Vietnamese pilot cosmonaut 1979-1980. Graduated from Gagarin Military Academy, Monino, 1978 Captain and fighter pilot, Vietnam Air Force. Flew many combat missions during the Vietnam War. Continued service in Vietnamese Air Force. Died in the crash of a MiG-21UTI trainer.
Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 'On the Creation of pockets With Engines on the Basis of Nuclear Energy Applications--work on a draft project for rockets with nuclear engines' was issued. Competing engine designs were in development by Glushko's OKB-456 and Bondaryuk's OKB-670. Both designs used existing available reactors in cyldindrical housings, with the reactors operating at 3000 degrees K. The propellant was heated in the reactor and exhausted through four expansion nozzles. The Glushko engine operated with ammonia, while the Bondaryuk engine used a mixture of ammonia and alcohol. With such propellants a specific impulse of 430 seconds was achieved.
Space Technology Laboratories was requested to submit a proposal to perform system engineering and technical direction of the Air Force man in space program based on the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division's work statement. In event program authorization was received prior to completion of the proposal, work would begin under a letter contract. Pending receipt of such approval, the contractor's work on Man-In-SpaceSoonest program would be confined to technical staff assistance, a function it was performing as a technical requirement of the existing contract. (Chronological Space Hist, 1958.)
Complex 576C (576C Strategic Missile Squadron), the first Atlas E operational complex, was transferred to SAC at Vandenberg AFB. The 576C consisted of one above ground horizontal coffin storage/launcher hardened to withstand 25 pounds per-square inch (psi).
In this 3000-square-foot facility, all airborne systems in the Gemini launch vehicle - including flight control, hydraulic, electrical, instrumentation, and malfunction detection - were assembled on tables and benches; actual engines, but simulated propellant tanks and guidance, were used. In addition to individual and combined systems tests, the facility was used to check system design changes and trouble-shoot problems encountered in other test programs.
Flight N, the final 10 Minuteman missiles of the 510th Strategic Missile Squadron, was turned over to the 351st Strategic Missile Wing at Whiteman AFB, Missouri. This completed Wing VI and brought the total number of Minuteman missiles turned over to SAC to 600.
Langley Research Center put into operation its 3.5 million Lunar Landing Research Facility. The huge structure (76.2 m (250 ft) high and 121.9 m (400 ft) long) would be used to explore techniques and to forecast various problems of landing on the moon. The facility would enable a test vehicle to be operated under one-sixth g conditions.
The group was selected to provide crews for flights of the Manned Orbiting Laboratory, a classified military manned space station.. Qualifications: Qualified military pilot; graduate of Aerospace Research Pilot School; serving military officer; US citizen by birth..
The cancellation came only a few months before an orbital 2G-1 could be flown. Martlet 2's were used to conduct extensive research at altitudes of up to 180 km with some 200 flights being conducted between 1963 and 1967. The very low cost per flight, about $3,000, made it ideal for a wide variety of applications.. Typical mission payloads included chemical ejection to produce an observable atmospheric trail and assorted sensors with multi-channel telemetry.
Ministry of General Machine Building (MOM) Decree 232 'On start of work on the UR-700M rocket' was issued. The decree allowed development of an advanced project for a manned Mars expedition using the UR-700M booster and MK-700 spacecraft. The TTZ specification document was written by the TsNIIMASH and NIITI institutes, and the project was given the code name 'Aelita'.
Ten days after their 18-day flight, the Soyuz 9 crew can still only work 3 to 4 hours a day. They can only take two short walks daily and tire quickly. Their pulse, temperature, blood pressure fluctuate from day to day, often being in the range of ill people. Meanwhile the head army physician examines Tereshkova, and prescribes a one-week spa cure.
Kamanin account: The next communications session with Soyuz 11 comes at 00:16. Kamanin reads up to the crew the conditions at the primary and secondary landing zones (10 km visibility, 2-3 m/s wind, 16 deg temperature, 720 mm pressure). The crew is to told to report on HF and UHF using all antennae and to call out parachute opening. They are ordered to wait in the capsule for the recovery crews, not to open the hatch themselves under any circumstances. It should take no more than 20 to 30 minutes until the recovery team can open the hatch from the outside. They are under no circumstances to try to get out of the capsule without the assistance of the doctors. Dobrovolsky confirms: "All received, landing sequence proceeding excellent, all OK, crew is excellent".
Telemetry shows the Soyuz braking engine begins firing at 01:35:24 and makes a nominal 187 second retrofire burn. Ground control waits for verbal confirmation, but there are no voice communications received from the capsule. At 01:47:28 the crew should have reported successful BO and PAO module separations from the capsule, but still nothing heard. It is not clear to ground control at this point - is Soyuz 11 heading for a landing or staying in orbit? From 01:49:37 to 2:04:07 the capsule is in communications range but there is no reply to the ground's calls. It is now obvious that something is wrong aboard Soyuz 11, but it is not clear what.
At 01:54 the VVS command point reports that radar has picked up the spacecraft at 2200 km uprange from the landing zone. It is on course, so the feeling is that the capsule's communications system has simply failed. The parachute deploy signal is received from within the landing zone, but still no transmissions from the crew as on earlier missions. At 02:05 an Il-14 search plane and Mi-8 helicopter spot Soyuz 11 descending under its parachute, within 200 km east of Dzhezkazgan. Soyuz 11 lands at 02:18 Moscow time. Four helicopters land simultaneously as the capsule thumps down on the steppe. The report from the recovery forces to the control centre is only one word: "Wait". There are no further tramsmissions from the recovery forces. It is clear the crew must be dead. Kamanin calls Goreglyad and tells him to set up a State Commission.
Later it is learned that two minutes after landing the hatch was opened by the recovery group and the crew was seen to be without signs of life. At 06:00 by orders of Ustinov and Smirnov the designated members of the State Commission depart from the Crimea for the landing site aboard a Tu-104, then transfer to an An-10. But on arrival they find that Goreglyad has already left for Moscow with the corpses of the crew. At 16:00 the engineers and doctors meet with the State Commission. The spacecraft's cabin, seats, parachute, equipment, and instruments have been examined. They indicate no problems - the spacecraft made a good soft landing. A hard landing was not a factor. All switches on the instrument panel were in their correct positions. A vent in one of two air valves was open 10 mm. There were no other discrepancies, even though the doctors already report that they believe the crew died from decompression of the cabin. At 23:00 the State Commission members leave for Moscow. Additional Details: here....
Russian engineer cosmonaut 1966-1971. Member of first space station crew, however perished during landing. From 1958 a civilian engineer, Korolev OKB, involved in the development of the Vostok and Voskhod spacecraft. 2 spaceflights, 28.7 days in space. Flew to orbit on Soyuz 7 (1969), Soyuz 11.
"Review the possibility of testing and testing of avionics for the spacecraft on the MKBS in real space conditions instead of working in ground conditions with stands and costly ground installations that simulate space flight conditions.
Review MV Melnikov's materials on the use of electronic and neutron beams for special purposes". (Mishin Diaries 3-65):
Stationed at 14 deg W. Radio telephone and telegraph communications and television broadcasting. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 14 deg W in 1983-1986; 16 deg W in 1986-1987; 11 deg W in 1987-1989 As of 3 September 2001 located at 105.97 deg E drifting at 6.939 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 169.25W drifting at 6.932W degrees per day.
Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 27 deg W in 1985-1990; 63 deg E in 1990-1992; 177 deg E in 1992-1994; 180 deg E in 1994-1997; 29 deg W in 1998-1999 As of 4 September 2001 located at 29.54 deg W drifting at 0.005 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 9 located at 113.07W drifting at 0.696W degrees per day.
Unmanned resupply vessel to Mir. An initial docking attempt on 2 Jul 1992 was a failure. Docked with Mir on 4 Jul 1992 16:55:13 GMT. Undocked on 24 Jul 1992 04:14:00 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 24 Jul 1992 08:03:35 GMT. Total free-flight time 4.17 days. Total docked time 19.47 days. It was docked to Mir for only a few weeks, since on 26 Jul the Soyuz TM-15 was to be launched with a replacement crew and would need to use the same docking port.
Ron Howard's cinematic version of the Apollo 13 mission is released. Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, and Kevin Bacon portray the crew with Gary Sinise as the grounded Mattingly and Ed Harris as flight controller Gene Kranz. The film grosses $ 334.1 million worldwide and reawakens popular awareness and interest in the space race of the 1960's.
Launch delayed from June 29. First Advanced Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, using a Hughes HS 601 satellite bus. It included an S-band phased array antenna and two Ku/Ka band reflectors 4.6 meters in diameter. The satellite was launched into a a 167 x 577 km x 28.3 deg parking orbit at 13:05 GMT. The Centaur upper stage made a second burn at 13:21 GMT, releasing the satellite into a subsynchronous transfer orbit of 237 x 27,666 km x 27.0 deg. The satellite's own Primex/Marquardt R4D liquid apogee engine would be used to maneuver the satellite into its final geosynchronous orbit. Stationed at 151 deg W. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 150 deg W in 2000. As of 5 September 2001 located at 149.99 deg W drifting at 0.014 deg E per day. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 145.38E drifting at 3.007W degrees per day.
Digital Audio Radio Satellite, used for transmission of S-band radio broadcasts direct to receivers in cars in the United States. Sirius 1 was inserted into an initial 6,166 x 47110 km x 63.4 deg transfer orbit by the Proton-K's Blok DM3 upper stage. The satellite's R4D liquid apogee engine made several burns to raise the orbit to 24,388 x 47,097 km x 63.3 deg by July 8. This elliptical, inclined 24 hour orbit had a 24 hour period, designed to keep the satellite between longitude 60W and 140W, with apogee over the northern hemisphere. Stationed at 66 deg W. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 66 deg W in 2000. As of 6 September 2001 located at 65.59 deg W drifting at 0.015 deg E per day. As of 2007 Mar 9 located at 65.37W drifting at 0.004E degrees per day.
NASA's Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) was placed in a 167 x 204 km x 28.8 deg parking orbit at 1958 GMT. At 2104 GMT the second stage ignited again for a 4 second burn, raising the orbit to around 181 x 308 km; the third stage spun up and ignited at 2108 GMT, accelerating MAP to a highly elliptical orbit of 182 x 292,492 km x 28.7 deg. MAP used on-board fuel to tweak the orbit and make a lunar flyby at fourth apogee on July 30, arriving at the L2 Earth-Moon Lagrangian point 1.5 million km from Earth three months later. From L2, MAP was to measure fluctuations in the cosmic 3 Kelvin microwave background with the degree of precision required to answer questions about the big bang and the total mass and fate of the universe. By July 22 the MAP probe was in a 4055 x 355,935 km x 28.0 deg orbit. It flew past the Moon on July 30 at 1639 GMT at an altitude of 5200 km above the lunar surface.
MOST (Microvariability and Oscillations of Stars) was a Canadian Space Agency project with a 0.15m telescope which would make photometric observations of stars down to mag 6 with 1 part per million accuracy in the 3500-7000 Angstrom band. Canada's tiny "humble space telescope", celebrated its tenth anniversary of operations in 2013.
First docking attempt with the ISS on 2 July aborted due to radio interference. Successfully docked with the ISS at the Zvezda module on 4 July at 16:17 GMT. Undocked from the Zvezda module of the ISS at 11:21 GMT on 31 August 2010. Conducted experiments in free flight until deorbited at 12:13 GMT on 6 September.
Prototype optical surveillance satellite developed under the USAF Operationally Responsive Space program. Derived from Tacsat 3. Objective is to deploy small satellites to support military operations on short notice, either to provide a surge capability or to replace malfunctioning or disabled primary assets.