- 2884 - SPACE - space station tragedies. Most Western space enthusiasts remember the American Skylab space station, only some recall the long series of Soviet orbiting labs called the Salyut space stations. The last of these, Salyut 7, famously went silent in 1985, when a loss of power shut down all of its systems.
--------------------------- 2884 - SPACE - space station tragedies.
- But later that year in 1985, two cosmonauts risked their lives to revive the radio silent space station. Salyut, variously translated as “salute” or “firework,” was a Soviet program that ran from 1971 to 1986 and included the world’s first space station, Salyut 1.
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- The Salyut space stations had both military and civilian applications, but they were largely designed to pioneer the technology required to build modular space habitats.
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- In February, 1985, after hosting three cosmonaut crews, including one that stayed for 237 days, a record at the time, the vacant Salyut 7 space station started to experience trouble.
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- Workers in the TsUP, the Soviet version of NASA’s Mission Control, noted that an over current had tripped a circuit breaker, which shut down the station's primary long-range radio transmitter.
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- Ground controllers switched Salyut 7 to its backup transmitter, which seemed to solve the problem. However, a subsequent attempt to restart the primary transmitter created another over current that started a cascading series of electrical failures. Both radio transmitters, primary and backup, as well as the station’s radio receivers, ceased to work.
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- Attempts to revive the station from the ground failed. Salyut 7 went silent. It began to slowly tumble. Making matters worse, the interior of the station rapidly lost heat, eventually reaching a frigid, yet stable, temperature of about –4 degrees Fahrenheit.
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- Soviet engineers realized they had only two options: abandon Salyut 7 or mount a rescue mission.
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- The Soviet's larger, more advanced “Mir space station” was still a work in progress. Waiting for Mir to launch would have meant putting all space work on hold for at least a full year. So, although a crewed rescue mission to Salyut 7 was a dangerous proposition, if successful, the Soviet's would save both time and money, as well as save face.
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- The Soviets understood that docking a crewed Soyuz spacecraft with Salyut 7 was a supremely dangerous maneuver. A failed docking could cripple the Soyuz, stranding the crew in orbit, if not killing them outright.
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- Soviet spacecraft usually depended on an automated docking system, but that relied on computers aboard both vessels being in constant communication with each other.
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- Fortunately, cosmonaut Vladimir Dzhanibekov had previously performed a manual docking with the then functioning Salyut 7, which was partly why he was chosen to head the rescue mission. Cosmonaut Viktor Savinykh would accompany him.
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- Dzhanibekov and Savinykh trained extensively on new protocols developed for the planned docking with the lifeless Salyut 7. And on June 6, 1985, the pair launched aboard Soyuz T-13.
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- During a long, slow approach to the station, Dzhanibekov and Savinykh noticed that Salyut's solar arrays were no longer aligned with each other or the Sun, further confirming the severity of the damage.
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- Fortunately the station’s rotation rate was manageable. And by using an optical rangefinder, Dzhanibekov manually nestled the Soyuz near Salyut 7, linking the two craft at the forward docking port.
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- Firmly attached to Salyut 7, the cosmonauts' next task was to see if the station could be revived. If they couldn't resurrect Salyut 7 and its systems, they would have no choice but to return to Earth.
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- By moving through a series of hatches, paying careful attention to equalize the pressures at each step, Dzhanibekov and Savinykh finally reached the work area of
Salyut 7.
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- Due to the sub-zero temperature, the two cosmonauts donned wool hats and heavy winter coats. Dzhanibekov described the environment as “kolotoon," which is a slang term in Russian meaning extreme cold with harsh undertones.
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- The station was dark. All of its water supplies had frozen. The instruments and walls were covered with a fine layer of frozen moisture, a picturesque scene that foretold the severe risk of an electrical short.
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- The cosmonauts performed an analysis of the air quality aboard the station, confirming it was breathable, and opened the porthole shades to allow sunlight to help warm the station.
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- Although Salyut 7 had no power, Dzhanibekov and Savinykh did find some operable batteries onboard. They connected them to the solar panels, and by using the Soyuz’s thrusters, they moved the entire station to properly align it with the Sun.
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- Once the batteries charged up, Dzhanibekov and Savinykh began to bring Salyut 7’s vital systems back online. One at a time, they revived the lights, communications, water storage and delivery apparatus, and so on. Working tirelessly, and under the harshest of harsh conditions, Dzhanibekov and Savinykh astonishingly resuscitated all of Salyut 7 in just 10 days.
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- With the station back up and running, the crew of Soyuz T-13 was no longer on a rescue mission. It was time for them to settle in. Dzhanibekov remained in orbit for 110 days, while Savinykh spent 168 days on the station. They returned home aboard different, subsequently launched, Soyuz flights.
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- The rescue of Salyut 7 would serve as Dzhanibekov’s final space mission, though Savinykh would fly in space several more times.
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- Salyut 7 was the last of the Salyut stations, remaining in space for six years after initially going dark. But as its orbit decayed, accelerated by solar activity, Salyut 7 eventually burned up over South America on February 7, 1991.
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- The rescue of Salyut 7 has sometimes been compared to the ill-fated flight of Apollo 13. Both missions involved dead and freezing spacecraft that put human lives at risk, and both missions succeeded thanks to extensive coordination between astronauts / cosmonauts and ground controllers.
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- Dzhanibekov and Savinykh had the advantage of a fully functioning Soyuz spacecraft, which could ferry them back them Earth at any time. Plus, the cosmonauts were working in Earth orbit, while Apollo 13 astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise were fighting to get home from the depths of lunar space.
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- Both missions showcase the incredible fortitude humans are capable of, even while under extreme duress, when they have the proper support, guidance, and determination to succeed.
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- And can you believe men and women still volunteer for these space missions? Loneliest place on Earth, oh, it is not on earth.
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- Several space missions for both NASA and the USSR were not so fortunate and experienced deadly results. The Apollo 1 fire in January 1967, killed astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee.
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- During a launch simulation, a stray spark within the cabin of the grounded spacecraft, which was filled with pure oxygen, ignited. This led to an uncontrollable fire that quickly overwhelmed the doomed crew, leading to their tragic deaths as they struggled in vain to open the pressurized hatch door.
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- They had done exactly the same test the night before but without the hatch closed, so we weren’t on 100 percent oxygen. A little less than two years later, in October 1968, Cunningham, Wally Schirra, and Donn Eisele became the first Apollo crew to successfully venture into space.
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- Over the next three years, Apollo astronauts completed seven more missions, including the first Moon landing during Apollo 11 and the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission.
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- Then, on June 30, 1971, humankind witnessed the first deaths to occur in space, the Soyuz 11 disaster. The first space station to park itself above Earth's atmosphere was the USSR's Salyut 1, which launched (unmanned) on April 19, 1971.
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- Just a few days later, a crew of three Soviets blasted off aboard Soyuz 10 with the goal of entering the space station and staying in orbit for a full month. Though the Soyuz 10 crew docked safely with the Salyut 1, issues with the entry hatch prevented them from entering the space station.
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- During their premature return trip back to Earth, toxic chemicals leaked into the air supply of Soyuz 10, causing one cosmonaut to pass out. However, all three members of the crew ultimately made it home safe with no long-lasting effects.
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- Just a few months later, on June 6, 1971, the Soyuz 11 mission was accessing the space station. Unlike the previous crew, the three Soyuz 11 cosmonauts, Georgi Dobrovolski, Vladislav Volkov, and Viktor Patsayev, successfully entered Salyut 1.
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- They spent the next three weeks not only setting a new record for the longest time spent in space, but also carrying out loads of experiments focused on how the human body deals with extended periods of weightlessness.
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- On June 29, 1971, the cosmonauts loaded back into the Soyuz 11 spacecraft and began their descent to Earth. And that's when tragedy struck. To those on the ground, everything about Soyuz 11's reentry seemed to go off without a hitch.
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- The spacecraft appeared to make it through the atmosphere just fine, ultimately landing in Kazakhstan as planned. It wasn't until recovery crews opened the hatch that they discovered all three crew members inside were dead.
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- Outwardly, there was no damage whatsoever. The recovery crew] knocked on the side, but there was no response from within. On opening the hatch, they found all three men in their couches, motionless, with dark-blue patches on their faces and trails of blood from their noses and ears. The cause of death was suffocation.
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- The fatal accident was determined to be the result of a faulty valve seal on the spacecraft's descent vehicle that burst open during its separation from the service module.
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- At an altitude of 104 miles, the deadly combination of a leaking valve and the vacuum of space rapidly sucked all the air out of the crew cabin, depressurizing it. And because the valve was hidden below the cosmonauts' seats, it would have been nearly impossible for them to fix the problem in time.
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---------------------------------------- More about space, request number:
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- 2802 - SPACE - hazards to avoid? Astronomers have been studying over 2,000 Pulsars and Magnetars and they have interesting stories. The names are not important but I will identify them just for your own research. There are so many hazards in outer space beginning with the vacuum of space.
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- 2614 - SPACE - can space be warped? The predictions of Einstein’s general theory of relativity is that any spinning body drags the very fabric of space-time in its vicinity around with it. This is known as “frame-dragging”. Or, how space can be warped. Traveling is a straight line is not straight.
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- 2404 - the vacuum of space.
- 2279 - inventions for earthlings.
- 2252 - what did we learn in space?
- 2243 - what is space really?
- 2224 - The year 2018 in space exploration.
- 2049 - the expanding space.
- 2029 - dust is outer space.
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- 1986 - space is what separates things. Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
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- 1831 - from Blackholes to empty space. From Blackholes to Empty Space? The center of a Blackhole is expected to be infinite density. The space between Blackholes is supposed to be an empty vacuum. Both offer mysteries yet to be discovered.
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- 1790 - Space ant time must change as we approach the speed of light. Explains why space and time must change in order to adhere to the Theory of Relativity.
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- 1773 - The size of space depends on you fast you are moving.
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- 1407 - Space is in constant motion. Space is anything but empty
- 1241 - at the smallest levels things remain connected even though they are separated in space. How can space and time be related? They are connected by distance / time which is velocity. And velocity is limited to the speed of light, therefore space / time must vary.
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- 1679 - Space dust
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- 1242 How does Space-Time change at the micro-level. At the smallest scales things become bull’s eyes of wave patterns that spread effects over a range of probabilities.
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- 1258 How much space is in our Solar System
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- 781 Much todo about Nothing. The Universe is expanding and more “ nothing” is being created all the time.
- 588 - Gravity probe B
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- October 30, 2020 2884
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--------------------- --- Saturday, October 31, 2020 ---------------------------
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