Anatoly Perminov addressed the members of the Federation Council in connection with the new space exploration programs planned for the near future by the Russian government. The head of Roscosmos informed about the current state of the industry and the prospects for its development in the current decade.

In his speech, Perminov criticized not only the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, but also its head, Mr. Kudrin. The head of the Federal Space Agency on the work of the Ministry of Finance said the following: “Today we are conquering markets only through our technologies in the field of space exploration, the policy followed by the Ministry of Finance does not allow us to in full carry out projects to conquer new foreign markets. We need to look up to China. In this country, a specific task has been set: in five years to occupy all the markets in Asia and South America Moreover, to invest in these promising markets on the basis of the financial component, Beijing has set the task, even despite the obvious damage to the national economy. In conquering markets, the main factor of victory is the financial component. Today we cooperate with Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Cuba. Together with these countries, we will create spacecraft.”

According to Perminov, Russia will gradually move away from the use of heavy Proton launch vehicles that operate on poisonous fuel. But this will happen only if the new Angara launch vehicle passes successful flight tests. The Angara launch vehicle uses environmentally friendly fuel. Its first launch is scheduled for 2013.

According to the head of Roskosmos, the leading space powers have not yet found components that could provide the same thrust as the fuel on which Proton runs. “All over the world, demethylhydrazine, as well as its various variations, TG-02, is used as fuel in heavy rockets. There are no other compromise components. The whole world continues to exploit these heavy rockets. If we abandon the Proton rocket, we will get a complete halt to the launches of dual-purpose and military vehicles, and commercial launches will be reduced by 50 percent,” Anatoly Perminov said.

In his report to the Russian senators, Anatoly Perminov also touched upon the prospects for the development and testing of the new Russian spacecraft Rus. In particular, he pointed out the following: “At least fifteen accident-free test launches in unmanned mode will be required. After a thorough analysis, a decision will be made to send the crew.” Unmanned test flights could take at least two years to complete. The first launch of the Rus rocket from the Vostochny cosmodrome will be carried out in 2015, and the launch with the crew will take place in 2018. The head of the space agency of the Russian Federation also said that after the completion of construction, the Vostochny cosmodrome will be operated for some time in parallel with the existing Baikonur and Plesetsk.

Anatoly Perminov is confident that an expedition to Mars will become a reality in a quarter of a century. “Of course, it is necessary to prepare for the flight. This is a long and gradual process. But we have nothing to fly yet. It is absurd to make a flight to Mars on those spacecraft and engines that are operated by us today, ”said the head of Roscosmos. “We are talking about the fact that we need to build a new ship with a completely changed megawatt-class nuclear installation, and only in this case it is possible to fly to Mars. Taking into account the use of new engines, the flight will take about a month, but this is realistic only after 2035. All this empty and absurd talk - like I agree to a one-way flight, just let me go to Mars - is just nonsense. What will be the result for science from such a flight? Obviously, none,” said the head of Roscosmos.

Vitaly Davydov, Deputy Head of Roskosmos, also spoke at the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, who told the senators about the results of testing the naval strategic missile Bulava. In particular, he said: “It would seem that the difficult period of the Bulava is behind us, we have now eliminated the shortcomings that were, and, in general, with some confidence we share the optimism of the developers in the sense that the work will be completed.”

The problems identified during the tests were solved thanks to state support measures. For the most part, the approval of the program for the development of the military-industrial complex contributed. Reserved in the budget necessary funds to finance the projects that have begun, including the allocation of funds for the preparation of production, which is associated with the Bulava.

Vitaly Davydov noted that rocket and space technology is one of the priorities in the adopted State Armaments Program-2020, funding for it has been increased, and this gives confidence in the development of space exploration in the future.

Juno. The Juno interplanetary station was launched in 2011 and is due to orbit Jupiter in 2016. It will describe a long loop around the gas giant, collecting data on the composition of the atmosphere and the magnetic field, as well as building a wind map. Juno is the first NASA spacecraft not using a plutonium core, but equipped with solar panels.

Mars 2020. The next rover sent to the red planet will in many ways be a copy of the well-proven Curiosity. But its task will be different - namely, the search for any traces of life on Mars. The program will start at the end of 2020.

Space atomic clock for deep space navigation, NASA plans to launch into orbit in 2016. This device, in theory, should work as a GPS for the spacecraft of the future. The space clock promises to be 50 times more accurate than any clock on Earth.

InSight. One of the important questions related to Mars is whether there is geological activity on it or not? The InSight mission, planned for 2016, should answer this with a rover with a drill and a seismometer.

Uranus orbiter. Mankind has only visited Uranus and Neptune once, during the Voyager 2 mission in 1980, but this is supposed to be corrected in the next decade. The Uranus orbiter program is conceived as an analogue of Cassini's flight to Jupiter. The problems are funding and a shortage of plutonium for fuel. However, the launch is planned for 2020 with the arrival of the device to Uranus in 2030.

Europa Clipper. Thanks to the Voyager mission in 1979, we learned that under the ice of one of Jupiter's moons - Europa - there is a huge ocean. And where there is so much liquid water, life is possible. The Europa Clipper will take off in 2025, equipped with a powerful radar capable of seeing deep under Europa's ice.

OSIRIS-REx. Asteroid (101955) Bennu is not the most famous space object. But according to astronomers from the University of Arizona, it has a very real chance of crashing into Earth around the year 2200. The OSIRIS-REx will travel to Benn in 2019 to collect soil samples and return in 2023. Studying the findings could help prevent a future disaster.

LISA is a joint experiment between NASA and the European Space Agency to study the gravitational waves emitted by black holes and pulsars. The measurements will be carried out by three devices located at the tops of a triangle 5 million km long. LISA Pathfinder, the first of three satellites, will be sent into orbit in November 2015, with a full program launch scheduled for 2034.

Bepi Colombo. This program got its name in honor of the 20th century Italian mathematician Giuseppe Colombo, who developed the theory of gravity maneuver. BepiColombo is a project of space agencies in Europe and Japan that will start in 2017 with an estimated arrival of the device into Mercury orbit in 2024.

The James Webb Space Telescope will be launched into orbit in 2018 as a replacement for the famous Hubble. The size of a tennis court and the size of a four-story house, worth almost $9 billion, this telescope is considered the main hope of modern astronomy.

Basically, missions are planned in three directions - a flight to Mars in 2020, a flight to Jupiter's moon Europa and, possibly, to the orbit of Uranus. But the list is not limited to them. Let's take a look at ten space programs in the near future.

The Russian orbital station, which will replace the ISS, will be eternal, according to the annual report. talks about the largest near-Earth laboratory currently operating, prospects Russian station and space plans of other countries, primarily the United States and China.

It is planned to operate the ISS until at least 2024. After that, the work of the laboratory will be completed or extended for another four years. The ISS partners, primarily the US, Russia, and Japan, have not yet made a decision. Meanwhile, the future of the ISS is directly related to the development of new space technologies.

Deadline

After the separation of the Russian segment from the ISS, the Russian orbital laboratory will consist of three modules: a multi-purpose laboratory with improved operational characteristics"Science", the nodal "Prichal" and scientific and energy. Later, the national station is planned to be equipped with three more modules - transformable, gateway and power.

The main goal of the laboratory is to become a platform for testing deep space exploration technologies. As reported in the annual report of the RKK, it is assumed that "the continuous operation of the station due to the replacement of modules that have exhausted their resource." Although the first three modules should be part of the ISS, none of them have yet been launched to the station. The reasons are the same. Consider, for example, the situation with the Science module.

The Deputy Prime Minister agreed with him. “The question of the future of manned programs should be discussed, and not go with the flow, being responsible only for the process, but not for the result. The opinion of this expert should be heeded, and not habitually dismissed. We are waiting for an objective analysis of the situation and specific proposals from Roskosmos. Otherwise, we will lag behind not only the United States, but also other space powers. Only nostalgia for the old days will remain, ”-

In 2011, the United States found itself without space Vehicle capable of delivering a man into low Earth orbit. Now American engineers are designing more new manned spacecraft than ever before, with private companies leading the way, which means that space exploration will become much cheaper. In this article, we will talk about seven designed devices, and if at least some of these projects come to life, a new golden age in manned astronautics will come.

• Type: habitable capsule Creator: Space Exploration Technologies / Elon Musk
• Launch date: 2015
• Destination: flights to orbit (to the ISS)
• Chances of success: very good

When Elon Musk founded his company Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, in 2002, skeptics saw no prospects in this. However, by 2010, his startup became the first private enterprise that managed to repeat what had been the diocese of the state until that time. A Falcon 9 rocket launched an unmanned Dragon capsule into orbit.

The next step in Musk's journey into space is the development of a reusable Dragon vehicle capable of carrying people on board. It will bear the name DragonRider and is intended for flights to the ISS. Using an innovative approach in both design and operation, SpaceX claims that passenger transportation will cost as little as $20 million per passenger seat (a passenger seat in the Russian Soyuz today costs the United States $63 million).

The path to the manned capsule

Improved interior

The capsule will be equipped for a crew of seven. Already inside the unmanned version, earth pressure is maintained, so it will not be difficult to adapt it for people to stay.

Wider portholes

Through them, astronauts will be able to observe the process of docking with the ISS. In future modifications of the capsule - with the possibility of landing on a jet stream - an even wider view will be required.

Additional engines developing 54 tons of thrust for emergency ascent to orbit in the event of a launch vehicle failure.

Dream Chaser - Descendant of the space shuttle

• Type: rocket-launched spaceplane Creator: Sierra Nevada Space Systems
• Planned launch into orbit: 2017
• Purpose: orbital flights
• Chances of success: good

Of course, space planes have certain advantages. Unlike a conventional passenger capsule, which, falling through the atmosphere, can only slightly correct the trajectory, the shuttles are able to carry out maneuvers during descent and even change the destination airfield. In addition, they can be reused after a brief after-sales service. However, the accidents of two American shuttles showed that space planes are by no means an ideal means for orbital expeditions. Firstly, it is expensive to carry cargo on the same vehicles as the crews, because using a purely cargo ship, you can save on security and life support systems.

Secondly, attaching the shuttle to the side of the boosters and fuel tank increases the risk of damage from accidentally falling off elements of these structures, which caused the death of the Columbia shuttle. However, Sierra Nevada Space Systems swears that it will be able to whitewash the reputation of the orbital space plane. To do this, she has a Dream Chaser - a winged vehicle for delivering crews to the space station. Already, the company is fighting for NASA contracts. The design of the Dream Chaser got rid of the main shortcomings characteristic of the old space shuttles. Firstly, now they intend to carry cargo and crews separately. And secondly, now the ship will be mounted not on the side, but on top of the Atlas V launch vehicle. At the same time, all the advantages of the shuttles will be preserved.

Suborbital flights of the apparatus are scheduled for 2015, and it will be launched into orbit two years later.

How is it inside?

On this device, seven people can go into space at once. The ship takes off on top of the rocket.

At a given site, it separates from the carrier and then can moor to the docking port of the space station.

The Dream Chaser has never flown into space yet, but it is already ready, at least for runway runs. In addition, it was dropped from helicopters, testing the aerodynamic capabilities of the ship.

New Shepard - Amazon's Secret Ship

• Type: habitable capsule Creator: Blue Origin / Jeff Bezos
• Launch date: unknown
• Chances of success: good

Jeff Bezos, the 49-year-old founder of Amazon.com and a billionaire with a vision for the future, has been carrying out secret plans for space exploration for more than a decade. From his $25 billion net worth, Bezos has already invested many millions in a daring endeavor that has been named Blue Origin. His craft will take off from an experimental launch pad built (with FAA approval, of course) in a remote corner of West Texas.

In 2011, the company published footage showing a cone-shaped missile system prepared for testing. New Shepard. It takes off vertically to a height of one and a half hundred meters, hangs there for a while, and then smoothly falls to the ground with the help of a jet stream. According to the project, in the future, the launch vehicle will be able, after throwing the capsule to a suborbital altitude, independently return to the cosmodrome using its own engine. This is a much more economical scheme than catching the used stage in the ocean after splashdown.

After Internet entrepreneur Jeff Bezos founded his space company in 2000, he kept its very existence a secret for three years. The company launches its experimental vehicles (like the capsule pictured) from a private spaceport in West Texas.

The system consists of two parts.

Crew capsule that maintains normal Atmosphere pressure, separates from the carrier and flies to a height of 100 km. The main engine allows the rocket to make a vertical landing near the launch pad. The capsule itself is then returned to earth using a parachute.

The launch vehicle lifts the apparatus from the launch pad.

SpaceShipTwo - Pioneer in the travel business

• Type: air-launched spacecraft from carrier aircraft Created by: Virgin Galactic /
• Richard Branson
• Launch date: scheduled for 2014
• Purpose: suborbital flights
• Chances of success: very good

The first of the SpaceShipTwo vehicles during a test gliding flight. In the future, four more of the same apparatus will be built, which will begin to carry tourists. Already 600 people have signed up for the flight, including celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Ashton Kutcher and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Built by famed designer Burt Rutan in collaboration with tycoon Richard Branson, owner of the Virgin Group, the craft laid the foundation for the future of space tourism. Why not roll everyone into space? AT new version This device can accommodate six tourists and two pilots. The journey into space will consist of two parts. First, the WhiteKnightTwo aircraft tower (its length is 18 m, and its wingspan is 42) will lift the SpaceShipTwo apparatus to a height of 15 km.

Then the rocket will separate from the carrier aircraft, start its own engines and blast into space. At an altitude of 108 km, passengers will perfectly consider the curvature earth's surface, and the serene radiance of the earth's atmosphere - and all this against the backdrop of black cosmic depths. A ticket worth a quarter of a million dollars will allow travelers to enjoy weightlessness, but only for four minutes.

Inspiration Mars - Kiss over the Red Planet

• Type: interplanetary transport Creator: Inspiration Mars Foundation / Dennis Tito
• Launch date: 2018
• Destination: flight to Mars
• Chances of success: doubtful

Honeymoon (one and a half years long) in an interplanetary expedition? The Inspiration Mars fund, run by former NASA engineer, investment specialist and first space tourist Dennis Tito, wants to offer this opportunity to a select couple. Tito's group expects to take advantage of the alignment of the planets that will occur in 2018 (this happens once every 15 years). "Parade" will allow flying from Earth to Mars and returning along a free return trajectory, that is, without burning additional fuel. Next year, Inspiration Mars will begin accepting applications for a 501-day expedition.

The ship will have to fly at a distance of 150 km from the surface of Mars. To participate in the flight, it is supposed to choose a married couple - possibly newlyweds (an important question psychological compatibility). “The Inspiration Mars Foundation estimates that it will need to raise $1-2 billion. We are laying the foundation for things that previously seemed simply unthinkable, such as, say, flying to other planets,” says Marco Cáceres, head of space research from Teal Group.

• Type: space plane capable of taking off on its own Creator: XCOR Aerospace
• Planned launch date: 2014
• Purpose: suborbital flights
• Chances of success: quite good

California-based XCOR Aerospace (headquartered in Mojave) believes they hold the key to the cheapest suborbital flights. The company is already selling tickets for its 9-metre Lynx, which seats just two passengers. Tickets cost $95,000.

Unlike other space planes and passenger capsules, the Lynx does not need a booster to go into space. By launching jet engines specially designed for this project (they will burn kerosene with liquid oxygen), Lynx will take off from the runway in a horizontal direction, as an ordinary aircraft does, and, only after accelerating, will soar steeply along its space trajectory. The first test flight of the device may take place in the coming months.

Takeoff: The space plane accelerates along the runway.

Climb: After reaching Mach 2.9, it climbs steeply.

Target: Approximately 3 minutes after takeoff, the engines shut down. The aircraft follows a parabolic trajectory as it flies through suborbital space.

Return to the dense layers of the atmosphere and landing.

The device gradually slows down, cutting circles in a downward spiral.

Orion - Passenger capsule for a large company

• Type: manned spacecraft for interstellar travel
• Creator: NASA / US Congress
• Launch Date: 2021-2025

NASA has already conceded flights to near-Earth orbit without regret to private companies, but the agency has not yet abandoned its claims to deep space. To the planets and asteroids, it is possible that a multi-purpose aircraft will fly habitable vehicle Orion. It will consist of a capsule docked with a module, which, in turn, will contain a power plant with a supply of fuel, as well as a living compartment. The first test flight of the capsule will take place in 2014. It will be launched into space by a 70-meter long Delta launch vehicle. Then the capsule must return to the atmosphere and land in the waters of the Pacific Ocean.

For long-distance expeditions, for which Orion is being prepared, a new rocket will apparently also be built. NASA's Huntsville, Alabama facilities are already working on a new 98-meter Space Launch System rocket. This super-heavy vehicle should be ready by the time (and if) NASA astronauts are going to fly to the Moon, to some asteroid, or even further. "We're increasingly thinking about Mars," says Dan Dumbacher, director of NASA's Exploratory Systems Engineering Division, "as our main goal." True, some critics say that such claims are somewhat excessive. The projected system is so huge that NASA will be able to use it no more than once every two years, since one launch will cost $6 billion.

When will man set foot on an asteroid?

In 2025, NASA plans to send astronauts in the Orion spacecraft to one of the asteroids located near the Earth - 1999AO10. The journey should take five months.

Launch: An Orion with a crew of four will take off from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Flight: After five days of flight, Orion, using the force of gravity of the Moon, will make a turn around it and head for 1999AO10.

Meeting: astronauts will fly to the asteroid two months after launch. They will spend two weeks on its surface, but there is no talk of a real landing, since this space rock has too little gravity. Rather, crew members would simply attach their ship to the asteroid's surface and collect mineral samples.

Return: Since the asteroid 1999AO10 has been gradually approaching Earth all this time, the return trip will be a little shorter. Once in Earth orbit, the capsule will separate from the ship and splash down in the ocean.

I prepared a short article for the Popular Mechanics magazine - a forecast for the development of astronautics. The material "5 Scenarios for the Future" (No. 4, 2016) included only a small part of the article - just one paragraph :) I am publishing the full version!

Part One: Near Future - 2020-2030

At the start of the new decade, humans will return to lunar space as part of NASA's Flexible Path program. The new American super-heavy rocket Space Launch System (SLS), the first launch of which is scheduled for 2018, will help with this. The payload is 70 tons at the first stage, up to 130 tons at the next ones. Let me remind you that the Russian Proton has a payload of only 22 tons, the new Angara-A5 has about 24 tons. The state-owned Orion spacecraft is also being built in the United States.

SLS
Source: NASA

American private traders will ensure the delivery of astronauts and cargo to the ISS. Initially, two ships - Dragon V2 and CST-100, then others will catch up (possibly winged - for example, Dream Chaser, not only in cargo, but also in passenger version).

The ISS will be operated at least until 2024 (possibly longer, especially the Russian segment).

Then NASA will announce a competition for a new near-Earth base, in which Bigelow Aerospace will probably win with a project for a station with inflatable modules.

By the end of the 2020s, it is possible to predict the presence in orbit of several private manned orbital stations for various purposes (from tourism to the orbital assembly of satellites).

With the use of a heavy rocket (with a carrying capacity of a little more than 50 tons, sometimes classified as super-heavy) Falcon Heavy and Dragon V2, made by Elon Musk, tourist flights to orbit around the Moon are quite likely - not just a flyby, but namely work in a lunar orbit - closer to the mid 2020s.

Also, closer to the mid-late 2020s, a competition from NASA is likely to create a lunar transport infrastructure (private expeditions and a private lunar base). According to recent estimates, private traders will need about $ 10 billion in government funding to return to the moon in the foreseeable (less than 10 years) time.

Moon base layout private company Bigelow Aerospace
Source: Bigelow Aerospace

Thus, the "Flexible Path" leads NASA to Mars (an expedition to Phobos - in the early 30s, to the surface of Mars - only in the 40s, if there is no powerful accelerating impulse from society), and low Earth orbit and even the Moon will be given private business.

In addition, new telescopes will be put into operation, which will make it possible not only to find tens of thousands of exoplanets, but also to measure the spectra of the atmospheres of the nearest of them by direct observation. I would venture to suggest that before the year 30, evidence of the existence of extraterrestrial life will be obtained (oxygen atmosphere, IR signatures of vegetation, etc.), and the question of the Great Filter and the Fermi paradox will again arise.

There will be new flights of probes to asteroids, gas giants (to Jupiter's moon Europa, to Saturn's moons Titan and Enceladus, as well as to Uranus or Neptune), the first private interplanetary probes will appear (Moon, Venus, possibly Mars with asteroids).

Talk about resource extraction on astroids until the 30th year will remain talk. Unless private traders will conduct small technological experiments together with state agencies.

Tourist suborbital systems will begin to fly massively - hundreds of people will visit the edge of space.

China will build its multi-module orbital station in the early 1920s, and by the middle to the end of the decade, it will carry out a manned flight around the moon. It will also launch many interplanetary probes (for example, the Chinese rover), but will not come out on top in astronautics. Although it will be on the third or fourth - right behind the United States and large private traders.

Russia, at best, will preserve the "pragmatic space" - communications, navigation, remote sensing of the Earth, as well as the Soviet legacy in manned space exploration. Cosmonauts on Soyuz will fly to the Russian segment of the ISS, and after the US withdraws from the project, the Russian segment will probably form a separate station - much smaller than the Soviet Mir and even smaller than the Chinese station. But this is enough to save the industry. Even in terms of launch vehicles, Russia will fall back to 3-4 place. But this will be enough to carry out tasks of national economic importance. In a bad scenario, after the completion of the operation of the ISS, the manned direction in cosmonautics in Russia will be completely closed, and in the most optimistic scenario, it will be announced lunar program with real (and not in the mid-2030s) deadlines and clear control, which will allow landings on the moon in the mid-2020s. But such a scenario, alas, is unlikely.

New countries will join the club of space powers, including several countries with manned programs - India, Iran, even North Korea. And this is not to mention private firms: by the end of the decade there will be many manned orbital private vehicles - but hardly more than a dozen.

Lots of small firms will create its own ultralight and light rockets. Moreover, some of them will gradually increase the payload - and go into the middle and even heavy classes.

Fundamentally new launch vehicles will not appear, people will fly on rockets, but the reusability of the first stages or the rescue of engines will become the norm. Probably, experiments will be carried out with aerospace reusable systems, new fuels, structures. It is possible that by the end of the 20s a single-stage reusable carrier will be built and will begin to fly.

Part Two: Mankind's Transformation into a Space Civilization - 2030 to late XXI century

There are many bases on the Moon, both public and private. The natural satellite of the Earth is used as a resource base (energy, ice, various components of regolith), an experimental and scientific testing ground where space technologies for long-range flights are tested, infrared telescopes are placed in shaded craters, and radio telescopes are located on the reverse side.

The moon is included in the earth's economy - the energy of lunar power plants (fields solar panels and solar concentrators built from local resources) is transmitted both to space tugs in near-Earth space and to Earth. The problem of delivery of matter from the surface of the Moon to low Earth orbit (braking in the atmosphere and capture) has been solved. Lunar hydrogen and oxygen are used in lunar and near-Earth gas stations. Of course, all these are only the first experiments, but private firms are already making fortunes on them. Helium-3 has so far been mined only in small quantities for experiments related to fusion rocket engines.

On Mars - a scientific station-colony. A joint project of "private traders" (mainly Elon Musk) and states (mainly the United States). People have the opportunity to return to Earth, but many fly away to new world forever and ever. The first experiments on the possible terraforming of the planet. On Phobos - a transshipment base for heavy interplanetary spacecraft.

martian base
Source: Bryan Versteeg

Throughout the solar system, there are many probes, the purpose of which is to prepare for development, to search for resources. Flights of high-speed devices with nuclear power propulsion systems into the Kuiper belt to the recently discovered gas giant - the ninth planet. Rovers on Mercury, balloon, floating, flying probes on Venus, the study of satellites of giant planets (for example, submarines in the seas of Titan).

Distributed networks of space telescopes make it possible to capture exoplanets by direct observation and even map (very low resolution) planets around nearby stars. Large automatic observatories have been sent into the focus of the Sun's gravitational lens.

Single-stage reusable launch vehicles have been deployed and are operating, non-rocket methods of delivering cargo are actively used on the Moon - mechanical and electromagnetic catapults.

There are many tourist space stations flying. There are several stations - scientific institutes with artificial gravity (torus station).

Heavy manned interplanetary spacecraft not only reached Mars and ensured the deployment of a colony base on the Red Planet, but are also actively exploring the asteroid belt. Many expeditions have been sent to near-Earth asteroids, an expedition to the orbit of Venus has been carried out. Preparations have begun for the deployment of research bases around the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn. Perhaps the giant planets will be the target of the first test flight of an interplanetary vehicle with a thermonuclear engine with magnetic plasma confinement.

Launching a weather balloon on Titan