Circumstances at Baikonur were perfect when cosmonaut André Kuipers was launched into space last December: Temperatures around -30 degrees Centigrade and crystal clear skies. Why do the Russians continue using their remote base in the middle of Kazachstan’s endless steppe?

In extreme cold conditions Dutch astronaut André Kuipers and two of his colleagues were launched to the international space station ISS a few weeks ago. Since the end of the American space shuttle program, manned launches are the exclusive domain of Russian Space Agency Roscosmos. For this purpose the Russians use Soyuz rockets, which are launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazachstan. Since Kazach independence Russia leases this remote place, basically making it a Russian enclave.

Closer to the equator

The cosmodrome was secretly built in the 1950′s. In 1957 the first ever satellite Sputnik 1 was launched from here. And in 1961 Vostok 1 took off from here, carrying the first man in space Yuri Gagarin. The Russians continue using Baikonur because of its relative southerly location, at 45 degrees latitude. Further south than any location in Russia itself. The closer to the equator a rocket is launched, the more payload can be carried into space. Earth orbital speed is highest at the equator, giving a rocket maximum initial speed, requiring less fuel to get to orbital velocity.

Extreme continental climate

Baikonur is situated in the middle of a vast flat steppe, far away from any major populated area. This location has an extreme continental climate. Hot summers and cold winters, with little precipitation year round. Kuipers’ launch took place on the first day of winter, on 21 December 2011. Even for local standards this was an extreme cold day. Under a clear blue sky temperatures during the day did not raise above -20ºC. And during the launch itself, that took place about an hour after sunset, temperature had dropped to around -30ºC. Although the wind at the open plains was a moderate windforce 2 or 3, this little wind caused a windchill of around -40ºC. No pleasant working conditions. No pleasant conditions either for launching a high-tech machine with thousands of sensitive parts into space.

Russian launch criteria

An American space shuttle launch was always subject to strict weather criteria. In case of lightning within 20 nautical miles of the launch pad, any precipitation at the pad, temperatures below 5ºC or above 37ºC or wind speeds peaking over 30 nautical miles, the launch would be scrubbed. Frost conditions the night before the launch was one of the causes of the Challenger disaster in 1986. Because of this NASA applied very strict launch criteria and launches were frequently postponed.

This situation is incomparable to Russian launch criteria. This became even more obvious at the second last manned Soyuz launch. On 14 November 2011 three cosmonauts were launched from Baikonur in a heavy snow storm. On videos of this launch, the rocket is barely visible in the thick drifting snow. The launch went without any problems.

Without a hitch

The launch of Kuipers and his colleagues, five weeks later, under clear skies at -30ºC, also went without a hitch. On the exact planned second the engines ignited and the rocket accellerated towards the space station.

Official Roscosmos weather criteria for manned launches are temperatures between -40ºC and +50ºC and wind speeds below 15 meters per second (windforce 7). The Russians completely trust their Soyuz launch system. Since Sputnik there have been over 1700 launches of the different varieties of this rocket model. The Russians have not lost a single crew member during missions since 1971.

Translation from Dutch by original author of article, published in Dutch weather magazine ‘Weer Magazine’ (Volume 13, issue 1, Feb/Mar 2012)

Colin lost his battle with a difficult illness on January 24, 2012 in Durham, UK. As the realization of his untimely passing spread through the Twitter community, it’s become wonderfully obvious that he was truly loved by so many and especially by his fellow Space Tweeps. Second only to his devotion to and love of dogs, especially rescued dogs, Colin returned the favor, and loved us back!

Growing up in England ensured that Colin was exposed to astronomy and related subjects at a very early age. Amateur astronomy and a working knowledge of the stars and constellations remains to this day an enviable element in British education, and that exposure nurtured an early love of all things “Space” in the young Colin. As many US tweeps have learned in their interaction with so many UK tweeps, this love of “looking up” instilled in youth, lasts a lifetime.

Before the end of the Space Shuttle Program, Colin, like the rest of us, participated enthusiastically in the excitement and electricity of following the launches and landings of the Space Shuttle in real time, with the Space Tweep Community (on at least two or more continents) through Twitter, and frequently through @SpaceFlightNow. But his love of space, fascination with space flight and knowledge of astronomy were not all that made Colin a likely member of the Space Tweeps. Colin was an all-round science geek! From Star Trek to Star Wars to “Apollo 13” to anything associated with NASA, or its counterpart the ESA; from the SDO and its warnings of oncoming CME’s and their spectacular aurora; to a deep love for and profound respect for those lucky enough to leave this planet and return to it he loved it all. That was Colin’s way.

It took the modern miracle of Twitter, and the community of tweeps who coalesced around the US Space Program and NASA, together with the tireless leadership of Jen Scheer (@flyingjenny) to bring forth the “Space Tweep Society.” It took about 5 minutes for Colin to sign up!

A charming story, shared by Colin’s beloved younger sister Ros, explains how an early adventure sealed the deal: Ros writes “ . . . I take enormous comfort knowing how much he loved the ‘company’ of his tweet friends and I was delighted when he went to London to meet some of them as this was a ‘big’ journey for him as he had very little money and rarely traveled. He couldn’t stop talking about it when he returned home. His love of Space started when he became friends with an American boy called Randy at the age of 14 (when he was visiting his Aunt in Seaham where we lived). Randy’s family invited him to Michigan for a holiday which included a trip to Florida and subsequent visit to the Space Centre. From that point on he was forever ‘hooked’ ” I think we can see that joy on Colin’s face in this photo!

One of Colin’s biggest thrills occurred this past year, when he traveled to London and met with @Craftlass, @SpaceKate, @leslieberg @herrea and @flyingjenny at The Lyric Pub. He’d traveled 270 miles south by train and, but for his lack of wings, could have flown back to Durham on his own!

His experience was memorialized by Jen’s presentation of treasured NASA patches and, of course, Space Tweep Society patches of which he was so proud! His tweet accompanying this picture was “You can’t just buy these. You have to be given them!” And he was.

Colin’s interests were so much deeper and broader than can be given proper due here. He was, first and foremost completely in love with “his” dogs! For reasons which no one can fail to understand, Colin was the trusted walker and care provider for dogs belonging to others, whether they were simply unable to spare the time, or away from Durham for days or weeks. There was almost nothing in his life that pleased him so much as to be out walking with them through the beautiful area of fields and streams not far from his home.

As you can see from the images above and the sunset following, even though he underplayed it, Colin had a talent and an eye for photography; a gift from his late father of whom he was very proud. His dad was a professional photographer and, in the days before the digital camera came along, film needed development. When he was old enough, Colin helped his dad in the darkroom and once mentioned that the experience drew him to the study of chemistry. That education eventually took him to Durham University, where he was a long time technician in the Chemistry Department.

Colin’s heart, his intelligence, his talent for snarky British humor, his progressive passions, his sheer charm – even his cranky “arse” moodiness made him so dear to so many of us. 54 years and change was not enough!

Next time you’re out and it’s clear, look up and find Canis Majoris. Colin is likely up there somewhere with his Big Dog.
~~~

Your grateful friend,
Maren (@OregonMJW)

With the date set to Saturday evening January 14th, a group of tweeps decided to turn the evening into a spacetweeps weekend, with a pre-party on Friday evening and an ad-hoc program during the day on Saturday. And again it was DLR’s Henning to jump forward and organize a perfect daytime spacetweeps excursion to two of Europe’s most famous radio telescopes, which happen to be near Cologne. A great start to a great new spaceyear! Here is a report of the event(s):

#EifelDishes 1 – Astropeiler 25 meter Radio Telescope

After a great pre-launch party with about 8 spacetweeps, we got up early on Saturday to meet the group. After a short drive through the scenic Eifel region in western Germany we see the target of our first visit of the day. A large radio dish on top of a hill. Our satnav systems do not know how to handle the mountain roads, but after a few muddy u-turns and some true offroad driving we find the parking lot at the dish. The Astropeiler was built for combined military/civil usage in 1955, during the end of Allied governance of Germany. The German military used it as a radar dish to check airtraffic to and from Berlin. When in civil use, the 25 meter (75 feet) dish was turned towards the wonders of the universe. This was the pre-spaceflight era, when a lot was to be discovered. Because of this strict separation, and secrecy of the cold war, the observatory had two totally separated control rooms. Both had no idea what the other team was working on in their designated time slots. When built, the Astropeiler was the largest and most accurate radio telescope in the world.

Astropeiler

Military use was soon abandoned, so the telescope became dedicated to space research. In 1965 a 10 meter solar radio telescope was added to the grounds. When requirements for better observations increased, a much larger dish was constructed in nearby Effelsberg in 1972. In 1975 the Astropeiler was abandoned for scientific work. A period of decay and miscellaneous non-scientific work started. In 2005 the structure became a national monument and in 2007 restoration started. Since 2010 a group of 140 volunteer amateur astronomers is running the telescope for scientific research restarted.

Computer museum in the generator room

A dish full of spacetweeps

#EifelDishes 2 – Effelsberg 100 meter Radio Telescope

The second object of the radio astronomy excursion leads us to the second largest freestanding radio telescope in the world. The scientific successor of the Astropeiler is the 1972-built 100 meter (300 feet) Effelsberg radio telescope, about 30 kilometers from the first dish. In contrast to the Astropeiler this telescope is built on the bottom of a U-shaped valley, protecting it from high winds on the top.

Effelsberg radio telescope

A very enthusiastic astronomer of the Max-Planck Institute explains us how the telescope operates, and what results it has gathered. It runs 24/7 for several projects. Effelsberg is an important part of the worldwide network of radio telescopes. The combination of different telescopes in interferometric mode makes possible to obtain the sharpest images of the universe. During the presentation we see several awesome images of the universe.

A very slow train at the bottom of the monster

After the presentation we walk down to the telescope on the bottom of the valley. Next to the high tech device we first pass a low tech LOFAR (LOw Frequency ARray) installation. Although it looks like a tree nursery, this actually is one of the latest radio observatory devices, with sites all over the globe, connected by fast data connections. Then we pass the large dish. The view from directly underneath the dish is breathtaking, especially since it moves around and up and down every couple of minutes, changing its field of view for subsequent observations. We continue our walk to the control room uphill. Who said attending a tweetup cannot be considered a sports event!

Due to the busy schedule of the few weekend-operators we can only see the controlroom through glass, but we get a very special privilege instead. We get clearance to get up to the 20 meter maintenance platform on the actual dish! We climb down an underground staircase where we are provided with bright blue helmets. Then we get outside where our group of about 20 people is split into two smaller groups. In our group we get into a small industrial elevator in one of the main legs of the structure to get up to directly underneath the dish. The view of the dish and surrounding landscape is just awesome! We inspect the large electric motors that position the dish’s azimuth and elevation, while they are running.

The 20 meter platform on the Effelsberg telescope

After this great climbing trip we descend further into the underground tunnels below the telescope, where all power and data cables come down from the structure through its central vertical axis. An impressive set of cables between the dish and the controlroom up the hill.

A basement full of cables

#SpaceKoelsch2 – Bringing space professionals and tweeps together

The evening after the double radio telescope visit we get ourselves ready for the main event. Our host Henning has reserved 35 seats in a traditional Cologne beer hall, of which there are many in the city. So around 8pm we enter the large venue, where we have a long table somewhere in the back. Many spacetweeps are already there. It is great to see so many familiar faces. Most of us have only met once before, at the spacetweetup last September 2011. But since that event most of us have stayed in touch online, so it feels like a meeting with 35 good friends! There is no need to describe to what happens when you cross international spacetweeps friends, a few space professionals and a few (?) glasses of the local brew. It was a great success!

Spacekoelsch2 (photo courtesy @cpamoa)

Aftermath

After the beer hall event about half the group gathers at the apartment where many of us stay – aptly renamed #SoyuzFlats for the occasion. Here we watch the #SpaceTweetup movie by @giniexxcee and the #SoyuzTweetup movie by @timmermansr. In a way tonight is the first spontaneous #SpaceUp unconference that takes place in Europe. But that is a whole different new story…

Last year’s Pictor can be considered a success: 13 students (15 and 16 year-olds, admittedly not the easiest group to target) consistently attended the sessions enthusiastically, and we designed a human colony on Europa. The project even got attention at a national level with an article in the one of the most important newspapers in the country (you can see the original article in Spanish here: http://bit.ly/t6wAQW). At a school level it was considered successful enough that we were promised funding, it’s the first time ever that a student-ran project gets this sort of recognition. You can read about each session in our blog: pictorproject.wordpress.com. Now I’m planning a 2012 version of it.

Our objective this year will be to learn about exobiology, Mars, and robotic exploration missions. For this purpose we will plan an unmanned mission to search for life on Mars, in order to accomplish this we will have to learn about the topics previously mentioned which we will do through our own research and videoconferences with experts on these fields. Now, I’m currently for these experts. I would greatly appreciate it if you would help me find them. Here’s a basic outline of what I have planned for this year:

• During the year we will have 15 sessions with 8 different subjects, for most of these subjects we will have one session with a video conference and another one for our own research.*Subjects:
  1. What happened in space in 2011 (introductory session)
  2. -Mars throughout history / -Why is Mars so important in the search of life?
  3. -What does life need to exist? / -Why is it so hard to find? / -Water. Why does it matter?
  4. -What kinds of life could exists? (civilizations to bacteria) / – SETI / -Hunt for exoplanets
  5. -How about our Solar System? Where could we find life here?
  6. -How we look for signals of life from our planet?
  7. -Unmanned missions what do they do?
  8. -Robots in Mars / -Putting our own mission together

  *All of this is a rough plan: we are open to suggestions, and since we have to work around our school calendar there may be more or less sessions than planed, also last year’s project showed us that some subjects will need more time to be discussed and some less, so we will change parts of this program to fit our needs. However, these changes shouldn’t affect our conference schedule.

So if you think you, or someone you know could be able to help out with the project in any way, specially if it’s as a speaker, please contact me! You can comment here, find me on twitter as @Montsecor or email proyectopictor [at] gmail [dot] com! Please help me bring space to my peers and hopefully get some more future scientists!

The ESA astronaut class of 2009. Photo: ESA.

In May 2009 ESA, the European Space Agency, announced a new class of six astronauts, who later named their group the Shenanigans. They are Samantha Cristoforetti, Alexander Gerst, Andreas Mogensen, Luca Parmitano, Timothy Peake, and Thomas Pesquet. Although two of them, Luca Parmitano and Alexander Gerst, are scheduled to fly to the International Space Station in 2013 and 2014 respectively, none of them has flown into space yet. But they already made history, at least the history of social media.

The Shenanigans are the astronaut class with the most Twitter users. No ESA, NASA or other space agency astronaut group has ever had so many Twitter users. Five out of the six astronauts of the ESA class of 2009 have Twitter accounts, and engage the public telling about their training and experiences. In a few years, they will tell their adventures in space. The first to start tweeting was Luca Parmitano, soon followed by Samantha Cristoforetti. Then came three more of their colleagues. You can find them on Twitter here:

• Samantha Cristoforetti @AstroSamantha
• Alexander Gerst @Astro_Alex
• Andreas Mogensen @Astro_Andreas
• Luca Parmitano @astro_luca
• Thomas Pesquet @Thom_astro

The only Shenanigans astronaut still resisting Twitter is Timothy Peake. But he will be assimilated,

Stephanie L. Schierholz, Social Media Manager Photo Credit: NASA

SpaceTweeps for Schierholz!

Stephanie L. Schierholz (@Schierholz) is the Social Media Manager for NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, where she leads many of the agency’s innovative social media activities. Stephanie manages the agency’s @NASA Twitter account, with its 1.7 million followers, and primary Facebook page, with more than 700,00 fans. She coordinates the efforts of NASA public affairs teams to maintain these accounts. Stephanie ensures NASA remains engaged with its followers, including occasional Q&A sessions with astronauts, project specialists, scientists, and even NASA’s Deputy Administrator (@Lori_Garver).

Stephanie also coordinates with the social media managers and staff at NASA centers across the country. She leads ongoing and long-term planning efforts for NASA social media, supporting the challenging quest for resources to maximize the agency’s reach across multiple services.

Stephanie’s skill with emerging communication technologies has led NASA to establish strategic partnerships with services such as Gowalla, Foursquare, and SlideShare. Through Stephanie’s negotiation of these partnerships, she blazed a pioneer trail for NASA as the first government agency to use these platforms. Of particular note is the partnership with Foursquare, which NASA kicked off when astronaut Doug Wheelock (@Astro_Wheels), more than 220 miles above Earth, checked in to Foursquare aboard the International Space Station, unlocking the NASA Explorer badge that Earthlings now can earn by following NASA and checking in on Foursquare.

Although it cannot advertise, the space agency is legally bound by the 1958 National Aeronautics Space Act to seek the “widest practicable & appropriate dissemination of information concerning its activities and the results thereof.” Social media has proven to be a ideal tool for NASA, helping it meet the Act’s strict communication requirements. According to the L2 Digital IQ® Index: Public Sector, “NASA is the clear leader and is innovating on every platform.” As the agency’s strategic manager for social media initiatives, Stephanie charts the agency’s course and holds routine conference calls with the cadre of individuals responsible for public outreach within the agency.

Astronaut Doug Wheelock discusses his experiences living on the International Space Station during a tweetup at NASA HQ in Washington, D.C. (March 2011). Photo Credit: NASA/Paul E. Alers

Stephanie’s leadership and dedication have been instrumental to the growth and continuing success of NASA’s public outreach endeavors, in particular its @NASATweetup events. In January 2009, NASA began hosting “tweetups” for users of the social media service Twitter to provide them with VIP access to NASA facilities, speakers, and activities. Since 2010, Stephanie has taken the helm of these events at several locations across the agency, including space mission launches. To date, NASA has hosted 31 of these unique and inspiring public outreach events. Registration is open to anyone with a Twitter account, and each NASA Tweetup draws significant interest.

NASA held an incredible 17 NASA Tweetups, an average of more than one per month, in 2011. Stephanie directly supported at least one dozen of these tweetups as the primary liaison, on-site coordinator, and public point of contact. This is no small feat, considering most of the 2011 NASA Tweetup events supported spacecraft launches–logistically complex, multi-day events with a high probability of weather or other scheduling delays. The year also marked NASA’s “longest-ever tweetup” of 115 days–after repeated launch delays, the majority of the tweetup’s participants returned to see the Shuttle launch four months later. While the agency only planned to invite participants for the original launch opportunity, Stephanie advocated for their continual involvement that enabled many to see the launch from the historic press site.

NASA Tweetup participants stand at the launch clock, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011, prior to the launch of space shuttle Discovery (STS-133) at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Photo Credit: NASA/Paul E. Alers

Invited to Germany in September 2011 by DLR and the European Space Agency (ESA), Stephanie led a presentation with NASA’s Space Operations Outreach Program Manager Beth Beck (@BethBeck); the presentation shares the origin of social media at NASA, where it is going, and some of the challenges:

More than 2,500 people from across the globe have attended a NASA Tweetup and shared the experience in real-time with their co-workers, friends, family members, and other followers. An entire community of NASA Tweetup alumni has formed around these events, establishing Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+ groups and a community-owned and managed wiki for documenting and sharing tips, photos, videos, blog posts, and news media reports about NASA Tweetup activities.

The enthusiasm and dedication Stephanie brings to her communication and outreach activities, coupled with the inspirational nature of NASA Tweetup events, has led many alumni to seek opportunities to be more involved in public outreach, themselves. Alumni routinely hold speaking engagements at local schools to talk about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) topics, organize or attend aerospace-related conferences (ISDC, SpaceUp, etc.) and workshops, or become more politically active; a few alumni have even changed careers as a result of their involvement with NASA’s incredible social media and outreach activities.

I can personally attest to the level of commitment, professionalism, enthusiasm, and genuine concern Stephanie brings to bear in all her work. She has been instrumental in reaching out and embracing the public through NASA Tweetup events, numerous public speaking engagements (SxSW, L2 Social Graph, Ragan, and more) and other outreach activities. You don’t just have to take my word for it, though — here’s what some of my fellow SpaceTweeps have to say about Stephanie’s work in 2011:

@cygnusx112: Tom attended the MSL NASATweetup in late November for the launch of the Mars Science Laboratory, witnessing the start of the Mars Curiosity rover’s odyssey first-hand. The rover will land on Mars in August 2012.

Stephanie Schierholz deserves this [Best Social Media Manager] award. She does such a wonderful job and has impacted all of us so much….I was part of the Mars Curiosity Tweetup. Stephanie and her team gave up their Thanksgiving Holiday so that we could have the experience of a lifetime. When the launch date slipped a day, she had to reschedule all of the speakers and tour stops, which is no small feat. Even six weeks later I’m still a little overwhelmed at all that we got to see and experience and still processing it. The Tweetup ran smoothly and we were treated like royalty. I can never fully repay NASA and Stephanie and her team, but I can sure try by spreading the word to the world about all of the cool things that NASA is still doing.

@starlingLX: Alex attended the STS-135 Crew at NASA HQ tweetup in Washington D.C. in October.

Stephanie is a very exceptional individual and I owe one of the most exciting days of my life to her! [...] Although it was only a one hour event, it was worth the trip from Germany.

@AllanManangan: Allan joined the NASATweetup family in 2011 and has now attended 3 tweetups, including the Mars Science Laboratory launch from Florida and the NASA NPP launch from California. –

The 2011 JPL Tweetup was my first NASA Tweetup experience. I met Stephanie during one of the tours, but it was just a quick introduction, because I could tell how busy she was—if Stephanie was not on her mobile tweeting, then she was gently keeping us on course as we walked about JPL’s campus. On that day I began to understand her incredible work ethic.

The rest of the year supported and strengthened my respect for Stephanie. [...] NASA’s social media teams have truly taken steps towards making space more accessible for so many of us. They are just as important as NASA’s administrators, astronauts, and scientists. Stephanie Schierholz is one of the best and I support her nomination all the way.

@MTClemente: Mark also joined the NASATweetup family in 2011 and has logged a total of 3 tweetups. You may be sensing a trend here–NASATweetups are so unique and inspiring, they’re habit-forming!

I have attended three NASATweetups. The first one was for Mars Curiosity at JPL [2011 JPL Tweetup] – AWESOME! The second one would never have happened without Stephanie. I was an alternate for the final Shuttle launch – STS-135. On launch day, Stephanie allowed the alternates that made the trip down to Florida to attend. It was my first Shuttle launch and my very last chance to see one. I can never thank her enough for allowing me that opportunity and I will be forever grateful to her for it. My third tweetup was the launch of Mars Science Laboratory and Curiosity. It was a wonderful opportunity (haha) to see the launch of the rover that I was able to visit while still in the clean room. I will never be able to express in words how grateful I am to everyone on the NASATweetup teams that made these opportunities possible for me and so many others. But I’m especially grateful to Stephanie for giving me that once in a life time chance to see the final shuttle launch.

@BigE54: Elliot attended the GRAIL NASATweetup for the launch of the twin lunar-bound spacecraft in September. NASATweetup participants viewed the launch near Kennedy Space Center in Florida. –

I have some mobility issues that really acted up while I was there. Stephanie went well up and beyond in helping me out. She actually drove me back from the first launch attempt in her own car, which turned into quite a memorable ride, as Neil deGrasse Tyson (@NeilTyson) was also a passenger. She also arranged for me to drive to the next launch attempt in my own car, rather than the bus. Her extraordinary efforts on my behalf shows her level of caring on a personal level for the participants of these tweetups, and shows to me just the kind of person she is.

@therealDJflux: Andy’s first NASATweetup was NASA’s longest, but I’ll let him tell the story. He’s also a veteran of the GRAIL and STS-135 Crew at NASA HQ tweetups, both of which were also in 2011.

I am an alumnus of the STS-133 NASA Tweetup- The Never-ending Tweetup. 115 days of pure joy. If any Tweetup shows Stephanie’s commitment, hard work, and dedication as NASA’s Social Media Manager and to making NASA Tweetup a success, I believe it’s 133. Adjusting schedules and guests for us Tweeps for over 6 days for the first launch attempt in November 2010 and then inviting us to return in February 2011 with more speakers and tours and the final launch of [Space Shuttle] Discovery.  It was just amazing work. 133 changed my life.  I have, what have become, some lifelong friends as a result and I start class this coming Tuesday to complete my Bachelors degree in hopes of becoming an Astronaut Candidate and being selected to the Astronaut Corps someday soonish.

@And_Tonic: “Gin” joined the NASATweetup family in August, attending the launch of the Jupiter-bound Juno spacecraft at the Juno Tweetup.

It is hard to imagine the logistics power it takes for Stephanie and her team to get everything and everyone moving forward, especially for something as flexible as a launch.  Also, she keeps us all engaged well after our individual tweet ups. I also think Stephanie is amazing at sharing her best practices with others, whether it be other countries’ space agencies or other U.S. federal agencies looking at improving their social media presence.  She is not only a leader in space and science but also in government communication and openness.

@MaryBethHunt: Mary attended the STS-134 NASATweetup for the final launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour. The launch was scheduled for April 29, but was delayed to May 16 due to inclement weather and a subsequent mechanical problem.

We had a tornado siren and many of us were “stuck” in the press room. Stephanie was in there, too, and talked to us about how the Tweet-up worked, etc. I was very impressed with the whole Tweet-up experience, and by supporting Stephanie, I feel like I’m supporting NASA, too. We met so many fabulous people who worked there. It was such a special and memorable experience for me.

Stephanie exemplifies what it means to be the best in social media–she consistently goes above and beyond to serve NASA and the SpaceTweep community in everything she does. It is our honor to nominate Stephanie Schierholz for the Best Social Media Manager Shorty Industry Award.

PostScript (February 5, 2012):
If you still need convincing, just take a look at @Storify of the incredible community response to Stephanie’s announcement on January 30, 2012, that she is seeking a new adventure–leaving @NASA and moving to Boston to work at @Raytheon.

There’s some fierce #spacetweep love for @schierholz in @ageekmom‘s Storify: storify.com/ageekmom/at-sc… Other social-media managers, take note.

— Rob Pegoraro (@robpegoraro) February 5, 2012

Supporting Materials

A Few Social Media Presentations by Stephanie:

• Professional Spotlight: Stephanie L. Schierholz (NASA) by @basilpuglisi for Digital Brand Marketing Education (December 2011)
• First DLR/ESA #Spacetweetup – Presentation on NASA Social Media (September 2011)
• How to host a tweetup: Lessons from #NASATweetup (presented at @WhatsNextDC, January 2012)
• Check in to the Universe: NASA, Gowalla, and Foursquare (presented at the @SocialMediaWF, November 2011)
• Out of This World: NASA’s Use of Digital Media at L2 Social Graph (2010), ignite-style presentation

Definition of Space 2.0

In my definition 2.0 stands for a new society paradigm, where well informed people act and interact in new ways. Not just between people, but also between people and organizations, or between organizations. It implies full access to information, and innovation based on trust and new forms of working together. It can be described by buzzwords like prosumers, co-creation, cloud computing, agile organizations and social media integration.

So what does this mean to space? I am looking at this forum to provide some meaning to the term ‘Space 2.0′. What are some of the best practices? Let me start the discussion by providing two examples of what I think Space 2.0 should be:

1 – Space ambassadors through social media

A great example of finding new ways to attract public attention to space exploration is provided by NASA and ESA. They have experimented with new social media tools like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to reach out to the general public. In contrast to the ‘normal’ PR efforts by these organizations, they are using these new tools to involve the audience, rather than just inform them. NASA TV, started online in 2005, is now one of the most popular online TV channels, winning an Emmy Award in 2009.

But real two-way communication started a few years later, when NASA discovered Twitter and Facebook. In 2009 they took their 2-way interaction a step further by introducing ‘NASATweetups‘, where Twitter followers are invited to a VIP program at NASA premises and events. In addition they introduced NASA chats, where people are encouraged to interact with NASA staff on twitter, all the way up to Charles Bolden and Lori Garver. This effort to involve the general public has led to 1.3 million followers on Twitter and a stunning 150 million hits on the nasa.gov website(s) in 2011.

Encouraged by the great example set by NASA, the European Space Agency ESA started exploring these new social media tools for their European audience too. In September 2011 ESA and DLR organized the first European Space Tweetup, which was a huge success and triggered a lot of attention and interest in Europe’s space program. With 2012 now being advertised as the ‘social media year’, these early steps may make NASA and ESA true Space 2.0 leaders.

2 – Open source spaceflight

A much smaller, but not less interesting example of Space 2.0 can be found in Denmark. In 2008 space entrepreneur Christian von Bengtson gathered a group of likeminded people to develop launchers and spacecraft. But instead of becoming another commercial space company, they set up Copenhagen Suborbitals as a non-profit and open source organization. They use volunteers, donations and other public means to work on their dream of building cheap and reliable space craft for general (but peaceful) use. Over the course of only 3 years they have built and tested several engines, launchers and space capsules.

I am sure there are many more examples of true ’2.0′ work in the space industry. Things I have not researched, but jump to mind are the X-Prize initiatives and perhaps some elements of commercial spaceflight. I hope some of the readers here can help me gather more evidence of a new ‘Space 2.0′ industry in 2012 and beyond.

Baikonur, 21 December 2011 – Finally. Today is the day we have been living up to for a long time. The launch of Soyuz TMA-03M, with ‘the’ Dutch ESA astronaut André Kuipers on board. It is still dark outside when I wake up around 8 o’clock. Today our program consists of two major visits. First we will go to the furthest launch location at the cosmodrome: the Proton launch facility. Then we have some time in the city before going to launch pad 1 for the launch in the early evening.

We have breakfast at our hotel. The Kazakh lady serving our breakfast traded some foreign coins and bills with me yesterday. This morning she has a written note with an English sentence on it. So with a big smile she reads: “Present me the money”. Totally unaware of her bluntness she clearly wants to do more money swapping. Her second line reads “I collect money”. Funny. Who doesn’t? Yesterday I traded a 5 Euro bill for a 1 Kyrgyzstani Som bill and a handful of very small Kazakh coins. Now she wants to trade my 20 Euro bill for other Russian and Kazakh change. Only when writing down the exchange rate, explaining that my 20 Euro bill is worth a whole lot more than her 20 Tenge coin, she continues serving us breakfast. I can only afford to lose money to a certain amount… I hope she understands.

Cosmodrome wildlife

At 9.30 Elena walks in to collect us. Driver Said and the security lady are already in the van. We have a long drive ahead of us, to the Western side of the cosmodrome. On our way Elena tells us that the Proton workforce has a 2-hour each way train commute to the rocket processing plant at site 92. Most of them cannot afford a car, so the trains are their only way of getting to work.

Despite its size, the cosmodrome only has one entrance, where both the road and railroad enter the site. This road then continues for about 25 kilometers before forking into the east, central and west roads. And for those familiar with the main entrance road to Kennedy Space Center, in between the gate and the VAB: that road is a super highway compared to the main cosmodrome road. Because of the harsh climate the simple 2-lane road is narrow and bumpy.

Another interesting comparison is the wildlife. On Kennedy Space Center you can spot alligators in the canals on the side of the road. And occasionally you see manatees in the small lakes around the launch pads. The cosmodrome offers equally interesting wildlife spotting. There are camels grazing the grassy patches along the road, also in the middle of winter, and you see large herds of half wild horses. The most remarkable animal I noticed though was the dog walking across launch pad number 1, within an hour of launch. You can see it in the long-version launch video on the ESA website.

Proton launch pads

So today we take the road to the left. The west side of the complex is almost exclusively dedicated to the Proton launch system, although there are a few Dnjepr launch silo’s hidden along the road in that area too. The Proton launch system is one of the most successful systems the Russians have been using for unmanned launches. It has its own vehicle processing facility at site 92, and two active launch sites, complexes 81 and 200, both equipped with two pads.

After over an hour on the road we turn right at a sign simply saying ‘200’. An ever smaller road leads to launch site 200, where we stop at a simple gate, closed with a rusty chain. Our security person has a chat with the non-uniformed guard here and he removes the chain. We continue on to a relatively new building, where a big man in a Roscosmos jacket enters the van. He will be our tour guide at this launch site. He introduces himself and starts talking enthusiastically about the place. He seems very passionate about his job and Elena has trouble interrupting him to translate. He has been working on the Proton launch system for 36 years, having prepared over 400 launches from this and the adjacent site. He tells us this is the most active launch pad at Baikonur, with 7 launches in the past two months alone. Next launch is scheduled for 26 December, with the Proton-M rocket arriving from the site 92 VAB on the 24th.
Our driver parks the van almost on the pad, close to the launch pit and service tower. We walk the last meters to the pit with our four chaperones. The passionate Roscosmos guy likes our enthusiasm. Despite the language barrier we fire lots of questions, that he is very happy to answer. I love these passionate space workers! He is obviously very proud of his work and the success of the Proton system. Again we are positively surprised that we can wander all over the active launch complex, touch the launch tower and take all the photos we want.

There is a test cylinder in the launch pit, connected to a thick bundle of cables. The man explains that this unit is to test the launch pad connections to the rocket. It has the same electrical systems as the actual rocket that will be here two days later. We step onto the bridges from the platform to the test cylinder to look down into the deep flame trench and up into the launch tower, directly over our heads. Although constructed in the late seventies, most of the structure looks brand new, with a fresh coat of paint and shiny pipes leading to the fuel and launch control bunkers just off the pad.

After half an hour or so we get back into the van. Sometimes rocket processing site 92 is also part of the visit, but today it houses an almost ready-to-launch Proton-M, making the site closed to visitors. So we head back to the city for lunch. Our next program item will be the launch itself. In the van Elena tells us that our launch watch permits have been approved by Roscosmos in Moscow last night, so we can definitely watch the launch. Huh? What is that supposed to mean? Do we need a separate permit to watch the launch? Nobody told us that. We just assumed that the 3-day cosmodrome permit included the launch. Well, apparently not. We are happy she didn’t tell us before! It would have been extremely worrying not knowing whether we could attend the launch or not. Now we know. We will watch the launch from site 18. This site houses the telemetry and communication systems for launches from pad 1, as well as the press and VIP launch viewing platforms. They will pick us up from our hotel around 17:30.

SoyuzTweetup

After a big lunch at our hotel we walk to town center, where we discovered a ‘Free wifi’ sign at the door of what we hope will be a bar or restaurant. When we enter the wooden door we are greeted into a large diner-style café/restaurant by a few nice staff members. The walls are decorated with neatly arranged Soyuz crew pictures, all the way up to the TMA-22 crew, the last one to be launched a few weeks earlier. Another nice surprise in Baikonur!

We sit down at a table equipped with electricity and fire up the laptop. Free wifi indeed! We order a few soft drinks and enter the virtual world, for the first time in almost a week! I had been twittering via text messages, which is pretty much one-way sending, without any interaction with friends and followers. Once logged on to Twitter I am overwhelmed by the enormous amount of replies, mentions and retweets of my followers. I knew a few people would be following my Baikonur adventure, but never realized it would be that many! It is great to finally be able to respond to people and also to send much anticipated pictures of what we had been doing up to that moment. It is great to interact with my followers in a two-way fashion for a few hours. It is actually one of the most emotional moments of the trip, realizing that so many spacetweeps are virtually travelling with me! Thank you guys!

At around 16:45 it is time to walk back to the hotel. We have to prepare for a cold evening at the launch site, so we need to put on even more clothes and make sure our photo and video equipment is fully prepared. When we leave the café it is already very cold and a little windy, but still sunny and crystal clear. Perfect launch weather!

Space Vodka

While discussing our excitement about the upcoming launch Bas and I ‘invent’ a new Russian #SpaceTweetup ‘tradition’. Since Russians have vodka at every celebration, no matter how insignificant, we have to drink to this very significant event too. But we don’t want to drink to a successful space mission before it is over. So we decide to purchase a few bottles of ‘Space Vodka’ in Baikonur, from which we will drink only a few drops to celebrate a successful launch. The remainder of the bottles will stay untouched until the crew returns safely back to earth, months later. Once their safe return has been confirmed, we will drink it. Not all alone, but with as many spacetweeps as possible! Just like the Russians share their bottle with others.

So on our way back to the hotel we visit our our favorite ‘Bas’ grocery store and we ask for ‘Baikonur Vodka’. They laugh and say it doesn’t exist. We look at the dozens of brands they do have, but can’t decide until the nice attendant proposes ‘Putin’ vodka, which sounds just perfect! While paying she says that she also has ‘Medvedev’ vodka. That is just too funny, so I purchase a bottle of the ‘other’ Russian leader as well. At less than US$ 4 per bottle it makes you wonder about Russian political ethics. But then again, this is Russia, so it must be OK. The ‘Putinska’ vodka becomes our Space Vodka! Purchased in Baikonur!

Driving to the launch pad

We arrive at the hotel just after 17:00, well in time for our agreed 17:30 departure. To our surprise Said and Elena are already there and ready to go. So we quickly grab our winter clothes and equipment from our rooms and get into the van. It is good to leave a little earlier, as we will now be able to see the rocket in the last daylight. The launch will be in darkness, and we have not yet seen the rocket at the pad from close by. Our early departure increases our chance of daylight pictures.

So we leave the hotel at around 17:15. We drive to the Tsenki office to pick up our security guard friend, who arrives without her usual big fur hat. She is apparently not planning to leave the van during the launch. I ask Elena about traffic to the launch site, and the expected lines at the security gates. She has no idea what I am talking about, saying she does not expect any delays. Obviously I am thinking about my experience at Kennedy Space Center the morning before the last Space Shuttle launch. That launch, last July, attracted over 750,000 viewers at the Cape, causing massive traffic jams going into (and even worse getting out of) the Space Center.

The city exit checkpoint is passed without even stopping. The road towards the cosmodrome seems not too busy. There are no other cars at the main cosmodrome gate and here too our driver hardly needs his brakes. On the main road it is even more surprising. It is the end of the workday and we see many buses and a few full trains going into the opposite direction, off the cosmodrome! Just like any other workday people are leaving around 5pm to go home for a hot meal. We seem all alone getting onto the cosmodrome, driving towards the clearly visible site 254 VAB. A sharp contrast to the last time I drove towards a VAB for a launch!

About 10 minutes before we are to arrive I get a phonecall from a regional Dutch radio station. They ask me if they can do a live radio interview with me in about 45 minutes, 30 minutes before the launch. More public outreach opportunities! Great!
The closer we get to the launch site the more excited I feel. At the fork we go straight on, passing a few parked police cars that seem not too interested to actually check us. We drive past the Gagarin and Korolov houses to the museum entrance at site 2, which is very close to site 1. Elena gets off to quickly go into the museum shop to buy a Baikonur-scarf for her 6-year old son. Very sweet, but the sun is setting…

Baikonur launch view site

Under a beautiful pink-orange sky we leave site 2 to drive to site 18, from where we will watch the launch. Soon we see the rocket on its launch pad. Wow, what a view! And we keep getting closer and closer. Already from the van we see white clouds steaming out of the rocket, which is clearly visible, but still encapsulated in the service structure. Pad number 1 is beautifully lit, although there is sufficient daylight left to see it all.

Just before reaching the buildings at site 18 we turn left, getting even closer to the rocket. Now there is nothing in between us and the launch pad. No fences, no trees, no buildings, just open steppe. Police have taped off a few acres of what could be a parking lot, at a few hundred meters from the site 18 launch telemetry buildings. There are only two other cars, so we drive to the edge of the area closest to the rocket, where police asks us to park the van backwards. With the back of the car facing the rocket we can probably leave quickly in case something goes wrong? Whatever the reason, we are scarily close to the rocket. I estimate the distance to be something between 1 and 1.5 miles. There is no shelter, just open plains. With the sun setting the wind seems to be picking up, making it even colder than it already is. I am sure it is well below -25°C (-13°F). Later we heard it was -34°C (-30°F), with a wind chill making it feel like -40°C (-40°F).

We are not at the same site as the press or the VIP’s. They are a few hundred meters to our right, where the buildings are. We see an observatory-like building with its dome half opened towards the launch pad. We conclude that this must be the press site. They are at the same distance from the launch as we are, only slightly more protected from the elements.

Launch!

After our arrival things happen very quickly. I set up my tripod and prepare my cameras. I do not want to watch the launch through my camera lens, so I take my pictures now and set both cameras in video mode. Because of the extreme cold I remove the battery from my main camera after taking pictures of the tower and retraction, about 30 minutes prior to launch. I put it in my pocket to warm up. It went from 100% charged to empty in 15 minutes! Five minutes in a warm pocket will certainly bring it back to almost full again.

15 minutes after our arrival we see the service structure retract. It very slowly folds away from the rocket, on two sides, exposing the beautiful sleek white rocket. It continues to blow out large white clouds, that quickly drift away in the wind. Then about 10 minutes prior to the launch, when it has gotten much darker, the umbilical tower quickly folds away, leaving the rocket hanging in its four support arms, connected to the pad through the small umbilical tower. We know that this means that the rocket has now been switched to internal power, and the countdown process is fully automatic.

In between these launch events I do my live interview on the radio. After a pleasant conversation the host asks me if he can call me again after the launch. Fine with me! Holding my phone tweeting and talking has almost frozen my fingers, so I rush back into the van to heat up. The driver leaves the engine and heater running. Temperature difference inside and out is almost 50 degrees centigrade! Darn, my fingers really hurt! But I do want to get outside as soon as I can. Most of the van windows are frozen, although the huffing and puffing rocket remains clearly visible from the back windows.
About 15 minutes prior to launch time I climb outside again. I put the battery back into the camera, which shows as fully charged again! I hope it will last for the next 20 minutes or so, in the exposed and now very cold camera. At this time a few more cars arrive, bringing foreign space workers to see the launch. At least I think they are, as they are being driven in Tsenki (Center for Ground-Based Space Infrastructure Facilities Operations) vans and they speak English and Italian. But still there are less than 100 people at the large viewing area, and most remain in the warmth of their vehicles. It has gotten completely dark over the launch site and many stars are visible over the platform.

At T-20 seconds the last umbilical structure folds away. Then 10 seconds later we see an orange glow coming from underneath the pad. The engines are started! A few seconds apart we see and hear bright orange explosions, as the 20 booster and stage-A main engines are fired up. A buldering sound and bright yellow-orange glow, but still no movement of the rocket. Is this normal? I try to detect movement of the rocket. But before I can get too worried, the yellow glow turns into sun-strength bright white light, when the rocket starts moving upwards. With a modest roar the entire scene turns into a bright white ball in my eyes, making it impossible to distinguish any details. Bright as the sun, the white ball slowly, then rapidly moves up. The entire steppe suddenly looks like it is day again, lit by 20 powerful rocket engines at full throttle. Wow! Even brighter than the Space Shuttle, but with a lot less of that typical crackling noise, the Soyuz very quickly accelerates into the clear night. After 10 or 15 seconds the landscape slowly turns dark again, with the bright light becoming slightly fainter. After 20 seconds the white turns yellow and then orange, now exposing a long smoke trail. Wow, this is a fast rocket! It seems to accelerate much faster than the much heavier shuttle.

At that moment I see my camera battery giving up. About 30 seconds after the launch the red empty battery symbol briefly blinks, before the camera shuts itself down. Well, at least it caught the launch in video mode! I get out my compact camera to film the speeding rocket, now a moon-like bright spot high up in the night sky. The spot slowly shrinks, until I can’t really film it any more. We wait another minute and see the rocket briefly shutter when it separates its four liquid propellant boosters, continuing to fly on its four stage-A engines. A short moment later we see a dim orange flash when stage-A is separated and the second stage engine takes over. Then it very slowly disappears into the distance. We have been able to follow the rocket for at least 6 minutes, well away from Kazakh airspace. Its curved north-eastwards trajectory clearly visible.

A memorable return trip

While we were watching the rocket speed away from us, we see the police removing the tape around the lot. The first cars already leave within two minutes of blast-off, apparently too cold to wait for the rocket to have gone completely. So 10 minutes after launch we are among the last people still around. Just before I want to get back into the van the radio station calls again. I tell them about the excitement of the launch, the brief moment of worry and the bright lightshow. I also mention the bitter cold. I want to get back into the van!

On the way back we find the road almost empty again. When we are on the main road to the exit checkpoint we take out our Space Vodka and tell Elena about our new ‘tradition’. She is amused about our silly idea and is happy to let us take our small launch-success sip straight from the bottle. Yay! A new tradition is born! Hopefully we can get the already-opened bottles home safely (afterwards note: we have!).
When we reach the city entrance checkpoint the van suddenly dies. The interior lights turn off and so does the engine. Under the checkpoint lights Said steers the van to a stop on the side of the road. The ignition key doesn’t do a thing. Not even a sound. Then the van fills with the sharp smell of electrical smoke. Must be a short circuit somewhere. Not really a surprise after the bumpy rides during the past 3 days. And what a luck that it didn’t happen earlier that evening! We are not really in the middle of nowhere and the launch is over. It is only a minor inconvenience that it is quickly getting cold inside the van. We are warmly dressed and could walk to our hotel in 15 minutes if needed. But Elena is quick to call her boss to send another car to ‘rescue’ us. It arrives in about 10 minutes. But instead of taking us, the delivery van will tow us back to our hotel.

And so it goes. Towed by a delivery truck we cross the checkpoint for the last time this trip. Then, driving 20 kilometers per hour, we suddenly hear police sirens behind us. Will they stop us because of the strange tow? No. After 10 seconds a convoy of several police cars, followed by Roscosmos buses and large SUV’s zooms by. It is the bus holding the Soyuz backup crew! After a few hundred meters they take the Cosmonaut Hotel exit and we see the blue lights drive through the hotel gates. About 10 minutes later we arrive at our cheap hotel, in our slightly less spectacular ‘convoy’. A strange, but adventurous and certainly memorable end to a very memorable trip! A spectacular night launch from an extremely remote launch site, in extreme cold. Something only a handful of spacetweeps have experienced!

Baikonur, 20 December 2011 – After breakfast at our hotel we are greeted again by our guide Elena and driver Said. The uncomfortable van is heated up and waiting for us, this time with the Tsenki security lady already inside. When we leave she hands us two “cosmodrome rules” forms and asks us to sign a list with our names on it. No idea why this was not needed yesterday, but we happily comply. We are waved past the city exit checkpoint, and easily pass the cosmodrome entrance checkpoint. Then again a long empty road to the cosmodrome facilities. This time we go straight on, towards the far end of this middle section at site 250. This launch pad is no longer active, but of great historical importance, as it was built for the Russian space shuttle Buran in the 1980’s.

At least half of the Baikonur launch pads are no longer active. There is so much physical space that it is easier and probably cheaper to just build a new pad than re-use the old ones. This creates a messy impression, but is great for history preservation. All historic launch sites are still there, either still in use like Gagarin’s pad, or abandoned and left to the elements, like pad 250 that we get to see today.

Energia-Buran – the Russian Space Shuttle

The Buran space shuttle program was initiated in 1974, after the US announcement of NASA’s shuttle program. But where the American program became very successful, the Russian program went through a lot of trouble, leading to only a single successful mission in 1988. The Buran program lead to the biggest workforce increase in Baikonur’s history. A whole new part of the city was built to accommodate thousands of additional workers. During this period Baikonur reached its peak population of well over 100,000 inhabitants (69,000 today).

The Buran space shuttle was launched in combination with a new powerful launch system, Energia. In contrast to the US system, the Energia launch system was not exclusive for the shuttle. Instead, it could be used for all kinds of different payloads, attached to the side of the rocket. Another markable difference with the US STS system was the placement of the engines on the centre stage rocket, leaving the payload without launch engines. The Energia system was in a way the heavy load successor of the failed Soviet moon launcher N1.

Many of the facilities that were built for the N1 rocket were re-used for Energia-Buran. The vehicle assembly building 112 was constructed for the tall and wide N1, and were perfect for the massive Energia-Buran. The heavy-duty launch pads at site 110 could also perfectly be reused. The four failed N1 launches in the early seventies here had not damaged the pads beyond repair. Still, a separate launch site was constructed north of pads 110. This new pad was designated number 250. Ultimately only a single launch of Energia was to take place from this pad: in May 1987 the very first Energia super booster 6SL carried the military Polyus spacecraft on its side into orbit. After a successful launch and payload separation, the Polyus spacecraft malfunctioned in its first orbit and crashed into the ocean. The famous ‘other’ Energia launch, bringing an unmanned space shuttle Buran successfully into orbit, took place from launch pad 110 in November 1988. The Energia program was stopped shortly after Buran returned from space, due to the political situation in the Soviet Union and later Russia.

So although abandoned in 1987, launch site 250 is still well secured and guarded. Upon arrival we had to wait in front of the gate. Our security guard filled out a few sheets of paper and after 10 minutes a young non-uniformed guard removed the chain. Only at that point we learned that photography was perfectly OK at this launch pad. And both the security guard and our guide throught is was too cold to venture out with us, so they stayed in the warm van. On our own we walked underneath the permanent launch structure onto the steel bridge over the deep and wide launch pit. A massive concrete hole in the ground, stretching out into three directions in a star-shape. The bridge had railway lines for the moveable service structure, that was rolled away to a location 250 meters from the launch pit. Careful not to slip over the slippery steel plates of the bridge and avoiding obvious holes in the structure, we crossed the pit and walked towards the 75-meter high rolling service tower. Some parts of the facility were totally rusted over, other parts, clearly made of stainless steel or freshly painted, looked brand new. Very exciting to be allowed to walk around this historic place all alone. Almost underneath the moving tower we crossed an open fence and heard someone shouting. After a few seconds we noticed a person standing all alone on the rusty tower, making wild gestures saying ‘no no’. Hmm, apparently we had crossed the border of our freedom to roam, so we turned around. That security guard must have the loneliest and coldest job in the world, guarding an inactive platform in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of winter. I hope he felt useful after sending us away.

Vehicle assembly building 112

After taking dozens of pictures we got back on the van to drive to the next site. Our program said we would visit the Cosmodrome Museum at site 2 now, right in the heart of the cosmodrome. So the van drove us past the long-secretive pads at site 110 and past the collapsed building 112. But instead of driving to the museum, we turned left towards building 112 and stopped at the gate. We were let through and we parked in front of the non-damaged part of building 112. Still thinking this was sort of a pre-museum check we were led inside and were told to wait for a guide. We were also told absolutely no photography’, which sounded strange for a museum. Roughly 10 minutes later a man in a suit shook our hands, introduced himself in Russian as our guide and led us inside the building.

And there we suddenly were. Right in the middle of Soyuz assembly building 112. The very building where the TMA-03M rocket had been assembled only days before. Our guide told us about the N1 and Energia history of the building, and introduced us to the French-Russian Starsem joint venture, that assembled rockets and payloads here. He showed us the cage holding the Globalstar-2 satellites for the December 28 launch. He also showed us two complete but still disassembled Soyuz rockets, that had been delivered from Samara. One Soyuz-2.1 rocket for the Globalstar launch, the other a Soyuz-U for the Progress M-14M launch on 26 January 2012. And after showing that we knew the historical importance of this building, and started asking very detailed technical questions, he told us that ‘photography is OK’. What a treat! Inside the VAB, standing between factory new rockets, being allowed to take pictures and ask anything we liked. Space heaven! Totally unthinkable at other launch sites in the world.

Cosmodrome Museum

So half an hour later, still impressed, we drive a few hundred meters from building 112 to site 2, where the museum is. Like at the city museum we seem to be the only visitors. Surprising, a day before an important manned launch. Especially compared to the crowds at Kennedy Space Center visitor center a day before launch!

Although it is very cold outside, the museum feels as if a rocket engine test has just taken place inside. It must be at least 28°C. This museum is a gem for spaceflight enthusiasts. Everything you always wanted to know about Russian spaceflight can be found here. Engines, models, patches, many unique photos of equipment and crews, most autographed. But also old launch control systems, ballistic missile launch keys (scary) and memorials to failed launches and other disasters that took place here. The museum has one Soyuz capsule, although it remains a mystery which of the over 60 2-crew capsules it is. It also has the ejection seat of one of the first manned launches in the early 60’s. During the first Vostok missions the cosmonauts ejected from the capsule in their seat, minutes before landing. The most important artifact is the orginal capsule that carried space dogs Belka and Strelka, accompanied by a rabbit, a few rats and mice into orbit in August 1960. All animals survived their full day in space. The rabbit, a rat and two mice were stuffed later and are now displayed in the capsule in the museum.

Buran OK-M – one of Russia’s ‘Enterprise’s’

Outside the museum is another great gem: one of two Buran space shuttles that are accessible to the public. The one parked here is the OK-M/OK-ML-1 temperature and structural test shuttle, similar to the US Enterprise shuttle. The other Buran accessible to general public is located at the Technik Museum in Speyer, Germany. This is the OK-GLI flight test model. I am not sure about the status of the third model OK-TVA that was on display in Gorky Park in Moscow.

The OK-M shuttle is parked a few metres outside the museum entrance, next to some other large spaceflight objects. The staff had opened it especially for us, and we could visit it unaccompanied. The entrance gateway leads into the cargo bay, where pictures and small objects are displayed. It also holds a large mock-up satellite, its solar arrays neatly folded. A sawn-in doorway leads to the lower deck crew area, where airline-style seats face an LCD screen. A small ladder next to the escape hatch (fitted with a round window for light) leads to the upper deck. At the upper deck the cockpit has been recreated, and you can sit in the captain or pilot seat. I am not sure about the authenticity of the controls, but it all looks very real. Control yokes and levers are all mechanically connected and seem to work fine. The front windows are frozen thick, but roof windows provide some light and another window looks into the cargo bay. A wonderful experience to sit in a real (or at least very realistic) space shuttle cockpit! Again a treat that would be unthinkable in the US orbiters!

For the tourists

Halfway the afternoon we get back into our van to drive back to the city. But first we will see the famous Gagarin and Korolev summer houses. We drive about 20 yards from the museum gate to reach the freshly painted houses on site 2. We are led out of the van to take a few pictures. We cannot get inside, as the houses are closed to the public in winter. We take a few mandatory snapshots and quickly get back into the warm car. A little touristy, as Gagarin only slept here for one night before his famous flight in 1961.

More Baikonur city

We arrive back in town for a late lunch at our hotel before we have more ‘free time’ in the city. Yesterday we agreed to meet the press for a few interviews, so we head into the direction of the main hotel complex near the town security gate. Along the way we visit the large Gagarin monument, a Soviet-style concrete statue of a 6-meter tall Gagarin, holding his arms in the sky. We take a few snapshots and walk on towards the hotels.

Cosmonaut hotel

The main hotel complex in Baikonur consists of three hotels. This is a special place, as the cosmonauts stay here prior to their launch. So today the TMA-03M crew is actually at their hotel, preparing for their last night on earth. Traditionally the crews stay at Hotel Cosmonaut, on the banks of the river. Behind the hotel is the famous cosmonaut park, where all departing crew members plant a tree. While crews stay in the city, the hotel is tightly sealed off to the general public. All gates are closed, although we can see the Russian, US and Dutch flags flying in front of the main entrance. The second hotel in the complex is Hotel Baikonur. This is where all officials get to stay at the time of a launch. Close to the cosmonauts, but in a different building. This building is also not accessible this week.

The third hotel is the largest. Hotel Sputnik, on the main road, in front of the other two hotels, houses more officials, crew families and some press. It is the only four-star hotel in Baikonur, and definitely the best option to stay at if hotels Baikonur and Cosmonaut are closed. This is where we will meet the press later that afternoon. We are a little early so we sit down in the lobby to read and type this blog. We hoped for free wifi, but that luxury is not available to passer-by’s like us. After about half an hour we hear children coming off the stairs, speaking Dutch. To our big surprise we see André Kuipers’ kids coming down, holding a half-finished banner saying ‘Bye bye daddy’. The two small kids are accompanied by one of their older sisters. Later we see André’s wife and mother following their kids through the lobby. Moments later a few Dutch guys sit down with us in the lobby seating area. They introduce themselves as André’s good friends. They travel in a small group with André’s family, and have a special VIP program (and badge). This meeting suddenly brings the reality and emotion of the situation very close by. How often would ‘space tourists’ like me get involved with the cosmonauts family and friends? They seem as surprised as we are about that, never expecting ‘tourists’ to travel to Kazakhstan to witness the launch. They also seem positively surprised about the fact that we have been able to get permits in the first place. Nice people!

Astronauts and officials

Once the family and other personal VIP’s have gotten into their bus to go out for dinner, the lobby fills with NASA and ESA officials. Once again we catch a glimpse of Bill Gerstenmaier. Moments later we are joined by former ISS commander and ESA astronaut Frank de Winne, who if friendly enough to say hi and shake our hands. Then we see Jean Jacques Dordain, the Dutch ambassador to Russia and many NASA, ESA and other foreign officials I don’t recognize. A few minutes we find ourselves right in the heart of human spaceflight. Neat! Then the large press contingent enters the lobby.

Spacetweeps for public outreach

A few minutes after the press enters the hotel we are greeted by the reporters we talked to at the yurt the day before. Three of them want to do interviews with us ‘space tourists’. We start with the Dutch national television station SBS, that sent a presenter and cameraman to Baikonur. I get equipped with a small microphone and transmitter and we go outside. They want to do a short interview in front of the gate to the crew hotel. We are accompanied by an ESA official, ensuring we won’t be sent away from the gate. The sun is setting and it is bitter cold, so we don’t spend too much time preparing. They take a few shots of me at the gate and then ask me a couple of questions. Obviously they want to focus on the human side of the story. “How do you feel a day prior to launch?” and “The crew is inside that hotel over there, how does that make you feel?”. I briefly share my spacegeek feelings (I am mostly just feeling cold and excited about being able to talk about spaceflight on national TV… and we go inside to finish the interview in the warmth of the hotel lobby. Immediately after the TV interview, Dutch national radio takes over, asking slightly different questions about why I am here, how I got my permit and how I feel about the launch.

Finally we sit down in the lobby for a national newspaper interview. A nice reporter asks us – again – why we are here, what attracts us in space exploration, how we got our permits and how we feel about André Kuipers going up tomorrow. It is great to be able to add my public outreach two cents in all these interviews. To tell my story is one of the reasons I went to Baikonur!

After the interviews we walk back to city center to try out the ‘other’ restaurant from our travel guide to Kazakhstan: Pizzeria Palermo, at the end of main street. The restaurant is pretty full and we are happy that they actually have a no-smoking section. They also have an English menu, so we are quickly able to select a pizza and a few beers. A great way to end a great day, once again filled by many highlights!