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Evidence for STS-41G lasing, October 1984?
I recently came across a Russian article (well, it's in
Portuguese, but by a Russian space writer) that purports to give a bit of new-to-me information about the lasing of Challenger by a Soviet laser at Sary Shagan. Presumably he's talking about the reported incident of 10 October 1984. I thought it was interesting but, on looking around for information about the incident, I'm beginning to wonder what, if anything, actually took place. There are plenty of stories, but zip that I can find in the way of primary sources, and the suspicion that this story is an urban legend is growing. Concisely, the story is that STS-41G Challenger, flying over Sary Shagan on 10 October 1984, was illuminated by a laser that interfered with unspecified equipment and may have affected the crew. The US subsequently sent a diplomatic protest to the USSR about the incident. Is there any real evidence that anything like that actually happened? Were any of the astronauts on the flight ever asked about it? |
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On 2005-06-08, Allen Thomson wrote:
I recently came across a Russian article (well, it's in Portuguese, but by a Russian space writer) that purports to give a bit of new-to-me information about the lasing of Challenger by a Soviet laser at Sary Shagan. Presumably he's talking about the reported incident of 10 October 1984. I thought it was interesting but, on looking around for information about the incident, I'm beginning to wonder what, if anything, actually took place. There are plenty of stories, but zip that I can find in the way of primary sources, and the suspicion that this story is an urban legend is growing. I couldn't find anything in contemporary documentation via NTRS, not that there was much. Derek and I discussed this on alt.folklore.urban earlier in the year; I emailed JimO about it, and he replied: I've nosed around this story, talked to two crewmembers I trusted, and they were baffled by anything that might have set off the story. Lasers don't upset on-board equipment anyhow. So far it looks 'space-urban-legendary'. Another flight, STS-3, WAS tracked by Russian radar so strong they got EMI in their intercom headsets, and that's never been widely discussed. [Quoted with permission; private email, 6th Feb 2005] We figured that tracking lasers might have screwed with the star trackers, and it transpires that STS-41-G did carry an IMAX camera - this latter would certainly have been susceptible. But there's no real indication anything happened. My personal interpretation is that it turned up post-1990, some Russian technician telling war stories that got exaggerated and then had "real" details attatched. Anyone know where it was first sighted? -- -Andrew Gray |
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Andrew Gray wrote:
Derek and I discussed this on alt.folklore.urban earlier in the year; I emailed JimO about it, and he replied: I've nosed around this story, talked to two crewmembers I trusted, and they were baffled by anything that might have set off the story. Lasers don't upset on-board equipment anyhow. So far it looks 'space-urban-legendary'. Another flight, STS-3, WAS tracked by Russian radar so strong they got EMI in their intercom headsets, and that's never been widely discussed. I recall a news report about this at the time, but I remember it being reported as having happened while the orbiter was passing over China. The report included the crackling, hissing sound of interference on an audio channel. Perhaps it was a Russian radar near the China border? - Ed Kyle |
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Andrew Gray wrote: My personal interpretation is that it turned up post-1990, some Russian technician telling war stories that got exaggerated and then had "real" details attached. Anyone know where it was first sighted? I'm looking around, making inquiries, but haven't yet ID-ed it before 2000. Soviet Military Power 1985-1986-1987, which you'd certainly think would have made the vile deed public, didn't. The closest it comes are statements like this from 1987, http://www.fas.org/irp/dia/product/smp_87_ch3.htm , The USSR's laser program is considerably larger than US efforts and involves over 10,000 scientists and engineers as well as more than a half-dozen major research and development facilities and test ranges. Much of this research takes place at the Sary-Shagan Missile Test Center, where ABM testing also is conducted. At Sary- Shagan alone, the Soviets are estimated to have several lasers for air defense and two lasers probably capable of damaging some components of satellites in orbit, one of which could be used in feasibility testing for ballistic missile defense applications. BTW, the article that piqued my interest is http://consrio.narod.ru/br/art=ADigos/tecnika/49.html . I tried to find it in English or Russian and failed. Fortunately journalistic Portuguese is not too unlike journalistic Spanish. |
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"Andrew Gray" wrote in message . .. My personal interpretation is that it turned up post-1990, some Russian technician telling war stories that got exaggerated and then had "real" details attatched. Anyone know where it was first sighted? www.lostcosmonauts.com |
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