Rogozin Wants To Fix Roscosmos
Russian space leader issues decree against trash, “sloppy” work attitudes, Ars Technica
“Dmitry Rogozin is not having the best year. Earlier, he was essentially demoted from his position as deputy prime minister over defense and space to a position managing Roscosmos, the Russian space corporation. And since then he has had to grapple with a number of embarrassing spaceflight problems, including an errant drill hole in a Soyuz spacecraft and an emergency landing of another one after a rocket exploded mid-flight. But Rogozin is nothing if not a fighter, and he now appears to be taking steps to address the deteriorating situation at Roscosmos – and the Russian aerospace companies that build rockets and spacecraft for the country.”
So to improve morale they will have the Scientists, and Engineers do repairs and so on. How exactly will that improve morale?
A: to improve morale at Roscosmos , remember it means dealing with Russians. So the choices are to provide either more money , or more vodka.
I’m sorry, but spare us the vodka jokes.
It comes down to lousy pay and work conditions for the staff and corruption corruption corruption at the top. A fish rots from the head, and Russia is no different. The funds aren’t available to properly support the workers and facilities because they’re being syphoned off all along the line.
I agree. From what I understand, people who work for Roscosmos are already underpaid. There have been times in the past when their pay was delayed for months. Morale has to be terrible already. Asking everyone to clean up garbage and fix leaking roofs (not exactly in their job descriptions), won’t likely help.
There is an old Russian joke that is appropriate here, “So long as the bosses pretend to pay us, we will pretend to work.”
Around the time the Soviet Union ceased to exist, there were some protests over pay (or, more properly, monthly pay checks which only showed up two or three times a year), including one at launch control for a commercial launch televised in Europe. One of the slogans was “Cosmic Work for Comic Wages.” I thought things had gotten better. I guess they’ve gone back down hill.
Rogozin is correct. This looks like an agency in decline due to lack of funds. The upcoming industry growth had better bring them some better times or they might not be available to participate.
According to the story, he also expects the companies and institutions which support Roscosmos to clean up their act without additional funding. If the problem is poor management (or, in some cases, apparently actual embezzlement), then his approach might work. If the problem is really a lack of adequate funding, this isn’t going to work.
The story also said that, on visits to some facilities, Mr. Rogozin “was diverted from his planned routes along company facades.” That sounds like Potemkin villages, which is definitely not a good sign.
At the same time, the story made me look up Mr. Rogozin’s background. It’s basically all defense complex management and politics, which may or may not be a good thing. There have been discussions of the NASA’s Administrator’s qualifications, and the value of management and political skills over technical ones at this level. But Mr. Rogozin does seem pretty heavy handed, more interested in his career than the organizations he’s managed, and doesn’t exactly to win any points for charm.
I came across an interesting quote in relation to an earlier NASA Watch report about him (about waiving sanctions so he can enter the US on Roscosmos/NASA business.) After being banned from entering the US, Canada and the European Union over the whole Crimea and Ukraine business, he was quoted as saying, “tanks don’t need visas.”
Ha. What an ass.
I don’t see a trampoline comment in here yet. I think we need one in every story that references Rogozin because he will eat those words soon enough.
We should name the first Starliner or Crew Dragon 2 that docks to the ISS “Trampoline” (as I think has probably already been suggested).