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Aviation History
1987
1987 - 2182.PDF
IAF REPORT will require the erection of further solar panels. Training for such an operation is under way at Star Crfy. The remote-sensing module is equipped with a large airlock that will be needed by French astronaut Jean Loup Chretien when he performs his spacewalk to erect space structures. His mission to Mir may therefore be delayed from November 1988 to early 1989. The third science module, dedicated to materials processing experiments, may be launched in 1989, followed by a life science and "technology" module in 1990-91. The completed 120-tonne Mir complex is expected to be fully oper ational around 1992-94. Some modules will be based on the Kvant astrophysics laboratory now attached to Mir. Their propulsion units will be jettisoned and destroyed on re-entry, although Kvant's unit was placed in storage orbit because, after two docking attempts, it did not have enough propellant left for a controlled re-entry. Other modules may be based on Heavy Cosmos spacecraft with propulsion units still attached. Latest Soviet illustrations show Mir with two Kvant-type and two Heavy Cosmos-type modules attached. The Soviets are calling for international co-operation on the Mir 2 space station to be launched after 1992. This would comprise a 100-tonne core vehicle launched by Energia heavylift booster. Modules weighing 20 tonnes would be launched by Proton. The station would act as an outpost for manned flights to the Moon and Mars. • Cosmonaut Yuri Roma- nenko might not achieve his target of 300 days on board Mir. He is reported to be getting rather tired and his working day has been reduced from 8hr to 5hr. The Soviets are monitoring his health closely and if necessary will terminate the Soyuz TM3 mission before December. Romanenko and colleague Alexander Alexandrov will be replaced on board Mir by the Soyuz TM4 crew of com mander Vladimir Titov, flight engineer Alexander Serebov, and medical doctor Poliatkov. The crew is to attempt a year long spaceflight. BAe's Multirole Capsule could fly on Ariane 4 in 1992 BAe proposes manned capsule British Aerospace has unveiled a low-cost alterna tive to the European Hermes spaceplane. BAe's Multirole Capsule could provide Europe with an independent manned pres ence in space before Nasa's Space Station becomes operational in 1996 and before the first Hermes flies in 1997. Weighing 7 tonnes in orbit, the 4m-diameter capsule would carry a crew of four—six if it was being used as a Space Station emergency crew rescue vehicle. The manned capsule would have a payload of 500kg, increasing to 1,500kg if the vehicle is unmanned. The capsule could fly unmanned as early as 1992, as a recov erable microgravity labora tory, says BAe. Ariane 4 or a similar US launcher could be used. Ariane 4 would need to be modified to carry the capsule, BAe admits, including provid ing an escape rocket for the manned version. Multirole could be used for missions lasting up to five days, with a one-day contingency. Attached to the Space Station the capsule could remain in orbit for two years. The vehicle would make an Apollo-type semi- ballistic re-entry to a para chute splashdown at sea. BAe hopes that the need shared by Nasa and the Euro pean Space Agency for a Space Station crew rescue vehicle will provide the springboard for Multirole. The company is expected to respond to Nasa's delayed request for proposals for preliminary design studies of such a vehicle. Nasa plans to award three $10 million study contracts. Two rescue capsules would be attached to the Station and the vehicle would fulfil other missions from spacewalk rescue to food delivery to the Station. Because it could provide Europe with a cost-effective means of servicing man- tended space platforms, Multirole is clearly seen as a competitor for the much more ambitious Hermes space- plane. Multirole will be discussed at the November 9-10 ESA council meeting which is expected to approve development of the Hermes spaceplane. Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin believes Multirole could prove a useful bargaining chip for ESA in its Space Station negotiations with Nasa. By offering to provide the crew rescue vehi cle and making some conces sions to Nasa's other demands, ESA could make progress towards the auton omy in space it seeks, he believes. Britain could lose "unique" Hotol Britain has a lead in the devel opment of single-stage-to- orbit spaceplanes which it will lose if the UK Government does not fund continued work by British Aerospace and Rolls-Royce on the Hotol launch vehicle. So says Alan Bond, origina tor of Hotol's "unique" airbreathing propulsion concept. If the UK Govern ment and industry will not fund continued Hotol studies, Bond says he will take his ideas abroad. Bond wants to see the present proof-of-concept phase "sensibly completed", leading to an enabling tech nology programme that would address critical areas such as materials. This would last up to 2 \ years, and-cost a "few tens of millions", says Bond. At the same time he wants to see Britain embark on sensible international discus sions that would lead to Hotol's adoption as a Euro pean programme in the early 1990s. Bond feels "very bitter" that the UK Government withdrew funding before the Hotol PoC phase was even complete. BAe and R-R have bailed out the programme with company funds, but both are answerable to share holders and Bond is concerned that, without Government support, they will cease backing Hotol. "If we don't do it the rest of the world will," he says. As a result of a "very large" experi mental programme, both Rolls-Royce and Bond are convinced the RB.545 Hotol engine will work as predicted. "If I left, the Rolls effort would stop," claims Bond, whose two-year consultancy contract with the company runs until April 1988. If Britain will not back the project Bond will take his ideas first to France, then Germany, and eventually to the USA. The engine design remains highly classified, however: "Let the British Government worry about that," he challenged. :I6 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 24 October 1987
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