There is no doubt about that, Russia is the pioneer in observing space and the earth beyond the earth. Today, almost everyone knows the name of the International Space Station. But long before this station was born, Russia worked on a project that would follow in the footsteps of the next space station. The name of the first space station sent into space by Russia is Salyut, a Russian word literally meaning 'Fireworks'.
The
Salyut project is not a project related to a single space station but a
combination of multiple space stations, sent into space at different times.
Although the project is half a century old, its direct and indirect effects
still exist on modern space stations, and this has greatly increased the
technical value and historical significance of the project.
The
salute project is actually a combination of two projects. The first is DOS (Durable
Orbital Station) and the second is OPS (Orbital Piloted Station). To hide the
military OPS project, DOS project had been associated with it and all came
under the name of Salyut Project. Work on the DOS began in 1969 at OKB under
Sergei Korolev. OPS was created by an NPO company led by Vladimir Chelemey.
Work on this second project was completed by October 1964, but to make some
modifications to the docking ports and other features, required for Salyut
Mission, some activities were performed later.
(Docking Port: The part of the space station where the
spacecraft landed and where it started its journey to earth) However, the
number of solar panels and docking ports was higher in the DOS section.
The
Salyut Project was officially launched on 15th February 1970 with the DOS and
OPS projects in the register. However, there was a strict condition on the part
of the Government that the project should not have any effect on the Russian
lunar mission, but in reality, the desired lunar mission had to be canceled
shortly after this announcement.
At
first the name of the project was Zarya which is a Russian word which literally
means 'Dawn'. But later it was found that the naming could lead to confusion
with another subject, so the word Salyut was finally chosen. A total of nine
space stations were sent into space at different times under this project. The
chairman of the Soyuz Mission, Kerim Kerimov, was at the forefront of the
Salyut project. It took 16 months after the start of the DOS project to launch
the first space station under this project.
Salyut 1: Salyut 1 is the
first space station in the history of the world to successfully reach space.
The space station was launched into low Earth orbit on 19th April 19, 1971. One
of the names on this space station is DOS-1. Before this mission, Russia had
another secret military project called Almaz. The 18,500 kg space station was
built by refining that Almaz. The station had a total of five sections,
including an advanced space observatory. Two spaceships landed at this station.
(Soyuz 10 and 11) 3 Soyuz 11 astronauts died after suffocating above the Kármán
Line due to a mechanical fault in the spacecraft while returning to the earth
after completing their 23 days mission(Kármán
Line: The boundary between the earth's atmosphere and space is called
the Kármán Line). This is the first human death above the Kármán Line.
After that, the human expedition to Salyut 1 was completely stopped. The space
station was destroyed on 11th October 1971, 175 days after its launch.
The
DOS 2 project of this Salyut 1 was launched on 22nd July 1972, but
due to some mechanical faults, the station was destroyed shortly after launch
and sank in the Pacific Ocean.
Salyut 2: The next operation
of the Salyut project was military and another name for it was OPS-1. Since it
was a military operation, we did not get much information about it. However, as
far as is known, the station weighed 18,500 kg and was launched into space on
4th April 1973. This space station of the Almaz military project was
operational for only 54 days. On 28th May 1973, the station was destroyed by
entering the Earth's atmosphere. No spacecraft expedition was used in the
mission.
Shortly
afterwards, the next Salyut mission was launched on 11th May 1973. But due to
the malfunction of the flight control system, the space station could not reach
the height specified for it, so it was not possible for any spacecraft to reach
there. The name of this campaign was DOS-3. One of its official names was
Kosmos-557. Like the previous one, it was a military operation too. But since a
problem arose at the beginning of the mission, the space station was destroyed
on 22nd May 1973, just 11 days after launch. It was originally called Salyut-3,
but was later renamed for military secrecy.
Salyut-3: Salyut-3 was
another military operation under the Salyut project. Some other names of this
station were OPS-2, Almaz-2 etc. This is the second and first successful
military operation of the Almaz project. The 18,500 kg space station was
launched on 25th June 1974. During its tenure, a total of two spacecraft
reached the station through which two astronauts spent 15 days. Although not
much is known about this military operation, it was reported that the station
was located between 219 km to 270 km from the earth, but its height increased
to 272 km. There were lots of cameras around this space station. It is also the
first space station in the Salyut project to have gun and cannon. 23 mm artillery
shells were fired at the target three times from this station. Its 213-day
tenure ended with the demolition of the station on 24th January
1975.
Salyut-4: Salyut-4 was a
complete replica of DOS-3 or Kosmos-557. However, unlike the previous two
missions, it was not a military space station. Another name for this station
was DOS-4. Weighing 18,500 kg, the space station was launched on 26th December
1984. A total of 4 astronauts reached here in 2 manned spacecraft and spent 92
days. Besides, 1 unmanned spacecraft reached Salyut-4. The space station was
orbiting the earth at a distance of 343 km to 355 km. The space station was
destroyed on 3rd December 1976, after a 770-day operation.
Salyut-5: This was the last
space station of the first generation. It was another military space mission.
This Salyut-5 was the third and last expedition of Almaz under the Salyut
project. Another name for this space station, weighing 19,000 kg, was OPS-3.
The station was launched on 22nd June 1976. In the 412 day mission, 4 astronauts
in 3 manned spacecraft were here for a total of 67 days. The station was later destroyed
on 8th August 197, in contact with the earth's atmosphere.
Thus,
in the history of the first generation space station, a total of six space
stations, both military and civilian, were sent into space with a combined
lifespan of 1,635 days. During this time 9 manned and 1 unmanned cargo
spacecraft reached there through which 13 astronauts spent 197 days in space.
After
the Salyut-5 mission in 1977, the Salyut project has undergone a number of
changes so that people can stay on the station longer, have more docking ports,
have multiple spacecraft arrive at the same time and have access to more
unmanned cargo spacecraft. This change and refinement marked the beginning of
the second generation space station in the history of space exploration.
Salyut-6: This was the first
space station of the second generation which is considered to be the rightful
predecessor of the third generation Mir and the fourth generation International
Space Station. Another name for this eighth space station in the Salyut project
was DOS-5. The space station was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on 29th
September 1977. At 19,624 kg, the space station was the first station to
comfortably accommodate 16 astronauts, of whom six could be long-term and 10
short-term residents. It is also the first space station to house international
astronauts under the Warsaw Pact, outside Russia. It had a good docking port, telescope
and propulsion system (Propulsion System: A system that gives an
object the force required to move forward) A total of 18 manned and 15
unmanned cargo spacecraft arrived at this station. Through these spacecraft, 33
astronauts spent 683 days on this space station. The space station was
destroyed on 29th July1982, after completing a period of 1,764 days.
Salyut-7: The last
single-block space station of the second generation, Salyut-7 or DOS-6, which
was launched into space on 19th April1982. Of all the single-block space
stations, this was the most effective. A total of 26 manned and 15 unmanned
cargo spacecraft arrived here. In May 1982, man entered the Salyut-7 first time
and it ended in June 1986. During this time span, a total of 26 astronauts spent
816 days in space. Salyut-7 completed its 3,216-day mission in space before
being destroyed on 7th February 1991.
The
work of making DOS-7 started when Salyut-7 was active in space. Then DOS-8 was
made. These two parts were built as next generation space stations succeeding
the second. It had advanced computer systems, more advanced solar panels, and
six docking ports. Although these two DOS were created under the Salyut
project, the name Salyut was never used. The last space station of the Almaz
project was Salyut-5 but some parts of it, especially cargo block of Almaz, were
used in the next two DOSs.
DOS-7
was used as the core module for the third generation Mir Space Station. The Mir
was an advanced space station made up of many parts or multi blocks in the
history of space exploration. The DOS-7 went into space on 19th
February 1986 as part of the Mir and worked until 23rd March 2001.
5,511 days as the number of days. A total of 39 manned and 64 unmanned cargo
spacecraft reached this part weighing 20,400 kg. A total of 104 astronauts,
including one tourist, went to the space station and spent a total of 4,592
days there. (Link provided to know more about Mir space station: https://spacejagat.blogspot.com/2021/12/mir-ill-fated-space-station.html )
Now
this time we will discuss about DOS-8 which is the last part of the Salyut
project which was added to the space station. But before that, another thing
has to be mentioned here which, though not directly related to space science,
had a profound effect on the practice of space. The Dissolution of the then
Soviet Russia took place on 26th December 1991, after a long 47-year Cold War
between East and West. Russia broke up into 15 pieces. Its effects were felt at
all levels of Russian society. Russia is facing severe economic problems. Most
of Russia's space establishment goes to Ukraine. Russia is forced to sign an
agreement with its one-time arch-rival, the United States, on space research.
The agreement was signed in 1993, renaming the Mir Space Station of Russia the
Mir-Shuttle.
At the centre of our
discussion, DOS-7 of Salyut mission went into space on 12th July 2000 and
replaced DOS-8 and added as a service module for the International Space
Station orbiting in space. The main structure of the International Space
Station, Zvezda, has been created by attaching the Zarya module derived from
the cargo block of Almaz. This part is still doing its work in space. If we
review the time till the last day of 2021 i.e. 31st December, it can be seen
that during this time span more than 85 manned and more than 65 unmanned cargo
spacecraft have reached DOS-8 part of the International Space Station. More
than 215 astronauts have landed there with the help of these spacecraft. The
project benefited both Russia and the United States. Just as Russia was able to
pursue its potentially ambitious project with US funding in the midst of a
financial crisis at that time, the United States has been able to take its
space program to new heights by learning from Russia's two decades of
experience in space research. Of course, we have benefited. The various
activities of the incomprehensible space have become somewhat clearer to us.
From the above discussion, it is clear to all of us that the
Salyut Project has done its work gloriously for half a century. From this it
can be said that the Salyut project is a landmark project in the history of
space exploration. As a rule of thumb, the Salyut project will one day come to
an end, it will no longer exist and will be only in the pages of history. It is
something we all know that the future is established on the pillar of present
experience. So no matter how we try to know or understand the space in the
future, the shiny presence of Salyut Project behind those successes will
persist for good.
DECLARATION: All The Images Have Been Sourced From Google.
