The grandiose scam of Soviet science: why a reusable orbital ship turned out to be one-time

When the USSR launched Sputnik-1 in 1957, the United States realized that it was urgent to catch up on progress. So the Mercury program appeared - the launch of orbital manned ships. The Soviets had a significant head start, and the Americans spent too much time on flight operations, so, thanks to the efforts of Sergey Korolev, the first person in space was the Soviet citizen Yuri Gagarin.

The approach of the States was initially completely different. Firstly, they decided to immediately create a universal ship, which is suitable for flights, and for landing, and in general, all that is needed is to simply put it on top of the launch vehicle. Complicated? And how. It is very difficult to observe all the subtleties, and even when an opponent breathes in the back of the head. The tips came a little easier and more complicated. They immediately created an automatic ship "Vostok" with the possibility of manual control in case of emergency. And they cheated a little: in order not to lose time on working out the soft capsule planting with a person, we decided to lower them separately. Thus, Gagarin at a safe height ejected from the capsule and made a prolonged parachute jump. The capsule landed on its parachute. The technical superiority of the "East" was, as history shows, undeniable, but not very promising.


Vostok-1

On the other hand, in the USSR, it might have been easier to put a military pilot in an unreliable ship than in the States: if an American died due to problems with the capsule, the remaining candidates could simply refuse further flights, at least until clarification and elimination of the reasons, and everything would start anew. And who knows what the Mercury program would have been waiting for, if at its very beginning an emergency had happened like the Apollo 1 tragedy . These are subtle issues of political and patriotic education. Although, of course, this was not a determining factor, and nobody in the USSR risked the cosmonauts in vain (in any case, before Soyuz-1) Nevertheless, the Americans approached space exploration with all care. Alan Shepard flew after Gagarin almost a month later. And it’s not that it flew - Mercury-3 simply “plunged” into orbit and plopped into the sea, as planned. This is called suborbital flight. Mercury-4 did the same, and only Mercury-5 finally flew around the Earth on February 20, 1962, almost a year after Gagarin’s flight.


Mercury-7 Friendship

March 18, 1965 The Soviets again make a breakthrough, and Alexei Leonov goes into outer space. The United States is practically not far behind, they are already working out the Gemini program, but Edward White leaves space only on June 3, 1965, and the Americans are second again. But they were ready for this. John F. Kennedy realized in time that the Soviets were taking very obvious and relatively simple steps to gain supremacy in space, and therefore, the one who was catching up would always fall behind. Indeed, in order to overtake the enemy, you need to run not in his footsteps, but straight to the finish line, that is, to the moon. And the Gemini program is preparing a good base for the future of Apollo.


Alexei Leonov in outer space. March 18, 1965

It is worth noting that the approaches of the parties were radically different, which probably allowed the United States to win the lunar race. The atmosphere inside the Sunrise consisted of air at almost normal pressure. Gemini had an oxygen atmosphere under reduced pressure. To go into outer space, Voskhod had a one-time single gateway, shot before returning - this allowed to save air and one astronaut if something went wrong. Gemini had a one-volume design, and space access was carried out directly from the cockpit. But since both astronauts were in spacesuits and in close proximity, the commander, in which case, could come to the aid of a colleague hanging overboard. The construction of the Sunrise made it possible to enter space in a very short time, but was somewhat unpromising.Gemini also allowed astronauts to practice many skills, including docking.


View of Gemini 7 from the cockpit of Gemini 6 during a joint flight. December 15, 1965

Probably, this vector became the determining winner in the battle for the Moon. Having made as many as 9 flights under the Gemini program, the States switched to the Apollo program. At this moment, it is clearly visible that Gemini allowed the Americans to make the same jerk to the finish line and begin to overtake the Union, since the interesting, but not “cool” missions of the Sunrise, such as the creation of artificial gravity and surgical operations in space, were curtailed. Everyone focused on the moon. Unfortunately, Sergei Korolev was no longer there, and a black streak came for the Soviet cosmonautics. The states are quite successful, but not without loss, made 3 unmanned and 4 manned flights to the moon, after which on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon.


Neil Armstrong in the descent module after the first moon exit. July 21, 1969

Then the Americans landed 5 more times on the moon, and conducted many experiments there. The lunar race was won, the USSR was defeated, and NASA's budget was severely cut. After that, the Union sadly breathed a sigh of relief and took up the Salut military-scientific orbital stations. The states also decided to move their area of ​​interest closer to home and created the Skylab orbital station using Saturn-5 launch vehicles left over from the Apollo program. And on July 17, 1975, the famous cosmic handshake Soyuz-Apollo took place.


The meeting of Alexei Leonov and Thomas Stafford in orbit in the transition compartment between the Soyuz-19 and Apollo spacecraft. July 17, 1975

Further the paths of the superpowers parted again. Basically, the development vector was dictated by the political system: the communists were building up military power, fearing every step of the alleged enemy, and the capitalists were looking for money for space exploration. Although, of course, the Soviet cosmonautics continued to make a great contribution to space exploration by launching automatic stations and orbital observations, and the American military industry tried to keep up with the main alleged enemy.

Everything on Earth went on as usual: military squabbles, foreign policy turmoil in small republics, change of presidents of superpowers and banana republics. But space didn’t care much about all this, although it had a strong influence on development priorities, at least on the part of the USSR.

NASA has ambitiously decided to create a reusable orbital ship by launching the Space Shuttle program. In order to knock out money for development, scientists came up with options for military use, but Richard Nixon, who launched it, was not at all satisfied with the "investment" of $ 5 billion in the program, which was unlikely to pay off. It is worth noting here that such a refusal shows a very high level of leadership development and its rational outlook. In the end, as was repeatedly noted later, a manned spacecraft is not needed to bombard the enemy and put military satellites into orbit.


Shuttle Launch Columbia

Then NASA had to accept the realities of market relations and justify the feasibility of commercial use of shuttles. “But try it!” - said the congress, and on April 12, 1981 the shuttle Columbia began its first orbital flight under the control of John Young , who at this point had already managed to fly into space twice under the Gemini program, enter the orbit of the moon as part of the Apollo 10 expedition, and also take a walk around The moon as part of the Apollo 16 expedition. The first shuttle, nevertheless, is considered an Enterprise, named after the ship from the series "Star Track", but it never reached space, having settled in the museum. Except for Colombia, which tragically completed its journey on February 1, 2003, falling to piecesupon entering the atmosphere during its twenty-eighth flight, another 4 orbital shuttles were created: Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavor. Challenger was even less fortunate than Colombia: it exploded almost immediately after the start at its tenth launch on January 28, 1986.


Shuttle Challenger Explosion. January 28, 1986

This event was made even more tragic by the fact that the expedition included an ordinary teacher, and therefore much more people watched the start than ordinary flights. In both cases, as it turned out later, the problem lay in the fuel tanks - this is such a huge brown thing in the shuttle. The design, although it was designed with a margin, apparently could not withstand such loads: the tank had to go into orbit with the shuttle, and then fall to Earth, after which it was patched and returned to service.


The empty Endeavor STS-57 fuel tank returns home after being separated from the space shuttle. June 21, 1993.

In the case of Challenger, the tank gave a barely noticeable leak, which at a high altitude became critical and led to an explosion. Unfortunately, nothing could be done in flight. In the case of Colombia, the mistake was much more annoying: at the start, a piece of the tank insulation fell off and damaged the insulation on the shuttle wing. The MCC knew about this, but did not consider the damage significant. Of course, reusable ships and frequent launches are somewhat relaxing, and the eye is blurred. As a result, after 30 years and 135 launches, the program was curtailed. Nevertheless, she made a huge contribution to space exploration. In particular, Discovery launched the famous Hubble telescope into orbit, Atlantis flew 7 times to the Mir station, and all three living veterans took part in the creation of the ISS. Shuttles were trucks and orbital return stations, which determined their size.


Bruce McCandless uses a manned maneuvering module ( jetpack ) during spacewalk. February 7, 1984

It is believed that the Space Shuttle program did not pay for itself. However, it’s quite difficult to come up with something related to space exploration that could pay for itself. In most cases, when they launch something even into orbit, it is more a contribution to development, rather than an investment for the purpose of making a profit. Simply put, someone who sends their own satellite into orbit hardly makes money on it. However, this does not apply to television and communication satellites, which quite possibly have already paid for themselves.


Hubble telescope “hanging” in orbit

But the problem of the shuttle is also that it did not have adequate means of saving the crew. In the same Union, the crew is much more insured. If something happens to the rocket on the launch pad or during take-off, where accidents most often occur, there is a so-called mast SAS ( emergency rescue system ) on its nose , which in which case simply shoots the capsule with the crew. Once in the whole history she was even taken advantage of (and while I was going to publish this article, CAC came in handy again ). Of course, there could be problems with landing in theory, too, but there have been only two tragic cases in history: failure to open the Soyuz-1 parachute at the dawn of the Soyuz spacecraft in 1967, and depressurization during landing of the descent moduleSoyuz-11 in 1971. In total, 4 Soviet cosmonauts died. In the very first Apollo, which never flew, in 1967, three astronauts died due to a fire in the command compartment during training. That is, at the dawn of serious astronautics, 7 people died due to imperfection of the ships.

15 years after the depressurization of Soyuz-11, in 1986, when taking off, the Challenger explodes, killing 6 American astronauts and one teacher in one fell swoop. After another 17 years in 2003, Columbia collapses, killing another 6 American astronauts and one Israeli.

Since then, crews have been reduced to a minimum, and the shuttle is no longer a full-fledged orbital laboratory. A special tragedy here is also that after so many years of development, more people are dying on already run-in and seemingly reliable spaceships than when testing ancient capsules. One can, of course, argue that much more people die in plane crashes than in plane tests, but this is not the case. Each launch of a spaceship is a risk, and risks must be taken into account and minimized as much as possible. Unfortunately, the shuttle did not have really effective means to reduce them.

But let's go back. In the USSR, the launch of the first shuttle did not go unnoticed. Intelligence worked successfully on both sides, competing in tricks, and then the Soviet side missed a light blow. There is a version that the enemy intelligence threw misinformation, however, there are no significant facts in favor of this version, including economic ones. In one of the interviews, Alexei Leonov talked about how he “accidentally” stumbled upon the Shuttle drawings while preparing for the Soyuz-Apollo flight at NASA, but it’s hard to say how true this story is. Another version comes from a paranoid fear of the top of the USSR not to keep up with the US in the arms race. The shuttle is supposedly a military orbital ship, and in it ... "yes, anything." But such a version could not be born just like that, without evidence. Or could she? She is still considered the main one, "and many believe." Despite the fact that the country was slowly moving to market relations, unfortunately, it did not increase its commercial flair to this day, to say nothing of the eighties. However, it is not in favor of the second version that so many people could not be mistaken. Or could it? Of course it could, but intentionally. Of course, it was clear to any educated person who studied the “mined” blueprints of the shuttle that the shuttle could have a military purpose only, and that was indirect: to put military satellites into orbit. It doesn't sound so scary. And here several ingenious heroes come up with a brilliant idea: what if we frighten the uneducated top of the shuttle,throwing bombs from orbit, and breed to create your own shuttle, but withblackjack engine and cool rockets? And the top was scared, so much so that it allocated a lot of money to develop its own shuttle.

It is worth making a small digression. The fact is that the shuttle is just an orbital glider. It includes the shuttle itself, a large brown fuel tank and two side boosters. Upon entering orbit, the shuttle burns all the fuel and shoots the external tank.


Shuttle Columbia has landed

By and large, there is no more fuel. There are only shunting engines that are suitable for control only in orbit. Having completed his business in orbit, the shuttle is deployed, since most of the time in orbit he spends “upside down”, is braked by shunting engines, and dives into the atmosphere. Then he slows down with a heat screen - these are black tiles on his belly, then he plans along a complex trajectory, like a leaf detached from a tree, and lands on an airfield , almost like a real plane. Above the shuttle is the cargo compartment hatch, which houses the cargo, manipulators and much more. Below only the chassis. Thus, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to use an orbital glider in this form for bombing.

It’s also difficult to speculate on the expediency of such a tool, since launching a manned orbital bomber is clearly more expensive than launching a ballistic missile, and it takes time to prepare the launch — it’s not just a button to press. Finally, even if technical issues are resolved, is there a profound point in dropping a bomb at Moscow? Even a big one. But after all, the USSR will answer right there - there is nothing left to lose, and among the generals you can always find the near dreamer of nuclear war. But, fortunately, there was no one at the top who would like to arrange a nuclear winter.

To finally say goodbye to this version, we will finally plunge into the realm of the absurd and imagine the expected course of events. Suppose the Americans begin to prepare their launch for launch, in the USSR they learn about it and immediately begin to equip their own, stuffing a nuclear bomb into it. “What if the Americans have a bomb?” The American shuttle enters orbit and does its job. All this time the Soviet shuttle has been waiting, suddenly it will drop a bomb. And so with every launch of the American shuttle, the USSR is forced to launch its own, and even with a bomb. Because, if the shuttle is not in orbit, technically it does not seem to exist. As a result, huge paranoid expenses were wasted.

“What a bomb,” some said, “the shuttle will steal Soviet satellites from orbit!” Of course, such an idea is no less paranoid than an orbital bomb. Spending so much money on banal trolling is too expensive in capitalist realities.


The reusable orbiter Buran landed after its first and only orbital flight. November 15, 1988

So what was the scam? Perhaps the top needed Buran, but Soviet science was only interested in the process of creation, since in those days many enterprises of various directions were generously financed, thanks to which the achievements of those years are used to this day. Partly because they were very useful, partly due to the fact that since then there have been practically no such large and fruitful jerks. In particular, heavy rockets, solid fuel boosters and Zenit rockets were developed, which were even supposed to be controlled to be returned to Earth or to a floating platform (how do you like this, Elon Mask?).

What about Buran? Once, Buran flew into orbit, made a magnificent independent flight in fully automatic mode, demonstrated the potential of Soviet science to the whole world, and got into the hangar. Then the Soviet Union collapsed, and after about ten years, the hangar with Buran, which once again proved that no one needed the result, only the process was important. And what about the USA? They looked at Buran, admired, said “Hmm, ok” and continued to fly the shuttles. After the creation of Buran, which was almost superior to the shuttle, the Americans could cut back on funding for the program because of its lack of competitiveness. However, they not only did not curtail it, but also built Endeavor to replace the deceased Challenger.

Of course, it is very disappointing that the main result of such work was ingloriously lost, and Buran was simply forgotten. Considering that launch vehicles designed for it could theoretically put the shuttle not only into Earth orbit, but it was controlled automatically, it would be great to launch it into free space navigation - all the better than decaying in the barn. But, unfortunately, the Soviet Ilona Masks were not found in those days for such an adventure, and the economic situation was not the most favorable.

But the scam was brilliant. Probably, grants for scientific research in the defense industry are knocked out like that.