[FPSPACE] Russian space tourist -- Vladimir Gruzdev, 40, just back from North Pole

[Jim Oberg]

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Personal website: http://www.gruzdev.ru/images/face2.jpg

Other photos

Photo: http://www.vedomosti.ru/img/photo/1220/1225.jpg

Photo: http://old.radiomayak.ru/images/ALLA/gruzdev430.jpg

Context: http://old.radiomayak.ru/archive/text?stream=schedules/6852&item=27222

 

 

Bio (in Russian)

http://www.pseudology.org/democracy/Gruzdev_VS.htm



press reports identify multi-millionaire politician Vladimir Gruzdev as the
'first Russian space tourist', set for flight to the ISS in the fall of 2008.

Gruzdev was one of the crewmembers of the Russian sub 
that recently planted a Russian flag at the north pole 
sea bottom.

A 'Russian space tourist' announcement was made last week,
but he was not named. This report, while plausible, is
unconfirmed.

the launch is tentatively scheduled for October 7, 2008, on
Soyuz TMA-13. veteran cosmonaut salizhan sharipov will
be soyuz commander, his flight engineer will be veteran
astronaut Michael Fincke, who will be station commander.

The station crew at the time of docking will be two Russian
cosmonauts, Sergey Volkov and Oleg Konenenko, and
NASA astronaut Greg Chamitoff (Russian descent).

By statistical fluke, therefore, the six people on the station
will be four russian citizens, and two NASA people. Just a
coincidence.




Russian grocery owner to be space tourist 

Mon Sep 3, 9:23 AM ET 

   A grocery tycoon and politician who planted a flag on the North Pole's seabed last month will now go into orbit as the first Russian space tourist, leading business daily Vedomosti said on Monday.

   Vladimir Gruzdev, aged 40, underwent medical tests in June and had been formally approved for a flight on board a Soyuz-TMA spacecraft in September 2008, the newspaper quoted an unnamed source from the Russian space company Energia as saying.

   He was one of three submariners who on August 2 planted a rust-proof titanium Russian flag at the North Pole, 4,300 metres (14,000 ft) under water, in order to boost Russia's claim for a larger chunk of resource-rich Arctic seabed.

   The head of Russian space agency Roskosmos, Anatoly Perminov, said last week the next space tourist would be a Russian, but did not name him. He said the man would be a "serious, respectable person, a businessman and politician".

   Gruzdev's spokesman refused to comment and said he will not make any further statements, though the tycoon has a record of politically tinged exploration projects.

   Gruzdev is a part owner of Seventh Continent, a leading Russian grocery chain and a deputy in the State Duma for the United Russia party, which holds the majority of seats in the lower chamber.

   Of the five previous space tourists, who have paid up to $25 million (12.4 million pounds) to travel to the International Space Station, four were U.S. citizens and one was from South Africa. 

   

            Duma delegate to become Russia's first space tourist, says report
           

     

DPA  // Mon, 03 Sep 2007 14:07:00 GMT

   Moscow - A member of Russia's Duma is to become Russia's first space tourist when he visits the International Space Station, economics magazine Vedomosti reported on Monday quoting the Roskosmos space agency. Vladimir Gruzdev booked his flight in June and will become the sixth space tourist internationally, after four Americans and a South African, the report said. 

   The 40-year-old, who is also a businessman, paid approximately 18 million euros (24.49 million dollars) for his trip, according to Vedomosti. 

   However, no official confirmation was not given. 

   There has been speculation in the Russian media that President Vladimir Putin could be the country's first space tourist after his term. 

   According to the Russian edition of Forbes magazine, Gruzdev is involved in a supermarket chain and is worth 600 million euros. 

   He is a deputy in the State Duma or lower house of parliament for the United Russia party, which is close to the Kremlin. 

   Seats for the next space tourists are reserved in the Russian Soyuz spacecraft for September 2008 and March 2009. 

   During the past few months two space enthusiasts from Malaysia and Korea have been preparing in Russia for their adventure, media reported.

   

[Gruzdev appears to be a perceptive, expressive guy - see interview here]

Vladykin analyzes Arctic Ocean issues, doesn't anticipate a military conflict

Moscow Moskovskiye Novosti in Russian 10 Aug 07

   ["There Will Be No War on the Ice," by Oleg Vladykin. In interview with Vice-Admiral Patrushev, signifance of recent Russian polar expedition is assessed. Patrushev thinks war over North Pole to be highly unlikely.]

   The Navy Can Only Operate Submarines in Polar Regions

   Several foreign mass media have labeled the recent Russian expedition to the North Pole the start of a new cold war and even a premise for military conflict in the Arctic. How likely is this course of events? Vice Admiral (Reserves) Viktor Patrushev, a professor of the Academy of Military Sciences and former chief of the operations directorate and deputy chief of the RF Navy Main Staff, responded to this question from "Moskovskiye novosti."

   <snip>

   "Darkness, Quiet, and Cold"

   Vladimir Gruzdev, an expedition participant and State Duma Deputy, shares his impressions with "Moskovskiye novosti" correspondent Igor Yefimov.

   Interviewer: What did you see on the bottom? What were your first sensations?

   Gruzdev: Darkness, quiet, and cold, which one could literally feel through the walls of the bathyscaph. The bottom is very silt covered and uneven, resembling the lunar landscape. The searchlight assembled a picture in pieces; we saw tiny, transparent fish and sea anemones. 

   Interviewer: What was behind Artur Chilingarov's words that the ocean does not rest?

   Gruzdev: It is true, we put our nose to the ground and it was difficult to raise it up. In general, under the water everything proceeds very slowly, but any incorrect motions can result in consequences that cannot be reversed. It could be terrifying then. The interest and gripping sensation of sinking into a bottomless pit overcame the fear. Nine hours passed like a single minute. There was interest, tension, and the pride that we were the first.

   Interviewer: Which was more difficult - going down or coming up?

   Gruzdev: In time they were the same. The most difficult was finding an unfrozen place in the ice. We surfaced and spent almost an hour and half looking for an opening, held against the ice. From under the ice, it was uneven, broken, like a labyrinth. When the time came that we finally found a "window," the current created by the boat's engines simply sent us back under the ice. And there we could not go to the left, the right, forward, or back. We had to submerge again.

   Interviewer: Why are they now talking about a geographic discovery, after all, the pole was discovered a long time ago?

   Gruzdev: Yes, the ice was discovered previously. But now we have reached the point of the North Pole on the ocean's bottom, and this was the first time that this has been done.