Fifty years after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the mysteries of space still need to be explored, professor of physics Alex Ignatiev said during a University tour by Russian cosmonauts and space scientists.
"We are recognizing the fact that it has been 50 years since man put things in space," Ignatiev said during the two-day tour, which ends today. "I see we’re going to be moving into the future with larger programs. We are going to go to the moon, we’re going to go to Mars, we’re going to go to the rest of the solar system, and we’ll need to know how man reacts and response to space, how can man live in space."
Ignatiev credited the launch of the Russian artificial satellite Sputnik, which was launched in 1957, for sparking the competition that drove both the U.S. and Soviet Union to develop more space-age technology.
"The Russians are interested in continuing a lot of technology developments of (the) space station," Ignatiev said. "The U.S. has started to lag on (the) space station. They have been involved in building it, but in terms of supporting science and research and technology development it’s now slowed down.
"The Russians still feel it’s important to do that. For us, it’s important to collaborate with the Russians to be able to give us the opportunity to utilize (the) space station. We put it there, let’s use that."
Ignatiev said the competition that once drove NASA to discovery has died down over the years. He said that the competitive aspect of space exploration should be brought back, but that the Americans and Russians need to work together.
At a reception welcoming the Russian visitors Sunday night at the University Hilton, John Bear, dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, said that Sputnik’s historical launch in 1957 marked a significant moment in space exploration.
"I can remember everything that happened in the 50 years since Sputnik launched – that event was for humanity," Bear said. "It was a human success, (and) it made it very meaningful for us."
Several Russian space technology experts and cosmonauts talked about their experiences in exploration.
Former Director of the Russian Space Research Institute Roald Sagdeev credited Russian scientist Konstantin Eduardovitch, the man who invented "rocket science," with giving birth to the concept of a space age. He said, "Sputnik opened the space age," because ideas of space exploration were not concrete until the launch of Sputnik.
Cosmonaut Sergey Avdeev, who spent 747 days in space, also gave a brief account of life in space.
He said space stations of the future need to better represent life on Earth. Life on the space station was difficult, he said, if for no other reason than there is no concrete "up" or "down," which he said gave him many "headaches."
Avdeev and his crew were the last people to leave the Russian space station Mir in 2000. Mir closed in 2001 because of "wear and tear" after being in orbit for over 10 years and was replaced by the International Space Station.
Vladimir Titov, another former cosmonaut on the tour, had spent one year and 14 hours in space – the longest recorded time, Ignatiev said.
Titov said on Sunday that his missions to space consisted of research on human health. Ever since retiring in 1999, Titov has been working in aerospace research for the Moscow branch of the Boeing Company.
The meeting between UH Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture program and the Russian cosmonauts was part of a collaborative effort to increase the knowledge of space. UH is the only school in the world with a graduate program for space architecture, director and SICSA founder Larry Bell said.
Bell said UH is the only school to have such a program because the founders are financially independent and most of the money contributed to the program is a result of their resourcefulness.
Ignatiev said having the Russians visit UH was a privilege.
"These are the pioneers of space exploration and space development," Ignatiev said.
Additional reporting by Mayra Cruz
