Salyut ± the First Space Station Triumph and Tragedy Grujica S
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Salyut ± The First Space Station Triumph and Tragedy Grujica S. Ivanovich Salyut ± The First Space Station Triumph and Tragedy Published in association with Praxis Publishing Chichester, UK Grujica S. Ivanovich Principal Engineer Distribution Planning Ergon Energy Toowoomba Queensland Australia SPRINGER±PRAXIS BOOKS IN SPACE EXPLORATION SUBJECT ADVISORY EDITOR: John Mason B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. ISBN 978-0-387-73585-6 Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York Springer is a part of Springer Science + Business Media (springer.com) Library of Congress Control Number: 200794102 Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers. # Copyright, 2008 Praxis Publishing Ltd. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Cover design: Jim Wilkie Editor: David M. Harland Typesetting: BookEns Ltd, Royston, Herts., UK Printed in Germany on acid-free paper This book is dedicated to the heroic crew of the Soyuz 11 spacecraft Viktor I. Patsayev (1933±1971) Georgiy T. Dobrovolskiy (1928±1971) Vladislav N. Volkov (1935±1971) Viktor Patsayev, Georgiy Dobrovolskiy and Vladislav Volkov and to the thousands of designers, technicians and workers who participated in the development of the pioneering Salyut space station, and thereby in the beginning of a new era in the history of mankind. Contents List of Illustrations .............................................. xi Foreword ..................................................... xix Author's preface................................................ xiii Acknowledgements ............................................. xxvii 1 From Almaz to Salyut..........................................1 Early days ..................................................1 Chelomey and the Kremlin......................................5 Almaz.....................................................7 OKB-1's space stations ........................................11 The conspiracy ..............................................17 DOS is born ................................................24 2 DOS-1 crews ...............................................31 Star Town .................................................31 The first crews ..............................................33 Revised appointments.........................................36 The dismissal of Shonin .......................................41 3 Salyut in space ..............................................49 Final preparations ...........................................49 Space station launch..........................................50 Expert in space rendezvous.....................................61 ``Interesting things attract me'' ..................................68 Between space and bikes.......................................82 4 Drama of the Granites.........................................87 Into space..................................................87 Flight control ...............................................94 Ninety millimetres from Salyut ................................. 100 `Mom' doesn't release `dad' ................................... 104 viii Contents The night return ............................................ 106 ``Show me that designer'' ..................................... 111 5 Mutiny at the cosmodrome .................................... 113 Options .................................................. 113 Shading on the lung ......................................... 116 Mishin, Volkov and Leonov ................................... 124 Journalists and the new crew .................................. 128 6 Dobrovolskiy, Volkov and Patsayev .............................. 135 Between the sea and sky ...................................... 135 ``Space does not forgive mistakes'' .............................. 140 ``The universe was alive'' ..................................... 146 ``I would like so much to explore'' .............................. 158 7 Home in orbit .............................................. 173 Lift-off ................................................... 173 The first orbits ............................................. 179 ``The station is huge'' ........................................ 181 Space laboratory ........................................... 189 8 Science and conflicts ......................................... 197 Early days ................................................ 197 Medicine on Salyut.......................................... 197 Space astrophysics .......................................... 203 The first conflicts ........................................... 207 Notes from the station ....................................... 212 The next crews ............................................. 217 9 The fire................................................... 219 ``The curtain''.............................................. 219 ``The smoke isn't being produced any more'' ...................... 223 Space birthday ............................................. 228 One thousand orbits ......................................... 233 Tracking ships ............................................. 237 10 Drawing away from the station ................................. 239 Final days ................................................ 239 ``The green corner''.......................................... 240 ``Do not worry'' ............................................ 246 ``The hatch is not hermetically sealed!''........................... 256 11 Cosmonauts dead on landing ................................... 261 Soyuz landing operations ..................................... 261 The silence of the cosmonauts ................................. 268 Contents ix Code `111' ................................................ 272 ``Dobrovolskiy was still warm''................................. 276 ``It is intolerably painful!'' .................................... 278 12 Farewell .................................................. 281 The announcement .......................................... 281 The funeral................................................ 282 Western speculations ........................................ 294 13 Thirteen seconds to eternity .................................... 297 Commission ............................................... 297 Decompression ............................................. 297 The valve ................................................. 302 The agony ................................................ 304 Could the cosmonauts have survived?............................ 305 From Vera Patsayeva's notes .................................. 311 People and omissions ........................................ 316 14 The fall of the Chief Designer .................................. 325 Salyut's last days ........................................... 325 Lost at launch ............................................. 325 The Almaz-1 drama ......................................... 329 DOS-3: an improved station ................................... 332 The dismissal of Vasiliy Mishin ................................ 342 15 Memories ................................................. 351 Vasiliy Pavlovich Mishin ..................................... 351 Vladimir Nikolayevich Chelomey ............................... 355 Boris Yevseyevich Chertok .................................... 356 Boris Viktorovich Raushenbakh ................................ 357 Konstantin Petrovich Feoktistov ............................... 358 Yuriy Pavlovich Semyonov.................................... 360 Nikolay Petrovich Kamanin ................................... 362 Vladimir Aleksandrovich Shatalov .............................. 363 Aleksey Stanislavovich Yeliseyev ............................... 366 Nikolay Nikolayevich Rukavishnikov............................ 369 Aleksey Arkhipovich Leonov .................................. 372 Valeriy Nikolayevich Kubasov ................................. 376 Pyotr Ivanovich Kolodin ..................................... 378 Reminiscence and legacies .................................... 379 ZaryaandZvezda.......................................... 385 Glossary ..................................................... 391 Personnel..................................................... 395 Bibliography .................................................. 413 Index........................................................ 419 List of Illustrations Front cover A technically accurate painting by artists Andrey Sokolov and Aleksey Leonov of a Soyuz spacecraft about to dock with the Salyut space station. Rear cover The main picture shows cosmonauts Patsayev (left), Dobrovolskiy and Volkov. The top two pictures on the right show Dobrovolskiy (left) and Volkov on board the Salyut space station in space; the Soyuz 11 descent module immediately following its landing; and an attempt to resuscitate Dobrovolskiy. Dedication Viktor I Patsayev, Georgiy T. Dobrovolskiy