch from the Gagarin pad. 

	The Soviet-Japanese crew will dock with the Mir on Tuesday,
joining the space station's current occupants Gennady Strekalov and
Gennady Manakov, with whom Akiyama will return to Earth Dec. 10. 

	After the docking Tuesday Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev
is expected to send a message, and on Dec. 7 a three-way relay will
take place between Gorbachev, the Mir station and Kaifu. 

	Soviet-Japanese relations have been warming recently after
decades of tension over disputed islands since World War II, and
Gorbachev is to visit Tokyo this spring. 

From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Soyuz TM-11 has docked with Soviet Mir station
Date: 5 Dec 90 02:33:00 GMT
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: The Internet
  
     The Soyuz TM-11 has successfully docked to the Soviet Mir space
station on Tuesday according to Radio Moscow.  On board are Soviet
cosmonauts Musa Manarov, Vikor Afanasyev, and Japanese journalist
Toyehiro Akiyama.  Akiyama has been doing broadcasts from the Soyuz
TM-11 even before it docked.  On Mir he received messages from both
the Gorbechov and the Japanese Prime minister (from Radio Moscow and
NHK Japan).

     Japan Today carried the launch last night, Dec. 3rd on PBS
stations or the CBC News cable channel (this is an English translation
of the standard NHK news).  It may carry the docking on Dec. 4th or 5th. 
 
                                        Glenn Chapman
                                        School of Engineering Science
                                        Simon Fraser Univ.
                                        Burnaby, B.C. Canada
                                        [email protected]
                                        or glennc%[email protected]

    re .9
    
    So THAT's what was dangling in front of the camera.
    
    gary

From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Japanese "cosmoreporter" begins broadcasts from USSR's Mir
Date: 6 Dec 90 02:12:00 GMT
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: The Internet
  
     On board the Mir space station Japanese "cosmoreporter" Toyehiro
Akiyama has already held his first broadcast from the space station
complex.  Akiyama will be doing at least one ten minute live TV and
one 20 minute radio report per day for the duration of the mission. 

    Two experiments will be performed.  The first is transmission of
amateur radio and TV signals to Ham radio groups in Japan.  That may
have been the equipment that was tried when Mir and the shuttle were
within 65 Km (40 mi) of each other on Dec. 4th.  Unfortunately they
could not communicate - someone had an antenna pointed in the wrong
direction (the report did not say whom). The second involves
biological tests, with six Japanese tree frogs being checked for how
they swim in zero G (this will be part of live broadcast).  The TV
equipment for both of these was brought up on the Progress M-5 cargo
craft at the end of September.  According to the TBS mission schedule
Akiyama will enter the Soyuz TM-10 craft on Dec. 10th, along with
Gennadi Manakov and Gennadi Strekalov (the current Mir crew which
arrived on Aug. 2).  Undocking will occur at about 6:00 am Moscow Time
(7 pm PST Dec. 9th) and landing about 3 hours later. 

    48 year old Toyehiro Akiyama was the Foreign News Editor of
Japan's TBS network, and previously its Washington correspondent.  One
of his tasks during training was that previously he used to smoke 4
packs a day - no longer. 

     The other two Soyuz TM-11 cosmonauts, Musa Manarov, Vikor
Afanasyev, will replace the current Mir crew for a mission until May
'91.  During that time the will do four space walks, including one to
repair the airlock hatch on Mir's Kvant 2 module. 

                                        Glenn Chapman
                                        School of Engineering Science
                                        Simon Fraser Univ.
                                        Burnaby, B.C. Canada
                                        [email protected]
                                        or glennc%[email protected]

Gee, I'd be happy to broadcast 30 minutes per day if someone would send me up?
And I don't ever smoke!

How about it ABC?  Recoup your losses from the World Series!  Ted?  This would
be much better than the Goodwill Games...

Burns

    One of the 'big name' network reporters complained about this during
    the STS-35 prelaunch conference (I forget who - you can tell how often
    I watch the networks).
    
    Another curious point was that the Soviets seemed to make a big deal
    over the two senators that the US flew in the shuttle during TM-11's
    prelaunch coverage. I wonder what they were saying?
    
    gary

From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Japanese/Soviet crew to return from Mir early Dec. 10th
Date: 9 Dec 90 19:36:00 GMT
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: The Internet
  
    According Radio Moscow the Japanese/Soviet mission to the Mir
space station is on schedule Japanese journalist Toyehiro Akiyama
entering the older Soyuz TM-10 craft on Dec. 10th, along with Gennadi
Manakov and Gennadi Strekalov (the current Mir crew which arrived on
Aug. 2 in that capsule). Undocking will occur at about 6:00 am Moscow
Time (7 pm PST Dec. 9th) and landing about 9 am Moscow Time (10 pm PST
Dec. 9th). 

    Toyehiro Akiyama is called the TBS network's "Outer Space
Correspondent" on Japanese TV.  Has had not too pleasant time of it. 
His first statement on looking outside of Mir was "It's dark out
there."  He was also quite space sick.  Some of his comments are ,it's
hard work going to the bathroom without gravity to help, his stomach
feels like it is standing straight up, his head feels like it is
floating away and he badly needs a smoke (he used to smoke 4 packs a
day).  This flight was done to commemorate TBS's 40th anniversary of
broadcasting, and they have spent $23 million on it. Actually they had
considered NASA for the flight but thought that it would take too long
to get things planed (it was about two years of preparation for this
with the Russians).  What is not clear is whether they have made back
some of the expenses.  The booster and capsule aerodynamic shroud were
covered with logos of TBS, plus companies such as a Japanese
toothpaste marketer and a paper diaper manufacturer (which apparently
paid $2 million for the rights - it is not certain whether to the
Soviets or to TBS).  The liftoff captured 37% of the Japanese
audience, but daily reports are down to 17% (10 minute TV reports per
day) which should get them very good advertisement rates.  (CBC
newshour Dec. 6, Vancouver Sun Dec. 7, Toronto Globe and Mail) 

     The other two Soyuz TM-11 cosmonauts, Musa Manarov, Vikor
Afanasyev, are remaining as the Mir mission until May 1991 when the
British/Soviet Juno mission will fly. 

     It is interesting that as far as "crass" space commercialism goes
the Soviets are clearly ahead.  They will sell a space flight and
advertising "space" to just about anyone who has the cash.  For years
people tried to argue that NASA could do the same, to no avail. 
Clearly it works - now will the west take the hint? 
 
                                        Glenn Chapman
                                        School of Engineering Science
                                        Simon Fraser Univ.
                                        Burnaby, B.C. Canada
                                        [email protected]
                                        or glennc%[email protected]

From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Japanese/Soviet space crew successfully lands
Date: 10 Dec 90 20:18:00 GMT
Sender: [email protected]
Organization: The Internet
  
     The USSR successfully landed the Japanese/Soviet Soyuz TM-10
mission today (Dec. 10) from their Mir space station according to
Radio Moscow and Radio Japan.  On board were Gennadi Manakov and
Gennadi Strekalov (who were launched Aug 1, 1990) and Japanese
journalist Toyehiro Akiayama (who came up with the Soyuz TM-11 crew on
Dec. 2).  After leaving Mir they made the planed two orbits before
reentry.  The capsule landing time was not stated but the Radio Moscow
announcement came long after it should have on the original schedule,
so there may have been some delay in leaving Mir. After landing in the
snow in Soviet south central Asia Akiayama thought that space flight
helped one see the world as a whole.  Also he really appreciated the
return to gravity (Akiayama suffered badly from space sickness -
something that one cannot predict from ground tests). 

     Manakov and Strekalov have spent 138 days in orbit, rather low 
by current long duration missions (about 4.6 months rather than the
normal six months).  Most of the work concentrated on materials
processing in the Krystal module. Space walks to repair the Kvant 2
airlock failed because damage to the hinges was larger than expected. 
The replacement crew of Musa Manarov and Vikor Afanasyev will remain
until May 1991.  Manarov, who spent 365 day on Mir in the Soyuz TM-4
flight of Dec. 1987 - Dec. 1988 is set to create a new space record.
In that previous flight Manerov and Alexander Titov became the first
people to spend one full year in orbit, exceeding the previous record
of 326 days (set by Yuri Romanenko in 1987) by some 39 days.  Now by
Feb. 4, 1991 he will become the human with the most zero G experience
exceeding that of Romanenko whose lifetime total is 430 days, while
Leoind Kizim (of Soyuz T-10B in 1984, Soyuz T-15 in 1986) becomes
third with 373 days, and Titov is fourth with 367 days (Soyuz T-8, 2
days aborted mission in Apr. 1983 in addition to the Soyuz TM-4 year).
If Manerov stays until May 1991 he will total in excess of 510 days
(a significant number as the Soviets only consider important space
records that exceed the previous by 10%). 

    For some comparison the experience of the most active US
astronauts: John Young at 34 days and Paul Weitz (Skylab 2 and STS-9)
with 33 days.  All other US astronauts with higher experience levels
(eg. the Skylab 4 crew with 84 days) have retired (some possibility of
error here as my recent records of US astronauts totals are not
complete for the last year). Actually the French cosmonaut Jean-Loup
Chretien also has 34 days (Soyuz TM-7 Dec. 1989 and Soyuz T-6/Salyut 7
in June 1982). 

     This last flight did some interesting work, but the next crew will be 
breaking records.  Just as important, consider whether the existence of 
their own cosmonaut help promote space exploration in Japan?
 
                                        Glenn Chapman
                                        School of Engineering Science
                                        Simon Fraser Univ.
                                        Burnaby, B.C. Canada
                                        [email protected]
                                        or glennc%[email protected]