FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1990
1990 - 3620.PDF
The Soviet Mir space station is going to remain operational for much longer than first planned, stretching its resources andflexihility, reports Tim Furniss. M ir will not be complete and fully operational until early 1992, over two years later than planned when the first compo nent was launched in February 1986. When Mir is fully operational, however, it will be the heaviest assembly in space — about 135t heavier than US Space Station Skylab, orbited in 1973 and abandoned in 1974. NASA must wish it had followed the Soviet style instead of pushing for Shuttle and the Freedom Space Station. Had it used existing technology in the 1970s, kept the Apollo in production and Skylab aloft, the USA could have been almost ten years ahead in the space-station stakes instead of ten years behind. As it is, the technologi cally superior and more sophisticated Free dom is struggling for survival and a first component launch is not expected until 1996 at the earliest. The completed station is not expected to be operational until 2000. Mir is not without its problems, however. When the core module was launched in 1986, it was billed as the "beginning of the transition from research and experiments to large scale activities in space". Four large add-on modules as big as the 20t core itself would be added, and the whole assembly would be operational by 1990. By April 1989, Mir had only a small rear-mounted lit module, Kvant 1, at tached, and others were delayed because of technical problems. It also became clear that the cost of operating Mir was far greater than predicted. Two more modules, Kvant 2 and Kristall, have now docked at the five-port docking pod at the front of the core module. Two more, codenamed Spektr "O" for optical and Priroda "E" for ecological, will be launched in 1991 and early 1992, although delays are likely to result if the Government makes budget cuts. Like Kristall, which is being used for large-scale production of ultra-pure semiconductor materials, such as gallium arsenide crystals, the O and E modules will contribute to the Soviet econ omy by conducting enhanced remote- sensing surveys. Profits generated could total $630 million, the Soviets claim, and the planned Medilab research module has been ousted by one of these revenue- generating remote-sensing modules. JUSTIFY RETURN The Soviet manned spaceflight programme is being called on to justify its return on investment from Mir, and this will dictate future activities. Budgetary restraints look certain to delay, or even cancel, the follow- on Mir 2 Cosmograd space station. This modular station was to have been Priroda 'E' module based around a lOOt core module, with three additional lOOt modules launched on the Energia heavylift booster. The Soviet launcher — and its much vaunted space shuttle payload Buran — is under threat from budget cuts too. Even if Mir 2 gets the go-ahead, it will be pushed into the future as far as possible while efforts are made to extend the lifetime of Mir 1. The Soviets have plans for several significant space ma noeuvres to increase Mir's effectiveness and lifetime. As the station grows it re quires more support, and as it ages, it will expend more re sources. The pro gramme includes re pair of a faulty air lock hatch which could severely re strict further extrave hicular activity (EVA). This was scheduled for No vember. Solar panels de ployed from the Kris tall module, which are often eclipsed by the Mir core mod ule's panels, will be folded up and transferred to the Kvant 1 module, requiring up to eight EVAs by the Soyuz TM crew early next year. Recabling and redistributing power inside the station will increase electrical efficiency, and a new method of rapidly returning samples to Earth is to be introduced. Under consideration is the docking of O and E modules on Kvant 1, giving the station an H shape and thus improving stability and gravity gradient. If all the 22t modules are at one end of the Mir core, it would point towards Earth constantly, re quiring extensive manoeuvring to redirect instruments. Overuse of thrusters to reposi tion instruments has been spared to some degree already, by mounting gyrodynes (momentum wheels) on Mir's exterior. The present Soyuz TM10 crew's main job MIR Airlock [MUffltm1 Docking port for Buran THE MIR was to operate the Kristall space processing factory and the Kvant 1 astrophysics mod ule, and to repair the faulty EVA airlock hatch. They were also to prepare the outside of Mir for the Kristall solar panel transfer next year, probably by installing handrails and other aids to mobility. Mir has been suffering from over production to such an extent that there is now a bottleneck of materials processing samples, left behind when crews returned Soyuz TMs to Earth, and the third spare seat is already full with equipment and: materials. Several future missions will have a guest cosmonaut occupying the third seat, so when the unmanned Progress M space tanker leaves Mir for its re-entry, it will deploy a small, cone-shaped recoverable, capsule. Protected by a heatshield, the 28 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 5-11 December, 1990
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
