The Salyut Space Stations

In 1969, with the impending loss of the moon race already apparent, the Soviets announced that they planned to launch and man an Earth-orbiting space station (see Soyuz 4 and 5). The idea of a space station had existed in the USSR since the mid-60's, but with the expense of the moon race, it was infeasible.

In preparation for the long-duration missions necessary for a space station, longer duration Soyuz flights were scheduled. The first of these were Soyuz 6, 7, and 8 launched on consecutive days in October '69. In all, seven cosmonauts were in orbit at one time, a space first.

I seemed obvious that the goal of this mission (besides the earth, space, and material sciences programs that were conducted) would be a docking of two of the craft, but this did not happen. It is suspected that the Soviet's lied about the docking failure.

After the successful return of the three crews, it was officially announced that the Soviets would construct an earth-orbiting space station, the first of these would be called the Salyut .

The next mission, Soyuz 9, would perform a long-duration flight. After twelve days in orbit, the cosmonauts already were showing signs of fatigue. It was decided that they should return, and after 285 orbits, and 17.6 days, the cosmonauts returned. It took a full month for the two cosmonauts to regain their health. Obviously, additional measures were needed if a more permanent presence in space was to occur.

The first real space station, Salyut 1 was launched on 4/19/71. The Salyut was composed of four modules, with a total length of 48 ft! The four modules were the transfer module (where the docking mechanism was located, as well as the telescope and biology experiments).

The next component was the "work module", containing the communications, power supply and life support systems. The next module housed the "scientific instrument bay", where various medical and biological experiments were located. The final component was the propulsion module. This module contained the various maneuvering rockets and where the solar panels used to generate electricity were attached.

Soyuz 10 was to be the first attempt to put a crew aboard Salyut 1 (4/24/71), but when a docking mechanism failed, the mission was aborted. After some re-engineering, Soyuz 11 was launched five weeks later (6/6/71) and successfully docked with Salyut 1.

After setting an endurance record, Soyuz 11 departed from the Salyut after spending 23 successful days aboard. Unfortunately, on their reentry, an exhaust valve failed, the reentry capsule depressurized, and the (3) cosmonauts were suffocated. This was a real blow, since the cosmonauts on this mission had become well known throughout the country due to their almost daily broadcasts.

After this tragedy, the Soyuz was again redesigned, and now the cosmonauts would wear space suits during the critical periods of launch, docking and reentry. This meant, however, that only two cosmonauts could fit within the Soyuz.

Salyut 1 reentered the atmosphere in October of '71, six months after it was launched. The next attempt, Salyut 2-1, failed due to a booster problem. Salyut 2 successfully made it to orbit, but an onboard fire burned a hole in the side, and the modules were depressurized. The next attempt, Cosmos 557, also failed when its orientation thrusters got stuck on. So far, three Salyuts had failed, and the only successful one ended with the deaths of three cosmonauts! Attaining a presence in space was proving to be difficult.

The redesigned Soyuz was first flown in June of '73. Soyuz 12 tested the hardware, and was a complete success. Six months later, Soyuz 13 went up to continue tests, but also performed some scientific experiments. Confidence in the hardware was growing.

On June 25, 1974, the Soviets had finally gotten a Salyut in working condition to orbit. Once Salyut 3 was in orbit, Soyuz 14 was launched and its two man crew docked and went aboard. They spent 15 days on Salyut 3. Soyuz 14 was a mostly military mission, so details are scanty, but some science observations were made. Soyuz 15 was meant to also man Salyut 3, but the automatic docking system failed, and the mission was aborted. Salyut 3 was never manned again, and reentered the atmosphere in January of '75.

Salyut 4 followed in December of 74 (tried to upstage Skylab which was launched 3 days later). It was a slight redesign of the space station, including an additional solar panel for extra electricity generation. Its mission was purely scientific, and returned astronomical data from the x-ray and infrared telescopes. Soyuz 17 was the mission which manned Salyut 4.

Soyuz 18-1 was suppose to dock and man Salyut 4, but a booster failure occurred, and the mission was aborted before reaching orbit. The reentry was terrifying. The cosmonauts suffered 20g's on reentry, causing them to blackout. Their reentry module landed on a steep hillside and started rolling down the mountain. Fortunately, their parachute caught on a tree, and stopped them before they rolled over a cliff, a fall that would certainly have killed them. They were rescued by some villagers who saw the parachutes of the reentry module.

Soyuz 18 lifted off a few months later, and the crew docked with Salyut 4, and stayed aboard for 63 days! By the end of this mission, the life-support system began to fail, and the space station's interior was growing mold.

To increase the duration of any space station, it must be resupplied. To do this, the Soviets altered the Soyuz into a cargo vessel called the "Progress" . Unmanned, automated docking was successfully tested with two more missions.

Salyut 5 was the last of the first generation of Soviet space stations (though additional craft named "Salyuts" would continued to be launched in the following decade). It was manned for 48 days by the Soyuz 21 crew. The next flight, that of Soyuz 23 was a failure (with the lake landing!). Soyuz 24 made it to Salyut 5, and spent 18 days there. This was the last mission that made use of the Salyut space station.