Aerospace Science Week starts at MAI

On November 20, 2018, the V International Week of Aerospace Technology “Aerospace Science Week” was launched at the Culture Palace of Moscow Aviation Institute (National Research University).

The V International Week of Aerospace Technology “Aerospace Science Week” (ASW) began with a plenary discussion on “Aerospace Technologies to ensure the Coherence of territory of the Russian Federation”, with the participation of Rector of Moscow Aviation Institute and the Head of the Council on Priority of Russian Scientific and Technological Development , Academician of Russian Academy of Sciences Mikhail Pogosian; First Deputy General Designer at RSC “Energia” Vladimir Solovyov; General Director of JSC “Aerocomposit” Anatoly Gaydansky; Deputy Director of the Space Research Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences Yevgeny Lupian.

In the opening report, Mikhail Pogosian spoke about the scientific tasks to ensure the coherence of the territory of the Russian Federation, aimed at ensuring the mobility of the population and the availability of social services, as well as about the priorities of the development of aviation science in the context of solving these problems. In addition, Rector of MAI spoke about how the educational and scientific process at the university is being built today in order to meet global challenges.

“MAI adapts educational programs for prospective requirements, today we are training personnel for new services, new products and new technologies”, - said Mikhail Pogosian – “Learning is becoming more and more personalized: a modern training system allows to create individual educational pathways for students.”

Rector of MAI also noted that one of the main tasks of today's world is integrated problem solving. “The XXI century is the century of integrators, and our event is aimed at combining efforts for solving the problems which will ensure the coherence of the territory,” - said Mikhail Pogosian.

The role of space and astronautics

The report of the First Deputy General Designer of the RSC “Energia”, astronaut-pilot Vladimir Solovyov was devoted to priority - Scientific and technical tasks in the field of the development and effective use of outer space. In his speech, Vladimir Solovyov drew the attention to the role that space navigation and remote sensing of the Earth play in ensuring the coherence of the territory.

The key development trends of the industry today in the words of Mr. Solovyov are:  the increase in the number of spacecraft, the creation of multi-satellite systems in low orbits and the expansion of the range of space research.

“Astronautics is very important to ensure the coherence of territory. There are three global directions: improving life on Earth, mastering new technologies and searching for any form of life outside the planet Earth,” - the speaker said in conclusion.

Change of approach to design

Anatoly Gaydansky, General Director of JSC “Aerocomposit”, told the audience about the use of composite materials in the creation of aircraft.

“Our main projects today are MS-21 and CR929 — where the use of composite materials is a key aspect,” - said Anatoly Gaydansky.

Mr. Gaydansky noted that in the coming years there will be a change in the approach to design: “In the transition to anisotropic materials, such as composite, we can change the design approach and use composites to endow structures with different strength characteristics in different zones. In future aircraft and drones, the use of composites will be a key factor that now makes it possible to realize a revolutionary leap. Anyone who learns to use the best properties of composites and is able to create effective structures will receive a huge advantage”.

There is no alternative to satellite monitoring, and in the near future there will be not

The report made by Evgeny Lupian, Deputy Director of the Space Research Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, was devoted to ensuring the information coherence of the territory of Russian Federation through the use of Earth remote sensing systems. “To govern a country, you need to know what is happening in the country. It is impossible to obtain homogenous operational information without a unified surveillance system,” – said Mr. Lupian. According to Evgeny Lupian, development of existing and creation of new specialized information systems will create a technological basis for receiving homogenous operational information throughout the country.

Interactive discussion of the conference speakers

At the end of the reports, participants in a free-communication format continued the dialogue on such relevant issues as solving the task set by the President of the Russian Federation to ensure Russia's entry into the top 5 largest economies of the world, adaptation of the country to international transport system and international cooperation in the area of coherence of territories. Also, all participants in the discussion talked about the areas of research which seems to be the most relevant and interesting to them personally today.

Participants of the ASW were also able to express their point of view

Viewers of the discussion were invited to participate in online voting, the results of which were available to watch in real time. Before the event, the guests answered the question of what task they consider to be key in the field of spatial development and “Coherence of the territories”? As a result, the most votes were cast for the option “Ensuring equal access to social services independently of residence place.”

At the end of the discussion, participants expressed their views on which areas need to be paid prior attention in the implementation of an integrated scientific and technological program "Coherence of Territory of Russian Federation". The most popular answers were “Intelligent transport systems for large agglomerations”, as well as “Transport forecasting and modeling”.

Also on November 20, 2018, within the framework of Aerospace Science Week, a presentation of the national project "Science" was held, the goal of which is to fulfill the tasks set by the President of Russia in a May decree. A presentation was made by Andrey Anikeev, Deputy Director of the Department of State Scientific, Technical and Innovation Policy of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.