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Russia's Secret: Did Space Station Nearly Die The Day It Was Born?
Russia's Secret: Did Space Station Nearly Die The Day It Was Born?
MSNBC // Technology & Science // SPACE NEWS Silent suspense surrounded birth of space station Russians recall glitch that required fast thinking after 1998’s initial launch http://www.msnbc.com/news/996722.asp By James Oberg, NBC NEWS SPACE ANALYST Nov. 21 — Five years ago, when the very first section of the international space station reached orbit, the entire program could have teetered on the edge of failure. It was Nov. 20, 1998, and the project was saved only through the last-minute intervention of some unsung Russian space experts, who never told NASA how close they had come to disaster. Or at least that’s the story told at the Russian space command center at Krasnoznamensk, southwest of Moscow, where military personnel do the actual communications with all 120 active Russian spacecraft. From Krasnoznamensk, data are transmitted to the better-known Mission Control Center in the northern Moscow suburb of Korolyov, where on Nov. 20, 1998, foreign dignitaries and journalists were celebrating — perhaps prematurely — the successful launch. |
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Russia's Secret: Did Space Station Nearly Die The Day It Was Born?
Did Space Station Nearly Die The Day It Was Born?
I wonder if it would of been a GOOD thing? Seriousl;y as is its a huge boondoggle, perhaps scrapping the station ight have been a improvement? |
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Russia's Secret: Did Space Station Nearly Die The Day It WasBorn?
JimO wrote: Russia's Secret: Did Space Station Nearly Die The Day It Was Born? From the article: "The module was the FGB, Russian for “Functional Cargo Block,” code-named “Zarya.” Based on a design flown before (including one spectacular Russian space station failure in May 1987 that the Russians had not told NASA about), the hardware was part of the military side of the Russian program and had special high-security radio links with Earth." Does this refer to Polyus? Pat |
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Russia's Secret: Did Space Station Nearly Die The Day It WasBorn?
Pat Flannery writes:
JimO wrote: Russia's Secret: Did Space Station Nearly Die The Day It Was Born? "The module was the FGB, Russian for "Functional Cargo Block," code-named "Zarya." Based on a design flown before (including one spectacular Russian space station failure in May 1987 that the Russians had not told NASA about), the hardware was part of the military side of the Russian program and had special high-security radio links with Earth." Does this refer to Polyus? Yes, Polyus was launched on the first Energia on May 15, 1987. |
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Russia's Secret: Did Space Station Nearly Die The Day It Was Born?
Pat Flannery wrote in
: JimO wrote: Russia's Secret: Did Space Station Nearly Die The Day It Was Born? From the article: "The module was the FGB, Russian for “Functional Cargo Block,” code-named “Zarya.” Based on a design flown before (including one spectacular Russian space station failure in May 1987 that the Russians had not told NASA about), the hardware was part of the military side of the Russian program and had special high-security radio links with Earth." Does this refer to Polyus? Yes. The FGB was used as the orbit insertion/maneuvering stage for Polyus. -- JRF Reply-to address spam-proofed - to reply by E-mail, check "Organization" (I am not assimilated) and think one step ahead of IBM. |
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Russia's Secret: Did Space Station Nearly Die The Day It WasBorn?
Jorge R. Frank wrote: Yes. The FGB was used as the orbit insertion/maneuvering stage for Polyus. It's fascinating to speculate what would have happened it Polyus got successfully into orbit, rather than malfunctioning and heading into the ocean- I get the impression that the militarization of space would have started pronto. Pat |
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Russia's Secret: Did Space Station Nearly Die The Day It Was Born?
In article ,
"Jorge R. Frank" wrote: Pat Flannery wrote in : JimO wrote: Russia's Secret: Did Space Station Nearly Die The Day It Was Born? From the article: "The module was the FGB, Russian for “Functional Cargo Block,” code-named “Zarya.” Based on a design flown before (including one spectacular Russian space station failure in May 1987 that the Russians had not told NASA about), the hardware was part of the military side of the Russian program and had special high-security radio links with Earth." Does this refer to Polyus? Yes. The FGB was used as the orbit insertion/maneuvering stage for Polyus. Interestingly, at the tail end of Space Station Freedom, as it was morphing through Space Station Alpha on it's way to ISS, the final "restructure/rephase" was to consider the option of using a Lockheed-designed "service module" to perform the task later given to FGB. It was not divulged how and why Lockheed had designed such a module nor were we encouraged to ask; it was enough that we were told: "It works and this is what it can do . . ." Obviously (moreso now than in the summer of 1993), this was a core vehicle used for various classified NRO payloads that NASA was essentially begging for permission to use for early attitude and orbital control. It's unclear if NRO simply refused or if they place so many roadblocks in the way of its use that NASA was forced to go to the Russians on this aspect of the program. Anyway, just another tidbit from the dusty archives of SSF/ISS trivia I carry around with me . . . -- Herb Schaltegger, B.S., J.D. Reformed Aerospace Engineer Columbia Loss FAQ: http://www.io.com/~o_m/columbia_loss_faq_x.html |
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Russia's Secret: Did Space Station Nearly Die The Day It WasBorn?
Herb Schaltegger wrote: Interestingly, at the tail end of Space Station Freedom, as it was morphing through Space Station Alpha on it's way to ISS, the final "restructure/rephase" was to consider the option of using a Lockheed-designed "service module" to perform the task later given to FGB. It was not divulged how and why Lockheed had designed such a module nor were we encouraged to ask; it was enough that we were told: "It works and this is what it can do . . ." Obviously (moreso now than in the summer of 1993), this was a core vehicle used for various classified NRO payloads that NASA was essentially begging for permission to use for early attitude and orbital control. This probably gives the recon satellites the ability to change their orbital parameters on-station; both to evade interception and to make their time of passage over interesting photo targets less predictable. It's unclear if NRO simply refused or if they place so many roadblocks in the way of its use that NASA was forced to go to the Russians on this aspect of the program. It would have meant people would get a detailed look at its design, and a lot of its capabilities could have been deduced from that. Pat |
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Russia's Secret: Did Space Station Nearly Die The Day It Was Born?
In article ,
Herb Schaltegger wrote: Lockheed-designed "service module" to perform the task later given to FGB. It was not divulged how and why Lockheed had designed such a module nor were we encouraged to ask; it was enough that we were told: "It works and this is what it can do . . ." Aviation Week speculated that it was the KH-11 spysat bus; the numbers seemed about right. ...It's unclear if NRO simply refused or if they place so many roadblocks in the way of its use that NASA was forced to go to the Russians on this aspect of the program. I don't think they were *forced* to do it, so much as they found it a more attractive alternative. The FGB module had in-orbit refueling capability, had rather more ACS authority than the Lockheed bus (which was marginal in this area and might have needed upgrading), and looked cheaper. Moreover, NASA historically has been very reluctant to get involved with highly classified stuff, just because it is so much hassle. -- MOST launched 30 June; first light, 29 July; 5arcsec | Henry Spencer pointing, 10 Sept; first science, early Oct; all well. | |
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Russia's Secret: Did Space Station Nearly Die The Day It Was Born?
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