Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:
Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon. April 12, Cosmonautics Day, is fast approaching. I would like to wish you a happy Cosmonautics Day in advance, and thank you for last year's work.
I have just met with the leadership of the Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) to discuss a proposed programme to develop the Cosmonaut Training Centre at Star City. I'm not going to revisit issues with which you are already familiar right now, some of which have been caused by the transfer from the Defence Ministry to the Federal Space Agency. There are some formalities that we still need to settle, but they are not what matters most now. We will be able to deal with them quickly enough.
What matters most is to breath new life into a programme that functions well, a programme that it is no exaggeration to describe as the pride of our country.
We have already talked today about how this institution has managed not only to maintain its personnel, but also its facilities. And not only maintain, but also develop, and develop according to the latest standards.
But in order to secure the future and ensure leadership (this alone should be our goal: to guarantee Russian leadership in this essential, extremely promising and interesting sector), much remains to be done to provide information support, training facilities, and even just basic equipment and social services. We have worked to provide all of this through the draft plan that the Federal Space Agency has submitted today. We will study this issue carefully, adopt the plan and implement it together.
At the same time, I certainly would like to hear your opinions as to what you believe to be the most important, necessary and sensitive issues today. This is what I wanted to say at the start. And again, happy Cosmonautics Day!
Valentina Tereshkova: Mr Putin, first of all, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart on behalf of all veteran cosmonauts for coming here and for your attention to the Cosmonaut Training Centre. The centre and Star City face problems with their development. What you have just said will allow us make Star City an exemplary place. We are grateful to you, and we hope the social issues that we discussed with you will be settled. Thank you very much.
Alexei Leonov: Over the years, I have visited similar training centres in Japan, China, Germany, Miami and elsewhere. Everything there generally imitates what we did in the 1960s. The template that was started here has proved to be correct and intelligent.
The technical facilities look the same everywhere, while housing and social services depend on funding. There has been significant funding (in the Cosmonaut Training Centre), but the money will not have an immediate effect. We need time to correct what we have done incorrectly or overlooked-not out of stupidity but out of lack of experience. We would do it differently now. We have gathered here today to do things differently.
I have dedicated my entire life to aircraft and simulators. A simulation training system cost 1.075 billion dollars in 1977, when the dollar was equivalent to 65 kopecks. Today, however, some of the best minds in the country have allowed us to put Russian simulators on a par with the world's best. I look at our wonderful young cosmonauts here, and am glad that we have something decent to pass on to them. We must now take advantage of all of this, and improve it even more to meet our newest challenges.
I think you have already heard the report on aircraft. The way I see it, and I believe this very strongly, we should not be using any foreign planes at all now. First, they are expensive, and second, we should end our dependence on other countries for spare parts. We have Russian planes like the YAK-130 now. What these young cosmonauts need now is their own aircraft, which will be cheaper and safer and holds greater promise. This is what we were able to do when we had the TU-134, whose service life is over now.
Vladimir Putin: That's an understatement.
Alexei Leonov: What we need is new aircraft.
Sergei Ivanov: There's the AN-148.
Alexei Leonov: We have some. Who should have them if not us? A relevant decision was made in its time. The government issued an executive order after Yury Gagarin's tragic death to supply all kinds of equipment, particularly aircraft, to the space centre.
The order said: "The Cosmonaut Training Centre must possess first-class aircraft."That was done, and, thank God, we have not had any accidents since 1968. We've been fortunate to have that many years of safe flights in the Air Force, and we've had this good fortune because everything has been done as it should.
Thank you for attention. We will show you that we deserve your trust.
Vladimir Putin: Good.
Let us now turn to the construction of new buildings and the reconstruction of the current facilities. The planetarium is one of them. As the Federal Space Agency leadership said today, it deserves to be not just preserved, but modernised.
But there are also essential projects that need to be built from the ground up. This is a blessing in disguise. For example, currently the training centre has no unified data centre, which means we can build a state-of-the-art centre, one that is not merely on a par with our partners' analogues, but possibly a step ahead.
We have also talked about air support: new tarmacs, operations facilities and new aircraft. You have just mentioned the AN-148. It's a fine craft with powerful and reliable engines, a very comfortable, modern plane. Besides, it can handle dirt landing strips.
We have also discussed the opportunity to cut the expenses that you mentioned. Not that these expenses are extravagant; on the contrary, I consider them quite modest. But we may cut these expenses as well, as the government does not have unlimited funds.
Mr Ivanov has said that we should not purchase aircraft, but lease them on currently accepted terms. We might have special leases for the Training Centre. These matters can all be settled, we just need to figure out the solution. We should work together to cut expenses by focusing on the most necessary and promising projects.
As for the social situation, we have said that housing should be different. We have all agreed on this point. All homes should be comfortable and modern, and some housing should be quite comfortable according to 21st century standards.
Alexei Leonov: We have a wonderful project for a housing facility that should be built with the new Cosmonaut Training Centre. The two go together, after all.
Sergei Krikalyov: What we have now was built as an integrated structure, so everything is interconnected. The pipes that start here go to the housing facility. We cannot carry out repairs here without any work there. We need to fix everything everywhere.
Vladimir Putin: That's clear. The town has come under regional jurisdiction, and is a standard municipal entity now, though it retains the status of a restricted administrative and territorial entity. To properly organise all the work at every level, we will use a federal government executive order at the request of the governor of the Moscow Region.
Anatoly Perminov: By force of circumstance, Russia is taking the lead as far as manned flights to the International Space Station go. You and the US president have decided to prolong its operation to 2020, so we regard our young cosmonauts' training as our principal mission. Here are the young men who have just recently been in orbit.
Sergei Krikalyov: Meet Maxim Surayev, who landed two weeks ago.
Anatoly Perminov: Right, Maxim landed two weeks ago. I want to know their opinion as to whether Russia can cope ...
Vladimir Putin: Russia certainly can, but we should hear them out. Speak up please.
Maxim Surayev: If I may, Mr Putin. I came back from a mission to the International Space Station a little more than two weeks ago. Let me say that the Russian crew is coping well. The systems are working, and we have managed to avoid any gaps in cosmonauts' training.
I think that I speak for all the guys in my unit who are now in orbit when I say that every cosmonaut would approve if the overall status of cosmonauts as representatives of their nation were improved. Meanwhile, we are still (technically) under the power of Council of Ministers, which existed in the Soviet Union.
Sergei Krikalyov: We need to update some paperwork...
Maxim Surayev: Space flights are hard. It's a heroic job. But it's as hard sometimes to get back to earth, so to speak. We still don't have regular living quarters. I mean to say we live in service flats. I am ashamed to invite my American astronaut colleagues to my home.
Cosmonauts have lost some prestige in their social standings.
Vladimir Putin: That's what I meant when I spoke about social problems. I said that the programme suggested by Federal Space Agency includes measures to address housing and other social issues. This will include regular and more comfortable housing options. We will discuss and address all these issues.
As for the status of cosmonauts, it can also be remedied. We need to formulate these proposals.
Sergei Krikalyov: We understand that it is the mission of the state to raise the younger generation and possibly set the right priorities. In my time, young men were strong, agile, intelligent and athletic. We can only regret that young people's ideals have eroded slightly. We are here today because every one of us had our ideals and his own way to attain them. The nation needs people who are able and willing to work for it, and who possess the physical, intellectual and psychological makings for such work. We are ready to work to educate youth and build up their characters. Therefore, we hold the conviction that cosmonauts' status should be improved because the nation will gain by it.
Vladimir Putin: As far as I know, public interest in space exploration and the Cosmonaut Training Centre has increased lately, hasn't it?
Sergei Krikalyov: Yes.
Vladimir Putin: Do you receive many school delegations here?
Sergei Krikalyov: Strange as it may seem, their number has grown. A lot of delegations have been visiting our centre recently. This is why we are keeping this Mir-type simulation complex at the centre. School and university students enjoy coming to this wonderful place. Foreigners come here to take a look at our space equipment and systems. This was a great achievement of our country. Likewise, modern advances in cosmonautics should encourage school students to get interested in physics and mathematics and to attend technical universities. We could develop strong educational programmes at our centre to teach students and get schoolchildren interested in attending technical universities.
Vladimir Putin: What's important is that the centre has been attracting more and more visitors.
Gennady Padalka: We have inherited a lot from our distinguished veterans, including good training systems and the town itself. We still use the rockets and spaceships they flew. Unfortunately, the technology is from the 1970s. We've managed to keep up with our partners so far, but we're likely to fall behind soon.
Vladimir Putin: Yes, our partners are moving forward.
Gennady Padalka: The model of the spaceship we showed you in 2006 remains just that. The state has been replacing obsolete aircraft with newer versions; and the same must be done for space technology.
Sergei Krikalyov: This is, perhaps, a broader discussion that includes manned and unmanned flights.
Gennady Padalka: Yes, as part of the Federal Space Programme.
Sergei Krikalyov: The Federal Space Programme addresses the needs of the space industry as a whole, but its focus is manned flights. Money is not always the best yardstick to measure the effectiveness of a programme. You could say that the test site at a car plant doesn't bring in any profit. Indeed, profit comes from assembling new cars, but progress is hardly possible without tests and trials. Likewise, manned flights are essential for testing new solutions and technologies. But we are likely to get stuck at this stage with older technology.
Vladimir Putin: But it's the Federal Space Agency that must outline development priorities.
Anatoly Perminov: Yes, and we have several far-reaching plans. The cosmonauts understand that the older spacecraft are not obsolete yet. All systems are gradually being upgraded, piece by piece. I have to say that cosmonaut simulation equipment needs upgrading too. But this work counts as progress. The cosmonauts are also aware that the rocket and space corporation Energia is developing a new spaceship. It's not a secret. It has been reported on in the media. Also, you approved the programme for developing the Vostochny space centre. The first launch there will be the trial launch of a manned next-generation spaceship. It's a great challenge. And young specialists could also contribute to this project.
More people under 30 have joined the industry in the recent years. I'm referring to both cosmonauts and the personnel at production facilities. This is a very important fact. Also, the turnover has decreased. More young graduates from Russia's leading universities are employed in the industry. This is very gratifying, but we also understand that we must provide them with all the necessary support.
When you work in the same industry for so long - I am referring to the space industry - you sometimes forget that only six countries do work in this field. Some of them are very big and powerful countries. We get offers from them. Following on your directive, we have announced an auction to attract investments in the Russian programme of manned flights and construction projects. I believe that these are friendly countries that are close to us in spirit. It's all cosmonaut work.
Vladimir Putin: However, the issue of cutting-edge systems was fair enough. They cannot be developed overnight; we must start developing them today if we want them ready in 10 years. Design and development are very time-consuming.
Sergei Krikalyov: As the veterans mentioned, this centre, which we inherited from them, was built at a time when working in this field was much more prestigious than it is today. This centre has great potential and can be used as a training facility and a test ground for cutting-edge technologies. The centre can collect information on past achievements furthering the interest of future progress.
In addition to training cosmonauts, the Training Centre can act as a venue where the Federal Space Agency can advance new technologies.
Vladimir Putin: We need to consider this issue and see what opportunities the centre has to offer for testing new technologies.
Sergei Krikalyov: It can be used to test new technologies even in the aircraft industry. We are considering a new landing system for the spaceship. To develop this technology, we will have to conduct several landings and test a steering parachute, for example. All these tests can be carried out at the Gagarin Training Centre.
Spaceships are now equipped with digital systems, not analog. We could simulate digital systems and test the ergonomics of space equipment here. The interaction between man and machine is what ergonomics is all about.
Vladimir Putin: However, this is a new function for the centre. If you think it's sound, you could develop this project, but it needs to be incorporated into the development programme you submitted.
Sergei Krikalyov: Our centre has the potential for it.
Anatoly Perminov: It is extremely important to ensure cooperation between the corporation Energia, the Gagarin Training Centre and the Central Engineering Institute of the Federal Space Agency. Unfortunately, there are some shortfalls here. I hope the Centre of Information Technology we are going to establish today will attend to this issue.
So far manufacturers of space equipment, Energia, and cosmonauts have been working separately. It's good thing Mr Krikalyov once worked as the deputy director general of Energia and is aware of these problems. But very few others have such experience.
Vladimir Putin: This can all be done. We only need to think about how to redistribute functions among these centres.
Sergei Ivanov: I would like to say a few words about the prestige of this profession. I would like young and veteran specialists to know that a week ago the prime minister approved the programme for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Yury Gagarin's space flight. This celebration will take place next year. The government programme includes a series of events, including an educational campaign.
Unfortunately, some schoolchildren don't know anything about Yury Gagarin. It's true. These events are not meant to be propaganda; they are meant to get young people interested in the life and achievements of Yury Gagarin.
Dreams are usually formed at this young age, and we would like schoolchildren to learn the history of cosmonautics and the present-day situation. We will also hold several international events, which will be a separate part of the celebrations.