Glonass-K 703 is slowly moving towards slot 8. (it is also listed on the position)
On slot 8 is Glonass-M 743, launch in November 2011, was first on slot 2 as a reserve and moved to slot 8,
after another Glonass-M broke. that's another story
Glonass-M 743 still works well as far as I can tell from the outside. There are certainly worse in the group.
It doesn't look to me that Glonass 703 should go into operation in a certain time.
He will be tested for a long time, but is there any use? This satellite is unique.
Future Glonass-K2 will be built differently.
Can anyone tell me more about the decoration on the Soyuz 2.1b rocket? Unfortunately, you can not see much in the photos I have. Who is it on the poster?
Does anyone have a better photo?
SMERSH was a Soviet military counterintelligence organization during World War II.
From Wikipedia:
SMERSH (Russian: СМЕРШ) was an umbrella organization for three independent counter-intelligence agencies in the Red Army formed in late 1942 or even earlier, but officially announced only on 14 April 1943. The name SMERSH was coined by Joseph Stalin. The formal justification for its creation was to subvert the attempts by Nazi German forces to infiltrate the Red Army on the Eastern Front.[3][4]
The official statute of SMERSH listed the following tasks to be performed by the organisation: counter-intelligence, counter-terrorism, preventing any other activity of foreign intelligence in the Red Army; fighting "anti-Soviet elements" in the Red Army; protection of the front lines against penetration by spies and "anti-Soviet elements"; investigating traitors, deserters, and self-inflicted wounds in the Red Army; and checking military and civil personnel returning from captivity.
The organisation was officially in existence until 4 May 1946,[1][2] when its duties were transferred back to the MGB.[5] The head of the agency throughout its existence was Viktor Abakumov, who rose to become Minister of State Security in the postwar years.
Attached is a picture of Abakumov. Not sure though if that is the person seen on the rocket. He looks different. Also, from what I can see, the name under the portrait is not his.
Attached is a picture of Abakumov. Not sure though if that is the person seen on the rocket. He looks different. Also, from what I can see, the name under the portrait is not his.
Definitely it's not him, nor his name.
Military rank on the first line is probably "
полковник" (== colonel). If so, it is consistent with three stars on the shoulder straps.
The given name has four letters.
Иван, Петр, Юрий?
The patronym is long, like '
Владимирович'(?)
One possible guess is
Леонов Иван Яковлевич (Leonov Ivan Yakovlevich). He served on the Karelian front -- this area includes future Plesetsk site, so he may be considered a local veteran. But he
had a rank of captain during WWII.
Thank you very much for your efforts! That already helps me a little.
Finally I found this website.
Colonel Leonov, Ivan Nikolaevich, the first head of the Plesetsk Cosmodrome who went through the entire Great Patriotic War in the military counterintelligence agencies, including the legendary "SMERSH".
Nice catch indeed!
He had been the first
Head of Security/Counterintelligence of the cosmodrome.
No public photos in open sources. Single mention:
ranked captain in 1945, full text has been
removed from the open archive.