[UPD] Cosmonautics News Magazine may close

    A Russian magazine devoted exclusively to astronautics may close in the near future.

    The periodical journal " Cosmonautics News " about events in the domestic and foreign cosmonautics has been published in Moscow since August 1991. According to a number of Russian and foreign experts, "Cosmonautics News" is the "best space magazine in the world" (Wikipedia)
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    Today, on his Facebook page, the editor of the Cosmonautics News magazine, Alexander Ilyin, wrote the following:
    Attention! The situation with the journal "Cosmonautics News" is mortally dangerous - 70,000 rubles remain on the account, and the next (May) issue costs over 200,000.
    The editorial board simply does not have money to issue the journal. Need urgent help!
    Those who wish to help can buy the “Cosmonautics News” numbers in electronic form - this is easy (write to Oleg - shin (at) novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru) - novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/news/25766
    You can pay by my paypal - email - linlin82 ( at) yandex.ru - $ 4 per number.
    It will be possible to print the May issue if 1000 people buy one magazine in electronic form, or 250 people buy all the issues for this year (January, February, March, April).
    The fate of the "Cosmonautics News" is being decided now - you need to reach the state. support. There is hope that support will nevertheless be provided after the end of the reform of the Russian Space Agency (somewhere closer to the fall).


    [UPD] Answers to questions in the comments of the editor of NK Alexander Ilyin
    Alexander Ilyin

    First - again - thanks to everyone!
    We collected about 50,000 rubles - about 1/3 of the amount necessary for printing the May number.

    I will answer questions:

    1) “What kind of magazine is this?”

    “Cosmonautics News” - and the magazine and forum are an era, a phenomenon, a brand. I read the magazine from the age of 12 - from the first half of the 90s. I can’t imagine how it can be argued that you are interested in astronautics and not read NK. The magazine team has released some great books. With the participation of the editors, Kamanin's diaries were published. And the "World Manned Space"? Name the book better. Where else can you read about all shuttle flights, for example?

    NK subscription is a real encyclopedia of world cosmonautics - a detailed description of all launches (no more anywhere!), Chronicle of work on the ISS, interplanetary spacecraft - nowhere in the world is there a magazine with so much information about space affairs.

    And the team is unique, people have been working for 20 years. Just fantastic - I read their articles in childhood - and now these are my colleagues. Igor Afanasyev (yes — yes, he wrote the classic “Unknown Ships” and other well-known books), Igor Lisov (a brilliant editor, translator of many popular science books - you cannot trust anyone — only Lisov).

    What about the forum? There Stary talks about NNiNSh, there SerB (Sergey Burkatovsky - look in the wiki) laid out his project for the lunar expedition. Yes, industry institutes go to the NK forum for inspiration!

    In general - I completely agree with this article - trv-science.ru/luchshee-chto-est-v-kosmonavtike

    2) “Why do I need a paper version?”

    - The fact is that “serious people” perceive the Internet (and electronic versions) - like fun for schoolchildren - "some young people are sitting there at computers." Potential advertisers want the magazine to hit the tables just for “serious people.” The perception of the Internet is changing, but not as fast as we would like.
    - For many subscribers it is more pleasant and convenient to read the magazine on paper. Still, the tablet is smaller in format than the magazine. I tried to read both on a tablet and in paper form - I like the second option more (despite the fact that I have been reading books almost exclusively in electronic form for 12 years now). By the way - many subscribers are people from the industry - at the age - which means, again - they don’t know any Internet.

    3) “Why such an inconvenient payment system?”

    The editors now do not have normal admins - the old ones are left from some sponsor - but they really can’t even support the site. How to withdraw money from payment systems? Who will connect them? As an accountant, this will lead all and where to get an accountant who understands this? The editor-in-chief generally wants to abandon the electronic version, since it brings little money. He is against all these innovations - before, they were not needed.

    4) “Collect money by crowdfunding, make a normal payment and there will be enough money, etc.”

    For the existence of the magazine, you need 1,400,000 rubles per month (salaries, printing, other needs) - it used to go 1,600,000 - 1,800,000 - but found ways to save. Let me remind you - now, thanks to absolutely fantastic advertising - we have scored 50 000 rubles per day and the pace has sharply decreased. Perhaps if you connect all payment methods and try to advertise the magazine (and free advertising is more an exception than a rule), you can collect 200-300 thousand a month (at best) - this is only 1/5 of the required amount.
    Crowdfunding for “space” projects in Russia brings at best hundreds of thousands - not even enough for a month!

    5) “If there is still not enough money, why is this all?”

    The magazine has always lived off the support of good people. There was no direct support for the industry - but there were good people among the leaders. A year and a half ago, the situation changed. Now there is more definite hope (promise) from the OCCC. However, the OCRC cannot manage the funds directly until it becomes the state corporation Roscosmos. They can only give orders to enterprises - post paid articles. Enterprises, however, are doing their best to delay this. In general, the main thing now is to reach the end of the reform. And there - either state support or failure.
    Editorial staff no longer receives salaries. About fees (most of the income of employees is just the fee) and I do not say. The magazine does not pay for rent - there were good people - they sheltered. Computers are left over from old sponsors. But you need to print a magazine - and they won’t print it for free. Therefore, if you manage to find money for printing at least a few months somewhere, you have a chance to survive until the reforms are over.

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