[FPSPACE] Russia has grounded South Korea's astronaut for violating document security at Star City

[James Oberg]

Russia has grounded South Korea's astronaut for violating document security at Star City.
News stories appended below.

One of his manuals got sent home in a package, and he also was shown another manual
for piloting, which wasn't his assignment, so he shouldn't have seen it.

The guy is humiliated in front of his entire nation -- I can't imagine the anguish he's going through.
I met him last month at JSC -- he was 100% devoted to making his country proud of him.

Russian guest-cosmonauts from the 1980's had plenty of access to training materials, and I
know that the French spationautes brought their manuals home with them after the missions. 
I've seen the manuals. What was the big deal this time?

I can't help asking myself, is this a message to OTHER countries who will be relying on Russia
for space flights to the ISS in years to come? Is it a blunt warning to the US?

Can we compare these transgressions to Russian behavior while training for shuttle missions? 
How many boxes of NASA manuals did they ship home, and not by accident? How much training 
material not directly relevant to their particular assignments did they get access to?

And even though US security lines are much, much MORE relaxed, how often, and to what extent,
did they cross those lines, by accident or intent, in the more than ten years they've been preparing 
for missions at JSC? 






 

      S.Korea switches ISS mission astronauts over alleged violations
      
                  14:05
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                  10/ 03/ 2008
                  

             
            

      

   MOSCOW, March 10 (RIA Novosti) - South Korea's first astronaut will be a female engineer, following a last-minute swap over allegations that the main candidate broke rules in the Russian training center, Yonhap agency said on Monday. 

   The agency said the decision to send Yi So-yeon, 28, to the International Space Center instead of Ko San was made following requests from the Russian side. 

   "The main reason for the change is based on two consecutive violations of training protocol by Ko," the news agency quoted Lee Sang-mok, the head of the space technology bureau with the South Korean Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, as saying. 

   The official said that last month Ko acquired pilot's instructions that he was not authorized to read, as his main mission in the space is to carry out scientific experiments. 

   The Russian Space Agency did not comment on the change, saying it was up to South Korea to make such decisions. 

   Yi is set to travel to the ISS on board Russia's Soyuz spacecraft on April 8. She will become the second Asian woman in space after Japan's Chiaki Mukai, who made two space flights in 1990s. 

   

   

   2008/03/10 13:40 KST //    S. Korea to send woman into space 

   SEOUL, March 10 (Yonhap) -- With less than a month to go before its first astronaut travels into space, South Korea has made a last-minute change, selecting a woman instead of a man, the government said Monday.

   In a news briefing, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said it has decided to switch its primary astronaut candidate for the planned April 8 launch from Ko San to Yi So-yeon following requests from Russian evaluators.

   "The main reason for the change is based on two consecutive violations of training protocol by Ko," said Lee Sang-mok, the head of the ministry's space technology bureau. Ko mistakenly sent a mission training manual home along with his personal belongings last September, which was sent back immediately.

   Last month he acquired a spacecraft pilot's instructions that he was not authorized to look at. The South Korean astronaut is a mission specialist and is required to carry out various scientific experiments in space.

   "Ko was aware of the rules and signed an agreement not to break them on entering the program," Lee said. Controllers from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) had also warned him to be careful of abiding by the rules, he added.

   KARI president Paik Hong-yul said the Russian emphasized the importance of following rules because minor mistakes and disobedience could result in serious consequences in space.

   The scientist said that Russia sent a report on the infractions on Friday along with the result of medical tests and asked South Korea to make the "right decision" on this issue.

   Paik said an expert panel was convened over the weekend with the final decision being made to make the switch earlier in the day.

   "Ko, however, will not be penalized for being made the backup astronaut and no changes will be made to his status as senior researcher at KARI," the expert said.

   Local authorities, meanwhile, said because Yi and Ko were trained side-by-side, there is no reason for the switch to affect Yi's performance.

   Yi and Ko were selected as finalists from 36,206 hopefuls in late 2006, but Ko was picked last September to go to the International Space Station based on evaluations conducted at that time.

   The 29-year-old Yi, a doctoral candidate in bio systems engineering, was named the backup and trained alongside her male counterpart.

   Under the latest change, Yi will blast off from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Space Center on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and stay on board the space station for about a week, conducting various experiments. She is scheduled to board a capsule for earth on April 19.

   Of the hundreds of people have gone to space only 49 were women. The United States leads the pack, having sent 41 nationals into space including those with Asian ethnic backgrounds, followed by three from Russia, including Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to go into space in 1963. Canada has sent two women into space with Japan, France and Britain having sent one each.

   yonngong at yna.co.kr

   

   

03-10-2008 18:05 //  First Korean Astronaut Switched to Woman

By Jane Han, Korea Times Staff Reporter

   A 29-year-old female mechanical engineer was belatedly filled in Monday as the first South Korean in space, after Russia's space authorities dismissed Seoul's original choice on security rule violations ahead of next month's mission.

   The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology told a news conference that Russia's Federal Space Agency asked for Ko San's replacement, as the 31-year-old repeatedly broke training protocol by taking sensitive training material outside of the Russian space center. Back-up candidate Yi So-yeon will take over. 

   ``The main reason for the cut is Ko made two consecutive security violations,'' said Lee Sang-mok, the head of the ministry's space technology bureau, adding that both events appeared unintentional.

   He explained that the Russians regard abiding by the rules as critical since even a small and innocent mistake could lead to serious consequences in space.

   Paik Hong-yul, president of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, said local authorities made the final decision early Monday to tap Yi after Moscow sent an official request for a switch on Friday.

   He added that Yi will have no problems going aboard the April 8 flight, as she was trained side-by-side with Ko since last March. Among more than 36,000 hopefuls, the two were selected as finalists to become the country's No. 1 astronaut. 

   Ko, a technology researcher, will continue training at the Russian space center as Yi's backup without being penalized, said Paik.

   Under the change, Yi will fly on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station as a payload specialist with two Russian cosmonauts for a seven- or eight-day mission. She is scheduled to return to earth on April 19.

   Next month's mission will make South Korea the 36th country to put a person into space. Seoul said last year that it plans to launch a lunar probe in 2020 and make a moon landing by 2025.
   jhan at koreatimes.co.kr

   

   BBC: Monday, 10 March 2008, 09:23 GMT

   South Korea swaps first astronaut

   South Korea says its first astronaut will now be a female engineer, after Russian officials rejected the initial candidate over a breach of rules. 

   Yi So-yeon, 29, is to replace Ko San, 31, on a Russian flight to the International Space Station in April. 

   Russia's Federal Space Agency requested the change because Mr Ko broke training centre rules, a senior official said. 

   South Korean officials played down the breaches, which involved removing reading material from the centre. 

   On one occasion, Mr Ko sent a training book back to South Korea - something he said was by mistake. 

   On another, he received a book from a Russian colleague that he was not meant to read, said Lee Sang-mok of South Korea's Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. 

   "The Russians emphasised the importance of abiding by the rules, as even small mistakes can bring about grave consequences in space," Mr Lee said. 

   Mr Ko, who beat more than 36,000 other applicants to the position, has been training in Russia since last year. 

   He will now serve as the back-up astronaut when Ms Yi flies with two Russian cosmonauts to the International Space Station in early April. 

   Ms Yi will spend seven or eight days there, conducting a series of scientific tests. 

   The mission will make South Korea the sixth Asian country to put an astronaut in space.

   

   

   South Korea changes first astronaut 

   By HYUNG-JIN KIM, Associated Press WriterMon Mar 10, 6:35 AM ET 

   South Korea said Monday a female engineer would become the country's first person in space by going aboard a Russian spacecraft, after Moscow rejected Seoul's first choice because he violated reading rules during training.

   The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said at a news conference that Yi So-yeon will replace Ko San as the country's choice to fly on a Russian Soyuz capsule to the International Space Station in early April.

   South Korea originally named Ko as its candidate in September, but Russia's Federal Space Agency asked for a replacement last month because he violated regulations at a Russian space training center where the two South Koreans have been training, said Lee Sang-mok, a senior ministry official.

   The Russian authorities said Ko took a book out of the center without permission and sent it to his home in South Korea in September, Lee said. Ko later returned the book, explaining he accidently sent it home together with other personal belongings, Lee added.

   In February, Ko again violated a regulation by getting a book from the center through a Russian colleague - material he was not supposed to read, Lee said. Officials did not give details about the book's contents, but South Korean officials portrayed both of his infractions as minor.

   "The Russian space agency has stressed that a minor mistake and disobedience can cause serious consequences," Lee told reporters.

   Ko will remain at the Russian space center and train with Lee, the ministry official said.

   Yi, 29, will work aboard the International Space Station for about 10 days with five other cosmonauts including one female American astronaut, conducting scientific experiments, according to a ministry statement. The mission will make South Korea the world's 35th country and Asia's sixth to send an astronaut into space.

   Yi, currently employed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, earned both bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering at the state-run Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, according to the ministry statement. In February, she received her Ph.D. in a bioengineering from the same school.

   "The honor to become South Korea's first astronaut will belong to a woman, when and if Yi eventually goes aboard the Soyuz capsule," Lee said.

   A total of 48 women from the United States, Russia and four other countries have so far gone into space, the ministry statement said.

   South Korea plans to complete its first space center by the end of next year as part of a program to lay the technological and scientific groundwork for space exploration in coming decades.

   Since 1992 South Korea has had 11 satellites launched, mostly for space and ocean observation and communications.