Cosmogram-L? / Lv86har31 / J

cosmogram-l? / lv86Har31 / J. Oberg 13 re-rendezvous with Salyut-7 in Rt 2 Box 350, Dickinson IX 77539 USA extra day of maneuvers following his MIRsAN ADMIRABLE MIRACLE or HI RASE? d e p a r t u r e , be -f o r e ret u r n i n g t o E a r t h „ First, sincere congratulations to Thi s demonstrated stati on-to-stati on Pi et Sitio 1 d e r s f or r ep or t i ng 1 ast yeat- intra-orbital transfer.:! Aviation that the new six-module station would Week had reported that their man in be cal 1 ec! " Mi r " , and -F or pub 1 i sh i ng Moscow had learned that a "new crew" a n e x c e 11 e n t s c h e m a t i c o f i t w h i cwoul h d be sent to Salyut-7 to retrieve w a s n e a r 1 y p e r -f e c: t (he h a d t h e peri-the French comet dust collector. We pheral ports at the large end, not have also speculated the Salyut 7 the small end). His seeing was the visit could load Kosmos-1686 with clearest o-f all even t he Pen t ag on goodies such as the two new space- paid compliments by stealing his suits, tool kits, four year's supply drawing -for the 1985 "Soviet Military of amusement tapes/books, other con- Power" report„ sumables, cameras, etc. , for transfer- WHERE ARE THE MODULES? As at this to MIR when K---1686 undocks from Sal- w r i t ing, MIR o r b i t s a h e a c J o -f; S a 1 y u. t - 7yut-7 and moves over to MIR. Anyhow, at a slightly higher (and slower by it now looks more likely that K&S eight seconds per rev) average orbit. will be the next crew aboard Salyut-- Mar26 MIR was 33S-35S km, 91.43 min- 7, probably after an operational crew utes, Salyut-7 was 340-345 km, 91.32 relieves them aboard MIR. Three cos-- minutes, and MIR was 37 minutes ahead mo n a u t s co uId be laun c h ed aboard on Mar27. It is losing ground by 1.75 Soyuz T-16 (or Soyuz M-l? See belows) minutes per day. The two stations may at any day now. Maybe K&S have some be only a -few miles apart about the EVA to do on MIR as well, such as middle o-f April,, Be-fore maneuver on attaching some add-on power panels? Mar25 with P--25 engine, MIR was pul- NEW-MODEL. SOYLJZ to appear s Dzhani bekov ling ahead o-f Sal y Lit in an orbit 332 on Moscow TV <Mar 15/1BOOUT in Rus- 339 km, 91.18 minutes. sian) said: "The Soyuz T--15 space-- L. A T E S "i" s M a r 3 O , P regress u n 1 o a d i n shipg , it seems to me, is a kind of completed;; Mar31 , crew begins obser- concluding stage in this series of vations o-f Kazakhstan. But such work 'Soyuz' craft. We are already going can't keep them busy, there is very over to a new modification... ihe 1 i 111 e i n s t r u m E? n t. a t i o n a n t h e MIR.s f-i i p s o f t h e f u t u r e will have some -•• They may not stay long now! what expanded possibilities, both as BIB PUZZLE!! Will the current crew -f 1 y far as ensuring approach sequences over to Salyut-7? There's a good and descents is concerned. They will chance that re-ferences to "Salyut is give crews a great deal of help in ready to receive a new crew" refer to solving different navigational a "used crew" and not a -freshly- tasks." Moscow Radio interview by launched team. Radio Moscow Mar Pelekhov with Savinykh, Mar15/1339UT, 13/2000UT to GB/lre, "...Meanwhile, has Pelekhov say; "Incidentally, this its veteran predecessor the Salyut—7 craft is the last in the series that continues orbiting the Earth ready to was designed -for operation with sta receive cosmonauts. Crews will be tions of the previous generations, able to -fly -from one station to an the Salyut stations." other." Moscow domestic: service in CREW PRE--FLIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS prior Russian, Mar15/16OOUT, had interview to launch, TASS said Kizim, Solovyov, with Dzhariibekov who said about Sal — and Aleksandrov were completing yut-7: "We hope it will still serve training. The day before launch, the us -for some time, and we are not yet actual crew was announced as K&S. On wr i ting o-f -f t h e Sa 1 y u t -7 station. It Mar 15 a Moscow TV special identified is still quite capable of working, Aleksandrov as Solovyov's backup. A and evidently in the very near future good quess for backup mission comman- we will do some work there, too". Qn: der wouId be Lya^nov, "So the result will be a kind of MIR miscellanys MIR's solar panels 'commuting' between the two stations, (only 2?) have a total area of from MIR to Salyut and from Salyut to square meters (KZ, Feb 21, page 1). MIR?" Dzhans "Indeed, it is expected All do c: k i n g w i t h t. hie f r o n t e n d i s a t that when some? initial work has been the front port only (NO side completed on the MIR station, that dockings); after modules dock, a the Mayaks will fly across to the man i pu1 at or will rep os i t i on them at Salyut-7 station." [Recall Dzhan last p eri p her a1 por t s (d es i g n at ed t op , Sep performed extraordinary Soyuz "!"•-• b ot t om , rig h t, 1 ef t) .£V 7 l<j tf 6 *A^2>} t T I PRECISE LAUNCH TIMES, ! .!. i w a s at moving forward with successful test OOs28s23 HT Feb2Os Soyuz T-15 was at flights of the new medium-lift boost- 12s33:07. I have not seen launchings er that will carry the manned space given to the second often before. On p1 an e into or bi t. Con c ur r en 11y, t est- the other hand, the Soviets did NOT ing is underway for the heavy-lift announce any initial orbital paramet b o o s t e r d e s i g n e d t o s e n d a 1 o f t t h e ers for MIR, nor did they refer to USSR's space shuttle as well as space striking fact that MIR had been station payloads in excess of 100 launched to allow drift into coplanar tons." Page 49 has a launch vehicle orbit with Salyut—7. Nor do we have chart with "SL-X--16 medium-lift any good explanations for the need 1aun c h veh i c1e" ("in f i n a1 stages of for a two—day Soyuz T 15 rendezvous development" "ifsod") for "reusable (NBECL of MIR was 334.87W, much far- s pac e plane i n deve1op men t", an d SL-W ther east than normal for one-day shuttle and SL. W heavy lift launch rendezvous windows). Kubasav (TASS in vehicle, also "if sod". No "SL--15" is Engli sh, Mar IS/1342UT) sai ds "The shown? CPVick believes it is the new two-day interval... had been decided Prot on w i t h upper stages. Page 51, upon better to test the systems of "The Soviets have made progress in t h e s p a c: e s h i p t hat w e r e i n v o 1 v e d i thein r space plane and space shuttle the docking. Less fuel, too, is spent p r o g r a m s , w i t h t he f i r s t f 1 i g h t o f a in this way." Well, maybe that's all. Soviet shuttle expected in late 1986 Docking was at Mar1S/1338UT (MET or 1987." F'age 52. "Launch pad comp- 49s05) on the transfer module side atibility testing has continued on (the -ball ") the heavy-lift vehicle, a Saturn V- RADIO MOSCOW also presaged "supply Class booster, and the Soviets have ship" launch. F'rogress-25 at Mar f1i gh t-tested t h e T i tan III-C1 ass 19/1008UT <NBECL 331.10W), docking at medium-lift, system." At the Pentagon Mar21/lll6. press conference, spokesmen added TAEJS Mar07s "The second Sovi et-F'rench that the SL-X-16 had made four sub~ manned space mission has been slated o r • b i t a 1 f 1 i g h t s , a 1 1 s u c c e s s f u 1 s h e for 1988 aboard a Soviet space craft also admitted there was no new evi- and a Soviet orbital station, A pro dence for the full—seale space plane tocol to this effect was signed by but did mention the "five or so" delegations from the USSR and France launchings (four orbital launchings at the presidium of the USSR Academy are on public record),, The SL-X-16 is of Sciences today." Vive Ies spatio- to be -fielded by the end of this year nautes!! and man-rated by this time next year, "ASTRONOMER" module next? It could be he said.

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