Salyut-6 Experiments
SALYUT 6—A SECOND GENERATION SPACE STATION
SALYUT 6 EXPERIMENTS
During the 3-year period that Salyut 6 hosted crews covered in this study, the station was occupied about half the time. This permitted a great number of experiments to be performed, ranging from medical/psychological studies, to technical experiments such
as materials processing, to Earth observation/photography sessions. The following section describes the experiments that were conducted and, in some cases, the results of those experiments. Overall, however, the Soviets have released little information about many of their experiments on Salyut 6, particularly in the area of materials processing. This may be due to the length of time required for data analysis.
Medical/psychological experiments are discussed at length in chapter 4 and materials processing experiments and Earth resources observations are discussed in part 3 of this study in the chapter on space applications. Thus, only a brief treatment is accorded those topics here.
MEDICAL/PSYCHOLOGICAL
The equipment carried on Salyut 6 for monitoring the cosmonauts' health and for exercising was much the same as on previous space stations. The Chibis vacuum suit, Polinom-2 apparatus, and Beta rheograph were all used routinely.
Most of the new medical experiments were developed jointly with other countries, and generally were used only when an international crew was onboard. They included the following.
Cardioleader
Developed jointly by Soviet and Polish scientists, this was a device to measure the physical effort exerted by a cosmonaut when using the bicycle or running track in order to develop a controlled program of exercise in which the effort spent in physical exercise was proportional to the action of the heart of the person using the given piece of equipment. For this experiment, three electrodes were attached to the cosmonaut's chest, while another wire linked the Cardioleader device to the exercise equipment.
Audio
This experiment studied noise levels and the frequency characteristics of the noise in the space station, about which there had been numerous complaints from crews.
Smak or Vkus
This "taste" experiment, in which taste buds were electrically stimulated, determined how taste changes in space conditions. Some of the cosmonauts had complained that food that once tasted wonderful began tasting like sawdust or ashes.
Vremya
The "time" experiment was designed to test the crew's ability to react speedily to commands given by man or machine.
Speech
The speech experiment was developed by East German scientists and required East German Cosmonaut Sigmund Jahn to repeat a phrase (the number 226 in German, a real tongue twister) during communications sessions with Earth to study tone, volume, rate and other characteristics of his speech to determine how he felt in weightlessness compared to how his voice sounded.
Balaton
This joint Soviet/Hungarian experiment concerned the intellectual and motor performance of the crew. The 420 gram instrument was held in the cosmonaut's hand with two of his fingers touching two sensor plates which recorded the electric conductivity of the skin. Pulse rate was measured from the forefinger simultaneously, as was the perspiration rate, to determine if the task had been solved easily or with difficulty. Tasks were presented in the form of flashing numbers on a display, with answers given by pressing a button. Eight questions were presented which could be solved in four ways, each with different levels of difficulty. The most difficult of the tests was when the numbers 1 to 4 flashed on the screen 16 times and the cosmonaut had to respond by pressing the button corresponding to the location value. If a correct answer was given, the display would flash more quickly, thus increasing the difficulty of succeeding tasks. The machine would measure response time. The cosmonaut was also required to listen to sounds with varying rhythms through earphones at the same time. (61)
Qpros
The "questionnaire" experiment required the cosmonaut to answer nine questions about his eating and sleeping habits, leisure time activities, professional skills, vision, hearing, smell, posture, and need for medication, in order to assess his psychological adaptation to space. These questions were asked at different times throughout the missions. Each question had a value of 5, and the cosmonaut would list the value reflecting his condition at that time.
Support
The Support experiment was developed jointly by Cuban and Soviet scientists who theorized that changes to the arch of the foot might be partially responsible for the locomotory disorders experienced by cosmonauts during their first days in space. According to those scientists, the arch is always supported on Earth and is an important signalling device to tell a person what his spatial position is, so if it were given more support while in space, the adaptation period might be easier. In this experiment, the Cuban cosmonaut, Tamayo Mendez, wore a special shoe to test the theory.
Cortex
The Cortex experiment was also a Cuban/Soviet project, and involved obtaining electroencephalograms of the cosmonauts.
Anthropometry
A third Cuban/Soviet biomedical experiment was called anthropometry and was simply described as determining the dynamics of change of some anthropometric indices.
Perception
This experiment, as its name implies, studied perception changes in the cosmonauts.
Dose
The dose experiment was designed to measure radiation levels. Pencil-shaped detectors were placed on the cosmonauts' bodies and in various locations around the space station. Every 2 to 3 days, the detectors were placed inside the "Pille" (moth) device to obtain readings on how much radiation had been absorbed since the last reading. The device obtained measurements in the 10 mrad to 10 rad range. Pille weighed less than 1 kg, and required 3 to 4 watts of power.
BIOLOGICAL
Biological experiments (other than those associated with the cosmonauts themselves) included the growth of plants and microorganisms, and studying the behavior of tadpoles and drosophila.
Plants
The space crews propagated a variety of edible plants on Salyut 6, including onions, cucumbers, radishes, dill, parsley, garlic, fennel, and mushrooms (according to the crews, "really strange mushrooms . . . with curly stems (62). Apparently the quantity of some of these vegetables was insufficient, since several Progress ships also brought cucumbers and onions.
Experiments with the Oazis device continued on Salyut 6, but attempts to grow peas and wheat were unsuccessful. The apparatus had three light sources, interchangeable growing pots with an ion exchange nutrient, a pneumohydroapparatus for supplying measured amounts of water, temperature monitors, and forced ventilation, but still the peas and wheat died in their formative stage. (63)
Attempts to get an Arabidopsis plant to go through an entire cycle, from seed and back to seed again, in the Fiton apparatus (64) were only partially successful. On September 16, 1980, the Soyuz 35/37 crew reported that "some plants have passed the complete cycle of development." (65) A later report clarified this to mean that the Arabidopsis flowered, but did not produce seeds. (66)
During the visit of the Vietnamese cosmonaut, experiments were conducted with the aquatic fern Azolla pinnata, a nitrogen-rich natural fertilizer for rice growing soil, which is native to Vietnam and has a short growing cycle. No further reports were made of how the fern responded to space conditions.
Progress 5 brought the Biogravistat apparatus to Salyut (a later cargo ship brought a new motor for the device which the crew installed after the original stopped working). Biogravistat had a rotating centrifuge and a stationary area on which plant seeds could be placed to determine how they would grow under those two different conditions. Tests showed that the roots of the seeds on the centrifuge grew twice as fast as those on the stationary part, and the root was directed along the radius in whichever direction the centrifugal force acted.
Progress 6, which docked with Salyut on May 15, 1979, brought a tulip that had almost blossomed to the Soyuz 32/34 crew. When the ship was launched, Tass reported that scientists were interested in how the plant would blossom in space, while noting that it would bring a breath of spring to the crew. No further mention was made of tulips until July 25, after the next Progress flight had departed. At that time, Tass reported that it had been found that tulips "produced a nearly half meter shoot, yet the buds refused to open." (67) Whether that was a reference to the Progress 6 tulip or another one brought up by Progress 7 or Soyuz 34 is unclear. What is obvious is that the plants were not behaving in the expected manner. After the Soyuz 32/34 mission, Tass reported that Soviet scientists were trying to find out "why plants in outer space conditions do not blossom and bear fruit," suggesting that they had no better luck later in the mission. Theories on why the plants would not blossom included: Lack of gravity; changes in the plant's mechanism of disposing of waste products so that the wastes "hang" in zero G; or the plant's metabolisms
The Soyuz 35/37 crew brought a special apparatus called "Malakhit" for growing orchids in space. The orchids were brought to the space station in a flowering state, but once on board, the flowers almost immediately fell off. When the experiment was repeated, the flowers fell off again.69 In another experiment, orchids were grown in space and although they developed normally for 177 days, they did not produce flowers at all.(70)
The chlorella algae experiments begun on previous space stations were continued on Salyut 6. These experiments are conducted in the hope that one day closed-cycle space stations can be orbited that will not require resupply missions from Earth.
Microorganisms
Several experiments were conducted on microorganisms. One was a joint Cuban/Soviet experiment called "Hatuey" for studying yeast growth. Yeast is a unicellular microorganism with a short life cycle, allowing research on numerous generations which develop on board the space station. The experiment was designed to
study intracellular processes. (71)
Another experiment was called "Cytos" and was developed jointly by Soviet and French scientists to study the kinetics of cell division. Two types of protozoa were used for the experiment: The French chose Paramecium while the Soviets chose Proteidae. The samples were refrigerated until just prior to the launch of Soyuz 27. On the eve of the launch, the specimens were placed in a "Bio-term-8" device which maintained a temperature of +8 degrees C during launch and until docking with the space station. After docking, they were placed into the French device "Cytos" where they were "awakened" by warmer temperatures maintained at +25 degrees C. In 4 days, 8 consecutive generations were produced.
The Soviet/East German Soyuz 31 crew conducted an unusual experiment called "sewing of microorganisms," which was developed by the Aviation Medicine Institute in Koenigsbrueck. According to the Tass description, East German scientists reasoned that since gravity affects the geometry of formations such as floccules, which consist of microorganisms and organic polymers, the sewing of such polymers might help in obtaining new medical preparations. (72)
To study the effect of cosmic rays, flasks containing biopolymers were placed on the outside of the space station by the Soyuz 26 crew when they went out on EVA early in the mission, and were retrieved by the Soyuz 29 crew. Control flasks were kept inside the station for comparison purposes. This experiment was called "Medusa," and no further information was found on what results were obtained.
Tadpoles and flies
The drosophila experiments continued on Salyut 6. A new generation was born every 2 weeks for heredity studies. The flies had their own "thermostat house" which maintained a constant temperature of 24 degrees C. They were delivered to Salyut in containers, which were then transferred to the thermostat house, and later returned to Earth. These experiments continued throughout the various Salyut missions.
Another experiment was conducted with tadpoles to see how they would adjust to a lack of gravity. There were two groups of specimens, one born on board the space station and another brought from Earth. The Soyuz 26/27 crew found that the Earth-born tadpoles swam in a disorderly manner "for a whole fortnight" without knowing top from bottom, while those born in space swam in an orderly, spiral pattern.
EARTH RESOURCES
Observations of the Earth's atmosphere, land masses and oceans occupied 60 percent of the crew's time on these Salyut 6 missions. Four different cameras, a 15-band spectrometer, an electrophotometer, and visual observations (using binoculars in some instances) contributed to these studies. Atmospheric studies are the subject of a later subsection; Earth and ocean studies are discussed here.
During the course of the nearly 3 years of flights to Salyut 6 covered by this report, virtually every area of the planet within range of the space station was observed. To prepare for this role, cosmonauts were given lessons by geological and scientific experts in a TU-134 airplane.
By way of emphasizing the importance of this work, A.P. Alexandrov, president of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, commented that it takes only 10 minutes to photograph a million square kilometers from Salyut, which would take several years to accomplish with aerial photography. (73)
From 1977-80, 9,500 photographs of the Earth were taken by the MKF-6M multispectral camera and another 4,500 were taken with portable and stationary single-channel cameras. Additionally, 100,000 spectra of the Earth's surface and atmosphere were registered. (74)
According to experts at the Soviet Priroda center, the economic effect of Earth resources photography and observations from space from 1978 to 1981 "exceeded 56 million rubles in the Central Asia region alone, in addition to shortening the time required to create cartographic documentation by 75 to 80 percent." (75) (This would have included remote sensing systems other than Salyut, though. See part 3, chapter 4, for a description of the other satellite systems.) Several hundred organizations of 22 Soviet ministries and departments contributed to defining the Earth resources program conducted on Salyut 6. (76)
Despite all the remote sensing equipment on Salyut 6, visual observations were nevertheless a very important part of the research. Vladimir Lyakhov, a member of the Soyuz 32/34 crew, commented that after a period of time, looking at the ocean was like learning to see anew.
Although the ocean's surface seemed at first to be monotonously homogenous, after half a month we began to differentiate the characteristic shades of one sea or another and different parts of the world ocean. We were astonished to discover that during a flight, it's as if a cosmonaut learns how to see all over again. At first the finest nuances of color elude you, but gradually you feel that your vision is sharpening and your eyes are becoming better, and all of a sudden the planet spreads itself before you with all its unique beauty. (77)
Binoculars were delivered to the crew to assist in the visual observations, and it was determined that 6x and 12 X magnifications were the most convenient. (78)
The relationship between remote sensing activities in space and the Priroda center is described in part 3 of this report so will not be reviewed here. Rather, the types of equipment used and what the crews viewed during their missions will be summarized. Soviet media accounts of the flights do not always make clear whether observations were accomplished visually or using which piece of equipment. There were four different cameras on board the station, some for still photographs, others for moving pictures, and usually the various systems were used in concert with each other.
The MKF-6M and KATE-140 cameras were permanently affixed to the space station, while the others (Pentacon 6M and Praktica EE2) were portable, permitting photographs of areas that might not be in view of the two stationary cameras. During Earth observation sessions with the MKF-6M and KATE-140, the space station was oriented so the axes of the cameras pointed toward the nadir, an orientation maintained with the Salyut engines. This required a significant expenditure of fuel, partially accounting for the frequent Progress refueling missions.
MKF-6M multispectral camera
The first flight of the MKF-6 camera, developed by East Germany was made on Soyuz 22 (see p. 532 of this chapter). The success of that mission led the Soviets to include a slightly modified version of the camera, designated MKF-6M, on Salyut 6. Its six spectral bands are: 0.46-0.50 microns, 0.52-0.56 microns, 0.58-0.62 microns, 0.64-0.68 microns, 0.70-0.74 microns, 0.78-0.86 microns.
Since the original camera was only designed to operate for about 2 weeks the Salyut version had to be designed to last longer. Thus designers "doubled the vital mechanical and electronic systems and made the systems more "robust" to ensure that they could survive the loads associated with liftoff and dockings.(79) They also made the camera easier to handle, and it was reported that the first two crews "were able to do all the necessary operations with one hand, using the other if necessary, 'to hold on to something in the space station." Changing film cassettes was also made easier by modifying the sprokets (each cassette weighed 13 kg and had 1,200 frames of film). The film was brought to Salyut by Progress mission since keeping a supply on board would not only take up too much space, but cosmic rays might have exposed the film.
During the time that the camera was operated, East German experts were available in flight control center to assist the crew if necessary. To facilitate space-ground communication about the instrument, two special devices were installed in the MKF-6M to telemeter information to the ground about whether the camera was on and if the film was advancing. In addition, an alarm on the control panel would warn the crew if the film broke. Altitude was recorded automatically.
One MKF-6M image shows an area of 225x155 km, or about 35,000 square kilometers. This is 84 percent more than when the camera was used on Soyuz 22 because of the higher altitude of the space station. The camera permits 60 percent overlap of adjacent areas, thus providing stereo images. The Soviets have said only that the spatial resolution of the MKF-6M is "tens of meters," (80) but it is thought to be about 20 meters on the Salyut 6 version, while it may have been as good as 10 meters when flown on Soyuz 22 because of the lower altitude.81 A member of the East German Astronautical Society has stated that when the camera was flown on Soyuz 22, "in fine weather one [could] recognize even small weekend houses on the pictures—taken from a distance of 250 km." (82)
KATE-UO
The KATE-140 (also referred to as the KT-140) is a wide angle, stereographic, topographical camera for making contour maps. One frame covers 160,000 square miles "with a high degree of definition." (83) The 85 degree field of view permits an image 450x450 km from the 350 km Salyt orbit. The camera could provide both single and strip photographs and had two film cassettes, each with a 600 frame film supply. It could be operated by the crew or on command from Earth.
Biosphere
The Biosphere experiments were done by visual observations assisted by binoculars and chromaticity atlases, and with hand held cameras, probably including the Pentacon 6M East German camera, although it was not specifically named. These experiments were conducted particularly when visiting Interkosmonauts were on board, at which time they would focus on the area around whatever country he was from.
The primary objectives of the Biosphere series were: To improve methods of space photography including selecting optimum angles for photographing specific natural objects in different states and selecting the best films, light filters and settings to best reflect actual land and water patterns; to clarify how well photographs reproduce the chromaticity of the underlying surface; to develop and improve methods of visual identification of objects and their state by the crews; and to investigate optical properties of the atmosphere in different conditions. (84)
Among the areas studied were geological formations (lineaments, circular, dome-shaped and crater-like structures), ocean basins (currents, ocean fronts, zones of upwelling, eddy formation, regions of biological productivity), meteorological phenomena, pollution (atmosphere, land, and water), and natural phenomena (cyclones, dust and sand storms, fires, floods, volcanoes). (85)
Spektr-15 spectrograph
The Bulgarian-made Spektr-15 instrument weighed 10.5 kg and was designed for spectroscopic surveys of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, and recorded light in 15 spectral bands to distinguish, for example, between crops that were ripe and those that were not, or to define the boundaries of ocean currents and plankton accumulations.
The Spektr-15 was used extensively during the Interkosmonaut missions, with experiment names varying with each country: Bulgarian—Balkan, Hungary— Pannoniya, Vietnam—Kyulong, and Cuba—Antiyas. The Bulgarian observations were made by the Soyuz 32/34 crew.
Land and ocean observations
The Soyuz 26/27 crew reportedly photographed the Central Asian Republics, Kazakhstan, the Altay region, the Volga region, and the Central Chernozen zone in January 1978, and Siberia and the construction site of the Baykal-Amur railway in February. Only 10 percent of the observation time was spent on photography for purely scientific purposes, while the remainder of the time was devoted to photographing specific features at the request of specialists. (86)
The next mention of the use of the MKF-6M was with the Soyuz 29 crew during the visits of Soyuz 30 and 31 when they took photographs of the Interkosmonauts' home countries, Poland and East Germany. The sessions were called "Ziemia" and "Syomka" respectively. In the case of the Ziemia observations, at least, simultaneous photographs were taken by aircraft.
By the end of the Soyuz 29/31 mission, "hundreds" of photographs had been taken and "hundreds of pages" of drawings and descriptions of atmospheric and surface phenomena had been made. (87) Among the areas specified as having been photographed
were: The Crimea, the Caucasus, the southern Urals, the low-land on the coasts of the Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan, the Central Asian republics, Siberia, the Trans-Baykal region, the Far East, the European part of the Soviet Union, Belorussia, the Ukraine, and the Pamirs (in particular snow caps and glaciers). These observations led to the discovery of underground water in the Mangyshlak Peninsula area on the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea, which had been thought to be devoid of water even after geological prospecting. (88)
Special mention was made of taking pictures of the Rostov region, one of four "pivots" identified by specialists for studying the utility of space-based remote sensing. The others were: Preparing a geobotanical chart of the Balkhash Lake, mapping pastures in Turkmenia, and studying irrigated fields in Uzbekistan. The Rostov region has the "Salskiy" experimental lot where a wide variety of cereals, vegetables, and grasses are grown, and experiments focussed on whether the different crops could be distinguished from space.
The Soyuz 32/34 crew spent the first part of their mission making visual observations rather than using the cameras. Beginning in April, however, reports appeared that the MKF-6M and KATE-140 cameras were being used to study the Baykal area, the Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan, the Caucasus, and the Volga Delta. In early June, they studied the forests of the Far East at the request of specialists, and later that month focussed on the agricultural areas of the Ukraine, Urals and Kazakhstan. At the very end of June and beginning of July they photographed the southern part of the Soviet Union, the Altay region, Siberia, the Far East, the Ukraine, the Volga Delta, the southern Urals, and Kazakhstan. At that time, they observed a wide belt of plankton for 1,000 km near the Kurile Islands in the Pacific.89
At the beginning of the Soyuz 35 mission, the Soviets announced that Earth resources would be prominently featured during the flight and that the crew was specifically charged with studying the ocean and its biological productivity.
By request, the crew studied the areas around the Caspian Sea, central Kazakhstan, southern Siberia, and the eastern part of the Baykul-Amur railway. Geologists were especially interested in linear and ring structures, and the crew studied these types of formation from aircraft as part of their pre-launch training. One of the Salyut 4 crews (Romaneko and Grechko) had discovered 25 faults and ring structures that might contain mineral deposits. (90)
During the visit of the Hungarian cosmonaut, a great deal of Earth resources work was accomplished. In one experiment called "UTROF," MKF-6M photographs were made of Lake Balaton to assess its ecological state. Simultaneous observations were made from an AN-30 aircraft at 6-7 km altitude, an AN-2 aircraft at 1.7-2.7 km altitude which took multispectral data in four bands, and a helicopter at 1 km altitude which took infrared photographs. Meteorological data and soil and water samples were also recorded during the experiment.
Other experiments with the Hungarian included studies to determine the Kishkere Reservoir's effect on soil salination, observations of the Carpatian Basin and the Tisza River Basin, and the Biosphere series in which 100 photographs and observations were made of ocean and weather formations.
When the Vietnamese cosmonaut visited later in the year, another intensive session of Earth resources work was held for agricultural, hydrological, geological and forestry investigations. Among the tasks were evaluating existing soil resources, finding the maximum boundaries of heavy floods, defining the inner boundaries of the penetration of tidal sea waters, and studying changes in the shape of sea coasts due to erosion and sedimentation.
After the Vietnamese/Soviet crew returned to Earth, the Soyuz 35/37 crew continued observations of the Krasnoyarsk region, the Trans-Baykal area, and the Far East, as well as Central Asia, and the Caspian and Aral seas. At the end of August, the crew conducted daily studies of the Soviet Union and the world's oceans, including the southern Ukraine, Central Asian republics, the Black and Caspian Seas, the Caspian lowlands, Kazakhstan, and Lake Baykal. These observations were made with handheld cameras, Spektr-15, and the RSS-2 spectograph. (This is the only time during these Salyut 6 missions than an RSS-2 spectrograph was mentioned.)
In mid-September, the crew was reportedly studying the dynamics of currents in the Indian Ocean and looking for dynamic formations in the Sargasso Sea, the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.When the Cuban cosmonaut arrived later that month, the Tropic 3
set of observations was conducted for observing specific areas of Cuba.
By the end of the Soyuz 35/37 mission, more than 3,500 MKF-6M photos had been taken, and 1,000 images with the KATE-140. A total of 100 million square kilometers had been photographed.
Among the findings from the observations was the discovery by Popov and Ryumin of three lineaments of meridional orientation in Hungary. Oil and gas deposits were found to be connected with the central lineament. Space observations also showed that Cuba was covered with a dense network of geological faults intersecting each other, especially in the western and eastern edge zones. (91)
The above descriptions of the areas investigated by the Salyut crews are based on Soviet press accounts and translations of articles in scientific journals. It is reasonable to assume that they also spent a great deal of time looking at other countries that passed beneath them, not just the oceans. The Soviets do not mention this, however, stating only that the observations were in the interests of the national economy. Such a statement certainly does not preclude observations of, for example, the wheat growing regions of the world to assess what the yield, and therefore potential price, of wheat would be in a given year.
Some of the observations may also have served the military sector. This possibility is discussed below.
ATMOSPHERIC STUDIES
The BST-lm submillimeter telescope
One of the instruments used for atmospheric observations was the BST-lm telescope for recording data in the infrared (thermal), ultraviolet and submillimeter ranges. It was the largest instrument on the space station (650 kg in mass) and had cryogenically cooled receivers which had to be calibrated each time it is used. Because of the large expenditure of time and power (1.3-1.5 kilowatts) required for its operation, it apparently was not used as often as other systems such as the MKF-6M.
The telescope had a 1.5 meter diameter mirror and an optical sight with 12X magnification. The receivers were cooled by liquid helium (at —269 degrees C) which was prepared on board the space station.
One of the primary goals of the BST-lm was studying Earth's ozone layer, although other atmospheric studies were done as well, together with observations of planets (Jupiter, Mars and Venus), stars (Sirius and Beta Centaurus especially), galaxies, and the interstellar medium. It also observed the Moon during a lunar eclipse. At certain times, simultaneous measurements were made with balloon borne instruments to obtain comparison data.
One of the results of the BST-lm observations was the discovery of anomolously strong emissions in the submillimeter band in areas of thunderstorm formation. (92)
The Yelena gamma ray instrument
A second experiment on Salyut 6 (delivered by Progress 5) for atmospheric studies was the Yelena gamma ray device. Although there are several references to the various crews working with Yelena, there is little information on exactly what was involved. In general, they measured gamma ray emissions inside the space station and from Earth.
The instrument itself weighed 20 kg and its dimensions were 300x300x500 mm. The area of the input window was 50 sq. cm. , the angle of view (aperture) was 30 degrees, it operated in the 30500 MeV range, and required 10 watts of power. It could operate continuously for 20 hours. (93)
Yelena was composed of a gas Cherenkov counter, 8 scintillation counters, 16 photomultipliers, and electronic equipment consisting of 60 integrated circuits, high and low voltage power supply systems, 2 photographic information recorders, and control and signalling panels.
The Soyuz 35 crew encountered a problem with Yelena when a pin broke and they could not use the instrument until a new pin was delivered by the Soyuz 38 crew.
Balloon observations were made to obtain comparison data, and one of the balloons was lost when it landed. When it was finally recovered, some parts were missing (the parachutes and other pieces), although the data recorder was intact. (94)
At the end of the Soyuz 35/37 mission, 100 hours had been spent with the Yelena and BST-lm instruments. Data from Yelena showed an increased stream of high energy electrons in the South Atlantic anomaly. Overall, it was found that background fluxes are highly dependent on latitude, being least at the equator and increasing by a factor of 10 at the higher latitudes.
The Duga electrophotometer
Another instrument used on Salyut 6 for atmospheric studies with the Bulgarian-made Duga electrophotometer. Duga had two modules: The opticomechanical module including the optical telescope, dispersing system, and image converter; and a data recording module which included a digital tape recorder. The image converter had to be replaced because it was producing inverse images; the replacement part was brought to Salyut by Progress 10.
Duga measured the intensity of optical emissions in the upper atmosphere at 6300, 5577, 4278, and 6563 angstroms. A Cassegrain system was used to permit sighting by the cosmonaut, with the viewer located parallel to the optical axis of the telescope. The entire instrument was attached to one the station's windows with a flange. (95)
An "equatorial glow" was discovered using Duga. The optical intensity of the equatorial region was 10 times higher than outside that area, with the brightest emission in the red oxygen line with a wavelength of 6300 angstroms. The green line at 5577 angstroms was also bright, but 4 to 6 times less intense as the red line. No emissions at 4278 or 6563 angstroms were recorded, and since the former is associated with electron emissions and the latter with proton emissions, "the outpouring electron and proton fluxes are very small and cannot explain the equatorial glow. (96)
Other
Among the other atmospheric experiments conducted were "Refraction' and "Zarya," as well as observations of the solar corona, and the aurora borealis.
"Refraction" was described as consisting of two "Polarization" experiments conducted with the Bulgarian Spektr-15 and Duga instruments which involved studies of optical phenomena in the atmosphere and pollution near industrial areas. "Polarization 1"
made spectrographic studies of sunlight refraction in the atmosphere, while "Polarization 2" made terrestrial horizon studies using light filters and the VPA-1 analyzer. (97)
"Zarya" involved spectrographic measurements of sunrise and sunset at various altitudes to study air density and temperatures in the stratosphere and troposphere. (98)
An April 1983 article by several Soviet authors (including- Popov and Ryumin) discussed another refraction experiment in more detail, although it does not appear to be the same as any of those mentioned above. It was conducted on August 27, 1980. Using a
composite forming lens, the Sun's image was projected onto a screen attached to the station, and moving pictures were taken of the image on the screen as it set below the horizon. Salyut was oriented such that the Sun's image was in the center of the screen on the lens' optical axis, and the stations' residual angular velocity was minimal. The Salyut engines remained off during this experiment. The value of the refraction angle could be determined by comparing the movement of any part of the image relative to a point on the screen. Moving pictures were taken directly of the Sun setting, in addition to the view on the screen. For the direct pictures of the Sun, 750 frames were processed; for the images from the screen, 700 were processed. Both were taken at approximately 24 frames/second. Analysis of these pictures showed strong refractive deformations of the Sun's limb in the form of steps, with refractive discontinuities of the image seen twice. The analysts concluded that both methods were reliable techniques of obtaining atmospheric refraction data. (99)
Experiments called Terminator and Atmosphere were mentioned while the Vietnamese cosmonaut was on board, but no details were provided.
The cosmonauts continued observations of noctilucent clouds in the polar regions to study pollution. These clouds are formed at about 80 km altitude from silicon or iron particles getting into the upper atmosphere from volcanic eruptions. Scientists are curious to know how they form, since clouds require water and there is none at those altitudes. Photographs and drawings by space crews have shown a clear division of the clouds into three layers differing in temperature from —130 degrees to —150 degrees.
The crews also made observations of the solar corona, and the aurora borealis, as had been done on previous space station missions. Although reports on auroras were made by most crews, a special period of observation was held during the visit of the East German cosmonaut. Jahn made visual observations and drawings, and tape recorded his verbal descriptions. He observed diffuse shapes and arcs which were "sometimes uniform, sometimes radiant." The auroras were gray-green in color, and the brightness did not exceed 2 (a brightness of 1 corresponds to that of the Milky Way). (100)
ASTROPHYSICS: KRT-10 RADIO TELESCOPE
Although the BST-lm submillimeter telescope was occasionally used for observations of planets, galaxies, and other celestrial objects, the only intensive astrophysical activities conducted on Salyut 6 involved the KRT-10 radio telescope.
As described under Soyuz 32, the KRT-10 was delivered to the space station via Progress 7 and deployed out the aft docking unit (see fig. 40). Observations with the KRT-10 were conducted from July 18 until August 9, 1979. Both crew members were required to operate the instrument, and several days were required just to calibrate it.
The telescope was brought up into space in separate pieces: The antenna itself, the focal container with the irradiators (four horns in the 12 cm band and a spiral irradiator in the 72 cm band) with three extendable supports, and the device for attaching the antenna to Salyut. The entire assembly weighed 200 kg, half of which was for the antenna. When directed toward Earth, it had a 7 km resolution in the 12 cm band. (101)
Lyakhov and Ryumin assembled the device, attaching it to the edge of the docking unit with three special claws. They also mounted the control panel and timing device, and laid electrical communications lines.
Once everything was assembled, the crew closed the hatch, and automatic devices pulled the instrument up to the hilt inside the
intermediate chamber of the space station, while the antenna remained inside the Progress. Then the Progress undocked (using spring pushers instead of its engines to avoid any damage to the telescope), and the antenna was exposed to open space. The antenna was folded like an umbrella and after Progress was a safe distance away, the restraints holding it in the folded position were released and it unfurled while the space and ground crews watched via the Progress 7 television cameras. Only a very few still photographs, of poor quality, have been released in the West.
Some of the experiments with the KRT-10 were done in conjuction with a 70 meter radio telescope located in the Crimea. The distance between the two telescopes varied between 400 and 10,000 km depending on the position of the space station. Two primary astronomical studies were conducted. In one, the space station was maintained in a stable orientation mode for observing Pulsar 0329. In the other, the station was rotated circularly around a transverse axis in order to map the Milky Way. (102) Observations of the Sun and the star Cassiopeia A were also made.
Extensive Earth-looking studies were conducted for geological and other purposes. The oceans were special areas of interest. Mount Etna erupted during this time and it was detected by the KRT-10.
When experiments with the telescope were completed on August 9, the crew attempted to detach it from the docking port in order to make way for future spacecraft. Vibrations developed, however, and the antenna caught on part of the space station that jutted out. The crew had to free it during an EVA.
There has been speculation in the West that the antenna actually caught on part of the space station while it was unfurling, not when the crew tried to release it, and that it never fully deployed. This hypothesis has been partially fueled by the lack of high quality photographs showing the KRT-10's deployment. Dr. Bernard Burke of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has seen a plot of the data returned from the high frequency feed and found that it was much poorer than he would have expected. While agreeing that one explanation could be that the antenna did not deploy properly, he adds that it could have simply been a case of poor design of the feed itself. (103)
As mentioned, this radio telescope was 10 meters in diameter, and Soviet scientists immediately expressed the desire for larger telescopes, first 10 to 100 meters in diameter and eventually 100 to 300 meters. They feel these instruments would be useful both for studies of the universe and Earth, in the latter case providing data on humidity, snow cover, meteorological parameters, and oceans. (104) Nikolay P. Mal'nikov, director of the Central Scientific Research and Design Institute for Steel Construction in the Soviet Ministry of Construction revealed that work connected with the construction of large space radio telescopes had been going on at his institute since the mid-1960's, and that design work was now proceeding for folding antennas with diameters of 30 to 100 meters. He predicted that some day there would be such antennas on the Moon and other planets. (105)
MATERIALS PROCESSING AND OTHER TECHNICAL EXPERIMENTS
Technical experiments related to processing certain alloys and semiconductors on Salyut 6 are discussed in detail on Part 3 of this study. The following will briefly highlight activities of the various crews. Other technical experiments that do not quite fit the definition of materials processing (such as holography) are also discussed here.
Splav and Kristall furnaces.
There were two materials processing furnaces on Salyut 6: Splav (Alloy); and Kristall (Crystal). Some materials were processed in both devices.
During the materials processing experiments, the space station usually was placed in a gravity gradient mode so that the engines would not have to be used, since any vibration might affect the process. Many were done while the crew was asleep to further reduce interfering motions. Results (see subsection d) indicated that there were problems with vibrations on board the station during the course of the experiments, however. Since many of these took place over as many as 3 days, this is not surprising.
Materials processing work occupied a considerable portion of the crew's time on all the flights to Salyut, including the visits from Interkosmonauts. In most cases, a special materials processing experiment was devised jointly by Soviet scientists and those from the Interkosmonaut's country. A 1982 article by S.D. Grishin summarized the results of some of the Interkosmonaut materials experiments, and these are reported on p. 606.
A great many materials were the subject of experiments during
the 3 years of Salyut described in this report, but the largest
number by far were done on three combinations: cadmium-mercury-telluride, indium antimonide, and gallium arsenide.
The following is an alphabetical list of all materials identified by the Soviets as being used in materials processing experiments. K indicates the experiment was performed in Kristall; S designates Splav. A question mark indicates that it is unclear where it was performed. Some materials were used in both. If the experiment was developed jointly with another country, the name of the country and the name of the experiment is indicated. An asterisk indicates that multiple experiments were conducted.
Aluminum-antimony....................................... S
Aluminum-tin-molybdenum............................ S
Aluminum-tungsten......................................... S
Bismuth-antimony............................................S ( E. Germany, "Berolina ).
Bismuth-tellurium-selenium.............................? ( Vietnam, "Halong").
Cadmium-mercury-telluride*...........................S (Mostly Soviet, but also Poland,
"Sirena").
Cadmium-mercury-selenium.............................K ( Poland, "Sirena").
Cadmium selenide............................................. ?
Cadmium sulphide*............................................K
Copper-aluminum...............................................S ( Hungary, "Bealuca").
Copper-indium....................................................S
Gallium antimonide.............................................? ( Hungary).
Gallium arsenide*………………………………?
( Cuba, "Caribe").
Gallium arsenide-chromium................................. K ( Hungary, "Eotvos").
Gallium-bismuth................................................... K
Gallium phosphide with varying trace elements....?
( Vietnam,
"Halong").
Gallium-molybdenum.............................................S
Arsenide and antimonide of gallium and gallium bismuth.?
Germanium*............................................................K/S Mostly Soviet, but also E.
Germany, "Berolina").
Germanium-antimony-sulphur.................................K
Indium antimonide*..................................................K/S Mostly Soviet, but also
Hungary).
Indium antimonide alloyed with zinc and tellurium.S
Indium arsenide*...................................................... K
Lead-selenium-tellurium.......................................... K ( Poland, "Sirena).
Lead telluride........................................................... K/S ( E. Germany, "Berolina").
Lead-tin..................................................................... K ( France).
Silver-lead chloride and copper lead chloride….......S ( Czechoslovakia, " Morava").
Sugar..........................................................................K ( Cuba, "Zone, Sukhar").
Vanadium oxide.........................................................S ( France).
The Splav furnace was delivered by Progress 1 and was mounted in an airlock so the heat it generated would dissipate into space. It weighed 23 kg, and had three heating areas: A hot area which could maintain temperatures up to 1,100° C; a cold area with a maximum temperature of 600 to 700° C; and a gradient area capable of a linear temperature change from the maximum to the minimum. Molybdenum reflectors inside the furnace were used to focus the heat on the samples. The unit required 300 watts of power to operate.
Capsules 170 mm long and 20.6 mm in diameter containing the material to be processed were placed in each area, with each capsule containing three crystal ampules which would fuse together at high temperatures. Monocrystals would form in the gradient area, while three dimensional crystallization would take pace in the hot and cold areas; the ingots thus produced were returned to Earth for study. A computer maintained the correct temperature to within 5 K of the desired degrees C reading.
In one instance, the Soyuz 35/37 crew experimented with directional solidification with the Splav furnace, using Salyut itself as a centrifuge. On August 8, 1980, an ampule containing an unspecified substance was placed in Splav. The furnace was turned on and Salyut was then rotated around one of its axes (it was described as a "twisting motion" by the Soviet press) for several hours using the orientation engines. Acceleration was zero at the center of the station, increasing out towards the station's extremities. All other materials experiments had been conducted so as to minimize interfering motions, but in this case, scientists wanted to know how a certain amount of artificial gravity would affect crystal formation. (106)
The Kristall furnace was designed primarily for experiments with glass, and was delivered initially by Progress 2. This unit ceased functioning, however, and a replacement was brought up by Progress 5. (107) Unlike Splav which was placed in an airlock to facilitate radiating the heat it produced into space, Kristall was designed so that its exterior temperature wo aid not rise more than 50K above ambient temperatures, so it could simply sit inside the space station.
The temperature was varied differently in Kristall than in Splav. In Kristall, the materials would be brought to a steady state thermal zone where the temperature was between 400° and 1,200° C (but there was no gradient zone as in Splav). The capsules for Kristall were a little longer but much narrower than those for Splav (175 mm long and 9 mm in diameter) and passed through the hot zone at a speed of 0.188 and 0.376 mm/minute. (108)
The Cubans developed the Kristallograph for permitting observations and photographs of what transpires inside Kristall. The Vietnamese experimented with the "Imitator" device for determining the temperature profile in Kristall. The Bulgarians prepared the "Pirin" experiment that was later conducted by the Soyuz 32/34 crew for studying the, growth of crystal faces, wetting under weightless conditions, and other processes. Using Kristall, the stability and structure of zinc crystals grown by a diffusion process were studied.
In Splav, a Bulgarian experiment was conducted to study foam metals. A quartz ampule with silumin, titanium hydride, and silicon nitride briquettes located in it was held at a temperature of 800° C for 10 minutes. A porous aluminum ingot was formed.
Ten French experiments were conducted with ampules delivered by Progress 5. The experiments focussed on studying the processes of diffusion during melting and subsequent cooling of metal alloys. Lead-tin and aluminum-copper were used. Other French experiments included some to study magnetic materials and metallic compounds. Tass reported that a magnetic material, "gadolinium-cobalt," was obtained on August 5, 1980, a material used in electronic computing. (109)
The Soyuz 29/31 crew performed the first experiments with glasses in Kristall. The report said only that optical glasses were melted and a monocrystal had been formed; the constituents were not identified. (110) The experiment was apparently a great success, for during the Soyuz 32/34 mission, the Soviets reported that on the basis of the work done on previous missions, scientists were most excited by the work done with optics, apparently for applications to fiber optic system. For these new applications, very pure glass is needed and in space it can be produced without coming into contact with any walls. They stressed that more experiments were required, though.
The first materials experiment on Salyut to use an organic substance, sugar, was performed when the Cuban cosmonaut visited, since sugar is the basis of the Cuban economy. The "Zone" and "Sukhar" experiments were not described in detail, but the results were expected to be of great interest to Cuban scientists since they might have a bearing on the production of sugar on Earth.
The interest in cadmium-mercury-telluride was evidenced not only by the many experiments conducted on that material, but also by statements in the Soviet press. The Soyuz 26/27 crew was reported to have obtained a "triple-hard solution" of the substance for use in the manufacture of infrared receivers in medicine and geological prospecting.(111) In fact, an infrared scanning device using space-processed samples of the substance was used on a late Salyut 6 experiment to record the crews' body temperatures. (112) It should be noted that infrared detectors also have military applications.
Cadmium-mercury-telluride experiments were performed on each of the long-duration flights, and included a special experiment with the Polish cosmonaut, called "Sirena." The Warsaw Institute of Physics had been working on cadmium-mercury-telluride for more than 10 years, hence their interest. (114)
Isparitel (vaporizer)
Another set of materials experiments conducted on Salyut 6 involved the 24 kg Isparitel device and were begun by the Soyuz 32/34 crew. The results are expected to have application to the construction of future space stations. Isparitel occupied the same air-lock as Splav and used the same control panel, so only one of the units could be operated at a time.
The device was designed to permit study of processes of evaporation and condensation of different materials in space, and was designed by the Yevgeniy Paton Electrical-Welding Institute of the Ukraine Academy of Sciences. In the experiments, coatings were sprayed onto metal, glass or plastic plates by vaporizing the coating material (silver, gold, or alloys containing aluminum, copper and silver) with two powerful electron guns. The vapor would condense on the plate over a period of 1 second to 10 minutes depending on the desired thickness of the coating. The results of the experiments were expected to be important for future space station construction in terms of placing coatings on construction materials for thermal regulation, or protecting the spacecraft from the "destructive effects of the environment." (114) The first coating experiment had been successfully accomplished by the Salyut 4 crew when they put a new optical coating on the solar telescope.
The Soyuz 32/34 crew encountered difficulties with the device initially, and had to make some precise adjustments to it. These adjustments were successful, and the crew produced 24 samples. By August 1980, 186 Isparitel samples had already reached ground-based scientists, and that number would not have included the final batch done by the Soyuz 35/37 crew. The success of these experiments led Ukrainian scientists to conclude that "Soviet specialists can if necessary apply thermal protective, optical, and other coatings on various equipment in space as well as to obtain materials and articles by evaporation and condensation methods. (1l5)
Lotus
The Lotus experiment, which apparently was delivered by Progress 9, was described as attempting to improve the method of obtaining structures from polyurethane foam. No other details were released. (116)
Biological processing (interferon)
Three experiments on the production of interferon were conducted during the Soyuz 35/37 mission. The first experiment involved placing human white corpuscles and various interferon producing substances in test tubes with a two-way valve separating them. The white corpuscles were warmed to the average human temperature, and the valve was then opened and pistons pumped them into the interferon tube, thus influencing interferon production. The samples were then frozen and returned to Earth.
The second part of the experiment involved interferon pharmaceuticals which had been delivered to the space station in lyophilized gel and liquid states to assess the influence of space conditions on the antiviral effect of interferon production in pharmaceuticals. The third experiment simply involved taking blood samples from the crew to determine whether their stay in space had affected natural interferon production in their bodies. (117)
Holography
The Soviets experimented with holography on Salyut 6, using a device developed jointly by Cuban and Soviet experts. The device was supposed to be operated by the Cuban cosmonaut, but it was not ready in time, so instead was used by the Soyuz T-3 crew at the end of 1980. (118)
The 5 kg holographic camera used a helium-neon laser optical system and registering systems developed in Leningrad. Holography is extremely sensitive to vibrations, so the device was designed to be immune from such influences on Salyut. Vladimir Konstantinov, a research associate at Leningrad's loffe Physical-Technical Institute, reported that it had been successfully used to photograph a moving train during ground tests. "In fact, a portable holographic camera was obtained." (119)
On Soyuz T-3, the camera was trained on a salt crystal while it dissolved in a container. Study of the hologram was expected to show how the density of the crystal was distributed throughout the volume of liquid at zero gravity where there are no convection currents. Among the space applications of such a device are evaluation of the condition of the station's portholes (which has been a considerable problem for the crews), and measuring the velocity of gas expelled by the station's engines.
Results of MPS experiments
By the end of 1980, 300 samples had been grown in 181 firings of the Splav and Kristall furnaces.120 As previously noted, at least 186 Isparitel specimens were produced.
As early as the Soyuz 29/31 experiments, the Soviets were commenting that the goal of materials processing was "not only . . . creating future orbital factories to produce unique materials" but to perform technological experiments for the needs of space exploration itself. "Indeed, future wide-scale exploration is unthinkable without technological operations in orbit, such as welding, soldering and cutting metals." (121)
There has been little discussion of the results of the Soviet materials processing experiments in the Soviet literature, and a 1982 article commented that "the research process is a lengthy one ... at the present time only the preliminary results are
known." (122)
Among the preliminary results published were those involving the Czechoslovakian " Morava" investigations. It was found that compared to Earth samples, hardened melts of crystalline and glass forming materials were more homogenous. In one case, an ampule containing lead chloride and copper chloride was placed in Splav and heated "for several hours" to 500 degrees C, where the temperature was held for 20 hours, and then it was cooled at a rate of 10 degrees per hour. The lead crystals were larger and more perfect than those obtained on Earth, with the component distribution "quite homogenous," but they also had visible deformities (one had a helical surface), which were "obviously" connected with operation of other equipment on the space station during the lengthy period of the experiment. (123)
Kidger reports that in the beginning, only 5 to 10 percent of the cadmium-mercury-telluride crystals were satisfactory, but that the success rate had increased "many fold" by the end of the Soyuz 35/37 flight. In addition, all of the successfully formed samples are usable, and only about 50 mg is required for each infrared detector. (124)
The success that was achieved led the Soviets to exclaim that "Semiconductor crystals obtained in space are in quality immeasurably better than anything which can be made" on Earth. (125) At the end of the Soyuz 35/37 mission, the Soviets commented that they now had grounds on which to conclude that "weightlessness and vacuum can and will serve scientific and technological progress."(126)
From all indications, the Soviets definitely are planning to build orbital factories in the future. In their discussions of modular space stations, they frequently comment that one module might be devoted to factory type experiments. Future Soviet space plans are discussed further in a later section.
NAVIGATION
Salyut 6's navigation systems are described on p. 570. Throughout the 1977-80 time period, there were frequent references to the crew conducting navigation studies. The Soyuz 26/27 crew, for example, was reported to be performing tests related to "further mastering the system of orientation and stabilization of the orbital complex in various dynamic modes" and the Soyuz 32/34 crew tested new sensors for "promising systems of space navigation" and were "mastering methods of orienting the orbital complex by means of optical instruments." While some of these may have been related to assessing the best method of orienting the station for certain experiments or tests related to future navigation systems, the frequency with which navigation experiments were performed and the repeated references to the crew performing repairs on the navigation system suggest that there may have been significant problems.
SYSTEMS TESTS
Various systems tests were conducted by all the crews from 1977 and 1980. One was called "Resonance" and involved checks of the stability of the three spacecraft complex (Salyut with the main Soyuz craft plus either another Soyuz or a Progress vehicle).
For these tests, one of the cosmonauts would jump on the running track at precisely timed intervals (using a metronome) while instruments located in various parts of the complex would register the damping of the vibrations so produced. Following tests of Soyuz 26/27, it was reported in the Western media that some crew activities, such as running exercises, were restricted during the time that three spacecraft were docked together. (127)
A second systems test was called "Deformatsiya" to study the deformation of the exterior of the space station when one side was pointed toward the Sun for a long period of time. The information from these tests reportedly was used in helping to align optical instruments.
The "Illuminator" experiment was concerned with studying changes in the optical properties of the station's portholes. Examinations were conducted using the Bulgarian Spektr-15 spectrograph and the East German Pentacon 6M camera. The crew complained that they could not see clearly out the portholes because of dust.
The number of micrometeorite impacts on the station was measured using detectors attached to the outside of the station and retrieved during EVA'S. The Soyuz 29/31 crew retrieved one of the detectors and found over 200 impacts, many more than expected.
The Soyuz 26/27 crew found a 1.5 mm scratch on one of the port holes as well. Not all of the impacts may have been from micrpmeteorites since there is a considerable amount of space debris in orbit from previous spacecraft launches.
Tests were conducted throughout the missions of noise levels in the station, since the crews had complained about the noise created by experiments and equipment.
MILITARY EXPERIMENTS
The Soviet Union does not admit to using space for military purposes at all, much less to conducting military experiments on board its space stations.
As noted earlier, during the early 1970's Western experts thought that the Soviets had two space station programs, one primarily for civil purposes (Salyut 1 and 4) and one for military observations (Salyut 3 and 5).
With the arrival of Salyut 6, such a distinction is virtually impossible to make. Using the same criteria as before, Salyut 6 would be classified as a civilian space station since the crew are mixed military/civilian personnel and civilian frequencies are used. The orbit, of course, varies, but most of the time is in the range used by Salyut 4. Whether the Soviets conduct military experiments on board is conjectural.
It should be noted, however, that there is a fine line between photographs of Earth that are used for agricultural, geological and hydrological studies, and those that have military value. The most important characteristic is the spatial resolution of the images obtained. Although any exact information is classified, it is thought that the resolution of military reconnaissance satellites used for looking at specific objects may be as good as 5 cm, while designed for broad area observations would probably require less spatial resolution, perhaps on the order of meters.
The resolution of the MKF-6M camera is thought to be about 20 meters when used in Salyut, which is probably more suited to Earth resources observations than military reconnaissance. The other camera systems are thought to have lower resolution than the MKF-6M.
Visual observations may have greater military utility, however. Looking at ships at sea to determine how easily they can be tracked is one potential military application. Another is observing bioluminescence produced by plankton when it is disturbed, which may give clues to submarine locations.
Materials processing experiments might also have military applications. As noted earlier, cadmium-mercury-telluride, which was the subject of many materials processing experiments, can be used for military infrared detectors, just as it can be used for civilian medical instruments, television components, or many other products. Using Salyut as a target for laser ranging experiments is another grey area which could have both civil and military applications.
So many experiments could have both military and civil applications that it is impossible to say that the Soviets do not conduct any military experiments aboard Salyut, but with the silence on the part of both the Soviet and U.S. Governments as to what these
experiments might be, no definitive conclusions can be drawn.
References:
A. SOVIET SPACE PROGRAMS: 1976-80, (WITH SUPPLEMENTARY DATA THROUGH 1983) MANNED SPACE PROGRAMS AND SPACE LIFE SCIENCES PREPARED AT THE REQUEST OF HON. BOB PACKWOOD, Chairman, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION UNITED STATES SENATE, Part 2, OCTOBER 1984, Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D. C., 1984
61. The description of the Balaton experiment is adapted from Neville Kidger's account in the February 1981 issue of Spaceflight, p. 43.
62. Tass, 0827 GMT, 14 May 79.
63. Nauka i Tekhnika, August 1981, pp. 12-13.
64. During the Soyuz 38 and T-3 missions, an Arabidopsis experiment was carried out in an instrument called Svetoblock. Whether this is the same as Fiton or a different arabidopsis experiment is unclear.
65. Tass, 1310 GMT, 16 Sep 80.
66. Nauka i Tekhnika, August 1981, pp. 12-13. An Arabidopsis finally did complete a full seed-to-seed cycle on Salyut 7, however (Tass, 2160 GMT, 23 Sep 82).
67. Tass, 1907 GMT, 25 Jul. 79.
68. Tass, 1245 GMT, 10 Sep. 79.
69. Nauka i Tekhnika, August 1981, pp. 12-13.
70. Chernyshov, Makhail. Salyut 6: From Holography to Space Plant Growing. Novosti Press Agency. Reprinted in Space World, March 1981, p. 24.
71. A similar experiment called Multiplikator was also mentioned. It is unclear whether they are the same.
72. Tass, 1627 GMT, 29 Aug. 78.
73. Looking to Orbits of the Future, Izvestiya, July 14, 1981, p. 2.
74. Tass, 0532 GMT, 12 Nov 80.
75. Shnyrev, G. Multizonal Photography System Proposed for USSR State Prize. Izvestiya 30 Aug 82, p. 2.
76. Izvestiya, 14 July 81, p. 2.
77. Quoted in: Novikov, N. Sovetskiy Vom, No. 8 1981, PP. 28-29
78. Grechko, G.M. et. al. Issledovaniye Zemli iz Kosmosa No. 1, Jan-Feb 198% pp. 5-13.
79. Hempel Wilhelm. MKF-6 Multi-Spectral Camera in Space. Spacefhght, Mar. 1979, pp. 110-112.
80. Arkhipov, V. V. and L. A. Ronzhin. Earth's Natural Resources in Manned Flights of Inter-cosmos Programs. Zemlya i Vselennaya, Mar.-Apr. 1982, pp. 20-28.
81. Pirard, Theo. Salyut 6 Space Station: Three Years in Orbit and Still Operational. Space Age Review, September-October 1980, p. 3. Aviation Week and Space Technology, January 2, 1978, p. 11.
82. Hempel, op. cit., p. 110.
83. Moscow Domestic Service, 2004 GMT, 23 May 80.
84. Koval, Aleksandr. "Salyut-6" and Cooperative Earth Resources Studies. Ekonomicheskoye Sotrudnichestvo Stran-Chlenov Sev. Mar.-Apr. 1982, pp. 30-32.
85. Ibid.
86. Tass, 1304 GMT, 19 Jan 78.
87. Taas, 1110 GMT, 30 Oct 78.
88. Tass, 1937 GMT, 16 Aug 78.
89. Tass, 1216 GMT, 6 July 79.
90. Tass, 1655 GMT, 8 May 80.
91. Arkhipov and Ronzhin, op. cit.
92. Kotel'nikov, V. Aviatsiya i Kosmonavtika, November 1982, pp. 22-23.
93. Gal'per, A. The Gamma Telescope in the Space Laboratory. Aviatsiya i Kosmonavtika, November 1980, pp. 44-45. Interestingly, an earlier article by the same author lists the dimensions as 280x348x477 mm, with a weight of 22.5 kg. Zemlya i Vselennaya, No. 1, 1980. pp. 30-33.
94. Aviation Week and Space Technology, Sept. 1, 1980, p. 48.
95. Balebanov, V. M. and A. V. Zakharov. Space Physics Studied in Intercosmos Program.Zemlya i Vselennaya. March-April 1982, pp. 15-20.
96. Ibid. Wavelengths are often quoted in nanometers (nm). 1 nm=10 angstroms.
97. Kidger, Neville, Spaceflight, February 1981, p. 43.
98. Ibid.
99. Gurvich, A. S., et. al. Measurement of Atmospheric Refraction on Board "Salyut 6" Orbital Station and Recovery of Temperature Profile. Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR: Fizika Atmospfery i Okeana. Vol. 19, No. 4, Apr. 1983. pp. 425-427.
100. Balebanov and Zakharov. op. cit.
101. Arsenfyev, V. M. et al. KRT-10 Radio Telescope. Doklady Akademii Nauk SSSR. May 1982, pp.588-591.
102. Zagzira, I. Institute Director Discusses KRT-10 and Other Space Antennas. Stroitel'nayadazeta, 12 Apr. 81, p. 3.
103. private communication, Oct. 1983.
104. Tass, 0340 GMT, 20 July 79.
105. Zagura, I., op. cit.
106. Moscow Domestic Service, 0000 GMT, 9 Aug. 80.
107 In his October 1981 Spaceflight summary, Neville Kidger reported that there were three Kristall furnaces: one used by the Soyuz 29/31 crew, a second one returned to Earth by the Soyuz 32/34 crew, and a third one used by Soyuz 35/37. The Soviet accounts of Progress flights and other missions to Salyut 6 scoured by this author reported only two Kristalls.
108. Grishin, S. D. Production in Outer Space in Interkosmos Program. Zemlya i Vselennaya, Mar.-Apr. 82, pp. 28-32.
109. Tass, 1112 GMT, 5 Aug. 80.
110. Tass, 1213 GMT, 7 July 78.
111. Tass, 1724 GMT, 23 June 78.
112. Kidger, Neville, Spaceflight, October 1981, p. 267.
113. Hempel, Wilhelm. The Splav 01 Furnace. Spaceflight, Feb. 1979, p. 57.
114. Tass, 1336 GMT, 1 Aug. 79.
115. Tass, 1300 GMT, 27 Nov. 80.
116. Tass, 1033 GMT, 20 May 80; Tass, 1034 GMT, 16 July 80.
117. Kidger, Neville. Spaceflight, v. 23, Feb. 1981, p. 43.
118. More intensive experiments were conducted by later Salyut 6 crews.
119. Chemyshov, Mikhail. Salyut 6: From Holography to Space Plant Growing. Novosti. Reprinted in Space World, March 1981, p. 24.
120. Tass, 0532 GMT, 12 Nov. 80.
121. Tass, 1724 GMT, 23 June 78.
122. Grishin, S.D. and V.V., Savichev. Production in Outer Space in Intercosmos Program Zemlya i Vselannaya. Mar.-Apr. 1982, pp. 28-32.
123. Ibid.
124. Kidger, Neville. Spaceflight, Oct. 1981, p. 267.
125. Moscow Domestic Service, 0000 GMT, 9 Aug. 80.
126. Tass, 1613 GMT, 29 Oct. 80.
127. Aviation Week and Space Technology, Aug. 7, 1978, p. 21.
