SPACE 2/SPACE - Library 2 - Volume 1.iso/music/664/spacshut/soviet.txt

Text File | 1992-10-13 | 18KB | 323 lines

This is a chronology of known Soviet space shuttle development efforts.
Most of this information came from the Almanac of Soviet Manned Space
Flight, by Dennis Newkirk.  Additional material from the files of D.R.
Newkirk.


1940's - Soviets obtained three copies of the Sanger-Bredt Antipodal
Bomber report, captured from the Germans.

Middle 1950s - The Soviets were studying the possibility of a space
plane bomber.  Stalin tried to have Sanger kidnapped in France.

Middle 1950s -  A rumor was still circulating that they hoped to develop
a space plane for launch around 1967, to counter the then planned U.S.
Air Force X-20 Dynasoar.

1962 - The Soviets made atmospheric test flights of a plane similar to
the X-20 in size and nicknamed Lapot.  Designed by  Gleb Lozino-
Lozinskiy, the 50/50 shuttle would be launched, probably sub-orbital, by
a super-sonic aircraft based on the Soviet SST.  Lozino-Lozinskiy is
currently a Chief Designer at the Molniya Scientific and Industrial
Enterprise, the scientific production association which built the Buran,
in the Tushino suburb of Moscow.

1965 - A jet powered version of the 50/50 space plane was flown by
future chief Buran cosmonaut Igor Volk.  Also drop tested from Tu-95
Bear bombers.

1960s -  A photo shows cosmonauts Gagarin, Nikolayev, Popovich and
Bykovskiy posing with a wind tunnel model of a delta wing shuttle type
craft.

1969 - Soviet work on orbital rocket planes was also stopped by Marshal
Grechko, the Minister of Defense.

1974 - Soviet shuttle development announced by Aleksey Leonov at the IAF
conference.

1974 - Soviet space programs new Chief Designer, Valentin Glushko
cancels Lunar Landing program in favor of shuttle development.  The
1960's 50/50 shuttle program was reactivated and proceeded until around
1978 when the design was dropped in favor of the Buran design. The Lapot
now would be launched by the new SL-16 booster.

Middle 1970's - The Soviets, conducted landing tests of the 1960's
shuttle design, using a Tu-95 Bear bomber as a carrier aircraft at a
remote site.

Dec. 15, 1976 - Kosmos 881/882  First shuttle test flight
Kosmos 881 and 882 were two 10,000 kg. Lapot space planes that were
launched on the same D-1h booster.  Analysis found that the fight seems
to have required dawn, during the gliding portion of the flight, prior
to landing.  The only comment from US government observers was that the
flight was definitely man related.

Aug. 5, 1977 - Kosmos 997/998A  * Failed
It was reported that a Proton booster launch failed, carrying a dual
payload similar to the Kosmos 881/882 flight.

1978 - Shuttle landing runway (4.5 km. long, and 84 meters wide, and 48
cm. thick) was completed northwest of the Baykonur N-I type launch
complexes and was connected to the N-I assembly buildings by wide
roadways.  General Beregovoy, cosmonauts Popovich, Filipchenko, Shonin,
Khrunov and others all made statements confirming development of a
reusable shuttle was underway, and that they were not going to be left
behind by the US. A group of cosmonauts was formed to fly the space
shuttle.  They included Boroday, Stankavichyus, Levchenko, Shchukin,
Bachurin, Balandin, and Volk.

Mar. 30, 1978 - Kosmos 997/998B The Kosmos 997 and 998 flight was the
same as Kosmos 881/882 flight in late 1976.  Again, the landing was at
about the same time and lighting conditions as the previous test.

Oct. 1978 - Radio Moscow reported on the development of a space shuttle
with a wing span of 8.5 meters, very similar to the 1960's Lapot design.

May 23, 1979 - Kosmos 1100/1101
Last test flight of the small shuttle design.  This flight was the same
as the Kosmos 881/882 and 997/998B flights except that one of the
spacecraft made two orbits before reentry and landing.

June, 1980 -  Vladimir Shatalov stated simply that reusable spacecraft
had been studied, but were not economically justified yet considering
more proven methods.  Numerous others in the Soviet space program made
statements confirming that the well tested Salyut-Soyuz systems would
continue to be used until the middle1990s.  In light of an impending US
shuttle launch, the Soviets ended all public talk of a reusable space
plane as they reoriented their program and adopted the Buran design.

1980 - The orbiter was reportedly observed by a U.S. KH-11
reconnaissance satellite, during captive flight tests using one of two
specially modified Bison bomber,  VM-T carrier aircraft, despite Soviet
practices to hide the sensitive operations. The modified bomber was
chosen as an interim solution.  The wings were strengthened, the tail
replaced, and the engines uprated, but a modified An-124 was expected to
be used in the future for shuttle and booster transport. 1982 - Soviet
officials again started to talk of reusable spacecraft, stating that in
a few years, Soviet shuttle activity would be more apparent and flight
tests would begin around 1986.

June 3, 1982 - Kosmos 1374  Buran Development Flight
This was the first of flights of Lapot space plane models, designated
BOR-4, that are sometimes referred to as Kosmolyot's.  They were
launched from Kapustin Yar, by the C-1 booster.  These flights were
flights to test reentry heat shield technology for the Buran shuttle.
Along with the Soviet ships was an Australian Orion patrol plane which
photographed the recovery operation.

March 15, 1983 - Kosmos 1445  Buran Development Flight
This flight was the same type as Kosmos 1374.  Detailed pictures of the
spacecraft were again obtained by Australian aircraft.

March, 1983 - An orbiter was also photographed by a US reconnaissance
satellite just before the VM-T (Bison) carrier plane ran off a runway
and required two days to move.

July 4, 1983 - Sub-Orbital B-5  Buran Development Flight
A new scale model of the Buran design, designated B-5, was tested during
reentry on this flight.  Five other suborbital flights of this type were
reported by Aviation Week magazine.

Middle 1980s - Buran type orbiters were under construction.

Dec. 27, 1983 - Kosmos 1517  Buran Development Flight
This flight was the same as the Kosmos 1445 flight.  It reached an
altitude of 180 * 221 km @ 50.6!, but instead of landing in the Indian
Ocean, the space plane landed in Black Sea to avoid picture taking by
Australian ocean patrol aircraft as during the recovery of Kosmos 1445.

Dec. 19, 1984 - Kosmos 1614  Buran Development Flight
This was the last orbital flight of the series begun by Kosmos 1374.
Dec. 1984 - The atmospheric test orbiter, the GLI-Buran (GLI for
horizontal flight test), was rolled out of the integration facility at
Baykonur around Dec. 1984.  It was equipped with four 9,090 kg. thrust
Lyulka jet engines.  Two engines were installed next to the base of the
tail and two on both sides of the boat tail section.  The Soviets had
intended to install the jets on the first shuttle orbiter, and built the
first few test vehicles and models with two jet engines before removing
them from the final design.  The jets on the test orbiters were being
used to fly the orbiter as a conventional aircraft for its approach and
landing tests.  The jets lifted the orbiter to an altitude of 5-6000
meters to make a gliding approach and landing.  For these manned tests,
the orbiter carried two crewman in ejection seats.  The cargo bay was
equipped with fuel tanks to supply the jet engines.

July 17, 1984 - Soyuz T-12  First Shuttle Cosmonaut Flight.
A routine flight launched  to Salyut 7 crewed by Vladimir Dzhanibekov,
Svetlana Savitskaya, and Igor Volk.  Cosmonaut Volk was later announced
as the cosmonaut in charge of shuttle flight testing in 1987.  His
program of research for the flight was somewhat different then usual.
He exercised very little and took medical preparations to reduce the
effects of adaptation to weightlessness.  Volk performed tests of his
flying skills after landing as a part of the Soviet shuttle research
program.  All these activities were investigations into how well
cosmonauts could fly a space shuttle after a period of weightlessness in
orbit.  This was not clear at the time of the flight, but the
description of his purpose on the mission was identical to that of the
future Soyuz TM-4 mission of Soviet shuttle test pilot Levchenko.

Nov. 10, 1985 - The first manned atmospheric test flight of the GLI-
Buran (GLI for horizontal flight test) was made by Volk and
Stankavichyus lasting 12 minutes.

Jan. 3, 1986 - Second shuttle atmospheric test flight lasts 36 minutes.

Spring, 1986 -  US satellite imagery reportedly showed that the VM-T (
Bison) carrier plane and a shuttle orbiter ran off the runway at
Baykonur, no significant damage visible.

May 27, 1986 - Third atmospheric test flight was made followed by 21
more flights in the first series.

Dec. 1986 - The first automatic landing was made,16 flights in this
first series were landed in fully automatic mode.  There were also
reports stating that an orbiter was attached to an Energia booster on
the launch pad for fit checks.

April, 1987 - The Soviets officially confirmed that they were developing
a shuttle.  Until then the words Buran and shuttle were officially top
secret and banned from all public discussion.  Although as early as
February, 1982, a minor official announced the shuttle program.

1987 - Soviets admitted that the Energia had been developed by a
military design bureau.

May 11, 1987 -  General Secretary Gorbachev visited the Baykonur
Cosmodrome and inspected equipment for the Buran and the new Energia
booster.

May 15, 1987 - Energia 1  First launch of shuttle booster (K type)
The booster carried only a test satellite payload with its upper stage
pods.  The strap-on boosters comprising the first stage were jettisoned
in pairs, after 2.5 minutes.  The core stage fired for nine minutes,
when it reached an altitude of 80 to 95 km. at an inclination of 65!.
After separating from the core, the orientation system for the upper
stage pods failed and they fired in the wrong direction to place the
payload carrier into orbit.  The core stage, and the upper stage and
payload reentered and burned up over the Pacific ocean. This was
detected by U.S. early warning satellites as a hugh fireball, lasting
longer than a normal destructive reentry, possibly indicating that a
full weight 100,000 kg. test article was the payload.

Late 1987 - The second test flight of the Energia was postponed due to
the problems encountered by the first launch and due to the fact that
the first launch heavily damaged the launch pad and its underground
bunker.  It was reported by Aviation Week that a U.S. KH-11
reconnaissance satellite photographed the second Energia booster placed
on the launch pad and removed again.

Dec. 21, 1987 - Soyuz TM-4  Second Shuttle Cosmonaut Flight
Crew consisted of Vladimir Titov, Musa Manarov, and Anatoliy Levchenko.
Levchenko was a cosmonaut from the space shuttle program.  His
assignment to the flight was to familiarize himself with spaceflight and
to test his flying abilities immediately after landing.  In both the
U.S. and USSR, there was a little concern that a shuttle pilots physical
state might degrade over a week or longer flight, and that they might
loose some flying proficiency.  In preparations for the first Soviet
shuttle flight, Lyakhov would test methods to avoid the problem.  On
Dec. 29, the TM-3 spacecraft undocked carrying Romanenko, Alexandrov and
Levchenko.  Within 30 minutes of landing, Levchenko was piloting a TU-
154 to Moscow to test his flying abilities.  From there, he returned to
Baykonur to rejoin the crew for a press conference the next day.

January, 1988 - Glavcosmos officials stated that final preparations for
a shuttle launch were underway on the second flight of the Energia.

March, 1988 - rumors circulated that a US photo-reconnaissance satellite
detected an Energia booster being placed on the launch pad and then it
was removed.  The Soviets acknowledged that they were testing an
retesting systems for the shuttle launch.  The booster was being tested
with launch pad systems to insure there would be fewer problems when the
shuttle was taken to the pad.

April 15, 1988 - Last in the first series of atmospheric test flights of
the GLI-Buran type shuttle.

April 29, 1988 - The Soviets announced that their shuttle would be
launched shortly on an Energia booster.

May, 1988 - The chairman of Glavkosmos stated that the second Energia
launch would carry the Soviet shuttle and that it would be the only
Energia launch of the year.

August, 1988 - Doctors discovered that shuttle pilot Levchenko had a
brain tumor that required emergency surgery.  Levchenko subsequently
died, and twelve days later, and on Aug. 18, another shuttle pilot,
Anatoly Shchukin died while flying a one seat Su-26M aerobatic stunt
plane.

 September, 1988 - Radio Moscow reported that cosmonauts were undergoing
shuttle training in simulators, practicing takeoff, maneuvering and
landing, fuelling rumors that a manned flight might be attempted soon.
Vladimir Dzhanibekov reported that there were six cosmonauts in training
for the two positions on the first manned flight of the shuttle,
whenever it would occur.  Actually there were more shuttle at the time
pilots including Stankavichyus, Tolboyyev, Sultanov, Zabolotskiy,
Tresvyatskiy, Sheffer, Volk, and two others.

September, 1988 - Rumors circulated that US a photo- reconnaissance
satellite had detected the Soviet shuttle being moved to a launch pad.

Oct. 29, 1988 - At 7:30 A.M., as the Soviet shuttle countdown proceeded
into its final hours, a fault occurred in the ignition system which
required the countdown to be delayed for four hours.  After recycling
the countdown, the count continued to T minus 51 seconds when it was
stopped again because the crew access platform did not retract as fast
as expected.  The access platform should have retracted in three
seconds, but required 38 seconds.  The design of the hinge mechanism for
the platform was said to be inadequate.

Nov. 15, 1988 - VKK-1  First test flight of Buran
Shuttle Lift-off occurred on schedule at 6:00 A.M..  After 2.75 minutes,
the strap-on boosters were jettisoned in pairs as their propellant was
depleted at 60 km. altitude.  The core stage shutdown eight minutes
after launch and separated from the orbiter at 160 km. altitude.  Two
and a half minutes after separation, the orbiter fired its orbital
maneuvering engines for 67 seconds to boost the trajectory to about 250
km. and avoid falling into the atmosphere.  Over the Pacific at 6:47
A.M., the orbiter made another maneuver for 42 seconds circularizing the
orbit to 252 * 256 km..  Buran carried a  cylindrical module mounted in
the cargo bay, similar to the Kvant 1 module.  The second time over the
South Pacific, the orbiter turned its tail into the direction of flight
and performed retrofire at 8:20 A.M..  The orbiter then turned around
and coasted toward reentry.  The orbiter touched the fringes of the
upper atmosphere at 122 km. altitude.  For the next 20 minutes, the
orbiter was in radio blackout.  As the orbiter flew through about 40 km.
altitude it had completed altering its flight path to the East by about
1000 km. to head toward the Baykonur Cosmodrome.  As the orbiter
approached the ground, there was a cross wind of 55 km per hour (34 mph)
which was well above acceptance values for NASA shuttle landings.  The
orbiter touched down at 9:25 A.M., traveling about 180 knots (207 mph)
with the main landing gear was only 1.5 meters from the runway center
line.

Nov, 1988 -  French President Mitterrand and his delegation was shown
the shuttle orbiter Buran and an Energia booster while at the cosmodrome
for the TM-7 launch.

Late 1988 - First flight of the An-225, a lengthened, six engine, split
tail version of the An-124 which was designed to carry complete shuttle
orbiters and booster segments.  It could lift 200,000 kg. over 4500 km.,
almost twice as much as the US C-5B cargo plane.

June, 1989 -  Buran was flown to the Paris air show on the new An-225
carrier aircraft for display.  After returning, Buran was dissassembled
at Baykonur to examine its systems after flight.

Late 1989 - The decision was made to build only three orbiters after the
shuttle program was scaled back.  This was due to financial and
programmatic difficulties with other programs.  The Mir program had been
delayed for years with late delivery of its expansion modules.  This
delayed the start of work on the Mir 2 station for which the shuttle was
originally intended.  With no immediate need, the shuttle program was
cut.  At the time, the first and second orbiters were at Baykonur and
the third was still under final assembly at Tushino.

Late 1989 - Igor Volk announced that approach and landing tests would
resume soon using the jet equipped GLI-Buran.

Jan. 1990 - Soviet news announces that next shuttle flight in early 1991
will dock to the Mir space station. The third shuttle mission would be
manned and take place 6 months afterwards, according to Shatalov.