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SPACECRAFT of EARTH Volume One: 1957-2063

7TH EDITION 2380

Edited by

Lieutenant General Scott A. Akers, SFMC

The definitive reference guide to historical spacecraft

SPACECRAFT OF EARTH Volume One: 1957-2063 By Lieutenant General Scott A. Akers, SFMC

A joint project of The Jaxon Information Institute Panda Press Interstellar & the Defense Forces Institute

Copyright © 2380 by the Office of Fleet Historian, Starfleet Command, New Masada Facility Previous Editions: 2366, 2360, 2348, 2331, 2326, and 2302 This document prepared and published by Jaxon Information Institute (Seattle Metroplex, Earth) for the Office of Fleet Historian Memory Alpha Cataloging Data: UFPI ITP/SP 3632459346-3000/18 This edition of Spacecraft of Earth is authorized for viewing only in member star systems of the United Federation of Planets, its territories and possessions, affiliated star systems, and select independent and neutral star sys-tems. Special acknowledgements to Anthony Rowley, Don Willits, John Adcock, Chris Wallace, Alex Rosenzweig, Kurt Roithinger, Allyson Dyar, and Donna Francis without whose much needed assistance this project could not have been completed.

Masthead CHIEF EDITOR / PUBLISHER Lieutenant General Scott A. Akers

Chief Historian, Office of Fleet Historian TECHNICAL EDITOR

Admiral Chris Wallace Chairman– Starfleet Advanced Starship Design Bureau

PRODUCTION EDITORS Admiral Allyson M. W. Dyar

Vice Admiral Kurt F. Roithinger Starfleet Command

PROJECT COORDINATOR Major William M. Myers Office of Fleet Historian

HISTORICAL CONSULTANTS Admiral Alex Rosenzweig

Starfleet Command General Robb J. Jackson

Starfleet Marine Corps Historian LAYOUT CONSULTANT

Colonel John Adcock Starfleet Marine Corps

GRAPHICS Commodore David Pipgras

Office of Graphic Design SUPPORT STAFF

Doctor Michael Okuda, PhD. Doctor Rick Sternbach, PhD.

Doctor Andreas Kitabatu al-'Qalb, PhD.

For Dawn

CONTENTS Preface 08 Chronology 31 Ship Classifications 101 Appendix 137 Index 141 Credits

PREFACE This work is different in many ways, from the publications usually presented in this format. Its name SPACECRAFT OF EARTH implies that it is a technical manual, and it is. But it is also much more. This work is a short cut to the his-tory of that planet, whose influence upon the Federation is so obvious that it is often taken for granted. While Vulcan is known as the mind of the Federation; the citizens of Earth, known as Man, Human, or Terran, and sometimes dero-gatorily as Earthers are the heart of the Federation. And with heart, emotions, drive, guts, and even greed the Humans have led the expansion of the Federa-tion into the galaxy. This has caused conflict, it has caused growth but most of all it has left an indelible human stamp upon interstellar affairs in the Alpha Quadrant. Seventy-eight years ago, General Robb J. Jackson I, SFMC-ret. wrote the first official vessel history of Earth and founded the now famous Jaxon Information Institute on Earth, and now six editions later you hold the latest version of this chronology. Read this history, brief as it is, allow it to lead you to further study. Use it as a reference guide. Ask questions, and understand that History like the Present and even the Future is very fluid, and the more we understand yesterday, the further we will understand today and tomorrow. As an ancient Earth Politician was paraphrased to say: “those who do not un-derstand the past, are condemned to repeat it”. Time and time again, the po-litical leaders of the Federation and of her enemies have made mistakes that a simple study of Earth’s past would have shown what would happen BEFORE thousands even millions of lives had been lost. So read, enjoy, and question and most of all, learn. LGen Scott A. Akers, SFMC

“Duke” Akers

SPACECRAFT OF EARTH Volume One: 1957-2063

1903 Orville and Wilbur Wright conduct the first powered heavier than air flight on Earth.

1912 April 14th, the HMS Titanic sinks in route from Lon-don to New York, of the few survivors is a young woman named Edith Keeler, a baby named James A. Kirk, and a doctor Gottfried Weissnacht who later recovers and returns to Europe.

1926 Robert Goddard launches the first liquid fuel rocket from his research facility in Auburn, Massachusetts. 1930 Edith Keeler founder of World Peaceways dies in a pedestrian/automobile accident on the way to see a movie. World Peaceways continues on under the leadership of Dr. Gottfried Weissnacht who returns from Europe, where is genetic research is held in high regard. 1933 Adolph Hitler takes over Austria, the US Government charters World Peaceways, and Gen-eral Douglas McArthur is censored and dismissed.

1936 Hitler's Germany takes over Czechoslovakia, the US and UK continue to Honor Washington Treaties, & World Peaceways rises to the level of 4th largest political party in both countries. 1939 Poland invaded and France and England declare War, Churchill is appointed First Sea Lord again. Japan cordons off China. 1940 Germany overruns all of France, bombs London, Churchill becomes Prime Minister. Lend Lease defeated in US Senate and Neutrality vigorously restated. Japan occupies the Dutch East Indies. 1941 Russia attacked, Spain join the Axis powers, Brazil join the Axis. British retaliates in North Africa and defends Egypt - Axis bombs and closes Suez Canal. World Peaceways prevent passing of the "OIL" act; the German European POGROM begins. Japan attacks Pearl Harbor - but misses the US Carriers, Japan also attacks Phil-ippines and Guam. 1942 Russia retreats and loses Leningrad, World Peaceways declared subversive, and Dr. Weissnacht disappears. Montgomery pushes Rommel back to Tobruk, US wins at Midway.

Chronology

1943 Russia loses Stalingrad, evacuates Moscow. US -British forces take North Africa, US takes Guadalcanal, US on full war footing. Russia begins to regain territory. Doctor Gottfried Weissnacht sets up his Eugenics Lab in Brazil with Nazi backing. 1944 Moscow occupied and then retaken by the Soviets. The US takes the Solomon Islands and Marshall Islands. Allies take Italy, Brazil and Spain quit the Axis and surrenders to the Allies. US and British field jets against the Nazis, who field their own. France invaded at Normandy in November.

1945 Allies surge through France steamroller to the Ardennes Forest. Soviets retake territory to prewar borders. US retakes the Philippines. Allies capture V2 facilities intact, and Allied Sci-entists are able to build A-2 version and shell Berlin. Hitler killed in an A-2 Attack that de-stroys his bunker, (rumors abound he committed suicide). Germany surrenders to the west-ern Allies as the Soviets reach the pre-war eastern border. Japan is nuked via a newer mis-sile the A-3 and they subsequently surrender.

German V1 “Buzz bomb” and V2 Rockets

1946 United Nations is established along lines of the US Model. Germany & Japan become UN protectorates. Marshall Plan proposed. US Begins with A-4 and High Altitude Jets. Soviets occupy German and Italian Borders in the East. Greece goes communist. Turks threatened by Soviet Encroachment. 1947 Roswell Incident Chuck Yeager and the Bell X-1 Glamorous Glennis break Sound Barrier Iron Curtain Goes up US army helps Turkey, while the Marshall Plan begins India and Pakistan declare Independence Princess Elizabeth marries Prince Phillip Mountbatten 1948 Gandhi is assassinated Marshal Plan Proposed as the Constantinople Airlift Begins The State of Israel comes into existence Kai Shek elected in China Truman elected Atlee appoints Lindsey Tribunal, Churchill chairs Hague Conference on European Unity 1949 Mainland China goes Communist as Kai Shek's forces take over Tai-Wan/Formosa Eire, and Indonesia gains Independence Israel enters UN Apartheid becomes law in South Africa Mysterious Multinational organization takes over Eugenics Program, moves labs to the Pun-jab area of India. J. Edgar Hoover assassinated. Constantinople Airlift ends; Soviets withdraw front line forces from Greece.

1950 Korean War Eugenics baby - Noonian Singh is born in Agar India 1951 Churchill becomes Prime Minister again Korean War Continues Peron elected President of Argentina- supports the Eugenics Secret Society in his country 1952 Korean War Continues Odessa dissolved, random elements absorbed by mysterious shadow organization Eisenhower elected president 1953 Korean War Finishes Mossad destroys Odessa’s last HQ in Brazil, Dr. Weissnacht dies and the eugenics program suffers set back Stalin Dies, Beria disappeared, and Khrushchev comes to power Queen Elizabeth II crowned Tito becomes president in Yugoslavia Coup in Persia 1954 First evidence of an international crime syndicate known as CHI-MERA who are willing to use terrorism to further its aims. This organi-zation unites various factions of the Chinese Tongs, Sicilian Cosa Nostra Families, exiled Nazis and other dissident movements. They set up headquarters in Argentina. Segregation struck down as illegal in the US by its Supreme Court Nasser seizes power in Egypt French Defeated in Indochina.

1955 Italy, Germany and France establish European Union Churchill resigns as Prime Minister Peron survives constitutional challenge in Argentina Raids across Israel/Jordan border Increase United States Air Force Academy opens AFL and CIO merge Atomic powered Electricity first used in USA Albert Einstein Dies First report on the artificial manufacture of Diamonds at 2700C 1956 Tito, Nasser and Nehru meet discuss alliance France, Great Britain and Israel attack Egypt: the US and the USSR force France and Great Britain to withdraw USSR invade Hungary Pakistan becomes an Islamic Republic Oral Vaccine against Polio developed. Eisenhower reelected Japan admitted to the United Nations Martin Luther King emerges as the Civil rights Leader in the United States. Attack on Chimera HQ destroys much of the information and controls on the First Generation of Eugenics Children. New Headquarters is set up in the Punjab. 1957 Harold Macmillan become Prime Minister of England Eisenhower formulates the American Eisenhower Doctrine Israel withdraws from the Sinai and the Suez Canal is reopened Andre Gromyko becomes Foreign Minister of the USSR Common Market of Europe opens International Atomic Energy Agency established The Teamsters expelled from the AFL-CIO Theodore Weisel writes the "Cat in the Hat" USSR Launches Sputniks I & II International Geophysical Year proclaimed

1958 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) founded. United Arab Republic Formed Fidel Castro begins total war against Batista in Cuba DeGaulle forms a new government in France Alaska become the 49th state of the United States Aswan Dam begins construction Desegregation tensions begin in Alabama-USA Dr. Zhivago published US Launches Explorer I, the USSR launches Sputnik III 1959 Castro conquers Cuba DeGaulle proclaimed President of the Fifth Republic of France Hawaii becomes the 50th State of the United States USSR launches rocket with two dogs aboard Lunik I probe from USSR reaches Moon, Lunik III photographs moon First US Nuclear powered merchantman "Savannah" launched

1960 Brezhnev becomes the #2 in the USSR Former Gestapo Chief Adolph Eichmnan is arrested Belgian Congo becomes independent First Televised US Presidential debate between Nixon and Kennedy Optical Microwave laser constructed First weather satellite "Tiros I" launched by the US Earth Based Radio telescopes are used to listen for evidence of radio signals from Tau Ceti and Epsilon Eridani.

1961 JFK becomes 35th President JFK establishes Peace Corps Constantinople Wall Constructed Bay of Pigs Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land Yuri Gagarin orbits Earth following Vladimir Ilyushin’s crash into China after the third orbit of his flight three days earlier. Alan Shepard makes first US Space Flight 1962 US-MAC in Vietnam Attempted Assassination of DeGaulle Cuban Missile Crisis U2 Pilot Gary Powers returned to US Rachel Carson writes "Silent Spring" 1963 Riots in Alabama as reactionary forces oppose desegregation The UAR, Syria, and Iraq unite as the Greater Arab Republic Nuclear Test Ban treaty goes into effect Buddhist Coup in South Vietnam convinces President Kennedy to begin withdrawal of US Forces. However, Lee Harvey Oswald as-sassinates Kennedy in Dallas TX, Conspiracy rumors, but none ever proven. Johnson be-comes President and appoints Hubert Humphrey as new Vice President. Dr. DeBakey uses first artificial Heart during major heart surgery, to maintain blood flow, but it will be years before one is placed within a human for post operative use. 1964 Martin Luther King receives the Nobel Peace Prize Johnson renews commitment to reach the Moon in this decade. Brezhnev replaces Khrushchev as Premier of the Soviet Union Crown Prince Faisal replaces Saud as King of Saudi Arabia

1964 cont. LBJ reelected as President with Humphrey as his VP US begins withdrawal of forces from Vietnam until the Gulf of Ton kin and Saigon incidents when North Vietnamese Forces attack US Naval Forces, infiltrate Saigon Airport and blow up five US transports withdrawing troops FROM Vietnam, Johnson asks for and receives au-thorization from Congress to secure Southern Vietnam until US military and civilian person-nel can be withdrawn in an orderly and safe manner. Yassar Arafat takes over leadership of Arab Guerilla force Al-Fatah 1965 Winston Churchill dies Despite growing domestic conflict President Johnson continues armed withdrawal from Vietnam. While casualties mount, US forces continue controlled and orderly removal of forces. Newly trained re-public of Vietnam forces man positions vacated by US troops. The Klu Klux Klan escalates racial violence in Alabama The 750th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta celebrated. Race riots erupt in Watts, California Both the United States and the Soviet Union conduct Space Walks 1966 DeGaulle inaugurated for his second seven-year term as President of France Indira Gandhi, daughter of Nehru, becomes Prime Minister of India Dr. DeBakey of Houston, uses an artificial heart to successfully complete a 3.5 hour heart transplant operation Both the United States and the Soviet Union soft-land vehicles on the moon (Surveyor 1 and Luna 9) The Salvation Army celebrates its Centennial Luna Surveyor Nine One

1967 Third Arab-Israeli war North Vietnam attacked directly in order to decrease pressure on withdrawing US troops DeGaulle makes "Free Quebec" Speech Shah of Iran crowns himself 25th Amendment to the US Constitution People's Republic of China explodes its first Atomic Weapon US Begins crash program to orbit a weapons platform in response to the "Chinese" threat. Nigerian/Biafran civil war begins 1968 US Nuclear Weapons Platform explodes on launch North Korea captures and releases USS Pueblo Martin Luther King Assassinated Pierre Troudeau sworn in as Canadian Prime Minister Intersat 3A, the first of the second generation US Communication Satellites is launched Bobby Kennedy Assassinated USSR invades Czechoslovakia Nixon elected over Humphrey Ulster civil rights campaign leads to sectarian violence between Irish Protestants and Irish Catholics Apollo 8 and crew circle moon and return to safely splash down in the Pacific Aswan Dam completed in Egypt Jackie Kennedy weds Aristotle Onasis 1969 Violent fighting arises in Northern Ireland Yasar Arafat becomes head of PLO DeGaulle resigns Final Phase of withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam begins Ho Chi Minh dies My-Lai massacre occurs, US military court martials Lt. Calloway Alexander Solzhenitsen expelled from Soviet Union

1969 cont. On July 20th Apollo 11, makes first manned landing on Moon DDT bans begin in USA Manson Cult murders occur in southern California August 15, Woodstock Air Force Pilot John Christopher pursues UFO, finding nothing NORAD decides radar sighting must have been a technical error. 1970 Biafra capitulate to federal Nigeria government; end of civil war which began 2.5 years ago. Conservatives win election in England; Edward Heath succeeds Harold Wilson as Prime Minis-ter Gamal Abdel Nasser dies in Egypt The Kent State “Massacre” occures Apollo 13 Charles DeGaulle dies The 150" reflecting Telescopes in Arizona and Chile are completed 1971 The People's Republic of China admitted to the United Nations Whitney Young, American civil rights leader dies US Apollo 14 and 15 crews become the third and fourth groups to explore the moon surface. US Satellite Mariner 9, orbits Mars Lt. William Calley found guilty of murder in My-Lai massacre The Pentagon Papers begin to be published Violence worsens in Northern Ireland after Britain institutes policies of Preventative Detention and internment without trial.

1971 cont: India and Pakistan go to war USSR and US sign ocean floor test ban treaty Three Soviet Cosmonauts die when their Soyuz 11 capsule devel-ops an air leak while reentering earth’s atmosphere USSR soft lands a space capsule on mars Astronomers discover two "new" galaxies adjacent to the Milky Way Charles Manson and followers are convicted 1972 US Apollo 16, 17 & 18 crews become the fifth, sixth and seventh to explore the moon's surface Nixon visits China and Russia Bangladesh established as an independent state Watergate break in occurs, Nixon administration implicated Governor George Wallace of Alabama is shot but survives Militant Palestinians murder 11 Israeli athletes at the summer Olympic games in Munich Britain imposes direct rule in Northern Ireland Ceylon becomes a republic and changers its name to Sri Lanka At years end fewer then 24,000 American troops remain in Vietnam Philippine President Marcos declares martial law US launches Pioneer 10 & 11 space probes for Jupiter and Saturn. 1973 US Apollo 19, & 20 crews become the eight and ninth to explore the Moon’s surface. Apollo program ended successfully, Skylab Program begun with launching of Skylab I Preliminary and unofficial recognition of Mainland China by the United States Major Sing appointed as Military Liaison from India to Bangladesh Watergate crisis leads to impeachment hearings for President Nixon, Vice President Agnew re-signs and is replaced by Congressman Gerald Ford. Palestinians begin full scale Civil War in Jordan against King Hussein Britain faces large-scale insurrection in Northern Ireland American troops completely evacuate Vietnam, American involvement in that civil war is over. The 1973 or Yom Kippur War erupts in Middle East as Egypt and Syria attack Israel in surprise attacks that are eventually repulsed with huge losses on both sides. Juan Peron resumes control of Argentina, with his young son Colonel Rafael Peron as the new Defense Minister Anti-Apartheid guerillas expand battles in South Africa.

1974 Skylab Missions 1, 2, & 3 are great success in long range endurance and extra-atmospheric research. Nixon resigns and Vice President Ford becomes President The United States extends full recognition to both Mainland China and Taiwan President Ford attempts to rebuild American confidence in govern-ment, with new economic policies. OPEC Oil Embargo of the West cripple most western economies, especially that of the more industrialized nations. North Vietnamese troops push into South Vietnam Soviet Space Probe lands on Mars and detects more water va por present then was previously surmised Five women are brutally knifed to death in Kiev, USSR. The mur-derer nicknamed "Ivan the Ripper" was never found. 1975 Skylab Missions 4, 5, & 6 are even more successful then the first three, Skylab Module II is launched and is joined with the First Module, the entire project is now manned continuously, with each new crew swapping with the previous one. President Ford's W.I.N. economic program fails, US economy and inflation at a post WWII high. North Vietnam completes conquest of South Vietnam, reunifies nation and renames Saigon, as Ho Chi Minh City. Portuguese Military completes a constitutional coup, and grants independence to its former colonies.Civil war between Christians and Moslems erupts in Lebanon US VIKING probe launched for Mars. Communist forces take control of Cambodia and Laos Egypt reopens Suez Canal Turkish/NATO forces win show-down with Greek Communists in a battle for Cyprus’s independ-ence Apollo/Soyuz Project - Joint US/USSR space meeting is a suc-cess, this signals the highpoint of the Kissinger Détente era.

1976 USSR's Soyuz spacecraft docks successfully with Salyut space station. Skylab Missions 7-10, begin the expansion of Skylab Low Earth orbit station. USSR and US begin exchanges between Salyut and Skylab. Governor James Earl “Jimmy” Carter Jr. of Georgia capitalizes on his "outsider" image and wins the presidency. United States celebrates its Bicentennial with much gala and historical retrospection. James Callaghan succeeds the resigning Harold Wilson as Prime Minister of England. Rafael Peron succeeds his father as President General of Argentina US VIKING I and II set down safely on Mars and transmit to Earth first close-up photos of the surface, scientific experiments remain inconclusive about the existence of life on Mars. Quebec Separatist Party wins majority of seats in Quebec Parliament and then wins Secession-ist ballot; Quebec becomes independent state. Mao Tse-tung Founder and Leader of Communist China dies. Civil war between Christians and Moslems expands in Lebanon and involves Syria and Israel Portugal elects first President in a free election in over fifty years. Howard Hughes - American Billionaire dies. Inaugural flights of scheduled supesoninc passenger service occur when two Concorde jets take off simultaneously from London and Paris. First Appearance of Legionnaire’s Disease appears at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1977 US Space Shuttle Test Platform Enterprise makes five test flights. Skylab Missions 11-14, continue the expansion of Skylab Low Earth orbit station. US launches two Mariner Spacecraft to Venus, and Voyager I & II to explore the outer planets. President Carter begins Energy Conservation "War", also signs treaty giving Panama Canal to the people of Panama. Indira Ghandi resigns as Indian Prime Minister; Lt. Colonel Noonian Singh disappears from the Public Eye. Pierre Troudeau becomes Premiere of Quebec Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Menachim Begin of Israel begin peace negotiations Sadaharu Oh, Japanese First Baseman hits his 756th home run, to become the most prolific home run hitter in Professional Baseball. Cuban and Russian "advisors" assist Angolan government in battles against anti-Communist insurgents. The Palestinian National Front calls for a Separate State on Palestinian soil Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Amnesty international

1978 US Space Shuttle Enterprise tests successful construction on five Type I, Orbiters begins. Skylab Missions 15-20, continue the expansion of Skylab Low Earth orbit station. Discovery of a moon orbiting Pluto. President Carter hosts Camp David Accords where Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Menachim Begin of Israel complete peace negotiations Violence sweeps Nicaragua as Sandinista guerillas try to overthrow Somoza Quebec is isolated by Canada as standoff occurs over Canadian closure of St Lawrence Water-way, US Coast Guard reopens it, US-Canadian relations cool. Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Begin and Sadat. The Jim Jones cult in Guyana commits mass suicide On October 1st, the American National Aeronautical and Space Administration holds its 20th Anniversary celebration. Iran in a state of turmoil as Shah Pelahvi fights to retain control versus Muslim religious mili-tants. Dissident elements in Afghanistan encouraged by Iranian uprising begin open revolt of the So-viet Backed government in Kabul. 1979 USSR begins construction of Prototype Orbiter "Buran" Skylab Missions 21-24 begin "taxi" service to and from Skylab Low Earth orbit station, (SLEOS), the SLEOS crew begins construction of Inter-Orbit Port Module. Mariner spacecraft send data and visuals back from Venus's atmosphere and surface. Iranian Civil War and Coup occur, Shah Pehlavi escapes and abdicates, the Ayatollah Khomeni assumes leadership in Iran. Iranian militants capture US Embassy and take embassy officials as hostages. In Libya, the former Colonel Muhamar Quadaffi begins steering Libya to the left and supports world terrorism. The Sandinistas under the leadership of Daniel Ortega assassinate Somoza and seize power in Nicaragua. Inflation and economic ills begin runaway in both American and world economic markets. Soviet Forces invade Afghanistan, impose puppet regime in Kabul and begin civil war between rebels in countryside and the Soviet controlled cities.

1980 US launches Columbia Space Shuttle in its first test; it replaces the Skylab-Apollo launches as a supply vehicle for the SLEOS. With the Shuttle "taxi" service to and from Skylab Low Earth Orbit Sta-tion, the SLEOS begin to rapidly expand. International aerospace firms bid upon an inter-orbital transfer vehicle nicknamed “The Mule”. Soviets launch the first part of the their planned "MIR" space station. Bitter political campaign in the United States elects Ronald Reagan, president of the United States. Iranian militants continue to hold US Embassy and embassy officials’ hostage. The Sandinistas under Ortega consolidate their hold of Nicaragua, and attempt with Cuban help to export their revolution to El Salvador. Soviet Forces in Afghanistan are bogged down in their war against the Mujeiheidin. United States and western bloc boycott the 1980 summer Olympics held in Moscow in protest of the Afghan invasion. 1981 US conducts 5 launches of the Columbia Space Shuttle providing continued "taxi" service to and from Skylab Low Earth orbit station, the SLEOS begin to rapidly expand. Soviets launch their first test of the "Buran" shuttle. Ronald Reagan inaugurated as president of the United States, within hours Iran releases the American Hostages held for 444 days. The Sandinistas and Ortega continue their covert war in El Salvador Soviet President Brezhnev dies, Vice Premier Chernenko becomes Chair, Premier and Presi-dent. President Reagan is shot in a failed assassination attempt. US and Soviet Naval forces almost clash as Soviet Ballistic Missile Submarine Krazny Oktyaber defects, this defection in the end is not revealed to the world for another 14 years.

1982 USA conducts 6 shuttle launches, two each of the Columbia, Challenger and Discovery Space Shuttles providing continued "taxi" service to and from Skylab Low Earth orbit station, the SLEOS continues to expand. First MULE prototype delivered to NASA for testing. Soviets begin use of both the Buran Shuttle and the Progress Rockets to begin assembling Salyut II station to replace the Salyut station. European Space Agency begins building of its Hermes Space Plane, smaller then either the Soviet or American Space Shut-tles, but still able achieve low earth orbit for rendezvous with SLEOS. England and Argentina go to war over the Falkland Islands; the English forces quickly overcome the occupying Argentine-ans and throw them off the Islands. Peron is overthrown despite his attempts to tighten his control because of the "European" attack. The El Salvador Civil War stalls as Moderates gain control of the government. Israel invades Southern Lebanon to create buffer zone to protect its citizens from the widening civil war. Soviet Leader Nikolai Chernenko dies; KGB head Yuri Andropov becomes new Soviet Leader. Western economies start rebuilding, will begin a growth cycle that is only interrupted by the Eugenics War, and then lasts until the mid 21st Century. 1983 USA conducts 8 shuttle launches, two each of the Columbia, Challenger, Discovery and the lat-est the Atlantis Space Shuttles providing continued "taxi" service to and from Skylab Low Earth orbit station, the SLEOS completes the inter-orbit dock. First MULE lifted by Atlantis to SLEOS, first lift of GEOS platform modules. Salyut II Station nearing 1/2 way completion. Japanese Space Agency begins building of its Celestial Dragon Space Plane, similar to ESA's Hermes, capable of achieving low earth orbit for rendezvous with SLEOS. The "Contras" begin counter guerilla war against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. Andropov begins partial withdrawal of Soviet forces in Afghanistan. Lebanese Civil War expands Israeli forces attacked as well as the Syrians. US Military forces oust Communist Coup regime and Cuban Advisors in Grenada. Pioneer 10 spaceprobe, becomes first human built spacecraft to leave the solar system. Troudeau loses election in Quebec, which then requests readmission into Canadian Union.

1984 USA continues routine Shuttle launches, and opens SLEOS to ESA and Japanese shuttles. SLEOS inter-orbit dock becomes waystation to materials going to GEOS. Three MULES now in service between SLEOS and GEOS renamed FREEDOM Space Station. Salyut II Station near 3/4 of completion. Contras reach deadlock with Sandinistas in Nicaragua. US Marines enter Beirut in an attempt to halt civil war there, those forces come under fire from all sides and after bombing disaster and death of over 200 marines, US withdraws. Ronald Reagan wins reelection despite rumors of clandestine arms sales in Central America and the Middle East. Iran-Iraq War begins to spill over into neighboring nations. Both sides have had several huge invasions of each others territory to only be bogged down and destroyed. Neutral Flagged tanker vessels come under fire from both sides, while transiting the Arabian Gulf. Canadian electorate okays Quebec's request to re-enter Union but discontent remains high, Provincial Politics decay into anarchy, with only police and medical services being provided by the province. 1985 USA continues routine Shuttle Launches US, Soviet, European and Japanese shuttles run to and from SLEOS. Five MULES now in service between SLEOS and FREEDOM Space Station and Saylut II Sta-tion. Once Salyut II Station is complete, it is renamed MIR. Nicaragua civil wars stalls, as both sides lose backing with US Congress cutting off aid pipeline to the Contras. Yuri Andropov takes ill and dies; Mikhail Gorbachev becomes leader of the Soviet Union Iran-Iraq War continues, US decides to reflag vessels transiting the Arabian Gulf. Quebec situation stabilizes as Popular Scot-French politician Jean MacBruce rises to power.

1986 Space Shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after liftoff, killing crew of 7 immediately, routine Shuttle Missions halted and only crew transfers of Space Stations are permitted during the in-vestigation. The MULES continue in service between SLEOS and FREEDOM Space Station and Mir Sta-tion. Members of the Afghani opposition attack a post inside of Russian territory that housed the So-viet Military Space Applications Laboratory, intervention by a combined US-Soviet Strike team, stops the slaughter of Soviet Civilian scientists. In England, Irish terrorists fail in attempt to kidnap or to assassinate the Prince of Wales and Family, this act is foiled by a junior US Military (USMC) attaché. Truce in Nicaragua civil wars called. El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala have free and rela-tively clean elections electing civilian govern-ments, however in Panama General Noriega begins strong-arm tactics that lead to his even-tually assuming control of that state, and aligns himself with Colombian Drug Cartels. Mikhail Gorbachev begins Glasnost - a period of economic opening with the West and the Soviet Union Iran-Iraq War continues, US decides to reflags vessels transiting the Arabian Gulf. In the US, a Doctor Nichols, scientists, and plant manager at Plexicorp in San Francisco begins to develop the molecular matrix for transparent Aluminum. In India, General Khan Noonian Singh becomes Minister of Defense in the Ghandi Government. 1987 Investigation of the Shuttle Challenger explosion reveals O-Rings degradation were primary cause of a fuel leak, which led to the explosion. All boosters are reexamined and the design process for the Advanced Shuttles receives additional funding, in addition alternative Heavy Lift Designs are researched. The MULES continue in service between SLEOS and FREEDOM Space Station and Mir Sta-tion, as Space Shuttles restart service with stricter preflight inspections.

1987 cont. Soviets launch MIR Station Expansion for Salyut II, re-name entire complex Mir Station I or Mir for short. Nicaragua elects first female President, Ortega resigns in disgust, and his protégé Joaquin Olivera becomes Vice President. In Panama, General Noriega continues his assault on op-position parties. Mikhail Gorbachev faces opposition but goes ahead and signs the START treaty with President Reagan Iran-Iraq War begins to wind down as both sides experi-ence exhaustion. In the Philippines, Quorzon Aquino leads Electoral Upris-ing after the assassination of her Husband by pro-Marcos forces. 1988 The head of the Soviet KGB defects to the United States under mysterious circumstances. Gorbachev declares a secret initiative before the Politburo to send a mission to Mars to rival the American Moon Program, however this mission will establish a permanent Soviet Base upon the Red Planet. The whole program will bolster the Soviet economy and lift Russian morale. The rocket with a large cargo module will be lifted by a ring of eight boosters into Low Orbit and the Delta's engine will complete the lift to either LEO or GEO. The craft is referred to as the DY-100 series. The Second-Generation Inter-orbital transfer Vehicles, the CONESTOGAS, developed by SSI of Houston and its President Deke Slayton, begin delivery to NASA, ESA, and JSA. Iran-Iraq War ends with both sides declaring victory. The Communist Government of Greece collapses, soviet forces withdraw through Rumania to Besarbia. Within months the communist leaderships of Greece, Rumania, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland fall. An illegal CIA/US Army mission into Columbia following the assassination of Columbia’s leading candidate for President is discovered. This leads to more questions on Reagan’s foreign policy. With the Oliver North testimony, and the death of the Deputy Director of the FBI, President Reagan assumes all responsibility for the actions in a televised speech two days before the election. His successor George Bush wins in a landslide as the American People accept the out-going President’s responsibility in this matter.

1989 Endeavor Space Shuttle delivered to NASA, the last of the first generation Space Shuttles Boeing wins the bid for the Challenger II - Advanced Deployment Shuttle to replace the Colum-bia Class shuttles in the Mid to late 1990's. McDonald Douglas begins construction of the Alter-native Heavy Lifter, delivery expected in the early 1990's. NASA takes delivery of its first three CONESTOGAS and lifts them to SLEOS. President Saddam Hussain of Iraq begins CBR and Conventional Buildup of Forces. General Noreiga of Panama seizes power and arrests civilian political opposition. US Forces enter Panama and within two weeks capture Noreiga, neutralize his military allies and install a neutral and Panamanian Gendarme in Panama. 1990 India launches its first Manned Orbital Rocket. The United States, Russia, ESA, China, Japan, and now India have all orbited manned space craft. In Sweden, development of the first practical suspended animation for humans is unveiled for medical purposes. Iraq begins massive buildup on Kuwaiti border, late in the year, Iraq invades and captures Ku-wait, US, NATO, Arab and UN forces begin massive buildup to first protect Saudi Arabia (Desert Shield) and hopefully to coerce Iraq to leave Kuwait. President of Nicaragua is assassinated, Jouchin Olivera becomes head of state.

1991 NASA sends the Marco Polo lunar polar orbiter to Moon to begin search for frozen water at its poles. Allied forces first conduct massive Air Strikes, and then in a lightning fast ground war (Desert Storm) defeat Iraq’s “feared” Republican Guards in a 100-hour campaign.

1991 cont. Kazakhistan’s government is overthrown in a coup led by younger officers of its military. General Singh of India’s Military, seizes power in the Punjab in a joint Sikh/Hindu/Tamil coup that promises racial equality for all of India’s ethnic peoples. Soviet Hard Liners fail in an attempted coup of Premier Gorbachev. The coup is defeated by the resistance of Boris Yeltsin, former mayor of Moscow, and current head of the Russian Republic.

1992 The Yugoslavian Federation falls apart into splintering and combating ethnic nations. Ethnic “cleansings” erupt through out the Balkans. The Book Chicago Mobs of the Twenties is published in New York. The Freedom Space Station mysteriously explodes. The cause is undetermined but increased safety and security measures are put into effect on SLEOS and MIR. In a rapid and obviously preplanned invasion, Khan’s Indian & Sikh forces invade and conquer Pakistan in a five-day war following the assassination of President Zia of Pakistan when his Jet is shot down by forces loyal to Bhutto. In the United States, the shock of these acts allow De-mocratic Candidate Bill Clinton to sweep by President Bush - despite his previous popularity as the victor in the Gulf War; third party candidate Ross Perot, comes in a distant third. In December, the leaders of Afghanistan, Iran, and Bangladesh are assassinated. Jean MacBruce is elected Premiere of Quebec. Soviet Union collapses and is replaced by Confederation of Independent States. Boris Yeltsin rises to power by June of the year, in time for the Gulf War crises. The Russian economy near collapse, Khan of India secretly bankrolls the DY-100 project. Khan also funds the Swedish sleeper technology research.

1993 Complete chaos erupts in the former Yugoslavian. NATO troops rush to the Balkans. Khan declares the Caliphate of Central Asia and invades Khazakistan, Central India, and Blan-gadesh, within weeks he has conquered both nations and occupies half of India. The Peoples Republic of China fully mobilizes to stop Khans East-ward march, as he prepares to invade Tibet. In Argentina, the younger Peron seizes complete power and declares war on Chili. In Nicaragua Juachim invades El Salvador. The government of South Africa is seized by AWB extremists and the black opposition is butchered; Winnie Mandela is executed while Nelson Mandela barely escapes when he is rescued by Russian journalists. In his first year in Office Bill Clinton desperately tries to hold the nation to-gether and appoints former Joint chiefs Head General Colin Powell, as a combined National Security Advisor and Secretary of Defense, with a mas-sive vote of approval by the US senate. Mathematician Andrew Wiles, a professor at Princeton University, develops a remarkable proof for Fermat’s last theorem, ending a quest that has baffled mathematicians for hundreds of years. 1994 With NATO troops bogged down in the Balkans, Khans forces invade Tibet, defeating the first two Chinese counter attacks sent to stop him. Southern India capitulates to Khan’s forces and he begins maneuvers to bring Sri Lanka under his control. The first use of cryogenics on the critically ill begins. 1995 China begins a massive attack through Burma and Bangladesh quickly overrunning Khan’s forces . The AWB attempts to ally itself with Khan but is defeated when Nelson Mandela re-turns and restores South Africa’s government in a surprise counter coup. McBruce begins campaigning for Quebec independence again. It is later learned that Khan’s is financing this move to distract the US and Britain from his attempt to consolidate power in India. Two months later McBruce dies mysteriously. Some claim Khan’s allies are responsible, some the United States, while others blame an organization know only as “SEVEN” . In the ensuing chaos, a Pro Commonwealth government is established that immediately begins tearing down the McBruce regime’s controls.

1995 cont. In the Phillipines, Pro Khan supporters are chased out of the country. Gen-eral Ramos, gains control of the nation, and calls for free elections. While withdrawing from southern India, Khan unleashes his nastiest weapon yet, Biological Warfare., It is a Pseudo-Leprosy Disease, a combi-nation of the Flu, Plague, with Leprotic symptoms. By years end over 60 million in India are affected, almost 11 million dead. It quickly spreads to Africa in pandemic numbers. In Kazahistan, a joint US-Russian assault team captures the eugenics leader of that nation, within weeks he is executed. Control of the former Soviet Missile force is returned to the Russians. However in a lightning strike Khan's forces seizes control of the Baikanur space launch facilities and the DY-100 Launch vehicle, however the Security Forces manage to destroy the Command Capsule "Peter the Great" before Khan's troops can secure it. 1996 PLD is now pandemic in Africa and begins to spread to West Asia and Europe, by years end, 200 Million are effected and 25 million dead from the disease. The United States uses the three just coming on line CHALLENGER II Shuttles to maintain high orbit control of Earth's skies, Khan and his allies are prevented from launching of missiles from Baikanur. Khan seeing an end is near, negotiates a surrender, for his and his followers lives in ex-ile, he promises to release the cure for PLD if a replacement cap-sule is provided for the DY100. The allied nations provide Khan and 96 of his "supermen" the S.S. Botany Bay, which is launched into space, but telemetry is soon lost. It is later learned that Khan had smuggled 105 of the Swedish sleeper capsules on board be-fore launch. The promised cure is quickly developed into a short-term treatment. Earth scientists discover signs of ancient life on Mars. Microscopic fossilized traces in meteorites are the first physical evidence that humans are not alone in the universe.

1997 A treatment for PLD is found, while not a cure, does stop the disease from progressing. After the war, The United States, Europe, Japan, and Russia begin construction of the new FREEDOM II space station in orbit. It had been discovered that Khan had arranged the sabo-tage and destruction of the first Freedom station. Africa is still reeling from the effects of PLD, quarantining the continent is effective in the short term, as new cases outside of Africa dwindle. Talks begin to revise and rejuvenate the United Nations. Revising the power of the Security Council is the main topic of disagreement. Allied troops in India and around Africa begin forming a long-term hierarchy known as the UN Constabulary. 1998 The FREEDOM II space station is halfway complete. A joint US-ESA-Japanese mission is planned to return men to the Moon in 2006. Talks continue for the “New” United Nations. The UN Constabulary establishes its headquarters on the Island of Ceylon, which saw some of the fiercest battles of the Eugenics War. Tony Blair is elected Prime Minister to replace John Majors of the Conservative Party. 1999

Work on FREEDOM II space station continues and will be com-pleted by 2004. NASA launches the Voyager 6 space probe con-tinuing its commitment to planetary science and deep space probes. After a flyby of the outer planets, it transmits a signal to Earth that it picks up from the Saturnian moon Titan and then completely disappears. The New York Yankees baseball team has an extraordinary year winning the World Series with what is considered the greatest team ever. NASA accepts bid from Lockheed for a Reusable Single Stage to Orbit Vehicle the Venture Star to be delivered in 2005.

2000 NASA deploys the seventh Advanced D. Shuttle the BADEN-POWELL and retires the vener-able Shuttle Discovery A cure for the PLD virus is found; as a result, within the next ten years most Auto-Immune vi-ruses are eradicated. 2001 Construction of the International Space Station Freedom II continues. The new Millennium is heralded by formation of a United Earth (governed by a revised and strengthened New United Nations) and UESPA (United Earth Space Probe Agency) NASA deploys its last Advanced D. Shuttle the ROBERT BYRD and retires the original Shuttle Columbia. The UN Constabulary is called in to separate the Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, as the British abandon the attempt. 2002 Space probe Nomad launched from Earth, the first interstellar probe intended to seek out new life forms. The probe designed by scientist Jackson Roykirk, is later believed destroyed in a meteoroid collision. NASA retires the Atlantis and the Endeavor in an-ticipation of the launching of the VENTURE STAR series of SSTO Orbiters. The Endeavor becomes the training platform for NASA pilots. The United Nation’s Scientific Council releases a 15-year projection estimating that off world and space-oriented industry to grow at an exponential rate.

2003 The United Space Initiative is signed in New York City. This landmark agreement will focus and accelerate Human exploration of the Sol System for the benefit of all humanity. 2004 The International Space Station Freedom II is completed. The Ad-vance D. Shuttle Magellan suffers a total engine failure. The crew is rescued by the Japanese Shuttle – Himawari, but the Magellan is destroyed in a controlled manner to prevent it from causing damage while reentering orbit. 2005 Lockheed delivers to NASA the first VENTURE STAR Orbiter, the VENTURE STAR is the first of twenty planned orbiters planned. Japan announces it will construct its own second generation SSTO Orbiter the KIRIN class. 2006 The US launches new missions to the Moon, with the goal to begin construction of three new Moon Bases in 2008. The craft to be used is the joint Russian-American developed DY -150 Earth-Moon liner. These craft will travel from the International Space Station to Lunar Orbit and use an advanced version of the Lunar Lander to explore the Moon’s surface. The entire project is referred to as the DIANA PROGRAM in honor of the Greek goddess of the Moon. Four Runs the first year begin regular route. 2007 NASA takes delivery of the second SSTO, the BRIGHT STAR. The United Nations Space Inspectorate is commissioned as part of the UN Constabulary, with limited powers to inspect, and if need be ground ALL spacecraft. The United States, Japan, Russia, and Great Britain sign on immediately, Canada, China, and France hold out, while India is far behind in restarting its space programs.

2007 cont. The Diana Program continues with 7 mis-sions in 2007. The Clavius and Faustius cra-ters are selected for bases. A third base on the far side of the moon at the Tsiolkovsky crater will be set up as well for long range telemetry and astronomy free form Earth electromagnetic pollution, this project is named CYCLOPS. 2008 The Diana Program continues with 12 missions in 2008. Work begins on the Clavius, Faustius, and Tsiolkovsky moon bases. 2009 The United States begins a massive economic downturn in the heavy industrial sector; only the High Tech, Retail, Information and Space Industries are still showing growth. Economic fore-casts predict 10-20% unemployment within 10-15 years. NASA takes delivery of the third SSTO, the SHINING STAR. The lunar base at Clavius Crater is completed and is officially christened the Moon Base Alpha, however Clavius Base remains its day-to-day name. 2010 Puerto Rico becomes the 51st State of the United States. 2011 NASA takes delivery of its fourth SSTO, the LONE STAR Japan launches its first SSTO, the SHOGUN The polar Moon base O’Neill at the Faustius crater is com-pleted.

2012 The International Space Station begins upgrading to the new World Space Station with the addition of a rotating habitat ring that allows for Earth stan-dard gravity. 2013 The United States announces its intention to send humans to Mars by 2019. The European and Japa-nese Space Agencies, along with Russia agree to join the project as junior partners. NASA will assume 65% of the cost of the project, with the ESA 15% and Russia andthe JSA each taking 10%. France launches its first SSTO, the DeGAULLE NASA takes delivery of the MORNING STAR and assigns it to the UN Space Inspectorate. China launches its first Moon Mission, while Canada signs the Space Inspectorate treaty. 2014 The first return of unmanned explorations and investigations of the asteroid belt. The far side Moon base at Tsiolkovsky crater is completed and christened the Goddard Moon Bade, the CYCLOPS project is started immediately to track both the Mars Observers and the new Voyager 6-8 Missions. 2015

The World Space Station is completed and comes online. Construction begins on Mars One and Mars Two in specialized dockyards near the WSS. Mars Observer 2 is launched from Cape Kennedy to begin an intensive study of Mars in preparation for Mars One and Two. The London Kings baseball team has a good year, bolstered by the performance of rookie Buck Bokai. NASA takes delivery of the EVENING STAR. The Neo-Trotsky party defeats the Gaullist Party in France as the economic conditions in Europe worsen.

2016 The crews for Mars One and Two begin preparations. The DY-200 series of vessels designed, the class ship will be called the ADVENTEUR, typed as Fast Cutter ships they are expected to revolutionized space travel in the solar system, and make the need for sleeper technology obsolete. The ADVENTEUR’s will be first tested on the Mars One and Two missions. Japan launches its second SSTO the AMARATSU 2017 Mars Observer 2 arrives safely in Martian orbit and begins its mission. A list of sites is prepared and prioritized. NASA takes delivery of its final SSTO, the RISING STAR. The London Treaty Alliance is formed with the reorganization of the Confederation of Independ-ent States, NATO and the Scandic Confederation. France annuls its membership within NATO. 2019 Unemployment in the United States alone reaches 15%, worldwide; it reaches 20% in the indus-trial nations. January 1, 2019 In a world ceremony to rival the Millennium Celebration, Mars One launches from the World Space Station on an eighteen-month journey to Mars. Aboard is a crew of three Americans, two Russians, a Frenchman, a Brit, and a Japanese. July 19, 2019 Mars One arrives at Mars and settles into orbit. Communication is made with Mars Observer 2, final site selection is made while the crew prepares for the landing.

July 20, 2019 On the fiftieth anniversary of the moon landing, American Kara Michelle Inokuma becomes the first human to set foot on Mars. Her two col-leagues, who raise the American flag on Mars, join her. Shortly thereafter, the other crew raise the Russian, ESA, and JSA flags. Finally, all seven

raise the United Nations flag above them all, to demonstrate that no one nation has territorial claims on Mars. The Voyager Six Probe in the orbit of Saturn picks up artificial Electromagnetic Transmissions from the Titan moon. After being redirected into Titan orbit, telemetry is sud-denly lost with the probe and it is declared lost. Mars Base 1 begins search for extraterrestrial life.

2020 The American government, reacting to the serious problems of homeless and jobless peoples, creates special Sanctuary Districts in most cities where such people can be cared for. Unfortu-nately, while established with benevolent intent, the Sanctuary Districts quickly degenerate in inhumane internment camps where the unemployed, the mentally ill, and other outcasts are im-prisoned. The LTASS DISCOVERY II, the second DY -200 is launched on Mars Mission Two. In light of the Voyager Six discovery, the DISCOVERY is to pick up the pilot of the Mars One Mission who will continue on in a parabilic orbit of Saturn to investigate the signal from Titan. 2021 France launches its second SSTO the BONAPARTE. Japan launches its the third SSTO the SAMURAI 2022 More massive layoffs occur in the United States, especially in the Californian, Texan, and East-ern Seaboards.

2023 The third DY200/Adventuer Class the LTASS LEWIS and CLARK is launched. 2024 Student unrest in Europe makes France an undesirable tourist destination for international trav-elers. Although France’s Neo-Trotsky government tries to quell the protests, they have no more luck than the earlier Gaullist government. Tensions in the American Sanctuary District A (San Francisco Area) mount and district resi-dents take over an administrative processing center, holding six center employees hostage. The ensuing riots know as the Bell Riots are named for Gabriel Bell, Sanctuary Resident who manages to keep control of the angry resi-dents. The residents manage to gain access to Earth’s computer network, and many residents are able to tell their stories of imprisonment to the outside world. As a result, the American public becomes aware of the great injustice that has been hidden from them. The Bell Riots end when the governor of California orders Federal troops to retake the processing center by force. Hundreds of sanctu-ary residents are killed, although none of the hostages are harmed as Gabriel Bell sacrifices his life to save the hostages. In the wake of the

Bell Riots and the senseless death of so many people, American public opin-ion turns against the Sanctuary Districts. In the ensuing election, both major political parties are demolished in the voting retaining only 10% of the electorate combined. New independent, pro-gressive, student, and veteran parties arise owing no political favors and abolish the sanctuaries, as the United States begins to face serious social problems it has struggled with for over a century.

2025 The reunification of Ireland is brought about by the use of violence as a tool for political reform. The fourth DY200/Adventuer Class ship the LTASS PROGRESS is launched. The ship was to be named the MAGELLAN II, but was renamed in honor of those who gave their lives in the Bell Riots.

2026 Harmon “Buck” Bokai, a shortstop from the London Kings who becomes knows as one of baseball’s greatest players, hits in his 57th consecutive game, breaking Joe DiMaggio’s long-standing record. The hit is a squeaker that just goes under Eddie Newsom’s glove. In the 2026 elections in both the United States and the other LTA nations the “Progressive” candidates continue and or gain domination in the elec-tive offices, the old guard “liberal” and “conservative” parties continue to lose strength. Japan launches its fourth SSTO the TOKUGAWA 2027 The fifth DY200/Adventuer Class the LTASS MAGELLAN II is launched. 2028 The third French SSTO the FRATERNITIE is launched In a joint LTA-Japanese project headed by the UN Space Inspectorate and UNESPA launch a new class of Space Craft. The UES GALILEO Class Interplanetary Space Cruiser is launched. With a crew of 6 and passenger complement of 92, the Galileo’s open up colonization of the moon and eventually Mars, the Asteroid Belt, and the Jovian Moons. 2029 Project Cyclops at Farside Moon base detects first intelligent signals heard from space by Terrans. The sixth DY200/Adventuer Class the LTASS ARES is launched and begins yearly missions of a solely scientific nature. Ares 1 discovers that Mars has its own Van Allen belts albeit of a much smaller and less detectable nature. 2030 Zefram Cochrane, inventor of warp drive, is born. Pan-European Party wins elections in France. France petitions to re-enter European Union. Ares 2 is launched and studies the 2030 Solar Flares from the Mars orbit.

2031 Debate begins at the New United Nations on whether to combine the LTA, Japanese, French, and Space Inspectorate fleets into a combined UN Solar Fleet. Ares 3 discovers that the Martian moon Deimos has traces of extra solar metals. 2032 China’s economy begins a major slide towards recession. Japanese eco-nomic assistance is offered immediately. The New United Nations commissions the UESPA Solar Fleet for security and rescue purposes throughout the inhabited Sol System.

The second UESPA spacecraft the Galileo Class UES COPERNICUS is launched. Ares 4 disappears when an unknown phe-nomenon engulfs the main capsule, neither the ship or its commander are ever seen again, as the phenomenon disappears a few hours later.

2033 The fifty-second state Guam is admitted to the United States. Japan, Philippines, and China files protests con-cerning the Statehood of Guam. 2034 The seventh Adventuer Class ship is launched as a UESPA flagged vessel, the UES CRISTO-PHER COLUMBO. A joint Sino-Japanese project launches the UES KUBLAI, a new class of interplanetary escort.

American Flag circa 2033

2035 The third Galileo Class ship the UES NEWTON is launched. Korea joins Japan, China and the Philippines in an Asiatic Economic Union and Trade Coalition, which is quickly referred to as the Eastern Coalition. 2036 In a landmark case the United Nations and the Hague rule that the Citizens of Earth may not be held responsible for the crimes committed by their ancestors, thus seemingly ending the centuries long conflict in the Balkans. Hover cars come into popular use. New space-time research finds holes in the general theory making faster then light communica-tion and maybe even travel theoretically possible, though not yet an actuality. 2037 Under contract to UESPA, NASA launches the UES CHARYB-DIS, under the command of Colonel Steven Richey. An experi-mental long-range version of the GALILEO class, it is the third attempt to explore beyond the solar system. 2038 Development of “Star liners” for inter-planetary travel begins. The Adventuer Class ship the UES HENRY HUDSON is launched. The fifth Galileo Class ship the UES TYCHO BRAHE is launched.

2039 The UES Base on Pluto becomes operational. The first Eastern Coalition flagged space ship the EC RYUUJIN class ship, which is an entire new development for the EC over the previous UES KUBLAI class. 2040 Television no longer survives as a significant form of entertainment. The Adventuer class ship the UES VASCO DE GAMA is launched. The UES CHRISTOPHER COLUMBO is hit by an uncharted micro comet and destroyed, all hands are lost. 2041 Developments in interplanetary travel continue, UESPA begins development of the COLUM-BUS class, an advanced and longer range version of the ADVENTUER class. Thailand’s government falls in elections, the new government reinstates the monarchy and call-ing itself the Kingdom of Siam joins the Eastern Coalition. 2042 Professional baseball dies after this year’s season. The fi nal game of the last World Series draws only 300 spectators. The last Adventuer the UES HERNANDO DE SOTO is launched. The Ryuujin Class ship the EC YURIKAZI is launched. An apparent arms race has begun between the London Treaty Alliance dominated United Na-tions and the Eastern Coalition. Neutral Nations begin choosing which coalition to join as the specter of Global War arises again. 2043 First Mind Control riots begin in Indonesia, with the next four years all local governments attempting to use drugs and be-havioral implants to control their populations, cease the prac-tice as it begins to backfire.

2043 continued The UES COLUMBUS is launched it is the first of its class, and is expected to make great inroads into interplanetary and maybe even interstellar travel. 2044 All contact with the UES CHARYBDIS is lost in this year, as telemetry is lost. 2045 The New United Nations celebrates 100 years of cooperation among the peoples of Terra. People throughout the Solar System take part. UES ENTERPRISE the second COLUMBUS class explorer is launched and heads for the last reported position of the CHARYBDIS 2046 The Eastern Coalition launches the third Ryuujin class cruiser the EC RYUUZA. 2047 The LTA and Eastern Coalition begin a series of trade tariff disputes that continues until 2057. 2048 Scientists from Cal. Poly. present evidence of a temporal incursion in San Francisco early in this year, they are researching the possibility of a similar incursion in 2024. The UES ENTERPRISE arrives off Saturn at the last known position of the CHARYBDUS. They detect a still strong ion trail heading out of the Solar System towards Alpha Centauri, the crew is directed to follow the trail, which they do, expecting to arrive in 6 years.

2049 The Eastern Coalition launches the fourth Ryuujin class cruiser the EC HIRYU. 2050 In the United States, a second generation Serbian-American Colonel Stanley Sergeyvich Green is assigned oversight of the NORAD facility, as the LTA begins restoring these old facilities in light of EC buildup. 2051 United Nations Geneva headquarters is destroyed by terrorists. 2052 The Eastern Coalition launch the fifth Ryuujin class cruiser the EC KAGENA. The LTA launches the first of the GLENN class corvettes as a counter to the EC RYUUJIN class. Tensions mount between the Eastern Coalition and the London Treaty Alliance, when the delegates from the Eastern Coalition na-tions walk out on the New United Nations. 2053, July 6th Earth’s civilization is devastated by World War III. The infamous Colo-nel Green is a key figure in this horrific conflict, which results in the death of untold millions (best figures surpass 500 million dead from di-rect strikes alone) of humans, and nearly returns Earth society to the stone age. The planet’s climate experiences a serious “nuclear winter” caused by thousands of tons of dust and debris kicked into the atmos-phere by the nuclear explosions. (some confusion exists with the numbering of the “World Wars” of Earth His-tory. While some historians notably of Non-Terran origin labeled the Eugenics War the third, and Colonel Green’s War the fourth, current usage is as this text denotes. Further study may be made in Gerard Stein’s Earth’s Five World Wars, an Analysis of Humanities Total Wars.)

2054 The UES ENTERPRISE reaches Alpha Centauri and finds the 7th planet already inhabited, apparently by the descendents of the ancient Greeks transported from Earth by the Preservers. Fighting between the LTA and the EC continues in space, as both sides savage each other’s fleets, each side races to launch new ships to overwhelm the other and end the war. 2055 Almost simultaneously the LTA and the EC launch their new cruisers the LIBERTY and the YAMATO classes respectively. An uneasy truce continues as both sides attempt to out build the other. 2056 The UES ship VASCO DE GAMA is destroyed when it collides with the EC RYUUJIN as the Ryuujin tried to ram itself into the UES Base on Pluto, the Pluto base is thereafter abandoned and is not re-manned until the mid 2060’s. 2057 The EC launches a mobile weapons platform into near Earth orbit. In its first pass the LTA headquarters in Greenland is destroyed. The LTA then launched its new battleshipS the UES TEXAS and the UES WASHING-TON.

2057 cont. Within three days the space platform, all three of the YAMAMOTO cruisers, and eight of the ten remaining RYUUJIN destroyers are destroyed. The EC quickly sues for peace, the EC Head-quarters in Northern Japan refuses to capitulate and is destroyed from space. Thus ends the Third World War. 2058 The non-LTA nations of Europe and Scandinavia unite to form the European Federation. The LTA turns over operational control and authority of their military spacecraft to the UESPA. 2059 The LTA and the European Federation begin joint expeditions to the Middle East and South America to help rebuild the infrastructure in those areas, a revitalized “United Nations Peace Corps” is the basis of this endeavor, thousands of youth and newly discharged veterans flock to his humanitarian effort that as a side effect keeps unemployment in the LTA and EF at ac-ceptable non-crises levels. 2060 A revolt of Special Forces units of the LTA, is put down, Revolt Leaders and Troops undergo extensive rehabilitation in an effort to reintegrate them into the civi l-ian world, many opt for passage on new long range colony ships instead. These colony ships begin to emerge as a method for many disenfranchised groups to seek out new lives. Contact and teleme-try is lost with most, as these DY ships de-part the SOL system.

2061 Advanced Energy and Propulsion Scientist Zephram Cochrane disappears from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory research facilities. Later it is found he has set up an experimental spacecraft inside of an abandoned Missile Silo in Mon-tana with the backing of unknown sources. 2062 Japan, China, Korea and Indonesia withdraw from the EC, while the smaller nations remain in the organizations, its focus becomes one of a Trade Alliance among developing nations. 2063 Zephram Cochrane pilots Earth’s first faster-than-light space flight. Cochrane’s ship, the Phoe-nix, is a tiny vessel that, ironically, was built from an unused nuclear missile left over from the third world war. The warp signature of the Phoenix attracts the attention of a passing Vulcan ship, indicating that humankind now has the capacity for interstellar travel. Within a day of the Phoenix’s epic flight, Cochrane becomes the first human to officially make contact with extraterrestrial life, when the Vulcan ship lands at Cochrane’s Montana base on the North American continent. The event sparks a remarkable turning point in the difficult recovery from Earth’s terrible nuclear war and marks the beginning of humanity’s interstellar age.

Ship Classifications

Sputnik: A voice from the Heavens 01 June 1946 - Groettrup team completes R-2 design. 01 September 1946 - Groettrup team designs 2 stage IRBM. 23 October 1946 - Groettrup team transported to Soviet Union. 01 July 1947 - Kapustin Yar selected for missile tests. Launch Site: Kapustin Yar . 01 September 1947 - R-10 designed by Groettrup team. 01 March 1949 - Groettrup team completes R-12 design. 01 June 1949 - Groettrup team designs R-13. 01 October 1949 - Groettrup team designs R-14. 21 March 1951 - First Germans returned to Germany. 04 October 1951 - Russian satellite predicted. 01 April 1953 - USSR Council of Ministers approve Korolev R-7 ICBM 28 November 1953 - Groettrup and last Germans return to Germany. 30 May 1954 - Go-ahead for R-7 ICBM by designers council Launch Site: Baikonur . 12 January 1955 - First 30 construction workers arrive at Tyuratam Launch Site: Baikonur . 12 January 1955 - Tyuratam selected for ICBM test range. Launch Site: Baikonur . 01 April 1955 - Housing/road constructions starts at Tyuratam Launch Site: Baikonur . 19 June 1955 - First surveyors arrive at Tyuratam. Launch Site: Baikonur . 01 August 1955 - LC 1 launch pad excavation starts Launch Site: Baikonur . 04 April 1956 - First concrete poured at pad A at Tyuratam Launch Site: Baikonur . 01 June 1956 - Work begun on the Soviet Union's first satellite 01 August 1956 - First ground equipment installed at Tyuratam Launch Site: Baikonur . 04 March 1957 - Checkout of first R-7 starts Launch Site: Baikonur . 05 May 1957 - 1st R-7 rolled out to pad Launch Site: Baikonur . 15 May 1957 - LV Configuration: R-7 8K71 M1-5. R-7 test flight. Failure: Failure of Block D strapon, which tore away from the core 98 seconds after liftoff. The booster crashed 400 km from the pad. A fuel leak in the pump outlet led to a fire in the engine compartment from the time of liftoff. Launch Site: Baikonur . More details 11 June 1957 - LV Configuration: R-7 8K71 M1-6. R-7 launch attempt Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. 12 July 1957 - LV Configuration: R-7 8K71 M1-7. R-7 test flight. Failure: Failure of the control sys-tem due to a short circuit of the battery. Rapid roll developed, resulting in all four strap-on boosters flying away from the co re at 33 seconds in the flight. Launch Site: Baikonur . More details 21 August 1957 - LV Configuration: R-7 8K71 M1-8. R-7 test flight - first successful intercontinen-tal Launch Site: Baikonur . More details 26 August 1957 - R-7 ICBM announced publicly. Launch Site: Baikonur . 07 September 1957 - LV Configuration: R-7 8K71 M1-9. R-7 test flight. Launch Site: Baikonur . More details 04 October 1957 - LV Configuration: Sputnik 8K71PS s/n M1-1PS. Sputnik 1 Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. Total Payload Mass: 84 kg. More details 03 November 1957 - LV Configuration: Sputnik 8K71PS s/n M1-2PS. Sputnik 2 Launch Site:

30 January 1958 - LV Configuration: R-7 8K71 M1-12. R-7 test flight. Failure: The missile ex-ploded a few seconds after liftoff. Launch Site: Baikonur . More details 29 March 1958 - R-7 test flight. Launch Site: Baikonur . 01 April 1958 - Plesetsk construcion begins. Launch Site: Plesetsk . 04 April 1958 - R-7 test flight. Launch Site: Baikonur . 24 May 1958 - R-7 test flight. Launch Site: Baikonur . More details 24 December 1958 - LV Configuration: 8K71. R-7 test flight. Failure: Failure. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. More details 17 March 1959 - LV Configuration: 8K71. R-7 development test flight. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. More details 25 March 1959 - LV Configuration: 8K71. R-7 development test flight. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. More details 31 March 1959 - LV Configuration: 8K71. R-7 development test flight. Failure. Failure: Failure. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. More details 09 May 1959 - LV Configuration: 8K71. R-7 development test flight. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. More details 31 May 1959 - LV Configuration: 8K71. R-7 development test flight. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. More details 09 June 1959 - LV Configuration: 8K71. R-7 development test flight. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. More details 18 July 1959 - LV Configuration: 8K71. R-7 development test flight. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. More details 30 July 1959 - LV Configuration: 8K71. R-7 development test flight. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. More details 14 August 1959 - LV Configuration: 8K71. R-7 development test flight. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. More details 18 September 1959 - LV Configuration: 8K71. R-7 development test flight. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. More details 30 September 1959 - R-7 test flight. Failure: Failure. Launch Site: Baikonur . More details 31 October 1959 - First R-7 missiles go on alert at Plesetsk. Launch Site: Plesetsk . 02 November 1959 - LV Configuration: 8K71. Full range R-7 development test flight. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. More details 21 November 1959 - LV Configuration: 8K71. Full range R-7 development test flight. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. More details 27 November 1959 - LV Configuration: 8K71. Final R-7 development test flight. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. More details 20 January 1960 - R-7 test flight. Launch Site: Baikonur . More details 04 June 1960 - LV Configuration: 8K71. R-7 readiness verification test. Launch Site: Baikonur . More details 27 February 1961 - LV Configuration: 8K71. R-7 readiness verification test. Launch Site: Baikonur . More details

R7/Sputnik Class Rocket/Satellite

R7 Launcher Sputnik Satellite

Flag Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)

Dates of Service 15 May 1957 - 27 February 1961 04-24 October 1957

Displacement 267 mt 84 Kilograms

Overall Length 30 m .58 m

Overall Draft 8.4 m .58 m

Overall Beam 8.4 m .58 m

Propulsion: LOX-Kerosine. RD-107-8D74PS (1+4)Engines Inertial Momentum

(combined 396,300 kgf thrust)

Velocity: 39,600 km/h Standard Cruising Speed 39,600 km/h

39,360 km/h Maximum Cruising Speed 39,600 km/h

39,360 km/h Maximum Attainable Velocity 39,600 km/h

Duration: 308 seconds 21 Days

Embarked Craft: N/A N/A

Complement: Unmanned Unmanned

Navigation: NII-885 - Ryazanskiy, Pilyugin – N/A

Guidance control system

Computers: Remote Ground Controled Remote Ground Controlled

Energy Weapons: N/A N/A

Projectile Weapons: N/A N/A

Defense: none 2 mm thick Aluminum

AMG6T alloy

Life Support: N/A N/A

Part of the Explorer program

Explorer I was the first United States satellite. It consisted of the fourth stage of the Jupiter C rocket, and was built by the Army Ballistic Missile Agency and JPL. The satellite provided preliminary information on the environment and conditions in space outside Earth's atmosphere. It resulted in the dis-covery of the Van Allen radiation belts, named after the cosmic ray instrument scientist, Dr. James A. Van Allen.

Spacecraft The spacecraft was built within the fourth stage section of the rocket. It consisted of a lower fiberglass ring with external temperature sensors mounted onto it along with four turnstile antenna wires for the high power transmitter. Above that were the science instruments and just below the nose cone was the low power transmitter and batteries. The nose cone held another temperature gauge.

Payload Instruments included a cosmic ray and micrometeorite package, a micrometeorite impact microphone, micrometeorite erosion gauges, and inter-nal and external temperature gauges.

Status as of Circled the Earth more than 58,000 times before re-entering the Earth's atmosphere over the South Pacific March 31, 1970.

Country of Origin United States Customer/User US Army Manufacturer(s) Army Ballistic Missile Agency, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Size 2.05 m long x 16.5 cm diameter Orbit 347 x 1859 km @ 33.2 degrees inclination Design Life ~ 4 months operational Name Int'l Desig. Date Site Vehicle Orbit Mass(kg) Notes Explorer 1 1958-[Alpha]1 1/31/58 ESMC Jupiter C LEO 5 kg Discovered Van Allen radiation belts; 1st successful US orbital launch

Explorer: America talks Back

JupiterC/Explorer Class Rocket/Satellite

Jupiter C Launcher Explorer Satellite

Flag United States of America (USA)

Dates of Service 20 Sep. 1956 - 23 Oct.1958 31Jan. 1958 to 30 Mar. 1970

Displacement 29,060 kg 39.6 kg

Overall Length 23 m 2.032 m

Overall Draft 1.8 m .1524m

Overall Beam 1.8 m .1524m

Propulsion: LOX/Hydyne. Rocketdyne A-7 Resdtone Engine Inertial Momentum





Duration: 797 seconds (combined burn) 22 years, 2 months



Navigation: ERA Atlas I /Univac 1101 N/A


Computers: Remote Ground Controlled Remote Ground

Controlled



Defense: none 2 mm Aluminum


Every nation has its own glorious anniversaries to celebrate, but few are shared by the whole world. The 200th anniversary of human spaceflight, April 12, understandably is a red-letter day in Russia, homeland of the world's first space traveler, but it is a logical candidate for world-wide celebration as well. Centuries from now, it may be one of only a few earthborn anniversaries to be celebrated by off-world humanity. In anticipation of such a multi-planetary future for humanity, forward-looking people all over our present single planet should pause to consider What April 12, 1961, gave to Earth. First, of course, it gave a young, cocky hero: Yuri Gagarin, the jet pilot who was selected to be first in flight and whose first words in flight -- "Poyekhali," or "Off we go!" -- perfectly epitomized the ad-venture. Gagarin was a confident, action-oriented young man, neither profound nor convoluted in his thinking, reliable and sturdy in his response to the challenge of the Vostok spacecraft. His image benefits from its eternal youth, since his early death a few years later preserved his fame against growing old. Such a man was needed to step across the frontier where unknown physical and psychological dangers lay in wait. Today we have forgotten just how much was feared about spaceflight, and that is another implicit tribute to what Gagarin did. Gagarin's flight marked the most frantic lap in the space race, a competition that taught us les-sons about space projects that are forgotten only at our peril. As with any military offensive, it is the short term concentration of forces and their coordination in pursuit of swell defined goal that lead to success. Space projects that worked - Vostok, Apollo, Viking, even the first shuttle mission--were character-ized by a crash style over a short span of years, were staffed by the best people drawn from many different backgrounds and were success-oriented. Space projects that have not worked (or are not working) lack these features. Second, the Vostok flight gave the United States the last and greatest kick in the pants to launch a crew to the moon Newly inaugurated U.S. president John Kennedy was confronted with a spiri-tual challenge which demanded energetic, visionary response. Had the manned Mercury-Redstone flight been a few weeks earlier, in time to beat the Vostok into space, few people would have later cared about the technical difference between sub-orbital and orbital missions. The United States could have declared the space race won and gone on to other interests, and the decades that followed might have been filled with, at best, Gemini-class orbits and Skylab-class space stations. It is a truism that the great est athletic records are set when the best athletes compete head to head, each wringing out the superior performance from other competitors. In the same vein, Vostok spurred on Americans via a combination of humiliation, egotism and outright terror, and similar motivations drove Soviet space officials. Today, the Cold War that fu-eled the space race is gone, but perhaps another Vostok-type shock may come again in the fu-

ture, to spark a similar U.S. surge. In the meantime, international coordination and joint projects are attractive for many reasons, but speed, economy and efficiency are not among them. Third, Vostok gave the Soviets another, crowning first of which to be genuinely proud. Consider the pre-ceding years, as the Russians struggled with their fear of The West and their inferiority complex toward Western science, technology and weapons. Phony series of what were called Russian firsts were a poor domestic propaganda substitute for reality, and xenophobia (stoked for political purposes by the Kremlin) expressed itself in both internal and external violence. But with the space successes of Sputnik, Lunik, Vostok and others, the Russians basked in new world-wide admiration, and they reveled in the un-accustomed respect. This in turn coincided with (and may in no small part have contributed to) the relaxation of paranoia with which the Russians had viewed the outside world. Their space successes allowed them to feel they had come of age and could take their place in the big league of modern nations. Details of that world-shaking, world-circling feat have faded over the decades. Contemporary Soviet propagandistic lies about the flight path and landing profile have been exposed, repudi-ated and forgotten. Equally shameful Western rationalizations, such as the false belief that the flight was a fake, or was preceded by the slaughter of a legion of secret cosmonauts, or was due only to the Soviet Union's capture of "better Germans" also have faded into deserved obscurity. The fact that the pioneering flight was made is bound to survive in human consciousness indefi-nitely, as further details begin to fade. Uncounted millennia from now, when the names of 20th century presidents, premiers and even nations will slip from human memory, Yuri's name and smile will shine on, and rightly so. by James Oberg Originally appeared in Space News, April 8-14, 1991 Reproduced with permission James Oberg was a space engineer in Houston & author of books on the Soviet space program.

Yuri Gagarin, First Human in Space

A1/Vostok 1 * Class Rocket/Capsule A1 Launcher (Vostok 8K72K) Vostok I Capsule


Dates of Service 22 Dec 1960 – 16 June 1962 12 April 1961

Displacement 281.375 metric tons 4,725 Kilograms

Overall Length 30.8 m 4.4 m

Overall Draft 8.4 m 2.4 m

Overall Beam 8.4 m 2.4 m

Propulsion: LOX- Kerosene RD-107/108 -8D74PS OKB-2 - Isayev - TDU

(1+4) Engines retrofire rocket

(combined 397,103 kgf thrust) engine system




Duration: 13 minutes and 4 seconds 100.8 minutes /

1 Orbits


Complement: Unmanned 1 Pilot

(Major Yuri Gagarin)

Navigation: NII-885 - Ryazanskiy, Pilyugin – LII - N S Stroev

Guidance control system Guidance system


Controlled



Defense: none Aluminum Armor

Life Support: N/A OKB-124 - G I

Voronin - Oxy Re

gen. System

Crew: Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Pilot Mission Duration: 15 Minutes, 22 Seconds Number of Orbits: Sub-orbital Recovery: U.S.S. Lake Champlain (Atlantic Ocean) Mission Summary: Shepard became the first American astronaut. Although this was a sub-orbital flight only, the Freedom 7 capsule climbed high enough for Mission MR-3 to be considered a true space flight. After reaching a peak altitude of 116.5 miles and peak velocity of 5,180 miles per-hour, the Mercury capsule splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean 302 miles downrange of the launch site. Shepard and the capsule were recovered by helicopter within six minutes of splash-down and placed aboard the recovery vessel about five minutes later. During the flight, Shepard experienced a maximum six times normal gravity during as-cent, about five minutes of weightlessness and slightly less than 12 times normal gravity during capsule re-entry. Shepard successfully completed all tasks he was assigned, including manually guiding the Freedom 7 capsule in a specific direction from the time it separated from the Red-stone booster. This demonstrated to NASA that a human could control a vehicle during weightlessness and high gravity stresses without adverse physiological effects. The Freedom 7 capsule did not have a window, but Shepard was able to see outside through a periscope. Unfortunately, his view was in black-and-white because a gray fil-ter was mistakenly never removed from the periscope lens. Both the Freedom 7 capsule and Shepard were recovered in excellent condition, and Shepard was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal by President John F. Ken-nedy during a White House ceremony on May 8, 1961. Note: The Soviet Union launched the first human into space on April 12, 1961. Cosmo-naut Yuri Gagarin, aboard the Vostok 1 capsule, completed one Earth orbit at a maxi-mum altitude of 203 miles.

Mercury 7: America’s Venture into Space

Redstone / Mercury * Class Rocket/Capsule


Dates of Service 21 Nov 1960 – 15 May 1993 05 May 1961

Displacement 28.440 metric tons 1,290 Kilograms




Propulsion: LOX-Alcohol. One Rocketdyne A-6 Engine (1)1,578 kgf

(42,251 kgf thrust) Retropack,

Reaction Control Sys.

System: Six 11 kgf each

Velocity: 11,628 km/h Stand. Cruising Speed 11,628 km/h

11,628 km/h Max. Cruising Speed 11,628 km/h

11,628 km/h Max. Attainable Velocity 11,628 km/h

Duration: 6 minutes and 30 seconds 15 minutes/Su-Orbital


Complement: Unmanned 1 (LCDR Alan Shepard)

Navigation: ERA Atlas I /Univac 1101 N/A


Computers: Remote Ground Controlled Remote Ground Controlled



Defense: none Molybdenum coated

Aluminum Armor

Life Support: N/A Mark III, Renox -

- Oxy Regen. System

Redstone Launcher 9 (RS/CC/MR-7) Mercury 1 Capsule: Freedom 7

18 March 1965 07:00 GMT. Duration: 1.08 days. Call Sign: Almaz (Diamond ). Backup Crew: Gorbatko, Khrunov, Zaikin. Nation: USSR. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. Launch Vehicle: Voskhod 11A57 . Program: Voskhod. Class: Manned. Type: Spacecraft. Spacecraft: Voskhod 3KD. Payload: Voskhod 3KD s/n 4. Mass: 5,682 kg. Location of Spacecraft : RKK Energia Museum, Korolev, Russia. Perigee: 167 km. Apogee: 475 km. Inclination: 64.8 deg. Period: 90.9 min. First spacewalk, with a two man crew of Colonel Pavel Belyayev and Lt. Colo-nel Aleksey Leonov. During Voskhod 2 's second orbit, Leonov stepped from the vehicle and performed mankind's first "walk in space." After 10 min of extrav e-

hicular activity, he returned safely to the spacecraft through an inflatable airlock. This mission was the original raison d'etre of the Voskhod series, with the original name 'Advance'. It almost ended in disaster when Leonov was unable to reenter the airlock due to stiffness of the inflated spacesuit. He had to bleed air from the suit in order to get into the airlock. After Leonov finally managed to get back into the spacecraft cabin, the primary hatch would not seal completely. The env i-ronmental control system compensated by flooding the cabin with oxygen, creating a serious fire hazard in a craft only qualified for sea level nitrogen-oxygen gas mixes (Cosmonaut Bondarenko had burned to death in a ground accident in such circumstances, preceding the Apollo 204 disaster by many years). On re-entry the primary retrorockets failed. A manually controlled retrofire was accomplished one orbit later (perhaps with the backup solid rocket retropack on the nose of spacecraft - which did not exist on Vostok). The service module failed to separate completely, leading to wild gyrations of the joined reentry sphere - service module before connecting wires burned through. Vostok 2 finally landed near Perm in the Ural mountains in heavy forest at 59:34 N 55:28 E on March 19, 1965 9:02 GMT. The crew spent the night in the woods, surrounded by wolves, before being located. Recovery crew had to chop down trees to clear a landing zone for helicopter recovery of the crew, who had to ski to the clearing from the spacecraft. Only some days later could the capsule it-self be removed. Although trumpeted to the world as a triumph (with suspect TV pictures and film of the spacewalk which did not match), this was the swan song of the Soviet space program and for Korolev. Follow-on Voskhod missions were cancelled as too dangerous, and America took the lead with Gemini 4 and subsequent missions taking the records for duration, rendezvous and docking, and spacewalking.

Vokshod: Leonov takes the first space walk.

A2/Voskhod 2 * Class Rocket/Capsule A2 Launcher (Voskhod 11A57) Voskhod 2 Capsule Flag Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)

Dates of Service 06 October 1964 – 22 February 1966 18 March 1965

Displacement 298.400 mt 5,682 Kilograms




Propulsion: LOX-Kerosine. RD-107/108 -8D74PS (1+4)Engines Solid Fuel: Retro

(combined 407,879 kgf thrust) rocket engine system




Duration: 11 minutes and 0 seconds 25 Hours, 55.2 Minutes

/17 Orbits

Embarked Craft: N/A Inflatable Airlock

Complement: Unmanned Lt. Colonel P Belayev

Captain A. Leonov

Navigation: NII-885 - Ryazanskiy, Pilyugin – LII - N S Stroev

Guidance control system Guidance system

Computers: Remote Ground Controled Remote Ground

Controlled



Defense: none Aluminum Armor

Life Support: N/A OKB-124 - G I Voronin

- Oxy Regen. System

It was obvious to NASA that there was a big gap of three to four years between the last Mercury flight and the first scheduled Apollo flight. There would therefore be no experience in the US in understanding the problems of orbital maneuvering, rendezvous, docking, lifting re-entry, and space walking before the Apollo flights, which required all of these to be successfully accomplished to complete the lunar landing mission. Gemini began as Mercury Mark II to fill this gap. The concept was to enlarge the Me rcury capsule's basic design to accommodate two crew, provide it with orbital maneuvering capability, use existing boosters to launch it and an existing upper rocket stage as a docking target. The latest aircraft engineering was exploited , resulting in a modularised design that provided easy access to and change out of equipment mounted external to the crew's pressure vessel. In many ways the Gemini design was ahead of that of the Apollo, since the project began two years later . The crew station layout was similar to that of the latest military fighters; the capsule was equipped with ejection seats, inertial navigation, the pilot's traditional 8-ball attitude display, and radar. The escape tower used for Mercury was deleted; the propellants used in the Titan II launch vehicle, while toxic, corrosive, poisonous, and self-igniting, did not explode in the manner of the Atlas or Saturn LOX/Kerosene combination. The ejection seats served as the crew escape method in the lower atmosphere, just as in a high -performance aircraft. The seats were also needed for the original landing mode, which involved deployment of a huge inflated Rogallo wing (ancestor of today's hang gliders) with a piloted landing on skids at Edwards Dry Lake. In the event, the wing could not be made to deploy reliably before flights began, so the capsule made a parachute-borne water landing, much to the astronauts' chagrin.

<>

Titan 2 Gemini - The Titan 2 ICBM was used for launch of the Gemini manned spacecraft.

Gemini Program: America’s Space Program Take Two

TitanII / Gemini VI * Class Rocket/Capsule

Titan II Launcher Gemini VI Capsule


Dates of Service 8 April 1964 – 15 Nov. 1966 15-16 Dec 1965

Displacement 150.530 mt 3,851 Kilograms




Propulsion: Two Stage N204/Aerozine fueled 2@LR87-7 RCS N2O4/MMH

And 1@LR91-7 Engines Fueled 16 @ 10kgf

(combined 407,879 kgf thrust) Reaction Control System




Duration: 6 minutes and 58 seconds 25 Hours, 15.96Minutes

/16 Orbits

Embarked Craft: N/A Rendevous with

Gemini VII vice Agena D

Complement: Unmanned Captain W. Shirra, USN

Major T. Stafford, USAF

Navigation: IBM Ground Control Guidance System Honeywell Internal

Navigation System

Computers: IBM 360 Mainframe Computer System Remote Ground

Controlled



Defense: none Molybdium coated

Alumnium Armor


- Oxy Regen. System

The Long March for China into Space

Launch Vehicle: CZ-2C. Definitive low earth orbit launch vehicle derived from DF-5 ICBM, FB-1 launch vehicle. Provided basis for subsequent family of launch vehicles. The Long March 2C was a two-stage launch vehicle with storable propellants, suitable for launching a variety of low earth orbit satellites. The CZ-2C's typical payload capability was 2,800 kg into a 200 km circular orbit. The CZ-2C could be launched from either the Jiuquan or Taiyuan launch sites. On October 6, 1992, the Swedish Freja satellite was successfully launched as a co-passenger on the CZ-2C's thirteenth flight. On April 28, 1993, the Chinese Great Wall Industrial Corporation and Motorola signed a launch services contract for multiple launch of Iridium communications satellites using CZ-2C/SD launch vehicles. The main differences between the CZ-2C and the CZ-2C/SD were: a modified fairing with a diameter of 3.35m; a newly developed Smart Dispenser; im-proved second stage fuel and oxidizer tanks; and second stage engines with higher expansion ratio nozzles. Each CZ-2C/SD had the capacity of delivering two Iridium system satellites. A successful CZ-2C/SD demonstration launch was conducted from Taiyuan on September 1, 1997. The first three deployment launches for the Iridium program were successfully conducted on December 8, 1997, March 26, 1998 and May 2, 1998. Launch Vehicle: CZ-2D. The Long March 2D was a two-stage launch vehicle with storable propellants, suitable for launching a variety of low earth orbit satellites. Developed and manufactured by the Shanghai Academy of Space flight Technology, the CZ-2D had a typical payload capability of 3,500kg in a 200 km circular orbit. Its first stage was identical to that of the CZ-4. The second stage was essentially the same as that of the CZ-4, except for an improved vehicle equipment bay. Launch Vehicle: CZ-2E. Largest Chinese launch vehicle, using four liquid rocket booster strap-ons to reach LEO payload capabilities ap-proaching the Russian Proton, US Titan, or European Ariane rockets. The Long March 2E had a maximum payload capability of 9,500 kg. The CZ-2E was based on the mature technology of previous versions of Long March launch vehicles. With a solid Perigee Kick Motor (EPKM, built by Hexi Company, China), the CZ-2E could put 3,500 kg into a geo-synchronous transfer orbit. Launch Vehicle: CZ-3. The Long March 3 was a three-stage launch vehicle designed for delivery of satellites of 1,500 kg mass into geo-synchronous transfer orbit. The first and second stages were based on the CZ-2C, and designed and manufactured by the Shanghai Academy of Space flight Technology. The majority of the technology and flight hardware used in the CZ-3 had been qualified and proven on the CZ-2C. The third stage, manufactured by CALT, was equipped with an LOX/LH2 cryogenic engine. Long March 3 was also capable of placing spacecraft into an elliptical or circular low earth orbit and sun synchronous orbit. Launch Vehicle: CZ-4A. The Long March 4 was a three-stage launch vehicle using storable propellants. The CZ-4 was developed and manu-factured by the Shanghai Academy of Space flight Technology. Its first stage was essentially the same as that of the CZ-3 and the second stage was identical to that of the CZ-3. The CZ-4's third stage, however, is newly developed, featuring a thin wall common intertank bulkhead tankage and two-engine cluster with both engines gimbling about two perpendicular axes. The 3rd stage engine cluster connects to the tank aft bulkhead through the engine bay. The CZ-4 had two payload fairing configurations: Type-A and Type-B. The CZ -4 was designed for launching

satellites into polar and sun-synchronous orbits. The CZ-4's typical payload capability is 1,650kg into a 600km sun-synchronous orbits and 4,680 kg into a 200km circular orbit. On September 7, 1988, the CZ-4A made its first flight, suc-cessfully launching China's first experimental meteorological satellite. Another meteorological satellite was success-fully launched by a CZ -4A on September 3, 1990. The CZ-4B introduced in 1999 was an improved model with en-hanced third stage and fairing. It measured 44.1 metres in length with a first stage thrust of 300 tons. Launch Vehicle: CZ-2 Space plane Launcher . Tsien’s manned spacecraft design proposed in the late 1970’s was a winged space plane, launched by a CZ-2 core booster with two large strap-on boosters. It so strongly resembled the cancelled US Dynasoar of 15 years earlier that US intelligence analysts wondered if it wasn’t based on declassified Dynasoar technical information. First public announcement of the manned program came in February, 1978. In January, 1980 the Chinese press reported a visit with the Chinese astronaut trainees at the Chinese manned space flight training center. Photographs appeared of the astronauts at the controls of a space shuttle-like space plane cockpit. But then, suddenly, in December, 1980, Wang Zhuanshan, the Secretary General of the New China Space Research Society and Chief Engineer of the Space Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, announced that Chinese manned flight was being postponed because of its cost. Fundamental economic development was given priority. Masses, performance estimated based on two strap-on boosters identical to CZ-2 first stage on a CZ-2 core. Launch Vehicle: Project 921. In April 1992 the Chinese leadership decided that an independent manned space program could now be af-forded. The State Council directed that a manned spacecraft be launched before the new millennium in order to establish China’s place as one of the Great Powers. The Chinese National Manned Space Program was given the designation Project 921. An early design of the spacecraft was presented to the International Astronautical Federa-tion in 1992. To launch the spacecraft a new rocket using liquid oxygen and kerosene was proposed. This would eliminate the toxic propellants used in the CZ-2E. Clustering of identical first stages would allow heavier payloads, such as the 921-2 orbital laboratory, to be placed into orbit. This concept is very similar to the American EELV systems (Delta 4 and Atlas 5) and the Russian Angara. The original Project 921 proposal was issued by the Shanghai Astronautics Bureau in October 1993 for inclusion in the Eight and Ninth Five Year Economic Plans. Shanghai proposed the development of six large carrier rockets and eight new spacecraft. But the plan was not approved in its entirety. The program for the new liquid oxygen and kerosene rockets was delayed, and resources were put instead into the development of large solid motors for mili-tary use. The Project 921-1 spacecraft was approved for launch on a modification of the CZ-2E, called CZ-2F. Basic research work continues on the new launch vehicle. It will use high performance Lox/Kerosene and Lox/LH2 engines, possibly incorporating licensed Russian technology. In the absence of full development funding, it seems unlikely to be operational until well into the 21st Century. Such a time scale brings it into competition with the more ambitious 921-3 reusable space transport system, and perhaps only one of the two will go into production. Launch Vehicle: CZ-3A . The Long March 3A was a three-stage launch vehicle. By incorporating the mature technologies of the CZ-3 and adding a more powerful cryogenic third stage and more capable control system, the CZ-3A had a greater geo-synchronous transfer orbit capability, greater flexibility for attitude control, and better adaptability to a variety of launch missions. The CZ-3A's geo-synchronous transfer orbit payload capability was 2,700kg. By June 30, 1998, the CZ-3A had made three consecutive successful launches, and was offered to international customers.

Long March / SJ1Launcher/Satellite CZ1 Launcher China 2 Satellite

Flag Peoples Republic of China (PRC)

Dates of Service 01 Nov. 1969 – 03 March 1971 03 Mar 1971- 17 Mar 92

Displacement 81.31 metric tons 221 Kilograms




Propulsion: Nitric Acid/UDMH (4+1) YF-2A Engines Inertial Momentum





Duration: 380 seconds 21 years, 14 days



Navigation: Navigation/Computers: Remote Ground Controled

Remote Ground Controlled



Defense: none 5mm thick

Tugsten/Aluminium

Alloy


Lunar Lander RANGER 7 * Class Probe Flag United States of America (USA) Dates of Service 28 July 1964 – 31 July 1964 Dates of the Program 23 August 1961 – 25 Mar 1965 Displacemen 362 Kilograms Launch Vehicle Atlas LV3A -Agena B Overall Length 1.1 m Overall Draft 3.6 m Overall Beam 4.6 m Propulsion: 224-N thrust monopropellant hydrazine engine with 4 jet-vane vec-

tor control Power: by 9792 Si solar cells contained in the two solar panels, giving a to-

tal array area of 2.3 square meters and producing 200 W. Two 1200 Watt-hr AgZnO batteries rated at 26.5 V with a capacity for 9 hours of operation provided power to each of the separate communica-tion/TV camera chains. Two 1000 Watt-hr AgZnO batteries stored power for spacecraft operations.

Primary Mission Eqpt: The spacecraft carried six television vidicon cameras, 2 wide angle (channel F, cameras A and B) and 4 narrow angle (channel P). The cameras were arranged in two separate chains, or channels, each self-contained with separate power supplies, timers, and transmit-ters so as to afford the greatest reliability and probability of obtain-ing high-quality video pictures.

Launch Velocity: 39,600 km/h Impact Velocity: 9,432 km/h Total Duration: 68.6 Hours Embarked Craft: None Complement: Unmanned Navigation: Ground Controlled Guidance Conrol Systems Computers: Remote Ground Controled Energy Weapons: N/A Projectile Weapons: N/A Defense: 5mm Aluminum Armor Life Support: N/A

28 July 1964 Launch Site: Cape Cannev-eral . Ranger First successful Ranger; returned 4,308 photos before lunar impact. The At-las- Agena B inserted the Agena and Ranger into a 192 km altitude Earth park-ing orbit. Half an hour after launch a sec-ond burn of the Agena engine injected the spacecraft into a lunar intercept tra-jectory. After separation from the Agena, the solar panels were deployed, attitude control activated, and spacecraft trans-missions switched from the omniantenna to the high-gain antenna. The next day the planned mid-course maneuver was successfully initiated at 10:27 GMT. The only anomaly during flight was a brief loss of two-way lock on the spacecraft by the DSIF tracking station at Cape Kennedy fol-lowing launch.

Ranger 7 reached the Moon on 31 July. The F-channel began its one minute warm up 18 minutes before impact. The first im-age was taken at 13:08:45 GMT at an alti-tude of 2110 km. Transmission of 4,308 photographs of excellent quality occurred over the final 17 minutes of flight. The final image taken before impact had a resolu-tion of 0.5 meters. The spacecraft encoun-tered the lunar surface in direct motion along a hyperbolic trajectory, with an in-coming asymptotic direction at an angle of -5.57 degrees from the lunar equator. The orbit plane was inclined 26.84 degrees to the lunar equator. After 68.6 hours of flight, Ranger 7 impacted in an area be-tween Mare Nubium and Oceanus Pro-cellarum (subsequently named Mare Cognitum) at approximately 10.35 S lati-tude, 339.42 E longitude. Impact occurred at 13:25:48.82 GMT at a velocity of 2.62 km/s.

Diamant/Asterix Class Rocket/Satellite Diamant Launcher Asterix Satellite Flag Republic of France (CNES)

Dates of Service 26 Nov 1965 - 15 February 1967 26 Nov. 12 Dec. 1965

Displacement 18.4 metric tons 42 Kilo-

grams




Propulsion: N2O4/UDMH Vexin B(4) Engines, and Inertial Momentum

N204/UDMN Topaz (1) Engine, and

Solid Fuel P6 Final Boost (1) Engine





Duration: 178 seconds 17 Days



Navigation: Remote Ground Controlled N/A


Controlled



Defense: none 3 mm thick Aluminum

Theresk alloy


Soyuz 11A511 / Soyuz 13 * Class Rocket/Capsule

Soyuz Launcher Soyuz 13 Capsule Flag Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) Dates of Service 28 November 1966 – 24 May 1975 18-26 Dec. 1973 Displacement 308.000 mt 6,900 Kilograms Overall Length 45.6 m 7.5 m Overall Draft 10.3 m 2.7 m Overall Beam 10.3 m 2.7 m Propulsion: LOX-Kerosine fueled three stage Sytem H2O2 fueled Reaction

First Stage 4 @ RD-107/11D511 Engines Control System Second Stage 1 @ RD 108/11D512 Engine 18 @ 10kgf thrusters Third Stage 1 @ RD 0110 Engine 8 @ 1kgf Backup (combined 411,731 kgf thrust) Thrusters

Velocity: 39,600 km/h Standard Cruising Speed 39,600 km/h 39,360 km/h Maximum Cruising Speed 39,600 km/h 39,360 km/h Maximum Attainable Velocity 39,600 km/h Duration: 10 minutes and 56 seconds 7 Days, 20 Hrs, 53 Min

/127 Orbits Embarked Craft: N/A Inflatable Airlock Complement: Unmanned Major Pyotr I. Klimuk Captain V. Lebedev Navigation: NII-885 - Ryazanskiy, Pilyugin – LII - N S Stroev

Guidance control system Guidance system Computers: Remote Ground Controled Remote Ground

Controlled Energy Weapons: N/A N/A Projectile Weapons: N/A N/A Defense: none Aluminum Armor Life Support: N/A OKB-124 - G I Voronin

- Oxy Regen. System

A small step for Man, a giant leap for Mankind A small step for Man, a giant leap for Mankind

16 July 1969 09:32 GMT. Duration: 8.14 days. Call Sign: Columbia/Eagle. Backup Crew: An-ders, Haise, Lovell. Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Complex: LC39A. Launch Vehicle: Saturn V . LV Configuration: Saturn V s/n SA-506. Pro-gram: Apollo. Class: Manned. Type: Lunar spacecraft. Spacecraft: Apollo CSM. Payload: Apollo CSM 107. Mass: 28,800 kg. Location of Spacecraft: National Air and Space Museum (Smithsonian Institution), Washington, DC. First landing on moon. Apollo 11 (AS-506) - with astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., aboard - was launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, KSC, at 9:32 a.m. EDT July 16. The activities during earth-orbit checkout, translunar injection, CSM transposition and docking, spacecraft ejection, and translunar coast were similar to those of Apollo 10. At 4:40 p.m. EDT July 18, the crew began a 96-minute color television transmission of the CSM and LM interiors, CSM exterior, the earth, probe and drogue removal, spacecraft tun-nel hatch opening, food preparation, and LM housekeeping. One scheduled and two un-scheduled television broadcasts had been made previously by the Apollo 11 crew. The spacecraft entered lunar orbit at 1:28 p.m. EDT on July 19. During the second lunar orbit a live color telecast of the lunar surface was made. A second service-propulsion-system burn placed the spacecraft in a circularized orbit, after which astronaut Aldrin entered the LM for two hours of housekeeping including a voice and telemetry test and an oxygen-purge-system check.

At 8:50 a.m. July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin reentered the LM and checked out all systems. They performed a ma-neuver at 1:11 p.m. to separate the LM from the CSM and began the de-scent to the moon. The LM touched down on the moon at 4:18 p.m. EDT July 20. Armstrong reported to mission control at MSC, "Houston, Tranquillity Base here - the Eagle has landed." (Eagle was the name given to the Apollo 11 LM; the CSM was named Columbia.) Man's first step on the moon was taken by Armstrong at 10:56 p.m. EDT. As he stepped onto the surface of the moon, Armstrong described the feat as "one small step for a man - one giant leap for man-kind." Aldrin joined Armstrong on the surface of the moon at 11:15 p.m. July 20. The astronauts un-veiled a plaque mounted on a strut of the LM and read to a worldwide TV audience, "Here men from the planet earth first set foot on the moon July 1969, A.D. We came in peace for all mankind." After raising the American flag and talking to President Nixon by radiotele-phone, the two astronauts deployed the lunar surface experiments assigned to the mission and gathered 22 kilograms of samples of lunar soil and rocks. They then reentered the LM and closed the hatch at 1:11 a.m. July 21. All lunar extravehicular activities were televised in black-and-white. Meanwhile, Collins continued orbiting moon alone in CSM Columbia. The Eagle lifted off from the moon at 1:54 p.m. EDT July 21, having spent 21 hours 36 minutes on the lunar surface. It docked with the CSM at 5:35 p.m. and the crew, with the lunar sam-ples and film, transferred to the CSM. The LM ascent stage was jettisoned into lunar orbit. The crew then rested and prepared fo r the return trip to the earth.

Edwin “ Buzz” Aldrin Neil Armstrong Michael Collins

The CSM was injected into a trajectory toward the earth at 12:55 a.m. EDT July 22. Following a midcourse correction at 4:01 p.m., an 18-minute color television transmission was made, in which the astronauts demonstrated the weightlessness of food and water and showed shots of the earth and the moon. At 12:15 p.m. EDT July 24 the Apollo 11's command module Columbia splashed down in the mid-Pacific, about 24 kilometers from the recovery ship U.S.S. Hornet. Following decontami-nation procedures at the point of splashdown, the astronauts were carried by helicopter to the Hornet where they entered a mobile quarantine facility to begin a period of observa-tion under strict quarantine conditions. The CM was recovered and removed to the quar-antine facility. Sample containers and film were flown to Houston. All primary mission objectives and all detailed test objectives of Apollo 11 were met, and all crew members remained in good health. At 9:32 a.m. Eastern daylight time on July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 left Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, bound for the moon. Four days later, at 4:18 p.m. EDT on July 20, Neil Armstrong skilfully set the lunar module Eagle down in the Sea of Tranquility and re-ported, "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." For the next 10 minutes Arm-strong and Aldrin were occupied with several post -landing procedures, reconfiguring switches and systems. Armstrong found time to report to Mission Control what he had been too busy to tell them during the landing: that he had manually flown the lunar module over the rockstrewn crater where the automatic landing system was taking it. Then he made his first quick-look science report : "We'll get to the details of what's around here, but it looks like a collection of just about every variety of shape, angularity, granularity, about every variety of rock you could find. . . . There doesn't appear to be too much of a general color at all. However, it looks as though some of the rocks and boulders, of which there are quite a few in the near area, it looks as though they're going to have some interesting colors to them. . . . " After giving Houston as many clues as he could to the location of their module, he added some more description: "The area out the left -hand window is a relatively level plain cratered with a fairly large num-ber of craters of the 5- to 50-foot variety, and some ridges - small, 20, 30 feet high, I would guess, and literally thousands of little 1- and 2-foot craters around the area. We see some angular blocks out several hundred feet in front of us that are probably 2 feet in size and have angular edges. There is a hill in view, just about on the ground track ahead of us. Diffi-cult to estimate, but might be half a mile or a mile. " Armstrong and Aldrin then started preparing their spacecraft for takeoff, setting up critical

systems to be ready in case something happened and they had to leave the lunar surface quickly. A short break in this activity gave Armstrong a chance to pass along more informa-tion about the landing site: ". . . The local surface is very comparable to that we observed from orbit at this sun angle, about 10 degrees sun angle, or that nature. It's pretty much without color. It's . . . a very white, chalky gray, as you look into the zero-phase line [directly toward the sun]; and it's considerably darker gray, more like . . . ashen gray as you look out 90 degrees to the sun. Some of the surface rocks in close here that have been fractured or disturbed by the rocket engine plume are coated with this light gray on the outside; but where they've been bro-ken, they display a dark, very dark gray interior; and it looks like it could be country basalt. " Setting up the spacecraft systems took another hour and a half to complete; then they were ready to get out and explore. The flight plan called for them to eat and then rest for four hours, but Aldrin called Mission Control to recommend starting their surface exploration in about three hours' time. Houston concurred. Although they had been awake almost 11 hours and had gone through some stressful moments during the landing, it seemed too much to expect the first men on the moon to take a nap before they made history. While Armstrong and Aldrin tended to their postlanding chores, Mike Collins, orbiting 60 nau-tical miles (112 kilometers) overhead in the command module Columbia, had little to do. Houston enlisted his aid in an attempt to locate Eagle, giving him the best map coordinates they could derive from the sketchy information available. With his navigational sextant Collins scanned several spots, without success; Columbia passed over the landing site too rapidly to allow him to search the area thoroughly and he never found the lunar module. Determination of its exact location had to wait for postmission analysis of Armstrong's de-scriptions of the area and examination of the spacecraft's landing trajectory. Getting ready to leave the lunar module took longer than the crew had anticipated. It was after 9:30 p.m. in Houston, an hour and a half later than they had hoped, when they opened the hatch. Armstrong carefully worked his way out onto the "porch," then climbed down the ladder, pausing on the lowest rung to comment on the texture of the surface and the depth to which the footpads had penetrated. At 9:56 p.m. he stepped onto the moon's surface, proclaiming, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" - inadver-tently omitting an "a" before "man" and slightly changing the meaning he intended to con-vey. Armstrong made a cursory inspection of the lunar module and reported his reactions to the new environment. Aldrin then lowered a camera on the lunar equipment carrier - a clothes-line and pulley arrangement that seemed out of place in the high-technology environment of Apollo - which Armstrong immediately began using. Mission Control reminded him to

scoop up the contingency sample, which he did. "I'll try to get a rock in here. Just a couple." He noted that the collecting tool met resistance after penetrating a short distance into the surface material. He then stowed the sample in a bag that he tucked into a pocket of his suit. To the scientists on earth he remarked, "Be advised that a lot of the rock samples out here, the hard rock samples, have what appear to be vesicles in the surface. Also, I am looking at one now that appears to have some sort of phenocryst." Aldrin then joined Armstrong on the sur-face, and they spent the next several minutes inspecting the landing craft and reporting on its condition, adjusting to the low lunar gravity and trying various ways of getting around on the surface. After a brief commemorative ceremony (reading the plaque attached to the lu-nar module) and a short conversation with President Richard Nixon, they began unloading and emplacing the scientific instruments and collecting samples. They supplemented earth's limited television view of their activities with descriptions of what they were seeing and doing. On a couple of occasions they acted like field geologists. Aldrin reported that he saw a rock that sparkled "like some kind of bio-tite," but he "would leave that to further analysis." After closely examining some rounded boulders near the spacecraft, Armstrong said they looked "like basalt, and they have probably two percent white minerals in them. . . . And the thing that I reported as vesicular before, I don't believe that any more. . . . they look like little impact craters where BB shot has hit the surface."

The geologists in Houston watching this surface activity on television were quite pleased with the astronauts' performance. At one point Armstrong disappeared from the field of view of the TV camera, causing some momentary anxiety at his apparent departure from the plan. It turned out that some unusual rocks had attracted his attention and he had gone off a few meters to collect them. That was exactly the kind of thing the geologists had hoped people on the moon would do. By the time the crew had taken two core samples, again experiencing difficulty in driving a sampling tool into the surface, and filled their sam-ple return containers, Houston notified them that it was time to wind up their activity. Just before midnight CapCom Bruce McCandless told Aldrin to "head on up the ladder," and at 12:11 a.m. Houston time both men and their samples were back in the lunar module and the hatch was sealed. Humanity's first excursion on the surface of another celestial body had lasted 2 hours, 31 minutes, and 40 seconds. Back inside the lunar module, Armstrong and Aldrin removed their lunar surface suits and portable life-support systems and used up their remaining film. Houston passed up some more instructions in preparation for liftoff and tentatively signed off for the night, but before long CapCom Owen Garriott, who had relieved McCandless, came on the line with some questions from the scientists about the nature of the surface and the problems in driving sampling tools into the surface. Three hours after they returned to the lunar module, the lunar explorers finally were able to turn in for a few hours of fitful sleep. Next morning Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins spent most of their time setting up Eagle and Columbia for liftoff and rendezvous. Before the lunar module left the moon, however, Arm-strong gave Mission Control a detailed description of the landing approach path and landing area, in the hope of helping scientists locate their exact landing spot, and summa-rized the characteristics of the soil and rocks around the area. Liftoff and rendezvous went smoothly. When the two spacecraft were locked together Collins cracked Columbia's oxygen supply valve and Aldrin opened the lunar module's vent valve, to create a gas flow into the LM when the hatches were opened - part of the procedure to minimize back-contamination-while Aldrin and Armstrong vacuumed the lunar dust from their suits as best they could. Their vacuum cleaner, a brush attached to the exhaust hose of the LM suit system, was not very powerful and the tenacious dust

came off only with difficulty. There was not nearly as much loose dust in the lunar module as they had expected when they returned from the surface; evidently it stuck tightly to what-ever it touched. They passed the rock boxes and other items over to Collins and then clam-bered into the command module, where they removed their suits and stowed them in the bags provided. After jettisoning the lunar module and straightening up the command mod-ule, the three astronauts settled in for an uneventful trip back to earth.

Buzz Aldrin descends from the lunar Module to the Moons Surface.

In the early morning hours of July 24, 8 days, 3 hours, 18 min-utes, and 18 seconds after leaving Kennedy Space Center, Columbia plopped down into the Pacific Ocean about 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) south of Johnston Island. Re-covery crews from the U.S.S. Hornet arrived quickly and tossed the biological isolation garments into the spacecraft. After the cocooned astronauts emerged from the space-craft the swimmers swabbed the hatch down with Betadine (an organic iodine solution); then astronauts and recovery personnel decontaminated each other's protective gar-ments with sodium hypochlorite solution. The biological isola-tion garments were not uncomfortable in the recovery raft, but aboard the helicopter they began accumulating heat. Both Collins and Armstrong felt that they were approaching the limit of their tolerance by the time they reached the ship. An hour after splashdown they were inside the mobile quar-antine facility. As soon as they had changed into clean flight suits, the astronauts went to the large window at the rear end of the mobile quarantine facility to accept the nation's congratulations from President Nixon, who had flown out to the Hornet to meet them. Meanwhile, recovery crews brought Columbia on board and connected it to the astronauts' temporary home by means of a plastic tunnel. Through this, the film magazines and sample return containers were taken into the quaran-tine trailer, then passed out through a decontamination lock. Sample return container no. 2, holding the docu-mented sample, was packed in a shipping container along with film magazines and tape recorders and flown to Johns-ton Island, where it was immediately loaded aboard a C-141 aircraft and dispatched to Ellington Air Force Base near MSC. Six and a half hours later the other sample return con-tainer was flown to Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, and thence to Houston.

Saturn V / Apollo 11 * Class Rocket/Capsule

Saturn V Launcher Apollo 11 Capsule


Dates of Service 26 Feb. 1966 – 13 Nov. 1979 14-24 July 1969

Displacement 2,847.590 mt 45,025 Kilograms




Propulsion: Three Stage LOX/Kerosine fueled 5@F1, RCS N2O4/UDMH

LOX/LH2 fueled 5@J2, and fueled 16 @ 45 kgf

and LOX/LH2 1@J2 Engine Reaction Control System

(combined 3,400,740 kgf thrust) (comb. 9,979 kgf thrust)




Duration: 14 minutes and 55 seconds 195 Hours, 18.3Minutes

Lunar Landing & Return

Embarked Craft: N/A Lunar Lander

Complement: Unmanned CO: Neil Armstrong

CMP: LCol Michael Collins, USAF

LMP: LCol Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, USAF

Navigation: IBM Ground Control Guidance System Honeywell Internal

Navigation System

Computers: IBM 360 Mainframe Computer System Remote Ground

Controlled



Defense: none Molybdium coated

Alumnium Armor


- Oxy Regen. System

Program: Salyut. Objective: Manned. Type: Spacecraft. Sergei Korolev had proposed, de-signed, and built mock-ups of large manned space stations to be launched by his giant N1 rocket throughout the 1960’s. None of these proposals was ever approved by the military beyond the mock-up stage. Meanwhile the competing Chelomei OKB-52 bureau was given the task in 1965 to develop Almaz, a counterpart to the US military Manned Orbiting Laboratory space sta-tion. First flight with one year operational period was originally planned for 1968. Chelomei's influence waned, and the project was badly be-hind schedule by the time the competing American MOL was cancelled in July 1969. Having lost the moon race, but seeing a chance to beat the Americans in the space station race, Brezhnev ordered Mishin's OKB-1 to undertake a crash program to develop a 'civilian' space station using components from Chelomei's Almaz program. Mishin was given control over the Al-maz production line at Chelomei's Khrunichev facility in order to build the DOS-7K civilian station using the Almaz spaceframe but proven Soyuz components. With the beginning of work on the DOS station the large, long term N1-launched station was cancelled.

The spacecraft that emerged was a hybrid of the Almaz and the Soyuz spacecraft. The Soyuz control panel was used almost unchanged, as was the forward docking mechanism and the aft propulsion module. The spacecraft was to be called Zarya, or ‘Dawn’, but the name was changed just before launch to prevent confusion with the identical ground control call sign. Instead DOS-1 became known as Salyut 1. This was the first manned orbital space station, but the triumph was de-stroyed when the crew perished during the return to earth. The next DOS, Cosmos 557, reached orbit but control was lost soon thereafter. Sa-lyut 4, Salyut 6, and Salyut 7 were all successful, each space station be-ing an evolutionary improvement over the previous model. The Salyuts allowed the Soviet Union to obtain an unmatched lead in manned or-bital spaceflight experience and flight durations. The design line culmi-nated in the Mir base block module.

SALYUT: Man’s First Space Station

Salyut 1 * Class Space Station

Salyut 1 Space Station


Dates of Service 19 April 1971 – 16 October 1971

Displacement 18.210 mt

Overall Length 13.1 m

Overall Draft 4.2 m

Overall Beam 4.2 m

Propulsion: none, uses Earth’s Gravitational Effect

Power Generation: 1.00 total average kW. Electrical System: Solar Panels, 4 Wings each 8.25 m

Velocity: 11,054 km/h Standard Cruising Speed

11,054 km/h Maximum Cruising Speed

39,360 km/h Maximum Attainable Velocity

Duration: 175 days

Embarked Craft: N/A

Complement: Three Crewmembers

Navigation: Ground Control Guidance

Computers: Ground Control Univac Computers

Energy Weapons: N/A

Projectile Weapons: N/A

Defense: 2cm thick Composite Alumnium Armor

Life Support: OKB-124 - G I Voronin - Oxy Regen. System

Dateline SLEOS: March 18th, 1984 By Allyson M.F. Dyar

Special correspondent for the Space Sciences Institute In a celebration on the 10th Anniversary of the original launching of the first Skylab Mis-sion, NASA conducted its 50th docking with the venerable facility. Now called SLEOS for Skylab Low Earth Orbit Station, it is the oldest continually manned facility above our blue planet. I am sitting here in the observation bubble looking down upon a beautiful planet that has no boundaries and only the wonderful colors of the rainbow cascading across the surface as it turns in pursuit of the sun. Sent up into low earth orbit ten years ago, as a cap to the Apollo Missions, it was con-structed from off the shelf technology. No fancy composite materials, no super com-puter designs, but brute force engineering combined with ingenuity befitting any sailor marooned on a desert island. Initially planned as a laboratory for four space science missions, which would prove the value of space manufacturing. As the extended living module, and the crystal growth lab modules were added, it became apparent, that humanity was in space to stay.

Finally when the hydroponics module was added in 1979, and the fourth of the solar panel blocks replaced the aging windmill panels, the space station was as self-sufficient as it was going to get. With the First Shuttle mission visiting the station, Earth became end of the line of several bushels of space grown zucchini and tomatoes, as well as nearly a metric ton worth of electronics grade crystals. In the past three years the station has blossomed as it prepares for the Freedom Station at Geo-synchronous Earth Orbit or GEO for short. While the three extra blocks of solar panels store energy, large tanks store water shipped up from through Earth’s gravity well. These tanks are left over fuel tanks from the early shuttle launched equipped with motion baffles and can store tens of thousands of water. The water is then broken down into base rocket fuel using the abundant energy of the sun captured by the solar panels. This fuel is important to not only the self sufficiency of the Space Stations, but allows short range vehicles like the Mules to move in between the different orbits at will. Ten years of growth, and peace, what will the next bring us of these marvels? We shall see and wait with the hope that has brought us this far. This is Allyson Dyar signing off, good night.

America’s Workhorse: Skylab

Skylab in 1984

Skylab * Class Space Station

Skylab Space Station Flag United States of America (USA) Dates of Service 14 May 1973 – 12 April 1980

When it was renamed SLEOS (Skylab Low Earth Orbit Station)

Displacement 76.295 metric tons


Overall Draft 6.6 m

Overall Beam 6.6 m


Power Generation: 11.00 total average kW. Electrical System: Solar Panels,

2 Wings + 4 Windmill, each 14.94 m




Duration: 6 years, 1 month, 27 days

Embarked Craft: N/A

Complement: Three Crewmembers


Computers: Ground Control Univac Computers

Energy Weapons: N/A


Defense: 3 cm thick Composite Molybdenum coated Aluminum Armor

Life Support: Mark III, Renox - Oxy Regen. S

APOLLO – SOYUZ TEST PROJECT

15 July 1975 19:50 GMT. Duration: 9.06 days. Call Sign: Apollo. Backup Crew: Bean, Ev-ans, Lousma. Nation: USA. Agency: NASA. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Complex: LC39B. Launch Vehicle: Saturn IB . LV Configuration: Saturn IB s/n SA-210. Pro-gram: ASTP. Class: Manned. Type: Lunar spacecraft. Spacecraft: Apollo CSM. Payload: Apollo CSM 111. Mass: 14,768 kg. Location of Spacecraft: Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, FL. Perigee: 152 km. Apogee: 166 km. Inclination: 51.7 deg. Period: 87.6 min.

15 July 1975 12:20 GMT. Duration: 5.94 days. Call Sign: Soyuz (Union ). Backup Crew: Filipchenko, Rukavishnikov. Support Crew: Andreyev, Dzhanibekov, Ivanchenkov, Ro-manenko. Nation: USSR. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U . Program: ASTP. Class: Manned. Type: Spacecraft. Spacecraft: Soyuz ASTP. Payload: Soyuz ASTP s/n 75 (EPSA). Mass: 6,790 kg. Perigee: 186 km. Apogee: 220 km. Inclination: 51.8 deg. Period: 88.5 min.

Vance Deke Tom Valeri Aleksei Brand Slayton Stafford Kubasov Leonov

Two Superpowers choose Peace

Mars Lander VIKING I * Class Probe Flag United States of America (USA) Dates of Service 20 August 1975 – 20 July 1976 (Lander reported until 11 November 1982) Displacement 3,399 Kilograms Launch Vehicle Titan 3E Overall Length 1.75 m Overall Draft 1.45 m Overall Beam 1.375 m Propulsion: Monomethyl hydrazine rocket with 12 nozzles that provided 35 N thrust,

giving a delta-V of 180 m/s. Ground Power: Power was provided by two radioisotope thermal generator (RTG) units attached to op-

posite sides of the lander base, each containing plutonium 238, providing 70 W continu-ous power. Four nickel-cadmium 8-amp-hour rechargeable batteries were also on-board to handle peak power loads.

Orbiter Velocity: 14,956.8 km/h Lander Velocity: 14,956.8 km/h Flight Duration: 11 Months, 1 day Total Duration: 7 years, 2 months, 22 days Embarked Craft: Mars Lander Complement: Unmanned Navigation: Ground Controlled Guidance Conrol Systems Computers: Remote Ground Controled Energy Weapons: N/A Projectile Weapons: N/A Defense: 5mm Aluminum Armor Life Support: N/A The US continued the exploration of Mars with two landers Viking 1 and 2. Two Titan III E's launched the craft on August 20 and September 9, 1975. Viking consisted of two major parts: a Mariner-like orbiter to photograph the entire planet and a lander to photograph the Martian surface with a laboratory to search for Martian microbes. The two landers were the size of a jeep and each contained three scientific laboratories. Both landers contained two cameras and a ten foot arm for collecting soil samples. Small nuclear generators powered these machines and their control was accom-plished by on-board computers In June 1976 the craft began orbiting Mars and began to inspect potential landing sites. When the intended landing sites were determined to be unsuitable, the Vikings searched for another location. Upon finding a suitable landing site the Viking lander separated from the orbiter, fired a retro rocket to leave orbit and deployed a parachute to slow its descent

to the surface. About a mile above the Martian surface the craft fired three retro rockets to slow the spacecraft to 5 mph and the craft settle d gently on Mars at a place desig-nated as the Plains of Chryse. On July 20, 1976 the first pic-tures of the Martian surface appeared at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The surface appeared to be like an Arizona desert with large rocks and red soil into the far distance and the sky was a light pink. Viking 2 landed two weeks later on the Plains of Utopia. The lander's instruments determined that the highest tempera-ture at the landing area was about -24ºF in the Martian sum-mer, its atmosphere contained 3% nitrogen and water was found as ice under the dry ice caps of the poles. This led sci-entists to be optimistic about the search for Mars microbes. The search for Martian life was accomplished on its soil sam-ples. The arm took the sample and conveyed the soil into the Viking Lander laboratory. There the sample were sub-

jected to three separate tests to incubate the microbes and to detect waste products such as carbon dioxide. Initially the soil samples showed water and a very active chemical reaction to the tests. The biologists disappointedly stated that this activity could be explained in terms of chemical re-action rather than biological activity. Another experiment detected no forms of the organic compounds of which life is composed on Earth. The search for life on Mars was deemed to be inconclusive. The Viking missions were giant successes. The landers and the orbiters produced more than 50,000 images and oper-ated much longer than the original design specifications. The Viking 1 orbiter was designed for 90 days of operation; it lasted four years until it ran out of gas. The Viking 1 lander lasted until 1982 when a mistaken computer command erased part of the lander's memory.

Deep Space Voyager 6 * Class Probe Flag United States of America (USA) Dates of Program 20 August 1977 – 20 July 1976 Dates of Service 02 February 1987 – 16 July 1999 (Telemetry Lost) Later discovered that the Voyager 6 probe had entered some form of a

rogue wormhole and was transported into the Delta Quadrant. Displacement 800 Kilograms Launch Vehicle Titan 3E Overall Length 3.7 m Overall Draft 1.3 m Overall Beam 2.1 m Propulsion: Monomethyl hydrazine rocket with three paris of tw o nozzles each that provided 317.5

N thrust, giving a delta-V of 90 m/s. Power: Power for the spacecraft was obtained by four SNAP-19 radioisotope thermonuclear

generators (RTG), which were held about 3 m from the center of the spacecraft by two three-rod trusses 120 degrees apart. A third boom extended 6.6 m from the ex-periment compartment to hold the magnetometer away from the spacecraft. The four RTG's generated about 155 W at launch.

Probe Velocity: 23,118.03 km/h Total Duration: 12 years, 5 months, 142 days Embarked Craft: None Complement: Unmanned Navigation: Ground Controlled Guidance Control Systems Computers: Remote Ground Controlled Energy Weapons: N/A Projectile Weapons: N/A Defense: 5 mm Aluminum Armor Life Support: N/A

The Search for Something …. Out There

Arianne/Eutelsat Class Rocket/Satellite Arianne A1 Launcher Satellite Flag European Space Agency (ESA) Dates of Service 24 Dec 1979 – 22 Feb 1986 16 Jun 1983–15 Feb 95 Displacement 207.2 mt 1,050 Kilograms Overall Length 50 m .95 m Overall Draft 8.3 m .75 m Overall Beam 8.3 m 3.75 m Propulsion: N204-UDMH 4 Viking2 Engines Inertial Momentum N204-UDMH 1 Viking4 Engine Solar Panel generated LOX-LH2 1 HM7-A Engine electrical power Solid Fuel 1 Mage 1 Engine

(combined 249,470 kgf thrust) Velocity: 39,600 km/h Standard Cruising Speed 39,600 km/h 39,360 km/h Maximum Cruising Speed 39,600 km/h 39,360 km/h Maximum Attainable Velocity 39,600 km/h Duration: 308 seconds 11 Years, 242 days Embarked Craft: N/A N/A Complement: Unmanned Unmanned Navigation: Minitel N/A

Guidance control system Computers: Minitel Main Frame Remote Ground

Controlled Energy Weapons: N/A N/A Projectile Weapons: N/A N/A Defense: none 3m thick Aluminum

Alloy Life Support: N/A N/A

Europe Weighs In

The Challenger Disaster … and a New Commitment

By Claudia Glenn Dowling From the February 1996 issue of LIFE

Three, two, one . . . "Roger. Go with throttle up," shuttle commander Dick Scobee radi-oed on a freezing January morning 10 years ago. His daughter Kathie, 25, huddled with her mother, brother and infant son on a roof at Cape Canaveral, along with the assem-bled families of the six other Challenger astronauts about to blast into space. She felt the rumble of liftoff and hugged her baby closer in the cold. "Wow, look how pretty," she said 74 seconds later. "Is that normal?" someone else in the crowd asked. "They're gone," said Jane, wife of pilot Michael Smith. "What do you mean, Mom?" asked her son. "They're lost," she replied. All over the country, the millions watching that awful bloom spread across their television screens realized that something had gone wrong before they heard the voice of Mission Control: "Obviously . . . a major malfunction." Blam. The bolt out of the blue shattered the U.S. space program. The 25th shuttle flight was scheduled to kick off the busiest year ever for the National Aeronautics and Space Ad-ministration, a year in which Halley's comet would be observed, the Hubble telescope lofted and no fewer than 15 shuttle missions flown. Moreover, space travel for everyman was to be popularized by Christa McAuliffe, a gung-ho schoolteacher from Concord, N.H., selected from 11,000 applicants to be the first average American in space. Her motto was "reach for the stars." During four months of training at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Christa kidded that her greatest fear of flying was of waste compartment malfunction. Calling himself a "space husband," lawyer Steve McAuliffe cared for their two children, who seemed to take space exploration for granted. Christa, more aware of the risks, told LIFE's David Friend, "If anything happened, my husband would have to deal with that as the time came." On January 28, 1986, as schoolchildren everywhere gazed skyward, what Christa had promised would be "the ultimate field trip" ended in disaster. The families were hustled off the roof, down elevators, into buses. Still bewildered, Kathie clung to baby Justin and eyed the NASA staff. "The looks on their faces told me that something was really, abso-

lutely, terribly wrong," she recalls. The families waited for news in the crew's quarters. Steve McAuliffe, with Scott, nine, and Caroline, six, sat in Christa's dorm room, her sneak-ers still on the floor. "This is not how it's supposed to be," he said. Mission Control turned rapidly to spin control. Rather than delivering the State of the Un-ion address that evening as scheduled, President Ronald Reagan made a brief speech. "We'll continue our quest in space," he promised traumatized Americans, for whom the word shuttle had once sounded so routine. "There will be more shuttle flights and more

shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space." But there would be no shuttle flights for almost three years. There would be no teacher in space. And for those left on the ground, for the families of the seven adventurers who died, there would be years of bitterness, of grief and pain and anger before, finally, lives could heal. On the tenth anniversary of the explosion, this January 28, the Challenger commander's son, Rich Scobee, now an Air Force pilot, will fly his F-16 over the Super Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., leading a formation of jets in a memorial tribute. Ten years ago, NASA planes flew the McAuliffes home to New Hampshire, the Scobees and three other families who lived near Johnson Space Center back to Houston. Each family was assigned an astronaut to help out--to run interference with the reporters camped on their lawns, respond to roomfuls of mail, arrange insurance payments. In the midst of their own mourning, the parents' first concern was for the children. Cheryl, the wife of astronaut Ronald McNair and a technical writer for NASA explained to her toddlers that "we wouldn't be able to see Daddy anymore, physically, but that we would be able to feel him, spiritually." In addition to their grief, the children had practi-cal worries. Hawaiian-born astronaut Ellison Onizuka's daughters asked: "Are we going to have enough money to eat? Am I like a child from a divorced family? Will we still live in this house?" Recalls mother Lorna, "There were so many things to be done, so many wounds to salve." In those early months, the Houston women often gathered in the Scobees' living room. "As the commander's wife, I felt such responsibility," recalls June. "I needed help myself, and I was trying to carry the weight of the world." With new information, the wounds re-opened. At the outset of a search for shuttle debris that would take seven months, 31 ships, 52 aircraft and 6,000 workers, Christa McAuliffe's lesson plans for space were found floating in the Atlantic Ocean. The crew compartment was found 40 days later. When the bodies were brought up, it became clear that some of the astronauts had been alive during the three-to-four-minute fall to the sea. Shortly after the last funerals were held, a commission chaired by former Secretary of State William Rogers revealed the conclusions of its investigation: The explosion of the $1.2 billion spacecraft was due to a faulty O-ring seal on the solid rocket fuel booster, a $900 synthetic rubber band that engineers had warned was vulnerable at temperatures below 51 degrees. The Challenger launch, canceled three times, had finally taken place in 36 degree weather. The Rogers Commission found both the company that made the O-rings, Morton Thiokol, and NASA itself guilty of allowing an avoidable acci-

dent to occur. The survivors' first response was anger. "It shouldn't have happened," says Christa's mother, Grace Corrigan. "They were told not to launch, and they decided, 'Twenty-four other shuttle flights went off O.K.' They were complacent." The government scrambled to settle with the survivors. In December 1986 the families of Christa McAuliffe, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis and Dick Scobee accepted some $7.7 million from the U.S. and Morton Thiokol. The unrevealed sums designated for each fam-ily were based on the age and number of dependents of the deceased. The families of Ronald McNair and unmarried astronaut Judith Resnick sued Morton Thiokol and settled independently more than a year later, reportedly for multiple millions. The last suit to be resolved was that of Jane Smith, who, on the second anniversary of the Challenger ac-cident, filed a $1.5 billion suit against Morton Thiokol. "No one in big business should be allowed to make a faulty product and profit from it," she said. Her suit was settled for an undisclosed sum in 1988, just before the shuttle resumed flying. Like several of the other widows--Cheryl McNair works for a foundation for teenage mothers, and Marcia Jarvis clears hiking trails near her Mammoth Mountain, Calif., home--Jane has a favorite char-ity, the Virginia Beach Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Her dogs, she says, helped her through mourning. Despite her marriage five years ago to a Naval Academy pal of her first husband's and a move to Virginia, she still misses Mike Smith every day: "I waited, and he never came back." At the time of the accident, television host Larry King asked June Scobee, "Do you think you will ever remarry?" She responded, "Dick Scobee loved me enough to last a life-time." But two and a half years afterward, she felt "alone." Her son, Rich, was in the Air Force, as his father would have wished. Her daughter, Kathie, had her own problems with an unraveling marriage. And suddenly, June found, "I couldn't function." She checked into a hospital, then saw a psychologist. "I knew that I had to let Dick Scobee go," she says. In 1989 she married Lt. Gen. Don Rodgers, whose wife had died, and moved to Tennessee. For her part, after agonizing about a decision contrary to her Christian upbringing, daughter Kathie got a divorce: "Daddy was so young when he died--I just thought, life is too short." There were delayed reactions in the other families, too. Lorna Onizuka, who hasn't re-married, noticed the changed dynamics without a man in the house: "He was an equi-librium for us. With no El to come in and say, 'Ladies,' it was like a den of she-lions." When she overheard her younger girl "talking" to her father on the telephone, she built a house without so many memories. In the attic is a cedar closet storing her husband's fishing

tackle and flight bag. On the household's Buddhist altar, she makes offerings of flowers, favorite foods and, on El's birthday, a can of Coors Light --"He used to enjoy a beer now and then." The older daughter, now out of college, works for NASA like her mother, who deals with the Japanese space agency. "Ten years down the road, there are still mo-ments that my daughters break down and cry," Lorna says. "Moments, usually, of ac-complishment. When one wins a soccer tournament, when she's invited to be a debu-tante and doesn't have a father to escort her, when she graduates and we're missing one person." But the anger has long passed. "I could spend the rest of my life being an-gry at something I couldn't change," says Lorna. "My husband believed that this mission was worth his life." The families wanted a living memorial. "We didn't want to dwell on how the crew died, but what they had lived for," says Chuck Resnik, brother of astronaut Judy. June Scobee quit her job as an education professor at the University of Houston to found the Chal-lenger Center, an organization promoting space science for kids. Members of each of the seven astronauts' families sit on the board. Among the initial supporters: Morton Thiokol and Rockwell International, which built the orbiter. "O.K., astronauts, let's go." A team of fifth-graders at a Challenger Center in Framing-ham, Mass., one of 30 around the U.S., receives its orders: Launch a probe to Halley's comet. "We don't dwell on the sad part," says teacher Mary Liscombe. "We say, 'The mis-sion continues.'" Grace Corrigan, who lives nearby, often visits the center, which she supports with proceeds of her 1993 book, A Journal for Christa. "That's Christa's mom," the kids whisper. Christa's own kids, kept out of the public eye, are big now. Scott is in college, downloading musical riffs from the Internet. Caroline is 16 and a horsewoman. Their father, now a federal judge, took up flying and, three years ago, married a read-ing teacher. He too supports the centers. The faculty nationwide includes some of the 114 Teacher in Space finalists--not least, Christa's backup, Idaho teacher Barbara Mor-gan. NASA chief Daniel Goldin has appointed a committee to decide whether to end the Teacher in Space program. But for now, Barbara, 44, still has a flight physical every year. "What happened was horrible, and you can't ever erase that," she says. "But our job as teachers is to help kids reach their potential. Challenger reminds us that we should never quit reaching for the stars." One frequent visitor to the Challenger Center in Houston is Dick Scobee's grandson, the infant in Kathie's arms when she watched that fatal flowering in the sky. "I like the shuttle simulator best," says Justin. "It would be fun in space. You can float because it's zero g. I would like to become an astronaut."

"Today we can say at long last to Dick, Mike, Judy, to Ron and El, and to Christa and Greg, dear friends, we have resumed the journey that we promised to continue for you. Your loss has meant that we can confidently begin anew. Your spirit and your dream are still alive in our hearts." -- The crew of STS-26, the next space shuttle to fly after Challenger, to the lost astronauts.

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds -- and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of -- wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there, I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air. Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace Where never lark, or even eagle flew. And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

Space Shuttle COLUMBIA * Class Orbiter Shuttle Launcher System Columbia Orbiter Flag United States of America (USA) Dates of Service 12 April 1980 – 18 June 2002 12 April 1980 – 24 Sept. 2001 Displacement 1,575.493 mt 99,117 Kilograms Overall Length 56.0 m 37.2 m Overall Draft 24.6 m 24.6 m Overall Beam 23.8 m 23.8 m Propulsion: 2 LOX/LH2 fueled Liquid Rocket Booster Engines 1 Engine (3 Nozzle)

(combined 1,052,154 kgf thrust) LOX/LH2 fueled Main Engine (696,905 kgf thrust) 2 Orbital Manuever System Pods N204.NMH fueled thrusters for orbit insertion, maneuver, and de-orbit. (5,443 kgf each)

Velocity: 39,600 km/h Standard Cruising Speed 39,600 km/h 39,360 km/h Maximum Cruising Speed 39,600 km/h 39,360 km/h Maximum Attainable Velocity 39,600 km/h Duration: 10 Minutes and 1 second Primary Burn 7-10 Days, 30 day max Embarked Craft: Orbiter 2-4 “SAFER” Jet Packs Complement: Mission Commander, Pilot, Payload Commander, 1-4 Mission Specialists, 1-3 Payload Specialists, 1-3 Su-

pernumeraries Navigation: Ground Controlled Guidance Control 23 @ Sperry

Systems Space Systems: Honeywell multi-plexers/ demulti-plexers (MDMs)

Computers: Remote Ground Controlled IBM AP-101B Later AP-101S units Energy Weapons: N/A N/A Projectile Weapons: N/A N/A Defense: none Dual Layer Ceramic

tile with a thermal barrier of Inconel wire mesh spring with a ceramic fiber braided sleeve.

Life Support: N/A Space Systems USA: ECLSS consists of an air revitalization sys-tem, water coolant loop systems, atmosphere revitalization pres-sure control sys -tem, active thermal control system, supply water & waste water system, waste collection system & airlock support system.

Third BURAN class shuttle “SELNAYA” launched by Russia Dateline October 12th, 1992 Baikonur Cosmodrome, Russia By Allyson M.F. Dyar Special correspondent for the Space Sciences Institute A new era for the Russian people is inaugurated with the launching of their third Buran type Space Shuttle, the Selnaya which means Blizzard in Russian. Like the Buran (storm) and Eragan (hurricane), the Selnaya will service both the Mir Space facility and the burgeoning International Space Station in high Earth orbit. The Mir-Buran program has been in operation now for several years and with the opening of Russia with Glasnost, so has the Russian Space program. Americans, ESA, and Japanese astronauts regularly exchange visits with their Russian counterparts, and it is with the Russian lifting of the Initial heavy components with their Energia Rockets that the Freedom station was actually able be opened on time. Today’s launch of the Selnaya is doubly important as it is carrying two of the newly developed hydroponic space labs. One will be delivered to Mir and the other to Freedom. These HSLs developed from the lessons learned from the Hydroponic Module of SLEOS, will provide not only fresh vegetables to the crew of the two stations, but also take up production of oxygen aboard the stations meeting 33-66% of the needs of the crews, and extending the life of the oxygen generation equipment many years. What are the plans for the future of the Russian Space program? Great contribu-tions to the International Space Station, and a long-range reusable spacecraft utilizing lessons learned from all things, the Russian Navy. For years the Russian Navy had led the world in utilization of titanium hulled submarines, now they are using that same technol-ogy to design a spacecraft that will be able to conduct long range exploration of the solar system.

Russia Catches the Shuttle—Bug

Space Shuttle BURAN * Class Orbiter Shuttle Launcher System Buran Orbiter Flag Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) Dates of Service 15 November 1981 – 12 May 2006 Displacement 1,236.248 mt 79,400 Kilograms Overall Length 90.3 m 36.37 m Overall Draft 21.15 m 16.35 m Overall Beam 25.9 m 23.92 m Propulsion: 4 LOX/LH2 fueled Liquid Rocket Booster Engines 1 Engine (3 Nozzle)

(combined 1,252,315 kgf thrust) LOX/LH2 fueled Main Engine (654,875 kgf thrust) 2 Orbital Manuever System Pods N204.NMH fueled thrusters for orbit insertion, maneuver, and de-orbit. (7,433 kgf each)

Velocity: 39,600 km/h Standard Cruising Speed 39,600 km/h 39,360 km/h Maximum Cruising Speed 39,600 km/h 39,360 km/h Maximum Attainable Velocity 39,600 km/h Duration: 8 minutes and 39 seconds Primary Burn 6-9 Days, 24 day max Embarked Craft: Orbiter 2-4 “SAFER” Jet Packs Complement: Mission Commander, Pilot, Payload Commander, 1-3 Mission Specialists,

1-2 Payload Specialists, 1-2 Supernumeraries Navigation: Ground Controlled Guidance Control 26 @ Gorshko

Systems Space Systems: multiplexers/ demulti-plexers (MDMs)

Computers: Remote Ground Controlled Pudisto AH 453M units Energy Weapons: N/A N/A Projectile Weapons: N/A N/A Defense: none Dual Layer Ceramic


Life Support: N/A Molniya: ECLSS consists of an air revitalization system, water coolant loop systems, atmosphere revitaliza

tion pressure control system, act-ive thermal control system, supply water & waster water system, water

collection system & airlock support system.

FREEDOM I – INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

Dateline Houston: March 26t h, 1992

By Allyson M.F. Dyar Special correspondent for the Space Sciences Institute

Eight years ago the SLEOS station celebrated its tenth anniversary. Seven months after that the International Space Station was launched and shortly after that was opened for business. Two years after that America suf-fered its worst space disaster ever with the explosion of the Shuttle Challenger, and the tragic death of its seven crewmembers. Until yesterday. Yesterday high above the Earth, the first incident of Space Terrorism occurred. A rocket launched from and uni-dentified ship in the Indian Ocean, raced to the Space Station, intercept rockets failed to reach the weapon in time and at 22:49 Greenwich Mean Time the Freedom Station was destroyed with a full crew of eight, five Ameri-cans, two Russians, and a French astronaut died instantly as a small nuclear weapon completely destroyed the station. No agency, nation, or organization has taken any credit for this horrific action. What motivation could justify this action, what motivation could justify killing these explorers of the high frontier. What gain could any party hope for. Tonight we pray, for the lost crew members, for their families, and for the future. This is Allyson Dyar signing off, good night.

Death of a Dream

The Freedom I International Space Station Explosion as seen from Earth

International Space Station – Freedom I Class Space Station

Intenational Space Station- Freedom I Flag Joint Mission of USA – Russia – NASDA – ESA

Dates of Service 31 October 1984 - 25 March 1992



Overall Draft 32.2 m

Overall Beam 4.2 m


Power Generation: 1.60 total average kW. Electrical System: Solar Panels, 2 Wings each 26 meters

and 2 Wings each 36 meters each




Duration: 17 years, 4 months, 25 days

Embarked Craft: 1-2 “MULE” Inter -orbital Transfer Vehicles.

Complement: Six-Eight Crewmembers


Computers: Ground Control Cray Computers

Energy Weapons: N/A


Defense: 5 cm thick Composite Aluminum Armor


In Russian Mir means: Peace ….. and Sea

The Mir-2 space station was originally authorised in the February 1976 resolution setting forth plans for development of third generation Soviet space systems. It would undergo many changes over the year, with only one thing remaining constant: the starting point was always the DOS-8 base block space station core module, built as a back -up to the DOS-7 base block used in the Mir station. Eventually Mir-2 would be merged with the In-ternational Space Station, and DOS-8 was finally scheduled to be launched by the end of 2000 as the Service Module of the ISS.

DOS-8 serial number 128 was originally designed to have a three year service life in space. This was later increased to five years. The spaceframe was completed in Febru-ary 1985 and major internal equipment was installed by October 1986. Until Reagan's 1983 announcement of the Star Wars programme, Mir-2 was to be a relatively modest station, a near-duplicate of Mir assembled after the end of its planned five year life.

The decision by Soviet Premier Andropov to compete with America in military domi-nance from space lead to a huge expansion of Soviet space station plans. Several space battle stations were proposed, and there seems to have been a design competi-tion for a drastically revised Mir-2.

KB Salyut Mir-2

This version of Mir-2 was designed by KB Salyut from 1981 The prototype of the central module was flown six years later as the Polyus star wars test-bed. The overall design of the station was shown by the Soviets in 1987 at the 38th meeting of the IAF in Montreal. Most of the demand for electricity was met by solar panels mounted on a docking tun-nel providing 2 degrees of freedom for following the sun. Radiators were mounted in the shadow of the solar cells. Additional electrical power was provided by a solar dynamic system. The concentrator for this was mounted on tracks running around the core's body which allowed the concentrator to follow the sun. Movement of the concentra-tor's mass would have been offset by movement of the mass of the docking arm.

The docking arm would have been used to move modules from the bay of the Buran shuttle, which could dock at a special adapter mounted on the end of one of the mod-

ules. Buran would also have been able to dock at the adapter on the end of the docking tun-nel, but it appears that normal opera-tions would have been supported by large ballistic cap-sules.

These ballistic cap-sules were 'stretched' versions of the reus-able VA capsule de-signed for the TKS manned station ferry. They were called Orfar by V.V. Pallo of KB Salyut in a description of a commercial deriva-tive of the Polyus

called the SKIF-DM. Orfar was the equivalent of the NPO Energia Zarya capsule and would be launched by the Proton launch vehicle.

Only the central core and the solar panels and docking tunnel would have had to have been launched by the Energia booster. All other components could have been launched by the Proton and operation of the KB Salyut Mir 2 space station did not depend upon the suc-cess of Energia or Buran. Mir 2 would have been capable of docking at least four modules in ordinary operation.

Long Range—Best Expectation for Mir. Sadly it de-orbit came long before it could reach its full potential.

Mir * Class Space Station Mir Space Station Flag Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) Dates of Service 20 February 1987 – 06 March 2001

Displacement 20.100 metric tons


Overall Draft 4.2 m

Overall Beam 4.2 m


Power Generation: 1.00 total average kW. Electrical System: Solar Panels, 3 Wings each 29 m





Embarked Craft: N/A

Complement: Four Crewmembers


Computers: Ground Control Kroshkov Computers

Energy Weapons: N/A


Defense: 2cm thick Composite Aluminum Armor


Space Shuttle HERMES * Class Orbiter Shuttle Launcher System Hermes Orbiter Flag European Space Agency (ESA) Dates of Service 14 July 1992 – 16 March 2007 Displacement 471.38 mt 23,000 Kilograms Overall Length 73.00 m 19.00 m Overall Draft 6.80 m 6.8 m Overall Beam 5.40 m 2.3 m Propulsion: Multi Staged Engine System 1: 1 Solid Fuel Engine- 1 Engine (3 Nozzle) 660,000 kgf, 2: 1 Lox/LH2 fueled Engine – 109,619 N204/NMH fueled main kgf, 3: 1 N204/NMH fueled Engine 2,800 kgf Engine Orbital (8,300 kgh (combined 772, 419 kgf thrust) each) combined 24,900 kgf thrust Velocity: 39,600 km/h Standard Cruising Speed 39,600 km/h 39,360 km/h Maximum Cruising Speed 39,600 km/h 39,360 km/h Maximum Attainable Velocity 39,600 km/h Duration: 17 minutes and 17 seconds Primary Burn 6-9 Days, 60 day max Embarked Craft: Orbiter 3 “SAFER” Jet Packs Complement: Mission Commander, Pilot, Mission Specialists Navigation: Ground Controlled Guidance Conrol 12 @ Minitel Systems:

Systems multiplexers/ demulti-plexers (MDMs) Computers: Remote Ground Controled Minitel VX 321c units Energy Weapons: N/A N/A Projectile Weapons: N/A N/A Defense: none Dassault Chobham Dual Layer

Ceramic Tile with a thermal barrier of Mihanic wire mesh with a ceramic fiber braided sleeve.

Life Support: N/A Rolls Royce: ECLSS consists of an air revitalization system, water coolant loop systems, atmosphere revitalization pressure control system, active thermal control system, supply water & waster water system, water collec tion system & airlock support system.

The Advanced Deployment (Defense) Shuttles came on line in 1996, just in time to serve as overhead command control and low earth orbit anti-missile defense as Khan and his allies tried to launch ICBMs from Baikanur. The Lewis & Clark the third of these was instrumental in preventing 17 separate MIRVed missiles from reaching sites in both Northern China, Eastern Russia and Western North America. Design for the Class of Eight vessels began in 1989 when Boeing won the bid for the Chal-lenger II - Advanced Deployment Shuttle to replace the Columbia Class shuttles in the Mid to late 1990's. While McDonald Douglas begins construction of the Alternative Heavy Lifter, de-livery expected in the early 1990's. A total of eight of these vessels were built. 1. Challenger II 2. Magellan 3. Lewis & Clark 4. Vespucci 5. Hudson 6. LaSalle 7. Baden-Powell 8. Robert Byrd After the war, the Lewis & Clark continued on with many years of excellent service, specializ-ing in ferrying crews and equipment to and from the Hubble Space Telescope facility, and other High Atmosphere long range telescopes. The most important of these was the launch of the Chandra X-Ray observatory in 1999.

Challenger II Shuttles, the next Generation

Hubble Telescope

Space Shuttle CHALLENGER II* Class Orbiter Shuttle Launcher System Challenger II Orbiter Flag United States of America (USA) Dates of Service 23 Sept. 1996 – 9 Nov. 2022 23 Sept. 1996- 9 Nov. 2022 Displacement 1,654.875 metric tons 107,118 Kilograms Overall Length 56.0 m 38.1 m Overall Draft 24.0 m 24.0 m Overall Beam 25.8 m 19.8 m Propulsion: 2 LOX/LH2 fueled Liquid Rocket Booster Engines 1 Engine (3 Nozzle)

(combined 1,052,154 kgf thrust) LOX/LH2 fueled Main Engine (712,000 kgf thrust) 2 Orbital Maneuver System Pods N204.NMH fueled thrusters for orbit insertion, maneuver, and deorbit. (6,300 kgf each)

Velocity: 39,600 km/h Standard Cruising Speed 39,600 km/h 39,360 km/h Maximum Cruising Speed 39,600 km/h 39,360 km/h Maximum Attainable Velocity 39,600 km/h Duration: 10 Minutes and 1 second Primary Burn 7-14 Days, standard

450 days maximum Embarked Craft: Orbiter 3-7 “CSJP” Jet Packs Complement: Mission Commander, Pilot, Payload Commander,

1-4 Mission Specialists, 1-3 Payload Specialists, 1-3 Supernumeraries: Seven Maximum regardless of Crew Mix.

Navigation: Ground Controlled Guidance Control Systems 23 @ Sperry SpaceSystems: Honeywell multiplexers/ demulti-plexers (MDMs)

Computers: Remote Ground Controled IBM AP-201 units Energy Weapons: N/A Type III Chemical TRW Corporation – Tactical High Energy Laser anti-missile defense system. Projectile Weapons: N/A SIM-54S Space Phoenix Missile

Launcher with 12 Tactical Nuclear warhead Phoenix Missiles

Defense: triple Layer Ceramic tile with a ther mal barrier of titanium wire mesh spring with a ceramic fiber braided sleeve.

*NOTE Both the Laser and Missile systems were modular and could be swaped out for cargo space and/or science/lab modules.

Life Support: Space Systems USA: ECLSS consists of an

air revitalization sys-tem, water coolant loop systems, atmo-sphere revitalization pressure control sys -tem, active thermal control system, supply water & waste w a-ter system, waste collec-tion system & air-lock support system.

The DY-100 Manned Interplanetary Spacecraft. It was the first of the Human vessels that could both reach outside the trans-lunar system, AND carry a manned crew with it. It was also the last vessel developed primarily by the Soviet Union, before its collapse and reemer-gence as the Russian Federation. The most famous vessel of this class was the BOTANY BAY, originally named the RODINYA. The vessel that carried the tyrant Khan Noonian Singh and his eugenic followers off of Earth after their defeat at the end of the Eugenic Wars. Renamed by Khan as some form of perverse hu-mor, then name was accepted by the exhausted peoples of Earth, as the ship sped away, its passengers placing themselves into cryogenic tubes, and were not found again until 2267 by the USS Enterprise under the command of then Captain James T. Kirk. In lat e 1995 forces seizes control of the Baikanur space launch facilities and the DY-100 Launch vehicle, however the Security Forces manage to destroy the Command Capsule "Rodinya" before Khan's troops can secure it. By 1996 Khan seeing an end is near, negotiates a surrender, for his and his followers lives in ex-ile, he promises to release the cure for Pseudo Leprosy Disease if a replacement capsule is provided for the DY100. The allied nations provide Khan and 96 of his "supermen" the S.S. Bot-any Bay, which is launched into space, but telemetry is soon lost. It is later learned that Khan had smuggled 105 of the Swedish sleeper capsules on board before launch. The promised cure is quickly developed into a short-term treatment.

A Weary World looks the other way

DY-100 * Class Long Range Sleep Ship Explorer Flag Joint United States (USA) – Russian Federation (PF) project Dates of Service 1996-2268 Number in Class 50 Displacement 2,700,000 Kg Overall Length 100 m Overall Draft 34.9 m Overall Beam 23.27 m Propulsion: 6 Rocketol Chemical Boost Engines for Earth Escape and planet-capture 4.2 million kilograms thrust

1 Amjet Hydrogen Fission Thruster for interplanetary transfer 68,000 kilograms thrust Velocity: 55,000 km/h Standard Cruising Speed 80,000 km/h Maximum Cruising Speed 80,000 km/h Maximum Attainable Velocity Duration: 934 Days, Indefinite max with sleeper modules. Embarked Craft: 2 MULE Inter -orbital Transport, 24 @ “CSJP” Jet Packs Complement: 2-4: Captain (Mission Commander) and three Lieutenants

(Pilot, Flight Engineer and Payload Commander), 0-20 Pas-sengers depending on Mission.

Navigation: Unisys Licensed Optical Tracker -Controlled Inertial Guid ance System Computers: Stolkov Standard Program Dependent Digital Memory sys tem Energy Weapons: N/A Projectile Weapons: N/A Defense: Micro Layers of Titanium and Ceramic flms (21 each) cre-

ating a thermal barrier at 10 percent of standard tile weight.

Life Support: Molniya: ECLSS consists of an air revitalization system, wa ter coolant loop systems, atmosphere revitalization pres sure control system, active thermal control system, supply water & waster water system, water collection system & airlock support system.

Space Shuttle HIMAWARI * Class Orbiter H-2 Shuttle Launch System Himawari Orbiter Flag Japanese Space Agency (NASDA) Dates of Service 23 August 1998 – 19 October 2015 Displacement 48438 metric tons 25,000 Kilograms Overall Length 73.56 m 19.50 m Overall Draft 7.2 m 5.4 m Overall Beam 5.40 m 5.4 m Propulsion: Multi Staged Engine System 1: 1 Solid Fuel Engine- 1 Engine (3 Nozzle) 675,000 kgf, 2: 1 Lox/LH2 fueled Engine – 112,000 N204/NMH fueled kgf, 3: 1 N204/NMH fueled Engine 3,100 kgf main Engine Orbital (combined 796,300 kgf thrust) (8,100 kgf each) cobined 24,300 kgf thrust Velocity: 39,600 km/h Standard Cruising Speed 39,600 km/h 39,360 km/h Maximum Cruising Speed 39,600 km/h 39,360 km/h Maximum Attainable Velocity 39,600 km/h Duration: 16 minutes and 10 seconds Primary Burn 6-9 Days, 60 day max Embarked Craft: Orbiter 3 “SAFER” Jet Packs Complement: Mission Commander, Pilot, Mission Specialist Navigation: Ground Controlled Guidance Conrol 12 @ Fujitsu Systems:

Systems multiplexers/ demulti-plexers (MDMs) Computers: Remote Ground Controled Hitachi J400X units Energy Weapons: N/A N/A Projectile Weapons: N/A N/A Defense: None Dual Layer Ceramic


Life Support: N/A Mitsubishi Heavy Industries: ECLSS consists of an air revitalization system, water coolant loop systems, atmo-

sphere revitalization pressure control system, act-ive thermal con-trol system, supply water & waster water system, water collection system & airlock support system.

Dateline Freedom II Space Station: February 29th 2012 By Allyson M.F. Dyar Special correspondent for the Space Sciences Institute Today marks both an anniversary and a new beginning for the Free-dom II Space Station. Originally baptized eight years ago today, to replace the Freedom I Station destroyed by terrorists now know to be working for the Dictator Khan Noonian Singh on March 26th, 1992. Now the International Space Station has gotten both a facelift AND a new name, the World Space Station. From here the people of Earth will begin their exploration of the Solar System and beyond. The final modifications to the station are expected to be completed in three years, and the first of the Manned Mars Missions are expected four years after that. Before the end of this decade, man will finally step upon the Red Planet, and renew that journey began by Neil Armstrong more than forty years ago, from Earth to the Stars. As seen from Earth the WSS Freedom II is visible during the day, and often at night one can see with the naked eye the Diana Lunar Craf t leaving for another mission to the Moon, and the construction of the bases there especially the Clavius Base (officially Moon Base Alpha) erected in the Clavius Crater. These base provide the WSS with raw materials, especially frozen water embedded in the lunar slag that is brought back to the station cheaper from the moon, then would be able to lift plain water out of the Earth’s gravity well. With this water, the station’s facilities can break down the raw material into breathable oxygen, hydro-gen fuel, and yes even a cool glass of water. Most important to the continued success of the space programs on the various partner nations in WSS, is the manufacturing facilities. Contracts exist with all of the major electronics firms, and with the Biomedical corporations to provide materials whose purity can only be provided in the micro-gravity of space. These contracts as of the end of 2011 help defray 60% of the costs of the various space programs. Yesterday the Moon, tomorrow Mars, next year …………… We shall see. From Freedom II, this is Allyson Dyar, good night.

And then a new beginning….

The World Space Station – Freedom II Class Space Station

World Space Station- Freedom I Flag Joint Mission of USA – Russia – NASDA – ESA Dates of Service November 9th, 2004 - July 7th, 2053



Overall Draft 42.2 m

Overall Beam 12.4 m


Power Generation: 14.875 total average kW. Electrical System: Solar Panels, 28 Wings each

36m each





Embarked Craft: 2-4 “MULE” Inter -orbital Transfer Vehicles.

Complement: Ten – Twenty Crewmembers


Computers: Ground Control Cray Computers

Energy Weapons: N/A


Defense: 15 cm thick Titanium Aluminum Composite Armor

Life Support: Triple Redundant OKB-124 - G I Voronin - Oxy Regen. System

VENTURE STAR * Class Single Stage to Orbit Orbiter Venture Star SSTO Orbiter Flag United States of America (USA) Dates of Service 7 April 2005 – 1 Aug 2031 Number in Class 6 Ships in Class Venture Star, Bright Star, Shining Star, Lone Star, Morning Star, Evening Star and Rising Star Displacement 1,195,454 Kg Overall Length 45.76 m Overall Draft 18.11 m Overall Beam 48.8 m Propulsion: 8 LOX/LH2 – fueled Rocketdyne Propulsion Linear Aerospikes Take-off thrust – 1,607,727 kg Payload to Low Earth Orbit – 25,455 kg Velocity: 27,500 km/h Standard Cruising Speed 39,360 km/h Maximum Cruising Speed 39,360 km/h Maximum Attainable Velocity Duration: 7-10 Days, 30 day max Embarked Craft: 1 MULE Inter -orbital Transport, 10@ “CSJP” Jet Packs Complement: Mission Commander, Pilot, Payload Commander, 1-4 Mission Specialists, 1-3 Payload

Specialists, 1-3 Supernumeraries: Maximum Complement 10 Navigation: Quadruple Independent/Redundant Honeywell Inertial Navigation

System/Global Positioning System Computers: 12 Interconnected IBM AP -307A units Energy Weapons: N/A Projectile Weapons: N/A Defense: Triple Layer Ceramic tile with a thermal barrier of titanium wire mesh spring with a ceramic

fiber braided sleeve. Life Support: Martin Marietta: ECLSS consists of an air revitalization system, water

coolant loop systems, atmosphere revitalization pressure control system, active thermal control system, supply water & waste water system, waste collection system & airlock sup-port system.

DY-150 DIANA * Class Trans-Lunar Transport Flag Joint United States (USA) – Russian Federation (PF) project Dates of Service 2006-2036 Number in Class 20 Displacement 1,996,578 Kg Overall Length 88.82 m Overall Draft 26.96 m Overall Beam 26.96 m Propulsion: 1 Amjet II Hydrogen Fission Thruster for interplanetary transfer 38,000 kilograms thrust Velocity: 25,000 km/h Standard Cruising Speed 40,000 km/h Maximum Cruising Speed 40,000 km/h Maximum Attainable Velocity Duration: 24 Days. Embarked Craft: 2 MULE Inter -orbital Transport, 24 @ “CSJP” Jet Packs Complement: 2-4: Captain (Mission Commander) and three Lieutenants (Pilot, Flight Engineer and Pay-

load Commander), 0-20 Passengers depending on Mission. Navigation: Unisys Licensed Optical Tracker -Controlled Inertial Guidance System Computers: Stolkov Standard Program Dependent Digital Memory system Energy Weapons: N/A Projectile Weapons: N/A Defense: Micro Layers of Titanium and Ceramic films (21 each) creating a thermal barrier at 10 per-

cent of standard tile weight. Life Support: Martin Marietta: ECLSS consists of an air revitalization system, water coolant loop systems,

atmosphere revitalization pressure control system, active thermal control system, supply water & waster water system, water collection system & airlock support system.

The US launches new missions to the Moon, with the goal to begin construction of three new Moon Bases in 2008. The craft to be used is the joint Russian-American developed DY-150 Earth-Moon liner. These craft will travel from the International Space Station to Lunar Orbit and use an advanced version of the Lunar Lander to explore the Moon’s surface. The entire project is referred to as the DIANA PROGRAM in honor of the Greek god-dess of the Moon. Four Runs the first year begin regular route.

SHOGUN * Class Single Stage to Orbit Orbiter

SHOGUN Orbiter Flag Japanese Space Agency (NASDA) Dates of Service 12 August 2011 – 6 October 2046 Displacement 954,000 Kilograms Overall Length 44.50 m Overall Draft 19.42 m Overall Beam 31.75 m Propulsion: 8 LOX/LH2 – fueled Mitsubishi Propulsion Linear Aerospikes Take-off thrust – 1,585,000 kg Payload to Low Earth Orbit – 26,000 kg Velocity: 27,500 km/h Standard Cruising Speed 39,360 km/h Maximum Cruising Speed 39,360 km/h Maximum Attainable Velocity Duration: 7-10 Days, 30 day max Embarked Craft: 1 MULE Inter -orbital Transport, 10@ “CSJP” Jet Packs Complement: Mission Commander, Pilot, Payload Commander, 1-4 Mission Specialists, 1-3 Payload

Specialists, 1-3 Supernumeraries: Maximum Complement 10 Navigation Quadruple Independent/Redundant Fujitsu Inertial Navigation

System/Global Positioning System Computers: 12 Interconnected Toshiba/Hitachi J1250 units Energy Weapons: N/A Projectile Weapons: N/A Defense: Triple Layer Ceramic tile with a thermal barrier of titanium wire mesh spring with a ceramic

fiber braided sleeve. Life Support: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries: : ECLSS consists of an air revitalization system,

water coolant loop systems, atmosphere revitalization pressure control system, active thermal control system, supply water & waste water system, waste collection system & air-lock support system

DeGAULLE * Class Single Stage to Orbit Orbiter DeGaulle SSTO Orbiter Flag Republic of France (RoF) Dates of Service 11 August 2013 – 15 Nov 2054 Number in Class 5 Ships in Class DeGaulle, Mitterand, Chirac, d'Estaing, Pompidou Displacement 885,000 Kg Overall Length 48.25 m Overall Draft 22.50 m Overall Beam 22.50 m Propulsion: 4 LOX/LH2 – fueled Dassault Propulsion Advanced Linear Aerospikes Take-off thrust – 980,000 kg Payload to Low Earth Orbit – 17,545 kg Velocity: 27,500 km/h Standard Cruising Speed 39,360 km/h Maximum Cruising Speed 39,360 km/h Maximum Attainable Velocity Duration: 7 Days, 14 day max Embarked Craft: 1 MULE Inter -orbital Transport, 7@ “CSJP” Jet Packs Complement: Mission Commander, Pilot, Payload Commander, 1-4 Mission Specialists, 1-3 Payload

Specialists, 1-3 Supernumeraries: Maximum Complement 7 Navigation: Triple Independent/Redundant Minitel Inertial Navigation System/

Global Positioning System Computers: 12 Interconnected Gerleman GX-425 units Energy Weapons: Dassault Xeon-Based High Energy Laser anti-missile defense system Projectile Weapons: N/A Defense: Dassault Chobham Dual Layer Ceramic tile with a thermal barrier of Mihanic wire mesh

with a ceramic fiber braided sleeve. Life Support: Peugot: ECLSS consists of an air revitalization system, water coolant loop systems, atmos-

phere revitalization pressure control system, active thermal control system, supply water & waster water system, water collection system & airlock support system.

To the Red Planet …..

Serious plans for a manned mission to Mars began in 2012, when the International Space Station was renamed the World Space Station and placed under the control of the United Nations. As part of the renaming ceremony, a rotating Habitat Ring was added to allow the generation of Earth-standard gravity. The following year, the United States President announced that the US would send a manned team to Mars in 2019, hoping to land on July 20t h – the 50th Anniversary of the first mission to the Moon. While economic conditions in the United States remained down, it was hoped that this would provide a “kick-start” much as the Apollo program in the 1960’s did. The European Space Agency, the Japanese, and the Russian Federation joined these plans over the next six months. Lockheed-Martin Aerospace and Boeing were named Joint Contractors on the DY-200 Adven-turer class of Interplanetary Cutter in 2014. Honda and Pratt and Whitney won the engine con-tract and IBM and Group Bull of France shared the avionics package. Airbus Industrie was chosen to provide interior furnishings and the fabrication was spread throughout the four partners. The rise of the Neo-Trotsky party in France in the 2015 elections for a time threatened Group Bull and Air-bus in the consortium, but this was averted and construction of the two DY-200’s (named “Mars One” and “Mars Two”) began in late 2015 in special dockyards near the WSS. In preparation for the mission, Lockheed-Martin was chosen to build a replacement Mars Observer spacecraft and launched it in 2015 towards the Red Planet to begin intensive surveying for a landing spot. Crew training began in 2016. Astronauts from all four partners are chosen, with the fourteen di-vided as follows: five Americans, two each from Britain and Russia, one Australian, one German, one Italian, one Frenchman, and one Japanese. At this time, the crews trained as one group, with individual training slated to begin in 2018. Mars Observer arrived in Martian orbit in 2017 and be-gan searching out suitable landing sites. By late 2018 economic conditions across the Western Democracies were worsening even more,

and opposition to the Mars mission and the massive funds being invested into it started to grow. However, with both ships almost complete and the crews trained, it was decided to continue with the mission. It was hoped that a successful landing would help raise world morale. On January 1, 2019, “Mars One” launched from the WSS. Aboard was Mission Commander Colo-nel Steven Andrews (USAF), Pilot Commander Alan Carter (USN), Senior Specialist Kara Michelle Inokuma (USA), Geophysicist Colette Caccione (ITA), Geologist Sakura Kinomoto (JPN), and Cli-matologists Sergei Andropov (RUS) and Jean-Michele Ligier (FRA). The trip went as expected and “Mars One” settled into Martian orbit on July 19, 2019. The team reviewed final information from Mars Observer 2 and, in consultation with the WSS, a final site was selected for touchdown the fol-lowing morning. Unlike with the first Moon mission, no formal decision had been made ahead of time as to who would be the first person to step on Mars, the decision being left to the crew of “Mars One” them-selves. They took a vote that night and, in a 6-1 decision, Kara Inokuma was chosen. The daugh-ter of renowned Japanese scientist Yuki Inokuma and an American software tycoon (himself of Russian, British, and Italian decent), the rest said they voted for her because she best represented the countries that had come together to take on this mission. So, at 12:00 hours GMT (Earthside), Kara Michelle Inokuma set her right boot onto Martian soil, be-coming the first human to set foot on another planet in the solar system. Unlike Astronaut Neil Arm-stong in 1969, Miss Inokuma did not utter any words, rather choosing to say a silent Japanese prayer for good fortune. She was joined within minutes by Colonel Andrews and Commander Carter and the three raised a large American flag. Once that ceremony was done, the other crew members exited the lander and raised their own flags (ESA, RUS, JPN). After posing for nu-merous group photos, the team set out to begin their exploration and work.

DY-200 * ADVENTUER Class Long Range / Interplanetary Cutter

Flag Joint United States (USA) – European Union (ESA) Russian Federation (PF) – Japan (NASDA) Dates of Service 2019-2143 Number in Class 10 Displacement 2,200,000 Kg Overall Length 108 m Overall Draft 32.7 m Overall Beam 32. m Propulsion: 4 Honda / Pratt-Whitney Hydrogen Fission Thrusters for interplanetary transfer 19.500 kilo-

grams thrust each Velocity: 77,500 km/h Standard Cruising Speed 116,000 km/h Maximum Cruising Speed 116,000 km/h Maximum Attainable Velocity Duration: 730 Days, Indefinite max with sleeper modules,

Sleeper modules being phased out Embarked Craft: 1 Planetary Command Module Lander, 1 Planetary Rover

14 @ “CSJP -II” Jet Packs Complement: 4-14: Captain (Mission Commander) and three Lieutenants (Pilot, Flight Engineer and

Payload Commander) and ten passengers Navigation: Unisys Licensed Optical Tracker -Controlled Inertial Guidance System Computers: Hewlett Packard 11000 Standard Program Dependent Digital Memory system Energy Weapons: N/A Projectile Weapons: N/A Defense: Micro Layers of Titanium and Ceramic films (21 each) creating a thermal barrier at 10 per-

cent of standard tile weight. Life Support: Space USA Systems: ECLSS consists of an air revitalization system, water coolant loop sys-

tems, atmosphere revitalization pressure control system, active thermal control system, supply water & waster water system, water collection system & airlock support system.

GALILEO Class Long Range / Interplanetary Cruiser Flag Joint London Treat Alliance (LTA) and Japanese (NASDA) development UNESPA flagged Ships. Dates of Service 2028-2084 Number in Class 35 Displacement 350,000 Kilograms Overall Length 58 m Overall Draft 37 m Overall Beam 63 m Propulsion: 3 Honda / Pratt-Whitney Hydrogen Fission Thrusters for interplanetary transfer 19,500 kilo-

grams thrust each Velocity: 112,500 km/h Standard Cruising Speed 168,000 km/h Maximum Cruising Speed 168,000 km/h Maximum Attainable Velocity Duration: 600 Days Embarked Craft: 1 Planetary Command Module Lander, 100 @ “CSJP -II” Jet Packs Complement: 6: Captain (Mission Commander) and three Lieutenants (Pilot, Flight Engineer and Pay-

load Commander) and two Ensigns (Attendants) Passengers: 92 Navigation: Unisys Licensed Optical Tracker -Controlled Inertial Guidance System Computers: Hewlett Packard 11000 Standard Program Dependent Digital Memory system Energy Weapons: N/A Projectile Weapons: N/A Defense: Micro Layers of Titanium and Ceramic films (21 each) creating a thermal barrier at 10 per-

cent of standard tile weight. Active force pressers navigational deflectors. Life Support: Space USA Systems: ECLSS consists of an air revitalization system, water coolant loop sys-

tems, atmosphere revitalization pressure control system, active thermal control system, supply water & waster water system, water collection system & airlock support system.

KUBLAI Class Long Range / Interplanetary Escort

KUBLAI Interplanetary Escort Flag Joint Chinese (PASA) Japanese Space Agency (NASDA) Project Dates of Service 5 February 2034 – 4 January 2058 Number in Class 21 Displacement 321,600 Kilograms Overall Length 53.5 m Overall Draft 28.1 m Overall Beam 47.8 m Propulsion: 3 Honda / Pratt-Whitney Hydrogen Fission Thrusters for interplanetary transfer 19,500 kilo-

grams thrust each Velocity: 112,500 km/h Standard Cruising Speed 168,000 km/h Maximum Cruising Speed 168,000 km/h Maximum Attainable Velocity Duration: 600 Days Embarked Craft: 1 Planetary Command Module Lander, 76 @ “CSJP-II” Jet Packs Complement: 6: Captain (Mission Commander) and three Lieutenants (Pilot, Flight Engineer and Pay-

load Commander) and two Ensigns (Attendants) Passengers: 70 Navigation: Fujitsu Systems: Optical Tracker-Controlled Inertial Guidance System Computers: Toshiba 7500 Standard Program Dependent Digital Memory Energy Weapons: One – Dual Barreled Laser Type III Chemical Mitsubishi Corporation –Tactical High Energy

Laser anti-missile defense system. Projectile Weapons: Two CSS-22 Space Huang Missile Launchers with 36 Tactical Nuclear warhead Huang Mis-

siles Defense: Dual Layer Ceramic tile with a thermal barrier of Inconel wire mesh spring with a ceramic

fiber braided sleeve. Life Support: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries: ECLSS consists of an air revitalization system,

water coolant loop systems, atmosphere revitalization pressure control system, active thermal control system, supply water & waster water system, water collection system & airlock support system.

RYUUJIN Class Long Range Interplanetary Cruiser RYUUJIN Interplanetary Cruiser Flag Joint Chinese (PASA) Japanese Space Agency (NASDA) Project Dates of Service 7 April 2039 – 4 January 2058 Number in Class 12 Displacement 365,000 Kilograms Overall Length 84.2 m Overall Draft 31.4 m Overall Beam 31.4 m Propulsion: 8 Honda Hydrogen Fission Pulse Thrusters for interplanetary transfer 9,800 kilograms thrust

each Velocity: 127,000 km/h Standard Cruising Speed 190,500 km/h Maximum Cruising Speed 190,500 km/h Maximum Attainable Velocity Duration: 2 years Embarked Craft: 1 Planetary Command Module Lander, 42 @ “CSJP-II” Jet Packs Complement: 6: Command and 24 Crew Passengers: Up to 12 embarked Passengers Navigation: Fujitsu Systems: Optical Tracker-Controlled Inertial Guidance System Computers: Toshiba 7500 Standard Program Dependent Digital Memory Energy Weapons: Four – Single Barreled Laser Type II Chemical Mitsubishi Corporation –Tactical High Energy

Laser anti-ship/missile defense system. Projectile Weapons: Two CSS-22 Space Huang Missile Launchers with 36 Tactical Nuclear warhead Huang Mis-

siles Defense: 17.5 cm Plastisteel Armor Life Support: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries: ECLSS consists of an air revitalization system,


COLUMBUS Class Long Range Interplanetary Cruiser

COLUMBUS Interplanetary Cruiser Flag Joint London Treat Alliance (LTA) and United Nations (UESPA) development UNESPA flagged Ships. Dates of Service October 12th 2043- December 31st 2087 Number in Class 52 Displacement 525,000 Kilograms Overall Length 72 m Overall Draft 34 m Overall Beam 67 m Propulsion: 2 General Dynamics Hydrogen Cold Fusion Thrusters for interplanetary transfer 42,000 kilo-

grams thrust each Velocity: 121,750 km/h Standard Cruising Speed 182,625 km/h Maximum Cruising Speed 182,625 km/h Maximum Attainable Velocity Duration: 2 years Embarked Craft: 2 Planetary Command Module Shuttles, 6 Aerospace Fliers,

42 @ “CSJP -II” Jet Packs Complement: 8: Command and 22 Crew Passengers: Up to 12 embarked Aerospace Flier Pilots Navigation: Intertel Optical Tracker-Controlled Inertial Guidance System Computers: Intertel 54 Bravo Limited AI Digital Memory system Energy Weapons: 2 Type II – Medium Ranged (1,000 KM) Xenon Lasers Projectile Weapons: 4 Launchers with 8 Long Range Space Patriot Missiles with Fusion Bomb Warhead Defense: Plastisteel Armor – 25 cm

Active force pressers navigational deflectors. Life Support: Standard UESPA Essential Life Support (ELS-I) (Atmosphere/Air/Food/ Temperature) sup-

port system.

Glenn Class Long Range Interplanetary Corvette GLENN Interplanetary Corvette Flag Joint London Treat Alliance (LTA) and United Nations (UESPA) development UNESPA flagged Ships. Dates of Service February 20th 2052- December 31st 2105 Number in Class 60 Displacement 385,000 Kilograms Overall Length 85 m Overall Draft 23 m Overall Beam 45 m Propulsion: 2 General Dynamics Improved Hydrogen Cold Fusion Thrusters for interplanetary transfer

52,000 kilograms thrust each Velocity: 135,000 km/h Standard Cruising Speed 202,500 km/h Maximum Cruising Speed 202,500 km/h Maximum Attainable Velocity Duration: 1 year Embarked Craft: 2 Planetary Command Module Shuttles

23 @ “CSJP -II” Jet Packs Complement: 8 Command and 15 Crew Passengers: none Navigation: Intertel Optical Tracker-Controlled Inertial Guidance System Computers: Intertel 54 Bravo Limited AI Digital Memory system Energy Weapons: 2 Type I – Medium Ranged (1,000 KM) Xenon Laser Cannon Projectile Weapons: 2 Launchers with 8 Long Range Space Patriot Missiles with Fusion Bomb Warhead Defense: Plastisteel Armor – 25 cm

Active force pressers navigational deflectors. Life Support: Standard UESPA Essential Life Support (ELS-I) (Atmosphere/Air/Food/ Temperature) sup-

port system.

YAMAMATO Class Long Range Interplanetary Battle Cruiser

YAMAMATO Interplanetary Battle Cruiser Flag Joint Chinese (PASA) Japanese Space Agency (NASDA) Project Dates of Service 16 July 2055 – 4 January 2058 Number in Class 3 Displacement 530,000 Kilograms Overall Length 106.5 m Overall Draft 42.8 m Overall Beam 42.8 m Propulsion: 12 Honda Hydrogen Fusion Pulse Thrusters for interplanetary transfer 21,000 kilograms thrust

each Velocity: 154,000 km/h Standard Cruising Speed 221,000 km/h Maximum Cruising Speed 221,000 km/h Maximum Attainable Velocity Duration: 3 years Embarked Craft: 3 Planetary Command Module Lander, 3 Y-55 “Amaratsu” class Space

interceptors, and 66 @ “CSJP-II” Jet Packs Complement: 9 Command and 36 Crew Passengers: Up to 12 embarked Passengers and 9 Flight Crew Navigation: Fujitsu Systems: Optical Tracker-Controlled Inertial Guidance System Computers: Toshiba 7500 Standard Program Dependent Digital Memory Energy Weapons: Eight – Single Barreled Laser Type II Chemical Mitsubishi Corporation –Tactical High En-

ergy Laser anti-ship/missile defense system. Projectile Weapons: Four CSS-22 Space Huang Missile Launchers with 36 Tactical Nuclear warhead Huang Mis-

siles Defense: 23.5 cm Plastisteel Armor Life Support: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries: ECLSS consists of an air revitalization system,


LIBERTY Class Long Range Interplanetary Cruiser LIBERTY Interplanetary Cruiser Flag Joint London Treat Alliance (LTA) and United Nations (UESPA) development UNESPA flagged Ships. Dates of Service July 4th 2055- December 31st 2105 Number in Class 40 Displacement 750,000 Kilograms Overall Length 85 m Overall Draft 23 m Overall Beam 85 m Propulsion: 4 General Dynamics Improved Hydrogen Cold Fusion Thrusters for interplanetary transfer

52,000 kilograms thrust each Velocity: 135,000 km/h Standard Cruising Speed 202,500 km/h Maximum Cruising Speed 202,500 km/h Maximum Attainable Velocity Duration: 1 year Embarked Craft: 4 Planetary Command Module Shuttles

46 @ “CSJP -II” Jet Packs Complement: 12 Command and 34 Crew Passengers: none Navigation: Intertel Optical Tracker-Controlled Inertial Guidance System Computers: Intertel 54 Bravo Limited AI Digital Memory system Energy Weapons: 4 Type I – Medium Ranged (1,000 KM) Xenon Laser Cannon Projectile Weapons: 4 Launchers with 12 Long Range Space Patriot Missiles with Fusion Bomb Warhead Defense: Plastisteel Armor – 25 cm Active force pressers navigational deflectors. Life Support: Standard UESPA Essential Life Support (ELS-I) (Atmosphere/Air/Food/ Temperature) sup-

port system.

CELESTIAL DRAGON Class Orbital Weapons Platform

CELESTIAL DRAGON Orbital Weapons Platform Flag Joint Chinese (PASA) Japanese Space Agency (NASDA) Project Dates of Service 30 April 2055 – 4 January 2058 Number in Class 1 Displacement 1,250,000 Kilograms Overall Length 215.0 m Overall Draft 61.4 m Overall Beam 35.6 m Propulsion: 2 Mitsubishi Hydrogen Fusion Mega Pulse Thrusters

136,000 kilograms thrust each Velocity: 110,000 km/h Standard Cruising Speed 110,000 km/h Maximum Cruising Speed 110,000 km/h Maximum Attainable Velocity Duration: 8 years Embarked Craft: 6 Planetary Command Module Lander, 12 Y-55 “Amaratsu” class Space

interceptors, and 153 @ “CSJP-II” Jet Packs Complement: 15 Command and 72 Crew Passengers: Up to 36 embarked Passengers and 30 Flight Crew Navigation: Fujitsu Systems: Optical Tracker-Controlled Inertial Guidance System Computers: Toshiba 7500 Standard Program Dependent Digital Memory Energy Weapons: One – Type IV Argon Laser, Zhongnanhai Electronics, Twelve – Double Barreled Laser Type II Chemical Mitsubishi Corporation –Tactical High

Energy Laser anti-ship/missile defense system. Projectile Weapons: Twelve CSS-22 Space Huang Missile Launchers with 36 Tactical Nuclear warhead Huang

Missiles Defense: 23.5 cm Plastisteel Armor Life Support: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries: ECLSS consists of an air revitalization system,


The War Ends….. Once more past the brink

The CAM-117 Class Battleship entered service with the London Treaty Alli-ance Space Navy in May of 2057. In design study before the start of the Third World War, plans were accelerated once global conflict was init i-ated. By 2055, the Liberty class cruiser had entered service, a move that was quickly matched by the Eastern Coalition with their Yamato class. The LTA Intelligence Agency learned that these cruisers were being developed to support an orbital weapons plat form carrying a massive laser that could be used on both space and ground targets. To combat this, a crash course construction program on two hulls was started at the Lunar Dock-yards on Farside. The EC’s platform was launched on April 30th, 2057 and destroyed the LTA Headquarters facility at Thule, Greenland. The attack necessitated that the platform use almost all its consumables and it was unable to engage Earthbound targets until it was refueled. UES Texas, the first CAM-117, was launched on May 1, 2057. She was joined the following day by her sister, UES Washington. Both vessels en-gaged and destroyed an EC tanker carrying lasing consumables to the orbiting platform. The following day they engaged a screen of Ryuujin

destroyers, destroying five of the ten. Linking up with the UES Liberty, they then moved on and destroyed all three Yamato class cruisers. The UES Washington suffered a laser hit in her engine and was forced to return to Luna. Texas and Liberty engaged and destroyed three of the Ryuujins protecting the weapons platform and then finished off the platform itself. The CAM-117 was essentially built around her primary weapon – a mas-sive particle accelerator cannon that comprised one-third of the mass of the ship. In addition, she carried a number of chemical lasers and nu-clear rockets for either close-in combat or for when the PAC was being recharged. The CAM-117 was powered by a McKinley Ion Thrust engine rated at 3 million pounds. Such a powerful engine resulted in a truly phenomenal top speeds. However, fuel consumption was also astronomical and inex-perienced crews often found themselves limping home on the end of a tow-cable when they maintained top speed for too long. As such, the vessels came to be known as “nuclear kites” by their fellow spacers. After the war, the CAM-117 became the primary Ship of the Line for the next ten years and a total of ten of these vessels were built.

TEXAS Class Long Range Interplanetary Battleship TEXAS Interplanetary Battleship Flag Joint London Treat Alliance (LTA) and United Nations (UESPA) development UNESPA

flagged Ships. Dates of Service May 1st 2057- December 31st 2086 Number in Class 10 Displacement 1,500,000 Kilograms Overall Length 100 m Overall Draft 85 m Overall Beam 85 m Propulsion: One McKinley Ion-Drive Nuclear Ion Engine (3 million pounds thrust) pulsed laser reaction control system Velocity: 175,000 km/h Standard Cruising Speed 252,500 km/h Maximum Cruising Speed 252,500 km/h Maximum Attainable Velocity Duration: 2 years Embarked Craft: 6 Planetary Command Module Shuttles

78 @ “CSJP -II” Jet Packs Complement: 16 Command and 52 Crew Passengers: none Navigation: Intertel Optical Tracker-Controlled Inertial Guidance System Computers: Intertel 54 Bravo Limited AI Digital Memory system Energy Weapons: 6 Improved Type I – Long Ranged (10,000 KM) Di-Xenon Laser Cannons Projectile Weapons: 9 Launchers with 16 Extra Long Range Space Patriot Missiles (25,000 KM) with Fusion Bomb Warhead Defense: Plastisteel Armor – 25 cm Active force pressers navigational deflectors. Life Support: Standard UESPA Essential Life Support (ELS-I) (Atmosphere/Air/Food/ Temperature) sup-

port system.

First Contact

As a result of the devastation of World War Three, space flight was virtually halted in the late 2050’s. Technological advances were non-existent and except for policing flights by UESPA flagged LTA ships; there were no new exploration of the solar system. The Terran governments had to pre-serve what resources they had for rebuilding. But some entrepreneurs and engineers still kept a vision alive of reaching for the stars. One such was Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s own Dr. Zephram Cochrane. Cochrane piloted Earth’s first faster-than-light space flight. Cochrane’s ship, the Phoenix, is a tiny vessel that, ironically, was built from an unused titan-iv left over from the third world war. Though recently used as a weapon of war, (the titans were used to launch the retaliatory strikes against the Eastern Coalition) it was the only launcher available with enough throw weight to get the Phoenix out of the Earth’s gravit y well. The Phoenix itself was protected by the shroud of the 2nd/3rd stage of the rocket, which protected the fragile warp nacelles as it left the Earth’s at-mosphere. Once free of the atmosphere, the twin nacelles were deployed and the Warp Engines were brought on line, for that first successful test. The warp signature of the Phoenix attracted the attention of a passing Vulcan ship, indicating that humankind now has the capacity for interstellar travel. Within a day of the Phoenix’s epic flight, Cochrane becomes the first human to officially make contact with extraterrest rial life, when the Vul-can ship lands at Cochrane’s Montana base on the North American continent. The event sparks a remarkable turning point in the difficult recovery from Earth’s terrible nuclear war and marks the beginning of humanity’s interstellar age.

PHOENIX Class Warp Vessel Prototype Flag Private venture prototype Dates of Service April 5 2063 - July 3, 2068 Number in Class 1 Displacement 455,477.3 Kilograms for Launcher 18,272 Kg for Warp Vessel Overall Length 88.5 meters 14.75 meters Overall Draft 10.5 meters 3.5 meters / 17.4 meters

Nacelles extended Overall Beam 10.5 meters 3.5 meters Propulsion:

Primary: Cochrane Experimental Warp Drive Secondary: One Brack Industries Ion-Drive Nuclear Ion Engine (30,000 kg thrust)

pulsed laser reaction control system Launch: Multi Staged (LR-87-11, LR-91-11 and RL-10a-3a) (1,307,380 kg thrust) Velocity: 87,500 km/h Standard Cruising Speed Warp One Maximum Cruising Speed Warp One point two Maximum Attainable Velocity Duration: 1 day Embarked Craft: none Complement: 3 Command Passengers: none Navigation: Intertel Optical Tracker-Controlled Inertial Guidance System Computers: Intertel 54 Bravo Limited AI Digital Memory system Energy Weapons: none Projectile Weapons: none Defense: Aluminum Armor – 2.0 cm Life Support: Standard UESPA Essential Life Support (ELS-I) (Atmosphere/Air/Food/ Temperature) sup-

port system.

Zephram Cochrane pilots Earth’s first faster-than-light space flight. Cochrane’s ship, the Phoenix, is a tiny vessel that, ironically, was built from an un-used nuclear missile left over from the third world war. The warp signature of the Phoenix attracts the attention of a passing Vulcan ship, indicating that humankind now has the capacity for interstel-lar travel. Within a day of the Phoenix’s epic flight, Cochrane becomes the first human to officially make contact with extraterrestrial life, when the Vulcan ship lands at Cochrane’s Montana base on the North Ameri-can continent. The event sparks a remarkable turning point in the difficult recovery from Earth’s terrible nuclear war and marks the beginning of humanity’s interstellar age.

Appendices

Vostok Appendix In the spring of 1957 Korolev organised project section 9, with Tikhonravov at its chief, to design new space-craft. Simultaneous with this they were building the first earth satellites - the PS-1, PS-2 and Object D (which would be Sputniks 1, 2, and 3). By April they had completed a research plan to build a piloted spacecraft and an unmanned lunar probe, using the R-7 as the basis for the launch vehicle. Studies indicated that the R-7 with a third stage could lift 5 tonnes into low earth orbit. The manned spacecraft work led them into new fields of research in re-entry, thermal protection, and hyper-sonic aerodynamics. The initial study material was reviewed by mathematicians at the Academy of Science. It was found that a maximum of 10 G's would result in a ballistic re-entry from earth obit. From September 1957 to January 1958 Tikhonravov's section examined heating conditions, surface temperatures, heat shield materials, and obtainable maximum payloads for a wide range of aerodynamic forms with hypersonic lift to drag ratios ranging from zero to a few points. Parametric trajectory calculations were made using successive approximations on the BESM-1 electromechanical computer. The necessity to refine and qualify the lifting design seemed a major impediment to meeting a quick pro-gram schedule. Then in April 1958 aviation medicine research using human subjects in a centrifuge showed that pilots could endure up to 10 G's without ill effects. This allowed a pure ballistic design, removing a major stumbling block, and allowing the study to move quickly to the advanced project stage. Detailed design of the spacecraft layout, structures, equipment, and materials were all done in parallel. This required everything to be redesigned 2 to 3 times, but resulted in a quick final design. The advance project was completed by the middle of August 1958. Konstantin Feoktistov was one of the leading enthusiasts in this effort. After selec-tion of the ballistic concept, the shape of the re-entry vehicle had to be symmetrical. A sphere was the sim-plest such form, having the same aerodynamic characteristics at all angles of attack and all velocities. By putting the centre of mass aft of the centre of the sphere, the re-entry vehicle would naturally assume the correct orientation for re-entry. Due to a bitter fight with the military over the nature and priority of the manned spacecraft and photo-reconnaissance space programs, the final decree for the Vostok was not issued until 22 May 1959. This authorised production of a single design that could be used either as a manned spacecraft or as a military reconnaissance satellite. On 10 December 1959 a decree setting forth the work on the first manned spacecraft was issued. In April 1960 the draft project w as completed. This defined the various versions of the spacecraft to be produced: Both the 1K and 3K versions would have a 2.4 tonne SA re-entry capsule, and 2.3 tonne PO service module, and a 1600 kgf TDU braking engine. The Vostok crew accommodation was for one cosmonaut, in a spacesuit, equipped with an ejection seat for launch aborts and for landing on the earth. The spacecraft had two windows: one above the cosmonaut's head in the entry hatch, one at his feet, equipped with the Vzor optical device for orientation of the space-craft. Attitude control was by cold gas thrusters for on-orbit orientation; passive control for the capsule during re-entry. A single parachute allowed recovery of the capsule. There was no soft-landing system; the pilot ejected for a separate landing under his own parachute. Instrumentation on the Vostoks was rudimentary in the extreme. There were no gyros and no eight-ball for manoeuvring as on Mercury or Gemini. To decide when to re-enter, the cosmonaut had a little clockwork globe that showed current position over the earth. By pushing a button to the right of the globe, it would be advanced to the landing position assuming a stan-dard re-entry at that moment. The most crucial on-board system was the guidance system. A May 1959 report covering ballistic computa-tions of variances in landing from orbit showed that the biggest danger was incorrect orientation for retrofire. B E Chertok was in charge of the orientation system. It consisted of two redundant systems: an automatic/

solar orientation system and a manual/visual orientation system. Either system could operate two redundant cold nitrogen gas thruster systems, each with 10 kg of gas. The automatic solar orientation system consisted of solar sensors, DUS-L2 angle of flight sensors, and an SRB analogue computer unit. The TDU would only fire if the sun sensors - consisting of a slit arranged over three photocells - indicated correct orientation. The DUS-L2 angle of flight sensor utilised two-step double gyro-scopes with mechanically opposed directions. The SRB used these inputs and generated impulses to carry out the burn. The cosmonaut could also take manual control of the spacecraft and manually re-enter. This was done by using the ingenious Vzor periscope device mounted on the floor of the cabin. This had a central view and eight ports arranged in a circle around the center. When the spacecraft was perfectly centered in respect to the horizon, all eight of the ports would be lit up. Alignment along the orbit was judged by getting lines on the main scope to be aligned with the landscape flowing by below. In this way, the spacecraft could be oriented correctly for the re-entry manoeuvre. This manual system would obviously only be used during day-light portions of the orbit. At night the dark mass of the earth could not have been lined up with the optical Vzor device. The automatic system would work day or night. 10 minutes after TDU cut-off after the retrofire burn the PO separated from the KA. 1960 was a year of intense testing. In test rigs the hatch seal was tested 50 times, spacecraft separation from the last rocket stage 15 times, SA/PO separation 5 times, and separation of the retaining straps form the SA 16 times. The SA capsule was dropped from an An-12 aircraft at 9 to 12 km to test the parachute and ejection seat systems. The life support system was tested at altitude in a Tu-104 aircraft and in thermal chambers. The ejection seat was tested from 4 km to the altitude of cut-off of the first stage of the Vostok rocket, simulating cosmonaut escape during launch vehicle aborts. Seven spacecraft were built for flight tests. Korolev person-ally hand-picked the equipment to be used on these spacecraft. From the end of 1960 to the beginning of 1961 the 3K unpiloted v ersion of the spacecraft was built and tested. To guarantee their reliability Korolev prohibited introduction of changes not only in the technical documentation but also in the technician staff that prepared them for flight. The military developed the re-covery forces and techniques, including appropriate aircraft, helicopters, and handling equipment. At that time it was felt that there was a 60% chance on each launch of an abort requiring rescue operations for the cosmonaut. The official draft project for the 3KA manned spacecraft was not completed until the end of July 1961, long after the first flight of the actual spacecraft. The Vostok and Voskhod spacecraft, like the U.S. Mercury, could not perform orbital manoeuvres - they could only be translated around their axes. The main engine was used only at the end of the mission for the re-entry braking manoeuvre. However Korolev, before being authorised to proceed with development of the Soyuz, did study the Vostok Zh. This would have been a manoeuvrable Vostok that would have made repetitive dockings with propulsion modules - a method of achieving a circumlunar mission using only the Soyuz booster. Later on manoeuvrable versions of the Vostok were developed as Zenit reconnaissance satellites. The Vostok could not be used for circumlunar missions or earth missions with non-astronaut qaulified crew due to the 'Sharik' reentry vehicle design. The spherical design itself was ingenious - it has no manoeuvring engines to orient it, since it is like a ball with the heavy weight concentrated at one end - if you throw it in the air (or re-enter the atmosphere with it ) it will automatically swing around with the heavy end downward. The only problem is that it is only capable of a purely ballistic re-entry, which mea ns 8 G's for the occupant from earth orbit and 20 G's from the moon. Mercury was ballistic, but Gemini, Apollo, and Soyuz all had the center of gravity offset, so they could produce lift, lower the G forces, and manoeuvre somewhat to vary the land-ing point. This reduced G's to 3 G for earth orbit returns and 8 G's for lunar returns. First manned spacecraft. Derivatives were still in use over thirty years later, for military photo-reconnaissance, earth resources, map-ping, and biological missions.

In the spring of 1957 Tikhonravov began study of a manned orbital spacecraft. The April 1958 preliminary d e-sign indicated a mass of 5.0 to 5.5 tonnes, 8 to 9 G re-entry, spherical capsule, 2500 to 3500 deg C re-entry temperatures. The heat shield would weigh 1300 to 1500 kg, and the landing accuracy would be 100 to 170 km. Operating altitude was 250 km. The ast ronaut would eject from the spacecraft at an altitude of 8 to 10 km. Construction drawings were issued beginning in the fall of 1958. The official decree to begin development was issued only on 22 May 1959. From the end of 1960 six unmanned Vostok variants were launched. The mili-tary developed the recovery forces and techniques, including appropriate aircraft, helicopters, and handling equipment. At that time it was felt that there was a 60% chance on each launch of an abort requiring rescue operations for the cosmonaut. The Vostok crew accommodation was for one cosmonaut, in a spacesuit, equipped with an ejection seat for launch aborts and for landing on the earth. The spacecraft had two windows: one above the cosmonaut's head in the entry hatch, one at his feet, equipped with the Vzor optical device for orientation of the space-craft. Attitude control was by cold gas thrusters for on-orbit orientation; passive control for the capsule during re-entry. A single parachute allowed recovery of the capsule. There was no soft-landing system; the pilot ejected for a separate landing under his own parachute. The Vostok and Voskhod spacecraft, like the US Mercury, could not perform orbital manoeuvres - they could only be translated around their axes. The main engine was not restartable and was used only at the end of the mission for the re-entry braking manoeuvre. However Korolev, before being authorised to proceed with development of the Soyuz, did study the Vostok Zh. This would have been a manoeuvrable Vostok that would have made repetitive dockings with propulsion modules - a method of achieving a circumlunar mission using only the Soyuz booster. Later on manoeuvrable versions of the Vostok were developed as Zenit reconnais-sance satellites. Instrumentation on the Vostoks was rudimentary in the extreme. There was no gyro platform and no eight-ball for manoeuvring as on Gemini. The re-entry manoeuvre was normally handled automatically by radio com-mand. The spacecraft was oriented horizontally using infrared sensors. Alignment along the orbital axis was made using sun and star sensors. In the event of failure of the automatic systems, the cosmonaut could take manual control of the spacecraft. This was done by using the ingenious Vzor periscope device mounted on the floor of the cabin. This had a central view and eight ports arranged in a circle around the centre. When the spacecraft was perfectly cen-tred in respect to the horizon, all eight of the ports would be lit up. Alignment along the orbit was judged by getting lines on the main scope to be aligned with the landscape flowing by below. In this way, the space-craft could be oriented correctly for the re-entry manoeuvre. To decide when to re-enter, the cosmonaut had a little clockwork globe that showed current position over the earth. By pushing a button to the right of the globe, it would be advanced to the landing position assum-ing a standard re-entry at that moment. This manual system would obviously only be used during daylight portions of the orbit. At night the dark mass of the earth could not have been lined up with the optical Vzor device. The automatic system would work day or night. The Vostok could not be used for circumlunar missions or earth missions with non-astronaut qualified crew due to the 'Sharik' re-entry vehicle design. The spherical design itself is ingenious - it has no manoeuvring engines to orient it, since it is like a ball with the heavy weight concentrated at one end - if you throw it in the air (or re-enter the atmosphere with it ) it will automatically swing around with the heavy end downward. The only problem is that it is only capable of a purely ballistic re-entry, which means 8 G's for the occupant from earth orbit and 20 G's from the moon. Mercury was ballistic, but Gemini, Apollo, and Soyuz all had the centre of gravity offset, so they could produce lift, lower the G forces, and manoeuvre somewhat to vary the landing point. This reduced G's to 3 G for earth orbit returns and 8 G's for lunar returns.

Major Events: . 01 June 1956 First studies by Korolev OKB of manned spacecraft Spacecraft: Vostok 3KA. Launch Vehicle: Vostok 8K72 . More details Summary: First studies by Korolev and Feoktistov of manned spacecraft. The first stage would be suborbital ballistic flights (like the US Mercury-Redstone flights) from Kapustin Yar using IRBM's. First flights not planned until 1964 - 1967. 01 January 1958 Work begun on Vostok spacecraft and third stage Spacecraft: Vostok 3KA. Launch Vehicle: Vostok 8K72 . More details 01 May 1958 Korolev OKB cancels suborbital manned flights Spacecraft: Vostok 3KA. More details Decision to move directly to early manned flights in orbit. Korolev, after a review with engineers, determines that planned three stage versions of the R-7 ICBM could launch a manned orbital spacecraft. Korolev advo-cates pursuit of manned spaceflight at the expense of the military's Zenit reconnsat program, putting him in opposition to Ustinov. 01 July 1958 Korolev letter to Politburo Spacecraft: Vostok 3KA. More details Summary: First explanation to leadership of advantages of manned spaceflight. 01 November 1958 Vostok program approved Spacecraft: Vostok 3KA. More details Council of Chief designers approves Vostok program, in combination with Zenit reconnsat program. After bit-ter disputes, a compromise solution is reached. Korolev may proceed with development of Vostok for manned flights at the earliest possible date. However the design will be such that the same spacecraft can be used to fullfill the military's Zenit unmanned photo-reconnaisance sattelite requirement. 01 March 1960 20 Cosmonaut candidates report for Vostok training Spacecraft: Vostok 3KA. More details 15 May 1960 Korabl -Sputnik 1 Spacecraft: Vostok 1K. Mass: 2,500 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Vostok 8K72 . More details The Soviet Union launched a Vostok 1KP prototype manned spacecraft (without heat shield; not recoverable) into near-earth orbit. Called Sputnik IV by the Western press. On May 19, at 15:52 Moscow time, the space-craft was commanded to retrofire. However the guidance system had oriented the spacecraft incorrectly and the TDU engine instead put the spacecraft into a higher orbit. Soviet scientists said that conditions in the cabin, which had separated from the remainder of the spacecraft, were normal. Officially: Development and checking of the main systems of the space ship satellite, which ensure its safe flight and control in flight, return to Earth and conditions needed for a man in flight. 15 May 1960 Sputnik 4 Cabin Spacecraft: Vostok 1K. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Vostok 8K72 . More details 28 July 1960 Korabl-Sputnik Spacecraft: Vostok 1K. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Vostok 8K72 . More details Summary: First attempted flight of the Vostok 1K manned spacecraft prototype. Dogs Chaika and Lisi-chka perished in the explosion of the rocket. 19 August 1960 Korabl-Sputnik 2 Spacecraft: Vostok 1K. Mass: 1,440 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehi-cle: Vostok 8K72 . More details The Soviet Union launched its second unmanned test of the Vostok spacecraft, the Korabl Sputnik II, or Sputnik V. The spacecraft carried two dogs, Strelka and Belka, in addition to a gray rabbit, rats, mice, flies, plants, fungi, microscopic water plants, and seeds. Electrodes attached to the dogs and linked with the spacecraft communications system, which included a television camera, enabled Soviet scientists to check the animals' hearts, blood pressure, breathing, and actions during the trip. After the spacecraft reentered and landed safely the next day, the animals and biological specimens were reported to be in good condition.

Officially: Development of systems ensuring man's life functions and safety in flight and his return to Earth. 01 December 1960 Korabl-Sputnik 3 Spacecraft: Vostok 1K. Mass: 4,563 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Ve-hicle: Vostok 8K72 . More details The Soviet Union launched its third spaceship satellite, Korabl Sputnik III , or Sputnik VI. The spacecraft, similar to those launched on May 15 and August 19, carried the dogs Pcheka and Mushka in addition to other animals, insects, and plants. Deorbited December 2, 1960 7:15 GMT. Burned up on reentry due to steep entry angle (retrofire engine did not shut off on schedule and burned to fuel depletion). Officially: Medical and biological research under space flight conditions. Officially: Medical and biological research under space flight conditions. 22 December 1960 Korabl-Sputnik Spacecraft: Vostok 1K. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Vostok 8K72K . More details Unable to reach orbital velocity, the Vostok prototype separated while the third stage was still firing. While the ejection seat failed to operate, the capsule did make a hard landing in severe winter conditons in Siberia. It was recovered after some time, and the dogs Kometa and Shutka were alive. As a result of this flight the ejec-tion seat was developed with a heat shield designed to protect the pilot in the event of a launch vehicle fail-ure up to shut down of the first stage. 09 March 1961 Korabl-Sputnik 4 Spacecraft: Vostok 3KA. Mass: 4,700 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehi-cle: Vostok 8K72K . More details Carried dog Chernushka, mannequin Ivan Ivanovich, and other biological specimens. Ivanovich was ejected from the capsule and recovered by parachute, and Chernsuhka was successfully recovered with the capsule on March 9, 1961 8:10 GMT. Officially: Development of the design of the space ship satellite and of the sys-tems on board, which ensure necessary conditions for man's flight. 25 March 1961 Korabl-Sputnik 5 Spacecraft: Vostok 3KA. Mass: 4,695 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehi-cle: Vostok 8K72K . More details Carried dog Zvezdochka and mannequin Ivan Ivanovich. Ivanovich was again ejected from the capsule and recovered by parachute, and Zvezdochka was successfully recovered with the capsule on March 25, 1961 7:40 GMT. Officially: Development of the design of the space ship satellite and of the systems on board, designed to en-sure man's life functions during flight in outer space and return to Earth. 12 April 1961 Vostok 1 Spacecraft: Vostok 3KA. Mass: 4,725 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Vostok 8K72K . More details First manned spaceflight, one orbit of the earth. 11 April 1961 was a 'reserve' day in the launch plan, but it was not needed. All the Chief Designers and Military Space chiefs were at the cosmodrome. Gagarin spent that day in meetings with the prominent personalities. Three press releases were prepared, one for success, two for failures. It was only known ten minutes after burn-out, 25 minutes after launch, if a stable orbit had been achieved. The payload included life-support equipment and radio and television to relay information on the condition of the pilot. The flight was automated; Gagarin's controls were locked to prevent him from taking control of the ship. A key was available in a sealed envelope in case it became necessary to take control in an emergency. After retrofire, the service module remained attached to the Sharik reentry sphere by a wire bundle. The joined craft went through wild gyrations at the beginning of reentry, before the wires burned through. The Sharik, as it was designed to do, then naturally reached aerodynamic equilibrium with the reentry shield posi-tioned correctly.

Mercury Appendix Mercury was America's first man-in-space project. Setting the precedent for the later Gemini, Apollo, and Shuttle programs, any capsule configuration proposed by the contractors was ac-ceptable as long as it was the one NASA's Langley facility, and in particular, Max Faget, had de-veloped. McDonnell, at that time a renegade contractor of innovative Navy fighters that had a history of problems in service, received the contract. The capsule had to be as small as possible to match the payload capability of America's first ICBM, the Atlas, which would be used for or-bital missions. The resulting design was less than a third of the weight of the Russian Vostok space-craft, and more limited as a result. While the Vostok was capable of missions of up to a week, the Mercury's final 24 hour mission was barely completed, with virtually all of the spacecraft's systems having broken down by the end. NASA felt lucky to have astronaut Cooper back alive (although the flight demonstrated a pinpoint re-entry was possible with no electrical power, no ECS, no guidance or instruments!) and cancelled Alan Shepard's desired week-long Mercury 10 flight. Major Events: . 18 June 1952 Blunt reentry vehicle concept advocated. H. Julian Allen of NACA Ames Laboratory conceived the "blunt nose principle" which submitted that a blunt shape would absorb only one-half of 1 percent of the heat generated by the reentry of a body into the earth's atmosphere. This principle was later significant to ICBM nose cone and the Mercury capsule development. 01 February 1956 USAF RFP - Manned Ballistic Rocket Research System USAF issues request for industry proposals for Project 7969 Manned Ballistic Rocket Research Sys-tem. Two year study period. 01 December 1957 Mercury ballistic shape proposed. : Maxime Faget of NACA Langley proposed ballistic shape of Mercury capsule, while A. Eggers of Ames and E. S. Love and J. V. Becker of Langley proposed glider configurations of manned spacecraft later incorporated in Dyna-Soar and Apollo studies. 15 January 1958 Eleven proposals for initial manned spacecraft 01 October 1958 NASA created 07 October 1958 Project Mercury organized. NASA formally organized Project Mercury to: (1) place manned space capsule in orbital flight around the earth; (2) investigate man's reactions to and capabilities in this environment; and (3) recover capsule and pilot safely. A NASA Space Task Group organized at Langley Research Center drew up specifications for the Mercury capsule, based on studies by the National Adv i-sory Committee for Aeronautics during the preceding 12 months, and on discussions with the Air Force which had been conducting related studies. 07 November 1958 Bidders conference for Mercury Spacecraft: Mercury. More details 26 November 1958 Project Mercury named. Spacecraft: Mercury. More details Summary: Project Mercury, U.S. manned-satellite program, was officially named by NASA. 11 December 1958 Eleven proposals for Mercury received Spacecraft: Mercury. More details 17 December 1958 First US manned project announced name Mercury Spacecraft: Mercury. 17 December 1958 Manned satellite program would be called "Project Mercury" Spacecraft: Mercury. More details Summary: NASA Administrator T. Keith Glennan announced that the

manned satellite program would be called "Project Mercury.". 08 January 1959 Redstones ordered for Mercury suborbital launches. Launch Vehicle: Redstone . More details Summary: NASA requested eight Redstone-type launch vehicles from the Army to be used in Project Mercury development flights. 12 January 1959 McDonnell awarded contract for Mercury project Spacecraft: Mercury. More details Summary: 12 capsules to be built. Other leading contender was Grumman. Original schedule was for manned flights from January - August 1960. 02 April 1959 Seven astronauts selected for Mercury project. Spacecraft: Mercury. More details Seven astronauts were selected for Project Mercury after a series of the most rigorous physical and mental tests ever given to U.S. test pilots. Chosen from a field of 110 candidates, the finalists were all qualified test pilots: Capts. Leroy G. Cooper, Jr., Virgil I. Grissom, and Donald K. Slayton, (USAF); Lt. Malcolm S. Carpenter, Lt. Comdr. Alan B. Shepard, Jr., and Lt. Comdr. Watler M. Schirra, Jr. (USN); and Lt. Col. John H. Glenn (USMC). 09 April 1959 First group of US astronauts announced Spacecraft: Mercury. More details Summary: At a press conference in Washington, D.C., NASA Administrator T. Keith Glennan announced the seven pilots had been selected for the Mercury program. 27 April 1959 Mercury search and rescue procedures developed. Spacecraft: Mercury. More de-tails Summary: Meeting of DOD working group on Project Mercury search and recovery opera-tions was held at Patrick Air Force Base, with major emphasis placed on the first two ballistic Atlas shots, and command relationships. 12 May 1959 Mercury astronauts begin training. More details Summary: NASA announced train-ing program for seven Project Mercury astronauts to provide them with technical knowledge and skills required to pilot the Nation's manned orbital capsule. 01 July 1959 Mercury astronaut MASTIF training. More details Summary: Project Mercury astro-nauts completed disorientation flights on three-axis space-flight simulator, the MASTIF (Multiple Axis Space Test Inertia Facility), at NASA Lewis Research Center. 08 July 1959 Jupiter deleted as Mercury launch vehicle. Launch Vehicle: Juno II . More details Summary: As developmental planning for Project Mercury evolved, NASA notified the Army that to reduce the variety of launching vehicles to Jupiter missile would not be used for Project Mer-cury tests. 20 July 1959 Mercury tracking station contractor selected. More details Summary: NASA selected Western Electric Co. to build worldwide network of tracking and ground instrument stations to be used in Project Mercury. 02 September 1959 Mercury-LJ 1 Launch Vehicle: Little Joe . More details Summary: Launching of Mercury capsule mockup from Wallops Station to test the escape and recovery systems; emer-gency escape rocket accidentally fired 30 minutes before scheduled firing of the Little Joe booster. 09 September 1959 Mercury-BJ 1 Spacecraft: Mercury. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: Atlas D . More details Summary: Suborbital. NASA boilerplate model of Mercury capsule successfully launched on an Atlas (Big Joe) missile from AMR and recovered in South Atlantic af-ter surviving reentry heat of more than 10,000°F.

04 October 1959 Mercury-LJ 2 Launch Site: Wallops Island . More details Summary: NASA Little Joe launch vehicle carrying a boilerplate Mercury capsule with a dummy escape system successfully launched from Wallops Station, Va. 01 November 1959 Mercury spacesuit delivered. More details Summary: Prototype Goodrich full-pressure Mercury astronaut suits (modified Navy Mark IV) were delivered to NASA. Navy Air Crew Equipment Laboratory (NACEL) of Philadelphia fitted suits and indoctrinated the astronauts on their use. 04 December 1959 Mercury-LJ 3 Spacecraft: Mercury. Launch Site: Wallops Island . More details Summary: Third Little Joe, successfully launched at NASA Wallops Station as part of Project Mer-cury development program, carried a monkey named "Sam" 55 miles into space which was re-covered safely. 31 December 1959 Mercury astronauts complete classroom training. More details Summary: Mer-cury astronauts completed basic and theoretical studies in their training program and started practical engineering studies. 19 March 1960 Mercury tracking agreements with foreign countries More details Summary: United States-Spanish agreement on Project Mercury tracking station in Canary Islands was announced (1 of 16 similar agreements with other nations). 01 April 1960 Mercury astronauts complete centrifuge training. More details Summary: Seven Mer-cury astronauts completed training session at the Navy Aviation Medical Acceleration Labora-tory, Johnsville, Pa. 12 April 1960 First production Mercury capsule delivered. Spacecraft: Mercury. More details Sum -mary: First production model of McDonnell-built Mercury capsule was delivered to NASA. 29 April 1960 Mercury tracking agreements completed. More details Summary: Milestone achieved in completion of interim or formal agreements concluded for all oversea Mercury track-ing stations. 09 May 1960 Beach Abort 1 Spacecraft: Mercury. Launch Site: Wallops Island . More details First production model of Project Mercury spacecraft was successfully launched from NASA Wal-lops Station to test escape, landing, and recovery systems. Known as the "beach abort" shot, the Mercury capsule reached 775 m before parachute landing and pickup by Marine helicopter re-turned it to Wallops' hangar 17 minutes after launch. 29 July 1960 Mercury-MA 1 Spacecraft: Mercury. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: Atlas D . Mercury-Atlas 1 (MA-1) was launched from the Atlantic Missile Range in a test of spacecraft struc-tural integrity under maximum heating conditions. After 58.5 seconds of flight, MA-1 exploded and the spacecraft was destroyed upon impact off-shore. None of the primary capsule test objectives were met. 17 October 1960 Mercury weather support group formed. More details Summary: Project Mercury weather support group established at NASA's request in the Office of Meteorological Research of the Weather Bureau. 21 November 1960 Mercury-MR 1 Spacecraft: Mercury. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: Redstone . More details Summary: Suborbital launch attempt. After a four- or five-inch

liftoff, MR-1 launched its escape tower but not the capsule. The undamaged spacecraft was re-covered for reuse. 19 December 1960 Mercury-MR 1A Spacecraft: Mercury. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: Redstone Mercury . More details Suborbital. Unmanned Project Mercury spacecraft launched by modified Redstone booster (MR-1) in a suborbital trajectory, impacting 235 miles downrange after reaching an altitude of 135 miles and a speed of near 4,200 mph. Capsule was recovered about 50 minutes after firing.The objective was to qualify the spacecraft for a primate flight scheduled shortly thereafter. Apart from the launch vehicle cutoff velocity being slightly higher than normal, all flight sequences were satisfactory. 03 January 1961 NASA Space Task Group made official. More details Summary: NASA's Space Task Group, charged with carrying out Project Mercury and other manned space flight programs, officially became a separate NASA field element. 31 January 1961 Mercury-MR 2 Spacecraft: Mercury. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehi-cle: Redstone Mercury . More details Mercury-Redstone 2 was launched successfully from the Atlantic Missile Range, with Ham, a chim-panzee, aboard. Despite the over-acceleration of the launch vehicle, which caused the space-craft to reach a higher altitude than planned, the capsule was recovered safely with Ham in good condition. 21 February 1961 Mercury-MA 2 Spacecraft: Mercury. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Ve-hicle: Atlas D . More details Summary: Mercury-Atlas 2 (unmanned) was launched successfully from the Atlantic Missile Range in a test of maximum heating and its effects during the worst reen-try design conditions. All test objectives were met. 21 February 1961 First Mercury crews selected. More details Summary: NASA Space Task Group selected John H. Glenn, Jr., Virgil I. Grissom, and Alan B. Shepard, Jr., to begin special training for first manned Mercury space flight. 15 March 1961 Mercury Bermuda tracking station agreement. More details Summary: United States and United Kingdom signed agreement covering Mercury tracking stations on Bermuda. 18 March 1961 Mercury LJ-6 Spacecraft: Mercury. Launch Site: Wallops Island . More details Sum -mary: Little Joe 6 fired Mercury spacecraft from Wallops, resulted in limited test of escape system because of unprogrammed sequence. 24 March 1961 Mercury MR-3A Spacecraft: Mercury. More details After booster problems on the Mercury MR-2 chimp test flight, Von Braun insisted on a further un-manned booster test flight, against the wishes of Shepard and others at NASA. A Mercury boiler-plate capsule was launched on a flawless test on 24 March. If NASA had overruled Von Braun, the manned Freedom 7 capsule would have flown instead. Shepard would have been the first man in space (though not in orbit), beating Gagarin's flight by three weeks. 24 March 1961 Mercury-MR Boilerplate Spacecraft: Mercury. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: Redstone Mercury . More details Summary: Suborbital test of Redstone modifica-tions, done at NASA's insistence against von Braun's wishes, thereby putting first manned flight af-ter Gagarin's.

Officially: Suborbital. 04 April 1961 Mercury crew refresher centrifuge training. More details Summary: Three astronauts selected for Mercury-Redstone flight (MR-3) were ordered to take refresher course in Navy centri-fuge at Johnsville, Pa. . 25 April 1961 Mercury-MA 3 Spacecraft: Mercury. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: Atlas D . More details Single orbit test attempt. Mercury-Atlas 3 (MA-3) was launched from the Atlantic Missile Range, carrying a "mechanical astronaut" in an intended unmanned orbital flight. Forty seconds after lift-off, MA-3 was destroyed by the range safety officer because the inertial guidance system had failed to pitch the vehicle over toward the horizon. The spacecraft successfully aborted and was recovered a short distance off shore. 28 April 1961 Mercury LJ-5B Launch Site: Wallops Island . More details Little Joe 5B was launched from Wallops Island, carrying a production Mercury spacecraft. In spite of an erroneous trajectory which subjected the capsule to much greater dynamic pressures than planned, the spacecraft and escape system performed successfully. This inadvertently provided an abort test under severe atmospheric flight conditions. 01 May 1961 Webb warns of Mercury failures. Launch Vehicle: Redstone . More details NASA Administrator Webb issued a statement concerning the 2-year Mercury manned space flight program, which said, in part: "NASA has not attempted to encourage press coverage of the first Mercury-Redstone manned flight. It has responded to press and television requests, with the result that over 100 representatives of the press, radio, and TV are now at Cape Canaveral. . . . We must keep the perspective that each flight is but one of the many milestones we must pass. Some will completely succeed in every respect, some partially, and some will fail. From all of them will come mastery of the vast new space environment on which so much of our future depends." 02 May 1961 Mercury MR-3 postponed. Launch Vehicle: Redstone . More details Summary: Manned Mercury-Redstone (MR-3) launch delayed because of rain squalls in the recovery area. . 05 May 1961 Mercury MR-3 Spacecraft: Mercury. Mass: 1,290 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canav eral . Launch Vehicle: Redstone Mercury . More details Alan Shepard first American in space, less than a month after Gagarin and only on a 15 minute suborbital flight. Only manned flight with original capsule (tiny round porthole and periscope a la Vostok). If NASA had not listened to Von Braun, Shepard would have flown on the MR-BD flight of 24 March, beating Gagarin by three weeks and becoming the first man in space (though not in orbit). Shepard's capsule reached an altitude of 115.696 miles, range of 302 miles,and speed of 5,100 miles per hour. He demonstrated control of a vehicle during weightlessness and high G stresses. Recovery operations were perfect; there was no damage to the spacecraft; and Astro-naut Shepard was in excellent condition. 08 May 1961 Shepard feted. More details Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Mercury astronaut, was awarded NASA's Distinguished Service Medal by President Kennedy in a special White House ceremony. It was followed by an informal parade to the Capitol by the seven astronauts for lunch, and a press conference at the State Department auditorium.

09 May 1961 Kennedy decision to allow MR-3 flight defended. Launch Vehicle: Redstone . More details Senator Robert S. Kerr, chairman of the Senate Aeronautical and Space Sciences Committee, told a group at the National Radio and Television Convention that President Kennedy accepted the views of NASA and congressional leaders in approving the manned Mercury-Redstone flight of May 5. 26 May 1961 Freedom 7 displayed at Paris Air Show. Spacecraft: Mercury. More details Summary: Freedom 7, Mercury spacecraft in which Alan B. Shepard, Jr., made his space flight on May 5, was a major drawing card at the Paris International Air Show. Details of the spacecraft and of Shepard's flight were related to about 650,000 visitors. . 13 June 1961 Freedom 7 exhibited in Rome. Spacecraft: Mercury. More details Summary: Free-dom 7 Mercury capsule displayed to approximately 750,000 visitors at the Rassegna International Electronic and Nuclear Fair at Rome, Italy. . 13 July 1961 Mercury MR-6 static engine test Launch Vehicle: Redstone . More details Summary: Mercury-Redstone 6 was static tested for 30 seconds at Marshall Space Flight Center to ensure satisfactory operation of the turbopump assembly. 19 July 1961 Mercury MR-4 launch scrubbed. Spacecraft: Mercury. Launch Vehicle: Redstone . More details Summary: Mercury-Redstone (MR-4) with manned Liberty Bell 7 capsule canceled within minutes of launch because of adverse weather. 21 July 1961 Mercury MR-4 Spacecraft: Mercury. Mass: 1,286 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: Redstone Mercury . More details The Mercury capsule, Liberty Bell 7, manned by Astronaut Virgil I. Grissom, boosted by a Redstone rocket, reached a peak altitude of 190.3 km and a speed of 8,335 km per hour. After a flight of 15 minutes and 37 seconds, the landing was made 487 km downrange from the launch site. The hatch blew while still in water, and the capsule sank; Grissom saved, though his suit was filling up with water through open oxygen inlet lines. This was the second and final manned suborbital Mercury Redstone flight, and the first flight with trapezoidal window. Further suborbital flights (each astronaut was to make one as a training exer-cise) were cancelled. An attempt to recover the capsule in very deep water in 1994 not success-ful. It was finally raised in the summer of 1999. 22 July 1961 Grissom receives NASA Distinguished Service Medal. More details Summary: Astro-naut Virgil Grissom was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal by Administrator Webb at conclusion of MR-4 press conference at Cape Canaveral. 18 August 1961 Further Mercury suborbital flights cancelled. Spacecraft: Mercury. Launch Vehicle: Redstone . More details Summary: NASA announced that analysis of Project Mercury suborbital data indicated that all objectives of that phase of the program had been achieved, and that no further Mercury-Redstone flights were planned. 01 September 1961 Mercury MR-5 Spacecraft: Mercury. More details The original Mercury project plan envisioned all of the astronauts making an initial suborbital hop aboard a Redstone booster before making an orbital flight aboard an Atlas. However delays in the program resulted in the Redstone flights coming much closer to the Atlas flights than planned.

By the time of the first suborbital Mercury flight, the Russians had already orbited Yuri Gagarin. Af-ter Grissom's capsule sunk, it was still planned to fly Glenn on a suborbital flight to prove the cap-sule. But Gherman Titov was launched on a full-day orbital flight in August 1961, making NASA's suborbital hops look pathetic. Glenn was moved to the first orbital Atlas flight, and further suborbi-tal Mercury flights were cancelled. 13 September 1961 Mercury 4 Spacecraft: Mercury. Mass: 1,200 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canav-eral . Launch Vehicle: Atlas D . More details Mercury-Atlas 4, carrying an astronaut simulator was the first earth orbital test of the Mercury spacecraft. After one orbit, the spacecraft reentered. With minor deviations, the flight was highly successful.and recovered 1 hour and 22 minutes after landing in Atlantic by destroyer U.S.S. De-catur. This MA-4 (capsule 8) flight demonstrated, said NASA Space Task Group Director Robert Gil-ruth, that "Atlas has the capability to fly a man in orbit; it brought in for the first time the Mercury worldwide tracking network; and demonstrated the ability of the capsule and its systems to oper-ate completely unattended". 22 September 1961 Mercury ship recovery provisions. More details Summary: Announced at Space Task Group that a 30-cubic-foot balloon would be installed in Mercury spacecraft to allow for ship recovery should helicopter be forced to drop it as happened during the MR-4 recovery. 01 October 1961 Mercury ship recovery demonstration. More details Summary: Bland demon-strated capability of a destroyer to recover MR-2 Mercury capsule, with Virgil Grissom aboard, from water in series of pickups in lower Chesapeake Bay. 23 October 1961 Freedom 7 deposited in Smithsonian. Spacecraft: Mercury. More details The Freedom 7 Mercury capsule in which Alan B. Shepard, Jr., made the first suborbital space flight, was presented to the National Air Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. In his presentation, NASA Administrator Webb said: "To Americans seeking answers, proof that man can survive in the hostile realm of space is not enough. A solid and meaningful foundation for public support and the basis for our Apollo man-in-space effort is that U.S. astronauts are going into space to do use-ful work in the cause of all their fellow men." 29 October 1961 Mercury-Scout launch announced. Spacecraft: Radio Test Spacecraft. More de-tails Summary: NASA announced that first Mercury-Scout launch to verify the readiness of the worldwide Mercury tracking network would take place at Atlantic Missile Range. 01 November 1961 Mercury Scout-1 Spacecraft: Radio Test Spacecraft. Launch Site: Cape Ca-naveral . Launch Vehicle: Blue Scout 2 . More details Summary: Small satellite was to have verified the readiness of the worldwide Mercury tracking network. 01 November 1961 Mercury MR-6 Spacecraft: Mercury. More details Slayton would probably have flown the fourth manned suborbital Mercury. But after the Russians began orbiting cosmonauts, NASA cancelled further suborbital flights. The MR-6 mission was can-celled by NASA administrator James Webb at the beginning of July, 1961. 12 November 1961 Mercury 5 launch postponed Spacecraft: Mercury. Launch Vehicle: Atlas D . More details Summary: Mercury-Atlas 5, scheduled for launch no earlier than November 14, ran into technical difficulties, postponing launch for several days.

29 November 1961 Mercury 5 Spacecraft: Mercury. Mass: 1,300 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canav-eral . Launch Vehicle: Atlas D . More details The Mercury-Atlas 5 launch from the Atlantic Missile Range placed a Mercury spacecraft carrying chimpanzee Enos into orbit. After a two-orbit flight of 3 hours and 21 minutes, the capsule reen-tered and was recovered 1 hour and 25 minutes later. Enos was reported in excellent condition. No additional unmanned or primate flights were considered necessary before attempting the manned orbital mission scheduled for early 1962. Analysis of the data from the flight indicated that the Mercury-Atlas system and the tracking network were ready for manned orbital flight. 07 December 1961 Mercury manned orbital flight postponed. Spacecraft: Mercury. More details NASA postponed its projected manned orbital flight from December 1961 until early in 1962 be-cause of minor problems with the cooling system and positioning devices in the Mercury capsule, Dr. Hugh Dryden, Deputy Administrator of NASA, said in a Baltimore interview. "You like to have a man go with everything just as near perfect as possible. This business is risky. You can't avoid this, but you can take all the precautions you know about." 13 December 1961 Webb indicates Mercury flight plans. Spacecraft: Mercury. More details NASA Administrator James E. Webb said in a speech in Cleveland that the United States would follow its first manned orbital flight in January 1962 with similar manned orbital flights every 60 days. These would gather data on effects of weightlessness, needed to determine the pacing of the two-man flight program later on. Mr. Webb also forecast the launching of 200 sounding rock-ets, 20 scientific satellites, and 2 deep-space probes in 1962. 20 February 1962 Mercury 6 Spacecraft: Mercury. Mass: 1,355 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: Atlas D . More details First US manned orbital mission. John Glenn finally puts America in orbit. False landing bag deploy light led to reentry being started with retropack left in place on heat shield. It turned out that indi-cator light was false and a spectacular reentry ensued, with glowing chunks of the retropack whizzing by the window. After four hours and 43 minutes the spacecraft reentered the atmos-phere and landed at 2:43 pm EST in the planned recovery area NE of the Island of Puerto Rico. All flight objectives were achieved. Glenn was reported to be in excellent condition. Beause of fai l-ure of one of the automatic systems, the astronaut took over manual control of the spacecraft during part of the flight. With this flight, the basic objectives of Project Mercury had been achieved. 24 May 1962 MA-7 Balloon Subsatellite Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . More details 24 May 1962 Mercury 7 Spacecraft: Mercury. Mass: 1,349 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: Atlas D . More details Scott Carpenter in Aurora 7 is enthralled by his environment but uses too much orientation fuel. Yaw error and late retrofire caused the landing impact point to be over 300 km beyond the in-tended area and beyond radio range of the recovery forces. Landing occurred 4 hours and 56 minutes after liftoff. Astronaut Carpenter was later picked up safely by a helicopter after a long wait in the ocean and fears for his safety. NASA was not impressed and Carpenter left the agency soon thereafter to become an aquanaut. 24 May 1962 Mercury 7 Delta 7 Spacecraft: Mercury.

Astronaut Deke Slayton was to have been the second American in orbit. When Slayton was se-lected as an astronaut in 1959, it was known he had a minor heart fibrillation. This however did not prevent him from being an Air Force test pilot or being selected as an astronaut. But on January 23, 1962 John Glenn's wife refused to do a television appearance with Vice President Lyndon Johnson after a launch scrub of Glenn's mission. Soon thereafter rumours began in McNamara's Pentagon that Glenn had a secret heart condition. It was not Glenn, and his flight went as planned, but in the process Slayton's heart fibrillation came up. After a series of quick develop-ments, Slayton was told he couldn't fly, and was forced to appear at a press conference making that announcement on March 16. The action was seen by many as a warning to the astronauts who was really in charge, although Slayton didn't think there was a direct cause and effect. Slay-ton's three orbit flight would have been called Delta 7. Instead Carpenter was selected for the mission, and Schirra, Slayton's backup, was moved to the Mercury 8 flight. 03 October 1962 Mercury 8 Spacecraft: Mercury. Mass: 1,374 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: Atlas D . The Sigma 7 spacecraft with Astronaut Walter M. Schirra, Jr., as pilot was launched into orbit by a Mercury-Atlas vehicle from Atlantic Missile Range. In the most successful American manned space flight to date, Schirra traveled nearly six orbits, returning to earth at a predetermined point in the Pacific Ocean 9 hours, 13 minutes after liftoff. Within 40 minutes after landing, he and his spacecraft were safely aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Kearsarge. Schirra attempted and achieved a nearly perfect mission by sticking rigorously to mission plan. 15 May 1963 Mercury 9 Spacecraft: Mercury. Mass: 1,376 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: Atlas D . More details Final Mercury mission, Faith 7, was piloted by Astronaut L. Gordon Cooper, Jr. After 22 orbits, virt u-ally all spacecraft systems had failed, and Cooper manually fired the retrorockets and the space-craft reentered the atmosphere, landing safely in the Pacific Ocean 34 hours, 19 minutes, and 49 seconds after liftoff. Cooper was reported in good condition, and this turned out to be the final Mercury flight. 15 May 1963 MA-9 Flashing Light Subsatellite Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . More details 15 May 1963 MA-9 Balloon Subsatellite Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . More details 01 October 1964 Mercury 10 Spacecraft: Mercury. More details NASA and the Mercury managers had to decide whether to undertake another Mercury after Cooper's planned 22 orbit Mercury 9 flight. Walter Williams, Alan Shepard, and others at MSC pushed for a three-day Mercury 10 endurance mission. A capsule was allocated and Shepard had the name 'Freedom 7 II' painted on the side. But the risk and work pending on Gemini per-suaded NASA managers not to undertake another mission unless Mercury 9 failed. By May 11, 1963 Julian Scheer, the new NASA Deputy Assistant Administrator for Public Affairs, announced "It is absolutely beyond question that if this shot [MA-9] is successful there will be no MA-10." The mas-sive breakdown of nearly all systems aboard Mercury 9 convinced NASA that this was the right decision. Aerospace writer Martin Caidin used the Mercury 10 scenario as the basis for his novel, Marooned. In the book, the capsule's retrorockets fail, stranding astronaut Pruett in orbit. He is saved by the combined efforts of NASA Gemini and Russian maneuverable Voskhod spacecraft.

Gemini Appendix

It was obvious to NASA that there was a big gap of three to four years between the last Mercury flight and the first scheduled Apollo flight. There would therefore be no experi-ence in the US in understanding the problems of orbital maneuvering, rendezvous, docking, lifting re-entry, and space walking before the Apollo flights, which required all of these to be successfully accomplished to complete the lunar landing mission. Gemini began as Mercury Mark II to fill this gap. The concept was to enlarge the Mer-cury capsule's basic design to accommodate two crew, provide it with orbital maneu-vering capability, use existing boosters to launch it and an existing upper rocket stage as a docking target. The latest aircraft engineering was exploited , resulting in a modu-larised design that provided easy access to and change out of equipment mounted external to the crew's pressure vessel. In many ways the Gemini design was ahead of that of the Apollo, since the project began two years later . The crew station layout was similar to that of the latest military fighters; the capsule was equipped with ejection seats, inertial navigation, the pilot's traditional 8-ball attitude display, and radar. The es-cape tower used for Mercury was deleted; the propellants used in the Titan II launch vehicle, while toxic, corrosive, poisonous, and self-igniting, did not explode in the man-ner of the Atlas or Saturn LOX/Kerosene combination. The ejection seats served as the crew escape method in the lower atmosphere, just as in a high-performance aircraft. The seats were also needed for the original landing mode, which involved deployment of a huge inflated Rogallo wing (ancestor of today's hang gliders) with a piloted land-ing on skids at Edwards Dry Lake. In the event, the wing could not be made to deploy reliably before flights began, so the capsule made a parachute-borne water landing, much to the astronauts' chagrin. All around the Gemini was considered the ultimate 'pilot's spacecraft', and it was also popular with engineers because of its extremely light weight. The capsule allowed re-cover of a crew of two for only 50% more than the Mercury capsule weight, and half of the weight per crew member of the Apollo design. The penalty was obvious - it was christened the 'Gusmobile' since diminutive Gus Grissom was the only astronaut who was said to be able to fit into it. The crew member was crammed in, shoulder to shoul-der with his partner, his helmet literally scrunched against the hatch, which could be opened for space walks. With the crew unable to fully stretch out unless an EVA was scheduled, living in the capsule was literally painful on the long missions (Gemini 5 and 7). Getting back into the seat and getting the hatch closed in an inflated suit in zero gravity was problematic and would have been impossible if the spacewalking astro-naut was incapacitated in even a minor way. Early on it was proposed that the Gemini could be used for manned circumlunar or lu-

nar missions at a fraction of the cost and much earlier than Apollo. Truth be told, a Gemini launched atop a Titan 3E or Saturn IVB Centaur could have accomplished a circumlunar flight as early as 1966 and, using earth orbit rendezvous techniques, a landing at least a year before Apollo. But the capsule, while perhaps suited as a ferry vehicle to space stations, would have been quite marginal for the lunar mission due to the cramped accommodation. But mainly NASA was fully committed to the Apollo program, which was grounded on a minimum three-man crew and minimum 10,000 pound command module weight. At a cost of 5% of the Apollo project, NASA staged twelve flights, ten of them manned, in the course of which the problems of rendezvous, docking, and learning how to do work in a spacesuit in zero-G were tackled and solved. It is said that not much of this was fed back to Apollo, since the two projects had completely different sets of con-tractors and there was little cross-fertilization in the rendezvous and docking areas. But it is undeniable that important issues in regard to working in zero-G were discovered and solved and both flight and ground crews gained experience that would make the Apollo flights successful. Gemini was to have continued to fly into the 1970's as the return capsule of the USAF Manned Orbiting Laboratory program. However with the MOL's cancellation in 1969 work at McDonnell came to an end and the last models of the finest spacecraft ever built were scrapped. Major Events: . 13 February 1961 Beginning of Gemini Spacecraft: Gemini. Launch Vehicle: Titan 2 . More details Summary: First formal NASA/McDonnell discussions on Mercury Mark II (Gemini). 01 August 1961 McDonnell proposal for Gemini Spacecraft: Gemini. More details Sum-mary: Baseline 10 earth orbit flights; also proposed for docking with Centaur and cir-cumlunar flights by March 1965. NASA not interested - threat to Apollo. 31 August 1961 Presentation to STG on rendezvous and the lunar orbit rendezvous plan Spacecraft: Gemini LOR. More details John C. Houbolt of Langley Research Center made a presentation to STG on rendez-vous and the lunar orbit rendezvous plan. At this time James A. Chamberlin of STG re-quested copies of all of Houbolt's material because of the pertinence of this work to the Mercury Mark II program and other programs then under consideration.

06 December 1961 Preliminary project plan for the Mercury Mark II program Spacecraft: Gemini LOR. D. Brainerd Holmes, NASA Director of Manned Space Flight, outlined the preliminary project development plan for the Mercury Mark II program in a memoran-dum to NASA Associate Administrator Robert C. Seamans, Jr. The primary objective of the program was to develop rendezvous techniques; important secondary objectives were long-duration flights, controlled land recovery, and astronaut training. The devel-opment of rendezvous capability, Holmes stated, was essential. It offered the possibility of accomplishing a manned lunar landing earlier than by direct ascent. The lunar land-ing maneuver would require the development of rendezvous techniques regardless of the operational mode selected for the lunar mission. Rendezvous and docking would be necessary to the Apollo orbiting laboratory missions planned for the 1965-1970 period. The plan was approved by Seamans on December 7. The Mercury Mark II program was renamed "Gemini" on January 3, 1962.] 07 December 1961 DOD/NASA coordination for Mercury Mark II Spacecraft: Gemini. Launch Vehicle: Titan 2. NASA Associate Administrator Robert C. Seamans, Jr., and DOD Deputy Director of Defense Research and Engineering John H. Rubel recommended to Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara and NASA Administrator James E. Webb that detailed arrangements for support of the Mercury Mark II spacecraft and the Atlas-Agena vehicle used in rendezvous experiments be planned directly between NASA's Office of Manned Space Flight and the Air Force and other DOD organizations. NASA's primary responsibilities would be the overall management and direction for the Mercury Mark II/ Agena rendezvous development and experiments. The Air Force responsibilities would include acting as NASA contractor for the Titan II launch vehicle and for the At-las-Agena vehicle to be used in rendezvous experiments. DOD's responsibilities would include assistance in the provision and selection of astronauts and the provision of launch, range, and recovery support, as required by NASA. 15 December 1961 McDonnell given letter contract for Gemini Spacecraft: Gemini. More details Summary: McDonnell given letter contract for development of Gemini. 28 December 1961 Titan 2 first ground test. Spacecraft: Gemini. Launch Vehicle: Titan 2. Titan II, an advanced ICBM and the booster designated for NASA's two-man orbital flights, was successfully captive-fired for the first time at the Martin Co.'s Denver facilities. The test not only tested the flight vehicle but the checkout and launch equipment in-tended for operational use.

17 September 1962 Nine new astronauts named Spacecraft: Gemini. More details NASA's nine new astronauts were named in Houston, Tex., by Robert R. Gilruth, MSC Di-rector. Chosen from 253 applicants, the former test pilots who would join the original seven Mercury astronauts in training for Projects Gemini and Apollo were: Neil A. Arm-strong, NASA civilian test pilot; Maj. Frank Borman, Air Force; Lt. Charles Conrad, Jr., Navy; Lt.Cdr. James A, Lovell, Jr., Navy; Capt. James A. McDivitt, Air Force; Elliot M. See, Jr., civilian test pilot for the General Electric Company; Capt. Thomas P. Stafford, Air Force; Capt. Edward H. White II, Air Force; and Lt. Cdr. John W. Young, Navy. 16 February 1963 First West Coast launch of a Titan 2 ICBM Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: Titan 2 . More details Summary: First West Coast launch of a Titan 2 ICBM from an underground silo. 08 April 1964 Gemini 1 Spacecraft: Gemini. Mass: 3,187 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canav-eral . Launch Vehicle: Titan 2. The first Gemini mission, Gemini-Titan I, was launched from Complex 19 at Cape Kennedy at 11:00 a.m., e.s.t. This was an unmanned flight, using the first production Gemini spacecraft and a modified Titan II Gemini launch vehicle (GLV). The mission's primary purpose was to verify the structural integrity of the GLV and spacecraft, as well as to demonstrate the GLV's ability to place the spacecraft into a prescribed earth orbit. Mission plans did not include separation of the spacecraft from the second stage of the vehicle, and both were inserted into orbit as a unit six minutes after launch. The planned mission encompassed only the first three orbits and ended about four hours and 50 minutes after liftoff. No recovery was planned. The flight quali-fied the GLV and the structure of the spacecraft. 19 January 1965 Gemini 2 Spacecraft: Gemini. Mass: 3,122 kg. Launch Site: Cape Ca-naveral . Launch Vehicle: Titan 2. 23 March 1965 Gemini 3 Spacecraft: Gemini. Mass: 3,225 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canav-eral . Launch Vehicle: Titan 2. First manned test flight of Gemini. Virgil I. Grissom and John W. Young entered an elliptical orbit about the earth. After three orbits, the pair manually landed their spacecraft in the Atlantic Ocean, thus performing the first con-trolled reentry. Unfortunately, they landed much farther from the landing zone than an-ticipated, about 97 km (60 miles) from the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Intrepid. But otherwise the mission was highly successful. Gemini III, America's first two-manned space mission, also was the first manned vehicle that was maneuverable. Grissom used the vehicle's maneuvering rockets to effect orbital and plane changes. Grissom wanted to name the

spacecraft 'Molly Brown' (as in the Unsinkable, a Debbie Reynolds/Howard Keel screen musical). NASA was not amused and stopped allowing the astronauts to name their spacecraft (until forced to when having two spacecraft aloft at once during the Apollo missions). The flight by Young was the first of an astronaut outside of the original seven. Young, who created a media flap by taking a corned beef sandwich aboard as a prank, would go on to fly to the moon on Apollo and the Space Shuttle on its first flight sixteen years later. 03 June 1965 EVA Gemini 4-1 Spacecraft: Gemini. More details Summary: First American walk in space; tested spacesuit and ability to maneuver. 03 June 1965 Gemini 4 Spacecraft: Gemini. Mass: 3,574 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canav-eral . Launch Vehicle: Titan 2 . More details NASA launched Gemini 4, America's second multi-manned space mission, piloted by astronauts James A. McDivitt and Edward H. White II, from Cape Kennedy. Gemini 4's primary objective was to evaluate the performance of man and machine during pro-longed space flight. Also during this flight, White opened the hatch on his spacecraft and performed America's first "space walk." On June 7, after four days in space, McDi-vitt and White landed their vehicle in the Atlantic Ocean some 724 km (450 mi) east of the Cape. The space walk was hurriedly included after the Russian first in Voskhod 2. White seemed to have a lot more fun than Leonov and McDivitt took the pictures that came to symbolize man in space. With this flight the US finally started to match Russian flight durations. 21 August 1965 Gemini 5 REP Spacecraft: Radar Evaluation Pod. Mass: 34 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: Titan 2 . More details Summary: Radar Evalua-tion Pod. 21 August 1965 Gemini 5 Spacecraft: Gemini. Mass: 3,605 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canav-eral . Launch Vehicle: Titan 2. Gemini 5, piloted by L. Gordon Cooper, Jr., and Charles Conrad, Jr., roared into space from Cape Kennedy. During their eight-day flight the as-tronauts performed a number of orbital and simulated rendezvous maneuvers to evalu-ate the spacecraft's rendezvous guidance and navigation equipment. A second princi-pal objective of the mission was to evaluate the effects on the crew of prolonged expo-sure in space. Gemini 5 was significant as well for another reason: although the hard-ware experienced some troubles during the early part of the flight (which threatened to terminate the mission prematurely), Gemini 5 was the first spacecraft to use fuel cells as its primary source of electrical power. The operational feasibility of fuel cells would be

essential for the success of long-distance (i.e., lunar) manned space flight. With this flight, the US finally took the manned spaceflight endurance record from Russia, while demonstrating that the crew could survive in zero gravity for the length of time required for a lunar mission. However the mission was incredibly boring, the spacecraft just drift-ing to conserve fuel most of the time, and was 'just about the hardest thing I've ever done' according to a hyperactive Pete Conrad. An accident with freeze dried shrimp resulted in the cabin being filled with little pink sub-satellites. 25 October 1965 GATV 6 Spacecraft: Gemini Agena Target Vehicle. Mass: 3,261 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: SLV-3 Atlas / Agena D. 04 December 1965 Gemini 7 Spacecraft: Gemini. Mass: 3,663 kg. Launch Site: Cape Ca-naveral . Launch Vehicle: Titan 2. Gemini 7, the fourth manned mission of that program, was launched from Cape Kennedy December 4 with command pilot Frank Borman and pilot James A. Lovell, Jr., as the crew. Their primary objective was to evaluate the physiological effects of long-duration (14 days) flight on man. Secondary objectives in-cluded: providing a rendezvous target for the Gemini 6-A spacecraft, conducting 20 experiments, and evaluating the spacecraft's reentry guidance capability. The rendez-vous was successfully accomplished during the 11th day of the mission. The crew estab-lished another first for American spacemen as first one, then the other, and finally both flew with their flight suits removed. The landing, on December 18, was little more than ten km from the planned landing point. Far surpassing the Gemini 5 flight, Gemini 7 set a manned spaceflight endurance record that would endure for years. The incredibly boring mission, was made more uncomfort-able by the extensive biosensors. This was somewhat offset by the soft spacesuits (used only once) and permission to spend most of the time in long johns. The monotony was broken just near the end by the rendezvous with Gemini 6. 15 December 1965 Gemini 6 Spacecraft: Gemini. Mass: 3,546 kg. Launch Site: Cape Ca-naveral . Launch Vehicle: Titan 2. Gemini 6 or VI-A, the fifth manned flight and first ren-dezvous mission in the Gemini Program, was launched from Cape Kennedy on Decem-ber 15, with Astronaut Walter M. Schirra, Jr., serving as command pilot and Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford, pilot. Their primary objective was to rendezvous with the Gemini 7 spacecraft, and secondary objectives included station-keeping with the other space-craft, evaluating spacecraft reentry guidance capability, and performing three experi-ments. A co-elliptic maneuver was performed 3 hours and 47 minutes after launch; the terminal initiation was performed an hour-and-a-half later; braking maneuvers were started at 5

hours and 50 minutes into the flight and rendezvous was technically accomplished six minutes later. The two spacecraft began station-keeping maneuvers which continued for three and a half orbits while they were separated by as much as 100 m and as little as 0.3 m. Gemini 6 was to have been the first flight involving docking with an Agena target/propulsion stage. However the Agena blew up on the way to orbit, and the spacecraft was replaced by Gemini 7 in the launch order. For lack of a target, NASA decided to have Gemini 6 rendezvous with Gemini 7. This would require a quick one week turnaround of the pad after launch, no problem with Russian equipment but a big accomplishment for the Americans. The first launch at-tempt was aborted; the Titan II ignited for a moment, then shut down and settled back down on its launch attachments. Schirra waited it out, did not pull the abort handles that would send the man catapulting out of the capsule on their notoriously unreliable ejection seats. The booster was safed; Schirra had saved the mission and the launch three days later went perfectly. The flight went on to achieve the first manned space rendezvous controlled entirely by the self-contained, on-board guidance, control, and navigation system. This system provided the crew of Gemini 6 with attitude, thrusting, and time information needed for them to control the spacecraft during the rendezvous. Under Schirra's typically precise command, the operation was so successful that the rendezvous was complete with fuel consumption only 5% above the planned value to reach 16 m separation from Gemini 7. 16 March 1966 Gemini 8 Agena Target Spacecraft: Gemini Agena Target Vehicle. Mass: 3,175 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: SLV-3 Atlas / Agena D . More details Summary: Target vehicle for Gemini 8. Successfully launched from KSC Launch Complex 14 at 10 a.m. EST March 16. 16 March 1966 Gemini 8 Spacecraft: Gemini. Mass: 3,788 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canav-eral . Launch Vehicle: Titan. The Atlas-Agena target vehicle for the Gemini VIII mission was successfully launched from KSC Launch Complex 14 at 10 a.m. EST March 16. The Gemini VIII spacecraft followed from Launch Complex 19 at 11:41 a.m., with command pilot Neil A. Armstrong and pilot David R. Scott aboard. The spacecraft and its target vehicle rendezvoused and docked, with docking confirmed 6 hours 33 minutes after the spacecraft was launched. This first successful docking with an Agena target vehicle was followed by a major space emergency. About 27 minutes later the spacecraft-Agena combination encountered unexpected roll and yaw motion. A stuck thruster on Gemini

put the docked assembly into a wild high speed gyration. Near structural limits and blackout, Armstrong undocked, figuring the problem was in the Agena, which only made it worse. The problem arose again and when the yaw and roll rates became too high the crew shut the main Gemini reaction control system down and activated and used both rings of the reentry control system to reduce the spacecraft rates to zero. This used 75% of that system's fuel. Although the crew wanted to press on with the mission and Scott's planned space walk, ground control ordered an emergency splashdown in the western Pacific during the seventh revolution. The spacecraft landed at 10:23 p.m. EST March 16 and Armstrong and Scott were picked up by the destroyer U.S.S. Mason at 1:37 a.m. EST March 17. Although the flight was cut short by the incident, one of the pri-mary objectives - rendezvous and docking (the first rendezvous of two spacecraft in or-bital flight) - was accomplished. 17 May 1966 GATV 9 Spacecraft: Gemini Agena Target Vehicle. Mass: 3,248 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: SLV-3 Atlas / Agena D . More details 01 June 1966 Gemini 9A Spacecraft: Gemini. Elliot See and Charlie Bassett were the prime crew for Gemini 9. On February 28, 1966, they were flying in a NASA T-38 trainer to visit the McDonnell plant in St Louis, where their spacecraft was in assembly. See misjudged his landing approach, and in pulling up from the runway hit Building 101 where the spacecraft was being assembled. Both as-tronauts were killed, and 14 persons on the ground were injured. As a result, the Gemini 9 backup crew became the prime crew, and all subsequent crew assignments were re-shuffled. This ended up determining who would be the first man on the moon.... 01 June 1966 Gemini 9 ATDA Spacecraft: Atlas Target Docking Adapter. Mass: 794 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: SLV-3 Atlas . More details Summary: Fairing separation failed. 03 June 1966 Gemini 9 Spacecraft: Gemini. Mass: 3,668 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canav-eral . Launch Vehicle: Titan 2. At the first launch attempt, while the crew waited but-toned up in the spacecraft on the pad, their Agena docking target field blew up on the way to orbit. NASA decided to use an Atlas to launch an Agena docking collar only. This was called the Augmented Target Docking Adapter. This was successfully launched and the Gemini succeeded in rendezvousing with it. However, the ATDA shroud had not completely separated, thus making docking impossible. However three different types of rendezvous were tested with the ATDA. Cernan began his EVA, which was to include

flight with a USAF MMU rocket pack but the Gemini suit could not handle heat load of the astronaut's exertions. Cernan's faceplate fogs up, forcing him to blindly grope back into the Gemini hatch after only two hours. 05 June 1966 EVA Gemini 9-1 Spacecraft: Gemini. More details Summary: Attempted to test USAF Astronaut Maneuvering Unit. Cancelled when Cernan's faceplate fogged over. 18 July 1966 Gemini 10 Spacecraft: Gemini. Mass: 3,763 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canav-eral . Launch Vehicle: Titan 2. Exciting mission with successful docking with Agena, flight up to parking orbit where Gemini 8 Agena is stored. Collins space walks from Gemini to Agena to retrieve micrometeorite package left in space all those months. Loses grip first time, and tumbles head over heels at end of umbilical around Gemini. Package re-trieved on second try. 18 July 1966 Gemini 10 Agena Target Spacecraft: Gemini Agena Target Vehicle. Mass: 3,175 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: SLV-3 Atlas / Agena D . More details Summary: Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A). . 19 July 1966 EVA Gemini 10-1 Spacecraft: Gemini. More details Summary: Photo-graphed earth and stars. 20 July 1966 EVA Gemini 10-3 Spacecraft: Gemini. More details Summary: Threw excess equipment out of spacecraft. 20 July 1966 EVA Gemini 10-2 Spacecraft: Gemini. More details Summary: Retrieved mi-crometeoroid collector from Agena. 12 September 1966 Gemini 11 Spacecraft: Gemini. Mass: 3,798 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle. More highjinks with Conrad. First orbit docking with Agena, followed by boost up to record 800 km orbit, providing first manned views of earth as sphere. Tether attached by Gordon to Agena in spacewalk and after a lot of effort tethered spacecraft put into slow rotation, creating first artificial microgravity. 12 September 1966 Gemini 11 Agena Target Spacecraft: Gemini Agena Target Vehicle. Mass: 3,175 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: SLV-3 Atlas / Agena D . More details Summary: Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A).

13 September 1966 EVA Gemini 11-2 Spacecraft: Gemini. More details Summary: Threw excess equipment out of spacecraft. 13 September 1966 EVA Gemini 11-1 Spacecraft: Gemini. More details Summary: Re-trieved micrometeoroid collector from Agena. 14 September 1966 EVA Gemini 11-3 Spacecraft: Gemini. More details Summary: Photo-graphed earth and stars. 11 November 1966 Gemini 12 Agena Target Spacecraft: Gemini Agena Target Vehicle. Mass: 3,175 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral . Launch Vehicle: SLV-3 Atlas / Agena D . More details Summary: Space craft engaged in investigation of spaceflight techniques and technology (US Cat A). . 11 November 1966 Gemini 12 Spacecraft: Gemini. Mass: 3,763 kg. Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Vehicle: Titan 2. Two very serious astronauts get it all right to end the program. Docked and redocked with Agena, demonstrating various Apollo scenarios including manual rendezvous and docking without assistance from ground control. Aldrin finally demonstrates ability to accomplish EVA without overloading suit by use of suitable restraints and careful movement.

Salyut Appendix Program: Salyut. Objective: Manned. Type: Spacecraft. Sergei Korolev had proposed, designed, and built mock-ups of large manned space stations to be launched by his giant N1 rocket throughout the 1960’s. None of these proposals was ever approved by the military beyond the mock-up stage. Meanwhile the competing Chelomei OKB-52 bureau was given the task in 1965 to develop Almaz, a counterpart to the US military Manned Orbiting Laboratory space station. First flight with one year operational period was originally planned for 1968. Chelomei's influence waned, and the project was badly behind schedule by the time the competing Ameri-can MOL was cancelled in July 1969. Having lost the moon race, but seeing a chance to beat the Americans in the space station race, Brezhnev ordered Mishin's OKB-1 to undertake a crash program to de-velop a 'civilian' space station using components from Chelomei's Almaz program. Mishin was given control over the Almaz production line at Chelomei's Khrunichev facil-ity in order to build the DOS-7K civilian station using the Almaz spaceframe but proven Soyuz components. With the beginning of work on the DOS station the large, long term N1-launched station was cancelled. The spacecraft that emerged was a hybrid of the Almaz and the Soyuz spacecraft. The Soyuz control panel was used almost unchanged, as was the forward docking mecha-nism and the aft propulsion module. The spacecraft was to be called Zarya, or ‘Dawn’, but the name was changed just before launch to prevent confusion with the identical ground control call sign. Instead DOS-1 became known as Salyut 1. This was the first manned orbital space station, but the triumph was destroyed when the crew perished during the return to earth. The next DOS, Cosmos 557, reached orbit but control was lost soon thereafter. Salyut 4, Salyut 6, and Salyut 7 were all successful, each space sta-tion being an evolutionary improvement over the previous model. The Salyuts allowed the Soviet Union to obtain an unmatched lead in manned orbital spaceflight experi-ence and flight durations. The design line culminated in the Mir base block module. Major Events: . 01 February 1970 Mishin takes space station program from Chelomei Spacecraft: Zarya. More details Summary: Brezhnev gives Mishin authority to preempt Chelomei in space station program. Mishin takes over Khrunichev facility and to build DOC-7K: civilian sta-tion using Almaz frame but Soyuz components. Almaz to be redesigned to use Soyuz as ferry instead of TKS. 19 April 1971 Salyut 1 Spacecraft: Salyut 1. Mass: 18,500 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K . First of manned space station; deorbited after 175 days in space, on October 16, 1971.

Officially: Testing of design elements and on-board systems; conduct of research and experiments in space flight. Testing of design elements and on-board systems; conduct of research and experiments in space flight. 23 April 1971 Soyuz 10 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7KT-OK. Mass: 6,800 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511. Intended first space station mission; soft docked with Salyut 1. Soyuz 10 approached to 180 m from Salyut 1 automatically. It was hand docked after faillure of the automatic system, but hard docking could not be achieved because of the angle of approach. Post-flight analysis indicated that the cosmonauts had no instrument to proivde the angle and range rate data necessary for a successful manual docking. Soyuz 10 was connected to the station for 5 hours and 30 minutes. Despite the lack of hard dock, it is said that the crew were unable to enter the station due to a faulty hatch on their own spacecraft. When Shatalov tried to undock from the Salyut, the jammed hatch impeded the docking mechanism, preventing un-docking. After several attempts he was unable to undock and land. During the land-ing, the Soyuz air supply became toxic, and Rukavishnikov (much like the case of Vance Brand during the Apollo ASTP return) was overcome and became unconscious. Recovered April 25, 1971 23:40 GMT. Landed 120 km NW Karaganda. Film and photos indicated that the docking system on the Salyut was not damaged, setting the stage for the Soyuz 11 mission. 06 June 1971 Soyuz 11 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7KT-OK. Mass: 6,790 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511. First space station flight, two years before the American Skylab. Soyuz 11 was guided automatically to 100 m, then hand-docked to the Salyut 1 scientific station. Equipment aboard Salyut 1 included a telescope, spectrometer, elec-trophotometer, and television. The crew checked improved on-board spacecraft sys-tems in different conditions of flight and conducted medico-biological research. The main instrument, a large solar telescope, was inoperative because its cover failed to jettison. A small fire and difficult working conditions led to decision to return crew be-fore planned full duration of 30 days. Capsule recovered June 29, 1971 23:17 GMT, but when the hatch was opened it was found that the crew had perished due to a loss of cabin atmosphere. A pressure equalization valve was jerked loose at the jettison of the Soyuz Orbital Module. The valve was not supposed to open until an altitude of 4 km was reached. The three-man crew did not have space suits. The Soyuz was thereafter redesigned to accomodate only two crew, but in spacesuits. The actual Soyuz 11 Prime Crew was Leonov, Kubasov, and Kolodin. Dobrovolskiy, Volkov, Patsayev were their backups (and support crew to Soyuz 10). Kubasov was grounded by physicians few

days before launch, and the back -up crew ended up going instead. 01 August 1971 Soyuz 12 / DOS 1 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7KT-OK. If the Soyuz 11 crew had not perished during return to the earth, a second crew would have been sent to the Salyut 1 space station. Further missions to Salyut 1 were cancelled after the disaster. 26 June 1972 Cosmos 496 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Mass: 6,675 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511 . More details Summary: Recovered July 6, 1972 13:54 GMT. Soyuz 7K-T redesign test. 29 July 1972 Zarya s/n 122 Spacecraft: Salyut 1. Mass: 18,000 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K. 01 August 1972 Soyuz 12 / DOS 2 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. More details Summary: Planned first mission to the Salyut DOS 2 space station. Cancelled after it was destroyed during launch. 01 October 1972 Soyuz 13 / DOS 2 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. More details Summary: Planned second mission to the Salyut DOS 2 space station. Cancelled after it was de-stroyed during launch. 11 May 1973 Cosmos 557 Spacecraft: Salyut 4. Mass: 19,400 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K . More details Summary: Salyut failure. Unsuccessful mis-sion. Salyut out of control. Decayed May 22, 1973. Was to have been manned by initial crew of Leonov and Kubasov. Last chance to upstage Skylab, launched three days later. 01 June 1973 Soyuz 12 / DOS 3 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. More details Summary: Planned first mission to the Salyut DOS 3 space station (Cosmos 557). Cancelled after it failed in orbit. 15 June 1973 Cosmos 573 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Mass: 6,675 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511 . More details Summary: Soyuz test flight. Recovered June 17, 1973 6:01 GMT. Soyuz 7K-T redesign test. 01 September 1973 Soyuz 13 / DOS 3 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. More details Summary: Planned second mission to the Salyut DOS 3 space station (Cosmos 557). Cancelled af-

ter it failed in orbit. 27 September 1973 Soyuz 12 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K -T. Mass: 6,720 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511. Experimental flight for the purpose of further development of manned space craft Soyuz 7K-T modifications. After the Soyuz 11 disas-ter, the Soyuz underwent redesign for increased reliability. Two solo test flights of the new design were planned. Crews for the first flight were those already planned for the deferred follow-on missions to the failed DOS 2 and DOS 3 space stations. Recovered September 29, 1973 13:14 GMT. Landed 400 km SW Karaganda. 30 November 1973 Cosmos 613 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Mass: 6,675 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511 . More details Summary: Unmanned Soyuz test flight. Recovered January 29, 1974 5:29 GMT. Soyuz 7K-T duration test. 18 December 1973 Soyuz 13 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Mass: 6,560 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511. A unique flight of the 7K-T/AF modification of the Soyuz spacecraft. The orbital module was dominated by the large Orion 2 astro-physical camera. The crew conducted astrophysical observations of stars in the ultravio-let range. Additional experiments included spectrozonal photography of specific areas of the earth's surface, and continued testing of space craft's on-board systems. Recov-ered December 26, 1973 8:50 GMT. Landed in snowstorm 200 km SW Karaganda. 27 May 1974 Cosmos 656 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T/A9. Mass: 6,675 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511 . More details Summary: Unmanned test flight of the Soyuz 7K-T(A9) Soyuz variant designed for docking with the military Almaz space station. Recovered May 29, 1974 7:50 GMT. 06 August 1974 Cosmos 670 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-S. Mass: 6,700 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U . More details Summary: Unmanned Soyuz 7K-S test flight. Recovered August 8, 1974 23:59 GMT. 01 October 1974 Soyuz 16A Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. More details Summary: Planned but cancelled third mission to the Salyut 3 space station. 26 December 1974 Salyut 4 Spacecraft: Salyut 4. Mass: 18,500 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K. Deorbited February 2, 1977. Officially: Further testing of station design, on-board systems and equipment; conduct of scientific and technical

research and experiments in outer space. Further testing of station design, on-board sys-tems and equipment; conduct of scientific and technical researc h and experiments in outer space. 11 January 1975 Soyuz 17 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Mass: 6,800 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511 . More details Summary: Manned two crew . Docked with Salyut 4. Joint experiments with the Salyut scientific orbital station. Recovered February 9, 1975 11:03 GMT. Landed 110 km NE Tselinograd. 05 April 1975 Soyuz 18-1 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Mass: 6,830 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511. Carried Oleg Makarov, Vasili Lazarev for rendezvous with Salyut 4; but during second-third stage seperation third stage failed to separate from second stage but still ignited. The crew demanded that the abort procedures be implemented but ground control could not see the launch vehicle gyrations in their te-lemetry. Soyuz finally was separated from by ground control command at 192 km, and following a 20.6+ G reentry, the capsule landed in the Altai mountains, tumbled down a mountainside, and snagged in some bushes just short of a precipice. The crew was wor-ried that they may have landed in China and would face internment, but after an hour sitting in the cold next to the capsule, they were discovered by locals speaking Russian. Total flight duration was 1574 km and flight time 21 minutes 27 seconds. Lazarev suffered internal injuries from the high-G reentry and tumble down the mountain side and never flew again. Both cosmonauts were denied their 3000 ruble spaceflight bonus pay and had to apeal all the way to Brezhnev before being paid. 24 May 1975 Soyuz 18 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Mass: 6,825 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511 . More details Summary: Manned two crew. Docked with Salyut 4. Joint experiments with the Salyut scientific orbital station. Recovered July 26, 1975 14:18 GMT. Landed 56 km E Arkalyk. 29 September 1975 Cosmos 772 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-S. Mass: 6,750 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Unmanned military Soyuz 7K-S test flight. Re-covered October 3, 1975 4:10 GMT. Unsuccessful mission. Transmitted only on 166 MHz frequency, at none of the other usual Soyuz wavelengths. 17 November 1975 Soyuz 20 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T/A9. Mass: 6,700 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Unmanned long duration test of the Soyuz transport vehicle; docked with Salyut 4. Recovered February 16, 1976 2:24 GMT. Com-prehensive checking of improved on-board systems of the space craft under various

flight conditions. Carried a biological payload. Living organisms were exposed to three months in space. 29 November 1976 Cosmos 869 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-S. Mass: 6,800 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Unmanned military Soyuz 7K-S test flight. Re-covered December 17, 1976 10:31 GMT. Transmitted only on 20.008 MHz and 166 MHz frequencies, at none of the other usual Soyuz wavelengths. 01 July 1977 Soyuz 25A Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. A Soyuz 25 mission to the Salyut 5 space station with the crew of Berzovoi and Lisun was to have followed Soyuz 24. However dur-ing the four months it took to prepare the Soyuz, Salyut 5 consumed higher than ex-pected fuel in maintaining the station's orientation. As a result, the fuel reserves were 70 kg below those required for the planned 14 day mission and it was cancelled. 01 September 1977 Soyuz 26A Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Planned mission to Salyut 6 that would make first docking with rear docking port and be the first crew to swap space-craft and return in the spacecraft that ferried the Soyuz 25 crew. But Soyuz 25 failed to dock with Salyut 6. One result of the investigation of the failure of the mission was that all future crews would have to have at least one cosmonaut with previous space flight ex-perience. Kolodin was replaced by Makarov, and Soyuz 26 as flown had quite a differ-ent profile. Kolodin never flew in space. 29 September 1977 Salyut 6 Spacecraft: Salyut 6. Mass: 19,824 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K. Conduct of scientific and technical research and ex-periments; further testing of station design, on-board system and equipment. Soyuz 25 docking unsuccessful. EVA 20 Dec 1977 to examine forward docking port (no damage). EVA 29 July 1978 to retrieve externally mounted experiments (micrometeorites, biopoly-mers, radiation plates, materials tests). Soyuz 33 failure to dock due to propulsion failure April 1979. Soyuz 34 launched unmanned to provide replacement vehicle June 1979. EVA August 15 to dislodge 10 m diameter KRT-10 radio telescope from aft docking col-lar. Repair mission Soyuz T-3 December 1980 (temperature control hydraulics). Repair mission Soyuz T-4 March 1981 (stuck solar array). Salyut ejected a module on May 31 (perhaps retained Soyuz Orbital Module). Kosmos 1267 docks 19 June 1981. Com-manded to reentry using Kosmos 1267 propulsion system over Pacific July 29 1982. 09 October 1977 Soyuz 25 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Mass: 6,860 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U . More details Summary: Manned two crew. Unsuccess-ful mission. Failed to dock with Salyut 6. Recovered October 11, 1977 3:25 GMT.

10 December 1977 Soyuz 26 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Mass: 6,800 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U . More details Summary: Manned two crew. Docked with Salyut 6. Carried Yuri Romanenko, Georgi Grechko to Salyut 6; returned crew of Soyuz 27 to Earth. Conduct of joint experiments with the Salyut-6 scientific sta-tion. Recovered January 16, 1978 11:25 GMT. 19 December 1977 EVA Soyuz 26-1 Spacecraft: Salyut 6. Inspected Salyut 6 docking port. 10 January 1978 Soyuz 27 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Mass: 6,800 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U . More details Summary: Manned two crew. Carried Oleg Makarov, Vladimir Dzhanibekov to Salyut 6; returned crew of Soyuz 26 to Earth. Docked with Salyut 6. Recovered March 16, 1978 11:19 GMT. 20 January 1978 Progress 1 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,020 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Unmanned supply vessel to Salyut 6. Delivery of fuel, consumable materials and equipment to the Salyut 6 station. Docked with Salyut 6 on 22 Jan 1978 10:12:14 GMT. Undocked on 6 Feb 1978 05:54:00 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 8 Feb 1978 02:00:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 3.91 days. Total docked time 14.82 days. 02 March 1978 Soyuz 28 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Mass: 6,800 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Manned two crew. Docked with Salyut 6. Delivery to the Salyut-6 station of the first international 'Intercosmos' team consisting of A.A. Gubarev (USSR) and V. Remek (Czechoslovak Socialist Republic) to carry out scientific research and experiments jointly developed by Soviet a nd Czechoslovak specialists. Recovered March 10, 1978 13:45 GMT. 04 April 1978 Cosmos 1001 Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 6,850 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Manned precursor. Recovered April 15, 1978 12:02 GMT. Unsuccessful mission. Soyuz T test -failure. 15 June 1978 Soyuz 29 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Mass: 6,800 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U . More details Summary: Manned two crew. Docked with Salyut 6. Placed on board the Salyut-6 station a crew consisting of V.V. Kovalenko and A.S. Ivanchenkov to conduct scientific and technological investigations and ex-

periments. Recovered September 3, 1978 11:40 GMT. 27 June 1978 Soyuz 30 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T/A9. Mass: 6,800 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Manned two crew. Docked with Salyut 6. Placed on board the Salyut-6 station, under the Intercosmos programme, a second, international, crew consisting of P.I. Klimuk (USSR) and M. Hermaszewski (Poland) to conduct scientific investigations and experiments. Recovered July 4, 1978 13:30 GMT 07 July 1978 Progress 2 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,014 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Unmanned supply vessel to Salyut 6. Delivery of fuel, consumable materials and equipment to the Salyut 6 station. Docked with Salyut 6 on 9 Jul 1978 12:58:59 GMT. Undocked on 2 Aug 1978 04:57:44 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 4 Aug 1978 01:31:07 GMT. Total free-flight time 3.92 days. Total docked time 23.67 days. 29 July 1978 EVA Soyuz 29-1 Spacecraft: Salyut 6. More details Summary: Retrieved ma-terial samples and equipment. 08 August 1978 Progress 3 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,014 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Unmanned supply vessel to Salyut 6. Delivery of fuel, consumable materials and equipment to the Salyut 6 station. Docked with Salyut 6 on 9 Aug 1978 23:59:30 GMT. Undocked on 21 Aug 1978 15:42:50 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 23 Aug 1978 16:45:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 4.10 days. Total docked time 11.66 days. 26 August 1978 Soyuz 31 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Mass: 6,800 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Manned two crew. Docked with Salyut 6. Delivered to the Salyut-6 station the third international 'Intercosmos' crew consisting of V F Bykovsky (USSR) and S Jaehn (German Democratic Republic) to carry out scientific research and experiments.Recovered November 2, 1978 11:05 GMT. 04 October 1978 Progress 4 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,014 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Unmanned supply vessel to Salyut 6. Delivery of fuel, consumable materials and equipment to the Salyut 6 station. Docked with Salyut 6 on 6 Oct 1978 01:00:15 GMT. Undocked on 24 Oct 1978 13:01:52 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 26 Oct 1978 16:28:13 GMT. Total free-flight time 4.22 days. Total docked time 18.50 days.

31 January 1979 Cosmos 1074 Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 6,850 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. 25 February 1979 Soyuz 32 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Mass: 6,800 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U . More details Summary: Manned two crew. Docked with Salyut 6. Transported a team consisting of V A Lyakhov and V V Ryumin to the Sa-lyut-6 space station to conduct scientific investigations and experiments and repair work. Recovered June 15, 1979 16:18 GMT. Returned unmanned. 12 March 1979 Progress 5 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,014 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Unmanned supply vessel to Salyut 6. Delivery of fuel, consumable materials and equipment to the Salyut 6 station. Docked with Salyut 6 on 14 Mar 1979 07:19:21 GMT. Undocked on 3 Apr 1979 16:10:00 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 5 Apr 1979 00:10:22 GMT. Total free-flight time 3.40 days. Total docked time 20.37 days. 10 April 1979 Soyuz 33 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Mass: 6,860 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Manned two crew. Flight under the Intercosmos pro-gramme of an international team consisting of N N Rukavishnikov (USSR) and G I Ivanov (Bulgaria). Unsuccessful mission. Failed to rendezvous with Salyut 6. Recovered April 12, 1979 16:35 GMT. 13 May 1979 Progress 6 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,014 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Unmanned supply vessel to Salyut 6. Delivery of fuel, consumable materials and equipment to the Salyut 6 station. Docked with Salyut 6 on 15 May 1979 06:19:22 GMT. Undocked on 8 Jun 1979 07:59:41 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 9 Jun 1979 18:52:46 GMT. Total free-flight time 3.54 days. Total docked time 24.07 days. 06 June 1979 Soyuz 34 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Mass: 6,800 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Docked with Salyut 6. Launched unmanned to pro-vide return vehicle for Soyuz 32 crew of Lyakhov/Ryumin after Soyuz 33 primary propul-sion system failure. Checked the operation of the spacecraft propulsion unit; transpor-tated the crew of the Salyut-6 station back to earth. Recovered August 19, 1979 12:30 GMT. 28 June 1979 KRT-10 Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U . More de-tails Summary: 10 m diameter radio telescope. Attached to Salyut 6 docking hatch and

deployed after separation of Progress from Mir. 28 June 1979 Progress 7 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,014 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Unmanned supply vessel to Salyut 6. Delivery of fuel, consumable materials and equipment to the Salyut 6 station. Docked with Salyut 6 on 30 Jun 1979 11:18:22 GMT. Undocked on 18 Jul 1979 03:49:55 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 20 Jul 1979 01:57:30 GMT. Total free-flight time 4.0 days. Total docked time 17.69 days. 15 August 1979 EVA Soyuz 32-1 Spacecraft: Salyut 6. More details Summary: Jettisoned KRT-10 antenna from rear docking port. 16 December 1979 Soyuz T-1 Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 6,850 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. New generation Soyuz capsule; unmanned flight to Salyut 6. Docked with Salyut 6. Recovered March 25, 1980 21:47 GMT. Unmanned test of Soyuz T design. Officially: Complex experimental testing of new on-board systems and assemblies under various flight conditions and operation in conjunction with the Salyut-6 orbital station. 27 March 1980 Progress 8 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,014 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Unmanned supply vessel for Salyut 6. Delivery of vari-ous cargoes to the Salyut-6 orbital station. Docked with Salyut 6 on 29 Mar 1980 20:01:00 GMT. Undocked on 25 Apr 1980 08:04:00 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 26 Apr 1980 06:54:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 3.0 days. Total docked time 26.50 days. 09 April 1980 Soyuz 35 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Mass: 6,800 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Manned two crew. Docked with Salyut 6. Carried crew comprising L I Popov and V V Ryumin to the Salyut-6 station to carry out scientific and technical research and experiments. Returned crew of Soyuz 36 to Earth. Recovered June 3, 1980 15:07 GMT. Landed 140 km SE Dzehezkazgan. 27 April 1980 Progress 9 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,014 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Unmanned supply vessel for Salyut 6. Delivery of vari-ous cargoes to the Salyut-6 orbital station. Docked with Salyut 6 on 29 Apr 1980 08:09:19 GMT. Undocked on 20 May 1980 18:51:00 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 22 May 1980 00:44:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 3.32 days. Total docked time 21.45 days.

26 May 1980 Soyuz 36 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Mass: 6,800 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Transported the fifth international crew under the IN-TERCOSMOS programme, comprising V N Kubasov (USSR) and B Farkas (Hungary) to the Salyut-6 station to carry out scientific research and experiments. Returned crew of Soyuz 37 to Earth. Recovered July 31, 1980 15:15 GMT. 05 June 1980 Soyuz T-2 Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 6,850 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U . More details Summary: Test flight of new Soyuz T; docked with Salyut 6. Conducted testing and development of on-board systems in the improved Soyuz T series transport vehicle under piloted conditions. Recovered June 9, 1980 12:40 GMT. 29 June 1980 Progress 10 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,014 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Unmanned supply vessel for Salyut 6. Delivery of vari-ous cargoes to the Salyut-6 orbital station. Docked with Salyut 6 on 1 Jul 1980 05:53:00 GMT. Undocked on 17 Jul 1980 22:21:00 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 19 Jul 1980 01:47:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 3.19 days. Total docked time 16.69 days. 23 July 1980 Soyuz 37 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Mass: 6,800 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Manned two crew. Transported to the Salyut-6 station the sixth international crew under the Intercosmos programme, comprising V V Gor-batko (USSR) and Pham Tuan (Viet Nam), to conduct scientific research and experi-ments. Returned crew of Soyuz 35 to Earth. Recovered October 11, 1980 9:50 GMT. 18 September 1980 Soyuz 38 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Mass: 6,800 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Manned two crew. Docked with Salyut 6. Transported to the Salyut-6 station the seventh international crew under the INTERCOS-MOS programme, comprising Y V Romanenko (USSR) and A. Tomaio Mendez (Cuba), to conduct scientific research and experiments. Recovered September 26, 1980 15:54 GMT. 28 September 1980 Progress 11 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,014 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Unmanned supply vessel for Salyut 6. Deliv-ery of various cargoes to the Salyut-6 orbital station. Docked with Salyut 6 on 30 Sep 1980 17:03:00 GMT. Undocked on 9 Dec 1980 10:23:00 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 11 Dec 1980 14:00:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 4.23 days. Total docked time 69.72 days.

15 November 1980 Soyuz T-3A Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Planned but cancelled manned flight. Crew dissolved when Lazarev failed physical in early 1981. 27 November 1980 Soyuz T-3 Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 6,850 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: So yuz 11A511U. Manned three crew. Docked with Salyut 6. Tested the improved transport ship of the "SOYUZ T" series; transported to the Salyut-6 orbital station a crew consisting of L D Kizim, O G Makarov and G M Strekalov to carry out repair and preventive work and scientific and technical investigation and experiments. Recovered December 10, 1980 09:26 GMT. 24 January 1981 Progress 12 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,020 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Unmanned supply vessel to Salyut 6. Delivery of various cargoes to the Salyut-6 orbital station. Docked with Salyut 6 on 26 Jan 1981 15:56:00 GMT. Undocked on 19 Mar 1981 18:14:00 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 20 Mar 1981 16:59:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 3.02 days. Total docked time 52.10 days. 12 March 1981 Soyuz T-4 Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 6,850 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Manned two crew. Docked with Salyut 6. Transported to the Salyut-6 orbital station cosmonauts V V Kovalenko and V P Savinykh to carry out repairs and preventive maintenance and scientific and technical investigations and ex-periments. Recovered June 10, 1981 12:38 GMT. 22 March 1981 Soyuz 39 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Mass: 6,800 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U . More details Manned two crew. Docked with Salyut 6. Transported to the Salyut-6 orbital station the eighth international crew under the INTERCOSMOS programme, comprising V A Dzhani-bekov (USSR) and Z. Gurragchi (Mongolian People's Republic) to conduct scientific in-vestigations and experiments. Recovered March 30, 1981 11:42 GMT. 14 May 1981 Soyuz 40 Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T. Mass: 6,800 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Manned two crew. Docked with Salyut 6. Transported to the Salyut-6 orbital station the ninth international crew under the INTERCOSMOS pro-gramme, comprising L I Popov (USSR), and D. Prunariu (Romania), to conduct scientific research and experiments. Recovered May 22, 1981 13:58 GMT. 19 April 1982 Iskra 2 Spacecraft: Iskra. Mass: 28 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehi-cle: Proton 8K82K . More details Summary: Deployed from Salyut 7 5/17/82. Launched

from Salyut 7. Experiments in amateur radio communications. Launched into orbit from aboard the Salyut-7 orbital scientific station. . 19 April 1982 Salyut 7 Spacecraft: Salyut 7. Mass: 18,900 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K. Second Soviet replenishable long-duration ‘civilian’ space station. Objectives: Continuation of scientific research on board manned space complexes in the interests of science and the Soviet national economy; testing of ad-vanced systems and apparatus for orbital stations. Continuation of the scientific re-search in progress on board manned space complexes in the interests of science and the national economy; testing of advanced systems and apparatus for orbital stations. Although of the same design as Salyut 6, technical breakdowns throughout its life made Salyut 7 a much less productive station. Replaced finally by Mir. Two different TKS resup-ply craft, originally designed for the Almaz military station, docked with Salyut 7 to pro-vide a larger complex. With the cancellation of Almaz, a large proportion of the experi-ments carried out on board had military objectives. Equipment: - Kristal materials proc-essing furnace - EFO-7 star electrophotometer Improved Oasis plant growth unit - Aelita cardiovascular diagnostic unit - 24 hr hot water - food refrigerator - French echography ultrasonic medical system - Korund semiconductor materials furnace Military experi-ments: observations of ground aerosols; ABM intercept; naval exercises; laser pointing/tracking hardware tests. Major Events: EVA July 30 to demonstrate building materials. Docking of TKS Kosmos 1443 4 March 1983. Failure of Soyuz T-8 to dock 21 April 1983. Mi-crometeorite impact on window 27 July. Failure of primary arrays, causing internal con-ditions of 65 F and 100% humidity. Propellant leak 9 September drained 2 of 3 oxidiser tanks and shut down 16 of 32 attitude control thrusters. Soyuz T-10A with crew trained in erection of new arrays exploded on pad 27 September. EVA's 1 Nov and 3 November to erect auxiliary solar arrays (brought on Kosmos 1443). 4 EVA's in April 1984 to repair propulsion system. EVA May 18 1984 to erect additional arrays. EVA July 25 1984 (Savitskaya). EVA August 8 to continue propulsion repairs with new tool. Docking of TKS Kosmos 1686 2 October 1985. Following departure of last crew, space station went out of control, batteries drained, and dead in space. Visited by Soyuz T-15 7 May 1986 and revived. EVA's May 28 and 31 1986 to erect 15 m long truss. As of January 1990 out of fuel, unable to manoeuvre, uncontrolled re-entry expected in three to four years. Re-entered in 1991 with 70 kg fuel remaining over Argentina. Controllers attempted to con-trol impact point (set for Atlantic Ocean) by setting Salyut 7/Kosmos 1686 assembly into a tumble. This however failed and Salyut 7 re-entered February 7, 1991 04:00 GMT. Many fragments fell on the town of Capitan Bermudez, 25 km from Rosario and 400 km from Buenos Aires, Argentina. At 1 am local time the sky was lit up with hundreds of incandes-

cent meteors travelling from Southwest to Northeast. At dawn the inhabitants discov-ered numerous metal fragments, which seemed to have fallen in distinct groups at vari-ous locations in the city. Luckily no one was hurt in the metallic shower. 13 May 1982 Soyuz T-5 Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 6,850 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U . More details Summary: Manned two crew. Carried Anatoli Berezovoi, Valentin Lebedev to Salyut 7 to conduct scientific research and ex-periments; returned crew of Soyuz T-7 to Earth. Docked with Salyut 7. Recovered Sep-tember 1, 1982 15:04 GMT. 23 May 1982 Progress 13 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,020 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Unmanned supply vessel to Salyut 7. Transport of vari-ous cargoes to the Salyut-7 orbital station. Docked with Salyut 7 on 25 May 1982 07:56:36 GMT. Undocked on 4 Jun 1982 06:31:00 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 6 Jun 1982 00:05:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 3.81 days. Total docked time 9.94 days. 24 June 1982 Soyuz T-6 Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 6,850 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Manned three crew. Docked with Salyut 7. Trans-ported to the Salyut-7 orbital station the Soviet-French international crew, comprising V A Dzhanibekov (USSR), A S Ivanchenkov (USSR) and Jean-Loup Chretien (France) to conduct scientific research and experiments. Recovered July 2, 1982 14:21 GMT. 10 July 1982 Progress 14 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,020 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U . More details Summary: Unmanned supply vessel to Sa-lyut 7. Docked with Salyut 7 on 12 Jul 1982 11:41:00 GMT. Undocked on 10 Aug 1982 22:11:00 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 13 Aug 1982 01:29:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 4.21 days. Total docked time 29.44 days. 30 July 1982 EVA Soyuz T-8-1 Spacecraft: Salyut 7. More details Summary: Retrieved and installed material samples. Tested equipment. 19 August 1982 Soyuz T-7 Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 6,850 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Docked with Salyut 7. Carried Svetlana Savitskaya, Leonid Popov, Alexander Serebrov to Salyut 7 to conduct scientific and technical re-search and experiments; returned crew of Soyuz T-5 to Earth. Recovered December 10, 1982 19:03 GMT. Landed 118 km E Dzhezkazgan. 18 September 1982 Astrozond Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U.

18 September 1982 Progress 15 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,020 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U . More details Summary: Unmanned supply vessel to Salyut 7. Docked with Salyut 7 on 20 Sep 1982 06:12:00 GMT. Undocked on 14 Oct 1982 13:46:00 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 16 Oct 1982 17:08:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 4.19 days. Total docked time 24.32 days. 31 October 1982 Progress 16 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,020 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U . More details Summary: Unmanned supply vessel to Salyut 7. Docked with Salyut 7 on 2 Nov 1982 13:22:00 GMT. Undocked on 13 Dec 1982 15:32:00 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 14 Dec 1982 17:17:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 3.16 days. Total docked time 41.09 days. 18 November 1982 Iskra 3 Spacecraft: Iskra. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U . More details Summary: Launched from Salyut 7 airlock. Conduct of ex-periments in the field of amateur radiocommunications. . 20 April 1983 Soyuz T-8 Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 6,850 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U . More details Summary: Manned three crew. Unsuc-cessful mission. Failed to rendezvous with Salyut 7. Recovered April 22, 1983 13:29 GMT. Landed 113 km SE Arkalyk. 27 June 1983 So yuz T-9 Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 6,850 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Manned two crew. Docked with Salyut 7. Transported to the Salyut-7 orbital station a crew consisting of V A Lyakhov, commander of the spacecraft, and A P Aleksandrov, flight engineer, to conduct scientific and technical research and experiments. Recovered November 23, 1983 19:58 GMT. 17 August 1983 Progress 17 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,020 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U . More details Summary: Unmanned supply vessel to Sa-lyut 7. Docked with Salyut 7 on 19 Aug 1983 13:47:00 GMT. Undocked on 17 Sep 1983 11:44:00 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 17 Sep 1983 23:43:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 2.57 days. Total docked time 28.91 days. 26 September 1983 Soyuz T-10-1 Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 6,850 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U . More details Summary: Aborted September 27, 1983 19:38 GMT. Unsuccessful mission. Launch vehicle blew up on pad at Tyuratam; crew saved by abort system.

20 October 1983 Progress 18 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,020 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Transport of various cargoes to the Salyut-7 orbital station. Docked with Salyut 7 on 22 Oct 1983 11:34:00 GMT. Boosted Salyut to 326 X 356 orbit on 4 Nov 1983. Undocked on 13 Nov 1983 03:08:00 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 16 Nov 1983 04:18:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 5.11 days. Total docked time 21.65 days. 01 November 1983 EVA Soyuz T-9-1 Spacecraft: Salyut 7. More details Summary: Began installation of auxiliary solar array. 03 November 1983 EVA Soyuz T-9-2 Spacecraft: Salyut 7. More details Summary: Com-pleted installation of auxiliary solar array. 08 February 1984 Soyuz T-10 Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 6,850 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Manned three crew. Docked with Salyut 7. Trans-ported a crew consisting of ship's commander L D Kizim, flight engineer V A Solovyov and cosmonaut-research O Y Atkov to the SAL YUT-7 orbital station to conduct scientific and technical studies and experiments. Returned crew of Soyuz T-11 to Earth. Recov-ered April 11, 1984 10:50 GMT. Landed 160 km E Dzehezkazgan. 21 February 1984 Progress 19 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,020 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Transport of various cargoes to the Salyut-7 orbital station. Docked with Salyut 7 on 23 Feb 1984 08:21:00 GMT. Undocked on 31 Mar 1984 09:40:00 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 1 Apr 1984 18:18:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 3.43 days. Total docked time 37.05 days.

03 April 1984 Soyuz T-11 Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 6,850 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Manned three crew. Docked with Salyut 7.Transported a Soviet-Indian international crew comprising ship's commander Y V Malyshev, flight en-gineer G M Strekalov (USSR) and cosmonaut-researcher R Sharma (India) to the SALYUT-7 orbital station to conduct scientific and technical studies and experiments. Returned crew of Soyuz T-10 to Earth. Recovered October 2, 1984 10:57 GMT. 15 April 1984 Progress 20 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,200 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U2. Transport of various cargoes to the Salyut-7 orbital station. First launch of Progress by Soyuz-U2 launch vehicle. Docked with Salyut 7 on 17 Apr 1984 09:22:00 GMT. Undocked on 6 May 1984 17:46:00 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 7 May 1984 00:32:51 GMT. Total free-flight time 2.33 days. Total docked time 19.35 days. 23 April 1984 EVA Soyuz T-10-1 Spacecraft: Salyut 7. Installed external equipment. 26 April 1984 EVA Soyuz T-10-2 Spacecraft: Salyut 7. Began repair of Salyut 7 propulsion system fuel lines. 29 April 1984 EVA Soyuz T-10-3 Spacecraft: Salyut 7. Continued repair of Salyut 7 propul-sion system fuel lines. 03 May 1984 EVA Soyuz T-10-4 Spacecraft: Salyut 7. Completed repair of Salyut 7 propul-sion system fuel lines. 08 May 1984 Progress 21 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,020 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Transport of various cargoes to the Salyut-7 orbital st a-tion. Docked with Salyut 7 on 10 May 1984 00:10:00 GMT. Undocked on 26 May 1984 09:41:00 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 26 May 1984 15:00:30 GMT. Total free-flight time 2.28 days. Total docked time 16.40 days. 18 May 1984 EVA Soyuz T-10-5 Spacecraft: Salyut 7. More details Summary: Installed solar array. 28 May 1984 Progress 22 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,020 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Transport of various cargoes to the Salyut-7 orbital st a-tion. Docked with Salyut 7 on 30 May 1984 15:47:00 GMT. Undocked on 15 Jul 1984 13:36:00 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 15 Jul 1984 18:52:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 2.28 days. Total docked time 45.91 days.

17 July 1984 Soyuz T-12 Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 7,020 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Docked with Salyut 7. Transported a crew comprising ship's commander V A Dzhanibekov, flight engineer S E Savitskaya and cosmonaut-research I P Volk to the Salyut-7 orbital station to conduct scientific and technical stud-ies and experiments. Recovered July 29, 1984 12:55 GMT. 25 July 1984 EVA Soyuz T-12-1 Spacecraft: Salyut 7. Conducted welding experiments. 08 August 1984 EVA Soyuz T-10-6 Spacecraft: Salyut 7. Fixed Salyut 7 propulsion system fuel lines. 14 August 1984 Progress 23 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,020 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Transport of various cargoes to the Salyut-7 orbital sta-tion. Docked with Salyut 7 on 16 Aug 1984 08:11:00 GMT. Undocked on 26 Aug 1984 16:13:00 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 28 Aug 1984 01:28:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 3.46 days. Total docked time 10.33 days. 05 March 1985 Soyuz T-13A Spacecraft: Soyuz T. More details Summary: Planned but cancelled manned flight to Salyut 7. Breakdown of Salyut 7 led to cancellation of this flight and its replacement by the Soyuz T-13 repair mission. Savinykh served on the repair mission while Vasyutin and Volkov flew on Soyuz T-14. 06 June 1985 Soyuz T-13 Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 6,850 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U2. Docked with Salyut 7. Delivered to the Salyut-7 orbital station a crew consisting of flight commander V A Dzhanibekov and flight engineer V P Savinykh to carry out emergency repairs to inert Salyut 7 station and to conduct scien-tific and technical research and experiments. Returned crew of Soyuz T-14 to Earth. Re-covered September 26, 1985 9:52 GMT. 21 June 1985 Progress 24 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,020 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Delivery to the Salyut-7 orbital station of a mixed cargo with a total mass of 2,000 kg. Docked with Salyut 7 on 23 Jun 1985 02:54:00 GMT. Un-docked on 15 Jul 1985 12:28:00 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 15 Jul 1985 22:33:31 GMT. Total free-flight time 2.51 days. Total docked time 22.40 days. 19 July 1985 Cosmos 1669 Spacecraft: Progress. Mass: 7,020 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U. Progress vehicle, given Cosmos designation instead of

Progress because control lost early in mission but regained later. Resupplied Salyut 7. On departure briefly undocked and redocked to verify reliability of docking system. Trans-ported of various cargoes to the Salyut-7 orbital station. Docked with Salyut 7 on 21 Jul 1985 15:05:00 GMT. Undocked on 28 Aug 1985 21:50:00 GMT. Destroyed in reentry on 30 Aug 1985 01:20:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 3.23 days. Total docked time 38.28 days. 17 September 1985 Soyuz T-14 Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 6,850 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U2. Docked with Salyut 7. Transported a crew comprising ship's commander V V Vasyutin, flight engineer G M Grechko and cosmo-naut-researcher A A Volkov to the Salyut-7 orbital station to conduct scientific and technical studies and experiments. Grechko returned in Soyuz T-13 on 25 September 1985 - emergency return. 17 March 1986 Soyuz T-15 Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 6,850 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U2. Docked first with American Skylab/SLEOS facility then with Salyut 7. Transported a crew comprising ship's commander V V Vasyutin, flight engi-neer G M Grechko and cosmonaut-researcher A A Volkov to the Salyut-7 orbital station to conduct scientific and technical studies and experiments. Grechko returned in Soyuz T-13 on 25 September 1985 - emergency return. Mission to SLEOS carried batteries to replace those that would have been delivered by the Shuttle Challenger. 4 June 1986 Soyuz T-16 Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 6,850 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U2, carries equipment and materials to begin conversion of Saylut 7 into the Saylut II Space Station in preperation for launch of and joining with the MIR Facility the next year. 13 October 1986 Soyuz T-17 Spacecraft: Soyuz T. Mass: 6,850 kg. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511U2. Docked with Salyut II. Transported a crew comprising ship's commander R F Pyutin, flight engineer A S Kolenko and cosmonaut-researcher V I Sergeiv to the Salyut-7 orbital station to conduct scientific and technical studies and ex-periments. 20 February 1987: Mir Component launched from Baikonur and joins with Saylut II on 27 February. Mir 1 becomes operational the next day. Commander S A Alexayev, Flight Engineer P S Tuborov, and Cosmonaut I P Volk, join Sergeiv onboard, while Pyutin and Kolenko return to Earth.

From: The Partnership: A History of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, by Edward Clinton Ezell and Linda Neuman Ezell, NASA History Series SP-4209, 1978. 15 July 1975 - Launch The day began with the flawless launch of Soyuz 19. The initial orbital parameters were 220.8 by 185.07 kilometres, at the desired inclination of 51.80°, while the period of the first orbit was 88.6 minutes. There were smiles in Moscow and in Houston. Max Faget, who was seated in the viewing room overlooking the MOCR, expressed the feeling of most of the American flight team. "It's our turn to hit the ball. Now we've got to get into orbit." Early evening at Baykonur was mid-afternoon in Moscow and early morning in Florida and Texas. While the American crew slept, Chet Lee, Launch Director Walt Kapryan, and Kennedy Space Centre (KSC) Director Lee Scherer monitored the con-tinuing preparation of SA-210. At the time of the Soyuz lift-off, liquid oxygen was flowing into the tanks of the Apollo launch vehicle at a fast fill rate of 4,543 litres per minute. Af-ter the USSR launch, Lee, Kapryan, and Scherer got a briefing on the predicted weather conditions for the afternoon - there were thunderstorms in the vicinity of the Cape, but they were not expected to affect the American lift-off. In Houston, Lunney called Profes-sor Bushuyev to congratulate him on the success of the Soyuz launch and to advise him that the countdown was proceeding on schedule with the best weather forecast in months. Bushuyev reported in turn that the orbit of Soyuz was within 2 or 3 kilometres of the desired figures. Stafford, Slayton, and Brand were awakened at 9:10. While they were having their final medical examination, the team that assists the crew at the launch site set out for the spacecraft. Following their visit with the doctors, the astronauts sat down to the tradi-tional pre-flight breakfast of steak and scrambled eggs. As they ate, they watched a video replay of the Soyuz launch. Robert Crippen, the Backup Command Module Pilot, meanwhile began the final preparation of the command and service module (CSM) cockpit in anticipation of the crew's arrival. Once they completed their breakfast, the three men went to the suit room in the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building and donned their space suits. At 11:37, accompanied by John Young, Chief of the Astronaut Office, they rode down the elevator and boarded their van for the 25-minute ride to the launch pad. With the assistance of their suit technicians, the crew arrived at Pad 39B, where they made their way by elevator to the 100-meter level of the mobile launch tower. Once there, they crossed over swing arm number 9 and entered the White Room surrounding the spacecraft. Stafford was the first into the cockpit, where he moved into the left couch, assisted from the inside by Crippen, who also connected Stafford's electrical,

oxygen, and communications umbilicals. Slayton was next, and Crippen went through the same procedures after he was seated in the right-hand couch. Brand was last. When Crippen completed his check of Brand's fittings, he removed the protective cov-ering from the crewman's helmet, as he had for the other two. At 12:02, Stafford called to the test conductor Clarence Chauvin, "Looks like it's a good day to fly." Crippen slid down under the centre couch and crawled out the hatch above Brand's head. Aft er some additional checks, the CSM hatch was closed at approximately 12:22. As the first live launch pad colour television pictures of the interior of the CSM were broadcast to the world, the crew began to run through the final checklist. Stafford asked Karol "Bo" Bobko, the Spacecraft Communicator (CapCom) at 1.10, "Are you giv-ing us the countdown in English or Russian today?" Bobko responded, "Oh, I figured I'd give it in English." In Moscow, the Soviet flight director was reminding Leonov and Kuba-sov that the Apollo lift-off was set for 10:50 Moscow time (2:50 CDT). At T minus 7 min-utes, 52 seconds, the Apollo crew members finished their checkout of some 556 switches, 40 event indicators, and 71 lights on the console. Stafford told Bobko to tell Soyuz to get ready for them. "We'll be up there shortly." After the final minutes of waiting, at 2:49:50, the now famous count backwards from 10 began. "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, engine sequence start, 1, 0, launch. . . . We have lift-off. Moving out, clear the tower." Above the roar of the first-stage engines, Stafford re-ported that the ride had been a little shaky at lift-off, but now it was "smooth as silk." Fifty seconds into the flight, the acceleration force equalled 2 Gs, twice the gravitational force normally experienced on earth. At 124 seconds, the crewmen were experiencing 4 Gs as they dropped off the first stage and continued their journey under the power of the S-IVB stage. Fifty-two seconds later, they jettisoned the launch escape tower, and Stafford remarked, "Tower jett. There she goes! . . . Adios. . . . At 4:40, back to one g ac-celeration and looking good." Dick Truly, CapCom: Apollo, Houston. At 5 minutes you're GO. Stafford: Roger. 5 minutes. Looks good onboard, Dick. And we've got a beautiful sight. Truly: Roger. Wish I could see it. Stafford: Roger. Slayton: Man, I tell you, this is worth waiting 16 years for. Brand: Got a beautiful ocean out . . . here, Dick. Truly: Roger, I believe all that. Stafford: Okay, at 5:30, onboard trajectory looks beautiful. Truly: Roger. Concur, Tom. You're right on the money. On the ground, Ed Smith and R. H. Dietz with grins on their faces echoed the same thoughts when they said, "We've got a ball game!" The rendezvous chase was on.

Apollo-Soyuz Joint Mission Appendix

Apollo had achieved orbital insertion at 2:59:55.5 central daylight time. Brand ex-claimed, "Miy nakhoditsya na orbite!" Stafford notified Houston at 3:55 p.m. that the crew was preparing to execute the trans-position, docking, and extraction manoeuvre in 2 minutes. As a preliminary to removing the docking module (DM) from the spacecraft lunar module adapter (SLA) truss assem-bly, the CSM was separated from the S-IVB stage, and as the CSM moved away from the adapter section, the panels of the SLA were explosively jettisoned. In bringing the spacecraft about to face the docking module, the crew encountered its first minor problem of the flight. When Stafford looked through his alignment sight (COAS) at the Saturn IVB and docking module, the attitude was such that all he could see was the glare from the sunlit earth. At first he thought that the light illuminating the cross hairs in his sight had burned out. But when he put his hand in front of the COAS, Stafford re-ported that he could see the green reticule. Swearing under his breath, he knew that he would just have to wait until the two craft were positioned differently. Stafford moved the CSM toward the S-IVB and docking module until about only 10 meters sepa-rated them. Watching the stand-off cross on the docking module truss in the S-IVB stage, the Apollo crew assumed a station-keeping status. Slowly the target vehicle ap-peared to move toward the earth's horizon. Stafford squinted and leaned his head to one side so he could see the reticule. "Finally when I got it in line," he later recounted, "I could just tell my general attitude and moved in." Despite the problems, Stafford's dock-ing was perfect. He had aligned the two spacecraft to within a hundredth of a degree, the best alignment ever achieved with the Apollo docking system. By the time he had lined up his target, Apollo had passed out of radio contact with the ground. When Apollo re-established communications over Rosman, North Carolina, Stafford told Truly that they had achieved a real hard docking with the DM; all hatches were locked. The commander was happy to have this first docking completed. He later recalled that given the past problems with the Apollo probe and drogue, he had really been "sweating out" this exercise. Once it was over, he looked forward to meeting Soyuz. The new docking mechanism was a pilot's dream, and he knew that he could fly it in for a smooth docking. During a subsequent 5-minute pass over the tracking ship USNS Vanguard, the crew members advised Houston that they had completed the extraction of the docking module. The spacecraft, configured as it would be for the meeting with the Soviet craft, was now in an orbit 173.3 by 154.7 kilometres with an orbital period of 87 minutes, 39 seconds, and an orbital velocity of 7,820 meters per second. Additional manoeuvres would bring Apollo and Soyuz into the proper orbital relationship for rendezvous. Apollo's orbit was circularised at 167.4 by 164.7 kilometres at 6:35. From this orbit, the first

Apollo phasing manoeuvre was executed at 8:28 to provide the proper catch-up rate, so that docking with Soyuz could occur on the 36th Soviet revolution. This 20.5-meter -per-second change placed Apollo in a 233- by 169-kilometre path. The next phase and plane correction manoeuvre of 2.7 meters per second was scheduled for the 16th revo-lution. In the midst of this precision flying, there were some lighter moments. At 6:10, Brand asked Truly to tell the launch crew at the Cape that they permitted a stowaway to board the spacecraft. "We found a super Florida mosquito flying around here a few minutes ago." Slayton said that he planned to feed it to the fish that they were carrying onboard if he could catch it, and Brand wanted to bring it back and give it astronaut wings. These transmissions were conducted through the ATS 6 satellite. While that par-ticular communications satellite had been an unknown quantity throughout much of the mission planning, it was working very satisfactorily. Placed in a geosynchronous orbit at 42,596 kilometres on 30 May 1974, ATS 6 had re-mained at a fixed point over the Galapagos Islands, permitting educational television transmissions to remote areas at relatively low costs. Following transmission experiments to Appalachia, the Rocky Mountains, and Alaska, the satellite on command from the ground moved to a new position over Africa, where it was to be used for a year-long educational experiment in India. It reached its present location, 35° east longitude on the equator, on 2 July, in time for the ASTP team to borrow its communications channels for the joint flight. Broadcasting through the spacecraft tracking and data network sta-tion at Buitrago, Spain, the Apollo crew and the team in Houston were able to talk and transmit data for 55 minutes of each 87-minute revolution. This three-fold increase in communications, impossible without ATS 6, made all the hard work and worry about its success worthwhile. Later in the evening, after a cabin overheating problem had been solved, Brand asked Karol Bobko, who had relieved Truly as CapCom, about the status of Soyuz. Bobko re-ported that Leonov and Kubasov were asleep and that to this point in the flight their only problem was a television camera that refused to work. He told Vance that they had tried without success to repair it but they planned to work on it some more after their sleep period. Apollo meal time arrived at 10:06, and Slayton coined a new space phrase for eating when he indicated to Houston that he and his crew mates were in the "food intake mode." A problem later that night, however, caused some concern both on the ground and in the spacecraft. Bobko had wished the crew good night in Russian, and they were sup-posed to be bedding down for a rest period, when at 22 minutes past midnight Stafford called to the ground. Brand had attempted to remove the probe assembly from the

tunnel between the CSM and the DM so that he could open the hatch and store over-night a freezer in the passageway, but he found that he could not insert the tool that unlocked and collapsed the probe. Brand went on to explain the difficulty: Brand: "Okay, Bo. Everything in the probe removal checklist on the cue card . . . has been going great up through step 11. Step 12 is "Capture latch release, tool 7." You in-sert it in the pyro cover. You turn it 180 degrees clockwise to release the capture latches. Well, here's where the problem is, and let me explain it to you. . . . do you have somebody there that knows the probe that can listen?" Bobko: "Roger. Go ahead." Brand: "Okay, as I look in the back of the . . . pyro cover, I'm looking with my flashlight through the hole where I insert this tool, and there's something behind the pyro cover that's preventing me from putting this tool all the way in. . . . it's actually one of the pyro connectors. . . . this tool has to go down through the pyro cover in between . . . some pyro connectors. But one of these pyro connectors has rotated such that it's in the way. . . ." Neil B. Hutchinson, flight director at the time the probe problem was discovered, later told press representatives that the ground team and the crew had discussed the diffi-culty for about 18 minutes. Their first decision had been to forget transferring the freezer into the tunnel and just have the crew close the hatch and go to sleep. But when Brand tried to close the hatch, he discovered that the partially removed probe assembly pre-vented him from doing so. Since the three men were already past their sleep time and the open hatch did not pose a hazard, the two teams ground and space agreed to postpone any further work on the probe until morning. As a precaution, the crew raised by a very slight amount the cabin pressure, which provided additional oxygen to com-pensate for the nitrogen that was boiling off the freezer. The crew went to sleep, and Hutchinson went to a 3:15 a.m. news briefing. In his explanation, the flight director indicated that the problem was not serious, just an annoyance. In the morning, the crew would have to run back through the 11 steps to re-engage the probe in its fully locked position. Then one of the men would have to re-move the pyro cover, straighten out the misaligned pyro cap, go through the 11 disas-sembly steps, and on the 12th insert the key and unlock the capture latches. Afterwards the removal of the probe would follow according to the original plan. When asked if this was the same type of problem encountered in Apollo 14, Hutchinson answered that al-though this was the same probe assembly as that used in Apollo 14, the difficulty was an entirely different one. Everyone had to wait until morning to determine if the solution would be as simple as anticipated. 16 July - Chase

While the Apollo crew slept, Leonov and Kubasov were awakened in the early morning hours of the 16th and were advised by Moscow control of the Apollo probe difficulty. The ASTP cosmonauts continued to attempt repairs on their troublesome black and white television system. The black and white system never did work. This failure upset some Americans, notably Bob Shafer, because this system's absence meant that there would be no pictures of Apollo during the flight. While some of the NASA team groused about this turn of events, the Soyuz crew members prepared for the circularisation ma-noeuvre that would bring their spacecraft into a 225- by 225-kilometre orbit. As they were executing that manoeuvre, the Apollo crew was awakened to the rock sounds of Chicago's "Good Morning Sunshine." Medical reports and breakfast filled the first minutes of the Apollo crew's morning activi-ties. With the exception of some minor frustrations like the slow functioning urine dump system and some spilled strawberry juice, everything was proceeding satisfactorily. CapCom Crippen advised the crew that Soyuz had completed its circularisation ma-noeuvre and was "in orbit waiting for you." Truly replaced Crippen and gave Brand the latest information on how to remove the probe. As they were disassembling the back end of the probe, Stafford commented, "Dick, it wouldn't be a normal flight if we didn't have our little probe problems." Stafford came back on the air-to-ground communications loop at 9:55 a.m. to tell Hous-ton that the probe was out. With that "glitch" solved, the crew members could return their attention to the flight plan. Preparation for televising pictures from the cabin and checking out the docking module were the next activities on the list. As they worked through their schedule, the Soviet crew members were transmitting their first television pictures with their colour camera. Talking to the Soviet flight director, V. A. Dzhanibekov, Leonov gave the folks at home a commentary on their first 28 hours in space and then conversed with Klimuk and Sevastyanov, who had been aboard the space station Sa-lyut since 24 May. Sevastyanov commented that the ASTP crews had a very responsible task and that a large portion of the world's population was watching and listening to their progress. Referring to the seven men now in space, two aboard Salyut and the five involved in ASTP, Klimuk said, "these are the magnificent seven." With pleasantries con-cluded, the Soviet crews returned to their respective duties. Leonov and Kubasov be-gan lowering the pressure of their ship to 500 mm of Hg in preparation for the docking. Aboard Apollo, Stafford, Slayton, and Brand were settling into the routine of flight. Their day was filled with independent experiments (electrophoresis, helium glow, and earth observation) and collecting biomedical data. During the earth observation pass, Staf-ford told Bobko to inform Farouk El-Baz, the principal investigator for that experiment, that at ASTP altitude one could see far more detail than in Project Gemini, where Staf-

ford and Cernan had flown at a higher altitude (+60 kilometres). The ground reported to the crew that the medical information received from the exercise period was very good. To round out its other activities, the crew made another course change at 3:18 p.m. In anticipation of their big day on the 17th, the Apollo team bedded down a few minutes after eight, and the Soviet crew had been resting since about 2:50 that after-noon. Throughout their "night," the spacecraft were coming closer together as Apollo closed the gap between them by about 255 kilometres per revolution. 17 July - Rendezvous Roused at 3:07 a.m. by an alarm and warning signal from the guidance system, the crew members decided to stay awake after determining that the warning was a false alarm. That morning Slayton observed a grass fire in Africa, and Stafford saw a forest fire atop a mountain in the USSR Slayton commented that things looked just the same as in an airplane at 12,000 meters. At 7:56, 5 minutes after completing another manoeuvre to bring the craft into better attitude for rendezvous, the Apollo crew attempted radio contact with Soyuz. Brand reported at 8:00 that he had sighted Soyuz in his sextant. "He's just a speck right now." Voice contact between the two ships was established 5 minutes later. Speaking in Rus-sian, Slayton called, "Soyuz, Apollo. How do you read me?" Kubasov answered in Eng-lish, "Very well. Hello everybody." Slayton: Hello, Valeriy. How are you. Good day, Valeriy. Kubasov: How are you? Good day. Slayton: Excellent. . . . I'm very happy. Good morning. Leonov: Apollo, Soyuz. How do you read me? Slayton: Alexey, I hear you excellently. How do you read me? Leonov: I read you loud and clear. Slayton: Good. Thirty-two minutes later at Slayton's signal, Kubasov turned on the range tone transfer assembly to establish ranging between the ships. The gap had been reduced to 222 kilometres. At 9:12, Apollo had changed its path again when the crew executed a co-elliptic manoeuvre that sent the craft into a 210- by 209-kilometre orbit. Apollo was spi-ralling outward relative to the earth to overtake the Soviet ship. A 0.9-second terminal phase engine burn at 10:17 brought Apollo within 35 kilometres, and the crew began to slow the spacecraft as it continued on the circular orbit that would intersect that of the Soyuz. CapCom Truly advised Stafford at 10:46, "I've got two messages for you: Moscow is go for docking; Houston is go for docking, it's up to you guys. Have fun." Immediately, Stafford called out to Leonov, "Half a mile, Alexey." Leonov replied. "Roger, 800 meters." In accordance with the flight plan, the Soyuz crew

had moved back into the descent vehicle and closed the hatch between them and the orbital module. Inside Apollo, the men had closed the CSM and DM hatches pre-paratory to docking. At a command from Stafford, Leonov performed a 60° roll ma-noeuvre to give Soyuz the proper orientation relative to Apollo for the final approach. On the television monitors in Houston and Moscow, Soyuz was seen as a brilliant green against the deep black of space as the onboard camera recorded the final approach. Visitors had begun to gather in the MOCR viewing room about 2 hours before the dock-ing. Among the early arrivals were General Samuel C. Phillips, former Apollo Program Di-rector; Astronauts Scott, Allen, Garriott, McCandless, Musgrave, and Schweickart; and Captain Jacques Cousteau. Just before 10:00, Dr. and Mrs. Fletcher, accompanied by John Young, escorted Ambassador Anatoliy Fedorovich Dobrynin and his wife into the viewing room. Other guests included Elmer S. Groo, Associate Administrator for Centre Operations, and his wife; the Gilruths; D. C. Cheatham; D. C. Wade; and C. C. Johnson. As Apollo silently closed the remaining gap, the MOCR and viewing area grew quiet. Only the air-to-air and air-to-ground transmissions broke the spell. Leonov called out as the two ships came together. "Tom, please don't forget about your engine." This reference to the -X thrusters made Stafford and many of those on the ground who knew the story chuckle. Stafford called out the range, "less than five meters distance. Three meters. One meter. Contact." The hydraulic attenuators absorbed the force of the impact, and Leonov called out, "We have capture, . . . okay, Soyuz and Apollo are shaking hands now." It was 11:10 in Houston. Stafford retracted the guide ring, actuated the structural latches, and compressed the seals. In Russian he said, "Tell Professor Bushuyev it was a soft docking." "Well done, Tom," congratulated Leonov, "It was a good show. We're looking forward now to shaking hands with you on . . . board Soyuz." The chase of Soyuz by Apollo had ended in a flawless docking. Stafford later recalled, "Later that night, we checked the alignment and noticed that the centre of the COAS was sitting right on the centre of a bolt that held the centre of the target in for Soyuz." That is dead centre. A feeling of relief and exultation swept the control centre in Hous-ton. Lunney with a cigar in hand called Professor Bushuyev. Watching each other on their television monitors, the Technical Directors smiled as they exchanged congratula-tions, while both crews went through pressure integrity checks on their craft. When Slay-ton opened the hatch into the docking module, he caught the strong scent of burned glue. This news dampened spirits on the ground for a short time. As a precaution, Vance Brand donned his oxygen mask, and Stafford advised Leonov: "Soyuz, this is Apollo. Now we have . . . a little problem. I think we have somewhat of a bad atmosphere here. I think soon that we will no longer have any problems." While his Russian might not have

won any prizes, the Soviet commander got Stafford's message. Once the odour dissi-pated and the ground crews decided that they could not discover any danger in this unexpected development, the crews continued the procedures leading to the opening of the hatches between the spacecraft. Prior to that first handshake in space, Viktor Balashov, a noted Soviet television an-nouncer, read a message from Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev over the air-to-ground link: To the cosmonauts Alexey Leonov, Valeriy Kubasov, Thomas Stafford, Vance Brand, Donald Slayton. Speaking on behalf of the Soviet people, and for myself, I congratulate you on this memorable event. . . . The whole world is watching with rapt attention and admiration your joint activities in fulfilment of the complicated program of scientific ex-periments. The successful docking had confirmed the correctness of the technical deci -sions developed and realised by means of co-operative friendship between the Soviet and American scientists, designers and cosmonauts. One can say that the Soyuz Apollo is a forerunner of future international orbital stations. Brezhnev's remarks continued, noting that "the détente and positive changes in the So-viet-American relations have made possible the first international spaceflight." He saw new possibilities for co-operation in the future and gave his best wishes to the crews. Stafford and Slayton meanwhile had entered the docking module and closed behind them the hatch (no. 2) leading to the CSM. They raised the pressure from 255 to 490 mil-limetres by adding nitrogen to the previously 78 percent oxygen atmosphere. In Soyuz, the crew had reduced the cabin pressure to 500 millimetres before the docking. The pressure in the tunnel between the docking module hatch (no. 3) and the Soyuz hatch (no. 4) had been raised from zero to equal that of the docking module. Leonov and Kubasov were the first to open the hatch leading to the international greeting. During the transfer that was to follow, the pressure in the DM and Soyuz would be the same - 510 millimetres. Then at 2:17:26 p.m. on the 17th of July, Stafford opened hatch number no. 3, which led into the Soyuz orbital module. With applause from the control centres in the back-ground, Stafford looked into the Soviet craft and, seeing all their umbilicals and commu-nications cables floating about, said, "Looks like they['ve] got a few snakes in there, too." Then he called out, "Alexey. Our viewers are here. Come over here, please." High above the French city of Metz, the two commanders shook hands. Their dialogue was broken - part personal, part technical. They appeared to accept their amazing technical ac-complishment with the same nonchalance that had characterised their practice ses-sions in the ground simulators. There were no grand speeches, just a friendly greeting from men who seemed to have done this every day of their lives. In the background was a hand-lettered sign in English - "Welcome aboard Soyuz."

When they talked later with President Ford, however, the crews appeared somewhat less at ease. Ford had watched the Soyuz launch two days earlier in the State Depart-ment auditorium with Ambassador Dobrynin and Administrator Fletcher, while Mrs. Do-brynin interpreted for them. Keenly interested in the ASTP flight, Ford had wanted an op-portunity to speak with the crews. Dennis Williams, the information officer attached to the International Affairs Office at NASA, had drafted a series of possible questions for the White House that could be asked of each crewman. Neither Williams nor the mission control team in Houston expected Ford to use all the questions, but that is exactly what he did. The crew, who had been advised the night before of the conversation, were taken by surprise when the President, watching the men on a television monitor in the Oval Office, talked for 9 minutes instead of the scheduled 5. He asked a barrage of questions that sent the crews scrambling to trade off their three flight helmets to they could respond to him. But despite the confusion, Ford and the five space men seemed to enjoy the chat. Ford began: Gentlemen, let me call you to express my very great admiration for your hard work, your total dedication in preparing for this first joint flight. All of us here in . . . the United States send to you our very warmest congratulations for your successful rendezvous and for your docking and we wish you the very best for a successful completion of the remain-der of your mission. Stressing the same themes of co-operation as had Brezhnev, Ford pointed out that it had "taken us many years to open this door to useful co-operation in space between our two countries." When he asked Stafford whether he thought the new docking sys-tem would be suitable for use in future international manned space flights, the Apollo commander responded, "Yes, sir, Mr. President, I sure do. Out of the three docking sys-tems I've used, this was the smoothest one so far. It worked beautifully." Ford spoke in turn to Leonov, Slayton, Brand, and Kubasov. The President asked Slayton, "as the world's oldest space rookie, do you have any advice for young people who hope to fly on future space missions?" Slayton responded that the best advice he could give was "decide what you want to do and then . . . never give up until you've done it." To Ford's question about space food, Kubasov noted that the meals were different than the one the crews had shared with the President, especially since there was neither seafood nor beer available during the flight. In signing off, the President wished the men a "soft land-ing." Next Stafford, Slayton, Leonov, and Kubasov made a symbolic exchange of gifts, while Brand remained in the command module monitoring the American craft and waiting for his turn to visit Soyuz. Stafford speaking first, Said: Alexey, Valeriy. Permit me, in the name of my government and the American people,

to present you with 5 flags for your government and the people of the Soviet Union. May our joint work in space serve for the benefit of all countries and peoples on the Earth. Leonov thanked Stafford for "these very valuable presents" and in return gave Soviet flags to the Americans. During succeeding transfers, other symbolic items would be ex-changed. Apollo would return a United Nations flag launched in Soyuz, and the two crews would sign the Fédération Aeronautique Internationale certificates for the official record books. The four men settled down to their first joint space banquet. On the ground, too, some people went in search of a snack. John Young escorted the Fletchers, the Dobrynins, and the Groos to a third floor snack bar in the Houston control centre. Over ice cream bars and coffee, they discussed the events of the day. The Ambassador asked Fletcher why the ships had docked a little early, and the NASA Administrator indicated that they were so well lined up that there was no reason not to complete the docking. Fletcher told Dobrynin that the crews had not known until late the preceding night that they would be speaking directly with Mr. Ford. After a few good-hearted comments about the President's tendency toward long-windedness, the Americans bid farewell to the Dobrynins, who left for Washington. Glynn Lunney and Chet Lee met with representatives from the press late on the after-noon of the 17th to comment on the status of the meeting in space. Lunney said that those who had seen him in similar "change of shift briefings" in the past had seen a busy flight director with a dozen or so pages of notes. On this particular day, he had not taken many notes; he had mainly sat in the control centre "watching the Flight Directors and the rest of the team work." He continued: I would like to say that I've enjoyed today one hell of a lot. I have talked a number of times to the man on the other side of the ocean, Professor Konstantin Bushuyev, who's my counterpart and Director of the ASTP program for the Soviet Union and I could tell from the sound of his voice that he's enjoying the day as much as I am. . . . With his characteristic good humour, Lunney fielded a number of questions from the media representatives - the glue smell had not posed a problem; the crews had not talked much during their meal because "their mothers told them not to"; and there had been a scramble for headsets because no one had anticipated the President's desire to ask questions of all five men. Technically, diplomatically, and socially, the 17th had been a good day. Stafford and Slayton said good-bye to Leonov and Kubasov at 5:47 and floated back through the tunnel into the docking module. Stafford returned to the command mod-ule, while Slayton closed the DM hatch. In Soyuz, the Soviets were securing their hatch,

also. During the ensuing pressure integrity check, a possible leak through hatch nos. 3 or 4 was detected by the Soyuz monitoring equipment. This apparent flow of gas between the two hatches, while not serious, caused the crews to get to sleep a little later than planned. Finally, by 7:36, the Apollo crewmen had bid the ground good night and were beginning to settle down. 18 July - Transfers Awakened by "Midnight in Moscow," the Americans began their fourth work day in orbit at 2:00 a.m. Houston time. While the crews had slept, the two ground teams in Houston led by Walt Guy and V. K. Novikov had been watching the pressure levels of both ships and had conferred about the leak between the hatches. They had concluded that af-ter the two hatches were closed and the pressure had been reduced to 260 millimetres the gases trapped between them heated up. The pressure sensing devices could not distinguish between the expanding gases and a leak. Neil Hutchinson commented on working w ith Soviet Flight Director Vadim Kravets, whom he had never met: the hatch integrity check . . . involved me getting on the loop and talking to my coun-terpart who happened to be Kravets . . . the answers were all forthcoming in a timely fashion and very professionally done. . . . I think the one thing, as I sit back and look at it now that makes me wonder; I wish there was another one of these flights. We've gone to all this trouble to learn how to work with those people. It's like going to the moon once and never going back. 90 per cent of the battle is over with . . . getting all the firsts done. . . . I could run another Apollo Soyuz or another joint anyt hing with a heck of a lot less fuss than it took to get this one going. Though some of the worry in both Houston and Moscow had been in vain, the two teams had confirmed that they could work together in analysing an unforeseen prob-lem. With breakfast behind them and their early morning activities completed, Kubasov and Brand conducted a broadcast session from "your Soviet American TV centre in space," as Kubasov called it. In giving his tour of Soyuz, the Soviet flight engineer pointed out what various instruments were for and televised a picture of Brand in "the kitchen" (the food preparation station) warming up lunch. Stafford reciprocated by giving Leonov and the Soviet viewers a Russian language tour of the command module. Despite some problems with communications to the ground, the space television production was just one more unique aspect of the joint mission. Appearing casually simple from the per-spective of the home viewer, these broadcasts had required hours of negotiation and planning, just as all other aspects of the flight had. Soviet viewers were particularly en-thralled by the live coverage of the mission, but many Americans seemed to accept shows from 225 kilometres up as commonplace.

Kubasov later gave an English language travelogue as the two craft passed over the USSR "Dear American TV people," he began. "It would be wrong to ask which country's more beautiful. It would be right to say there is nothing more beautiful than our blue planet." After explaining that he would be giving a description of "what flows below the spacecraft," Kubasov continued: Our spacecraft, Soyuz, is approaching the USSR territory. Our country occupies one-sixth of the Earth's surface. Its population is over 250 million people. It consists of 15 Union Re-publics. The biggest is the Russian Federal Republic with the population of 135 million people. . . . At the moment we are flying over the place where Volgograd city is. It was called Stalingrad before. In winter 1942-43, German fascist troops were defeated by the Soviet Army here. . . . With the television camera still trained out the port of the orbital module, Leonov contin-ued to describe the panorama. In the command module with Stafford and Slayton, the Soviet commander spoke of the Ural Mountains, and he pointed out the area below in Kazakhstan from which they had been launched three days before. Toward the end of the 10-minute commentary, Brand added some remarks about the countryside he could see from his vantage point and concluded, "as you can tell, Soviets very much remember the war 30 years ago. Fortunately, we've come a long way since then. . . Fifteen minutes later at about 8:20, Brand and Kubasov began filming some science demonstrations that could later be used in science classrooms back on earth to dem-onstrate the effects of zero gravity on various items. Originally proposed by Marshall Space Flight Centre, Kubasov became very enthusiastic about the idea of such demon-strations, which were similar in concept to those filmed during Skylab. As a result, he sug-gested simple illustrations of basic principles of physics, such as the gyroscope, to be re-corded during the flight. Brand narrated the film in English, and Kubasov gave the Rus-sian commentary. Literally nowhere on earth could a classroom instructor duplicate the experiments, not to mention having such celebrities give the explanations. During this second transfer, Brand had lunched in Soyuz and Leonov in Apollo. At 10:43, Brand returned to Apollo, and Stafford and Leonov moved into Soyuz. Kubasov then transferred into the command module in this exacting cosmic ballet. With each move-ment of the crew members, the atmospheric composition of Soyuz had to be checked to make certain that not too much nitrogen had been removed. Once everyone was in place, the hatches between the orbital and docking modules were closed as a further step toward maintaining the proper cabin atmospheres. The highlight of the third trans-fer - the space-to-ground press conference - was about to begin. Having collected questions in advance from news people in Moscow and Houston, Va-leriy Vasil'yevich Illarionov of the visiting specialists team and Karol Bobko read the ques-

tions to the crews from Houston. The queries and the responses were friendly, in the spirit of the mission. Stafford began by saying that it had been a very rewarding two days in space. He felt that the success of the mission was the result of "the determination, the co-operation, and the efforts by the governments of the two countries, by the manag-ers, engineers, and all the workers involved." When he first opened the hatch to greet Leonov and Kubasov, he had a couple of thoughts that he was unable to express at the time. He believed that when they opened those hatches in space, they were open-ing the possibility of a new era on earth. "I would have said," in Russian, "we were open-ing back on Earth a new era in the history of man." He noted that just how far that new era would go would depend upon "the determination, the commitments, and the faith of both countries and of the world." The "climate of détente and a developing co-operation between our countries" has made this mission possible, Leonov added. Because of his participation in the first space welding in 1969, Kubasov was asked about materials processing in space. Kubasov believed that one of the future benefits of space programs would be the development of better and different alloys resulting from space processing. "It seems to me that the time will come when space will have whole plants, factories, for the production of new materials and new substances with new qualities, which could be . . . made only in space." Linked to that question was one from Moscow addressed to Stafford about the justification of spending money on space pro-grams when there were so many problems in the world that needed solving. Stafford noted that this was not a new question. He certainly believed that the costs would be repaid by the long term benefits. Science and applications were the likely ar-eas of payoff, but the uplift to the human spirit was also implicit in his words and those of his colleagues. All the men agreed that they preferred news of peace and tranquillity, and Kubasov especially hoped that all children would have a future filled w ith peace, so that they would never have to know what it was like to lose parents or loved ones in a war. On a lighter note, when a Soviet reporter asked Leonov to transmit a sketch "that would depict the meaning, the essence of the joint mission," Leonov and Stafford held up two flags, one from the United States and one from the Soviet Union - although backwards, the message was clear enough. Leonov then went on to show the televi-sion audience a number of sketches that he had drawn - "Here's a whole cosmic por-trait gallery." The best lines of the press conference came later. When asked how he liked the Ameri-can food, Leonov diplomatically answered, "I liked the way it was prepared, its fresh-ness." But as an old philosopher says, the best part of a good dinner is not what you eat, but with whom you eat. Today I have dinner together with my very good friends Tom Staf-

ford and Deke Slayton because it was the best part of my dinner. Slayton was asked how the experience of space flight compared to all the stories he had been told over the years. He said that he did not think he had discovered anything new. We've had the same kind of problems up here that people have complained about since MR-3. . . . Not enough space, and a little congestion to the time line, difficulty in keeping up with things. It's a lot slower getting things done up here than you realise when you're down there in one-g. . . . In some respects, it's easier because weighty things are easier to move around, but, on the other hand, everything just tends to take off if you let go of it. . . . it's been a great experience. I don't think there's any way any-body can express how beautiful it is up here. Looking to the future, Leonov was convinced that mankind was just at "the beginning of a great journey into outer space." As with the other ASTP crewmen, he hoped to have a chance to fly again. Stafford agreed and said that he would like to fly on one of the early Shuttle missions. "And I would hope that if Alexey would have a vehicle developed by [his] country that we could fly . . . in a joint mission." Not to be outdone, Leonov added, "I would always like to fly with friends . . . whom one trusts and with whom it is not dull to work. . . ." The crews returned to other items on their flight plan. Slayton, as part of the earth obser-vation experiment (MA-136), took photos of ocean currents off the Yucatan Peninsula and in the Florida straits. He also tried to observe the red tide phenomena - marine mi-cro-organisms that cause the water to appear red - off the coast of Tampa and in the vicinity of Cape Cod. But this visual exercise was not completed because of cloud cover. Brand's travelogue of the East Coast of the US was likewise hindered by the clouds, but he gave the narration anyway, describing the climate and flora of Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington, the Middle Atlantic states, and New England. As the ships passed over Massachusetts, Brand noted that Robert H. Goddard had launched the world's first liquid fuelled rocket from that state on 16 March 1926. Leonov narrated the events of the fourth transfer as he saw them. He stressed the large amount of work they had to accomplish during the joint phase of the mission, including five bilateral experiments. Although this "saturated program" seemed at times to be more than the five men could handle, they managed to complete all their tasks. Slay-ton, Brand, and Kubasov assembled the two halves of a medallion commemorating the flight, and then they exchanged tree seeds. As Slayton juggled television equipment, Stafford and Leonov bid their final farewell. All these exercises climaxed one of the most complex television scenarios ever conceived and executed. Tom Stafford shook hands with Leonov and Kubasov, bidding them farewell at about

3:49 in the afternoon. He then moved back into the docking module, and the space men closed the hatches for the last time at 4:00. Once the checklist for securing the hatches and executing the pressure integrity check of the seals was completed, the crews set about routine housekeeping chores - stowing equipment and making certain that all was in readiness for their next meal. For the statistically minded, the records indi-cate that Stafford spent 7 hours, 10 minutes aboard Soyuz, Brand 6:30, and Slayton 1:35. Leonov was on the American side for 5 hours, 43 minutes, while Kubasov spent 4:57 in the command and docking modules. To those at work in space and on the ground, it seemed longer. Before finishing all the items on their pre-sleep checklist, the Americans paused to listen to the news and sports as read by CapCom Truly. Included in his report was mention of an American home exhibit that had just opened to enthusiastic crowds in Moscow. Called "Technology in the American Home," the display was designed to give Soviet citi-zens an idea of the gadgetry available to the American homemaker. While no one commented on the fact, it was just such an exhibit that had sparked the Nixon-Khrushchev debate in 1959. In 16 years' time, the international scene seemed to have changed dramatically. Although the crew signed off for the evening on schedule at 7:20, they spent an uneasy first few hours. In addition to being very tired from the activities of their fourth day in space, they were jangled awake an hour later by a master alarm that reported a re-duction in docking module oxygen pressure. This problem was no real hazard, and it was quickly solved by an increased flow of oxygen into the DM, but it kept the crew from getting all the sleep for which they had been scheduled. When wake-up time came at 3:13 on the morning of the 19th, the crew failed to hear the musical strains of "Tenderness" as sung by the Soviet female artist Maya Kristalinskaya, with which the ground team had hoped to gently waken them. But 15 minutes later, they were awake and ready to begin their fifth day. Next door, beyond hatches three and four, Leonov and Kubasov were getting prepared, too. 19 July - Exercises During day five of the flight, the crews concentrated on docking exercises and experi-ments that involved the two ships in the undocked mode. During the interval between the first undocking and the second docking, the Apollo crew placed its craft between Soyuz and the sun so that the diameter of the service module formed a disk which blocked out the sun. This artificial solar eclipse, as viewed from Soyuz, permitted Leonov and Kubasov to photograph the solar corona. Ground-based observations were con-ducted simultaneously, so that the Soviet astronomer G. M. Nikolsky could compare views of the solar phenomena with and without the interference of the earth's atmos-

phere. Skylab had provided a long term look at the corona, and the ASTP data would give scientists an opportunity to compare findings made a year and a half later. This "artificial solar eclipse" (MA-148) experiment would be the last American chance for such information gathering until the Shuttle era. Another major experiment, "ultraviolet absorption" (MA-059), was an effort to more pre-cisely determine the quantities of atomic oxygen and atomic nitrogen existing at such altitudes as the one in which Apollo and Soyuz were orbiting. Again this information could not readily be obtained from ground-based observations because of the inter-vening layers of atmosphere. Apollo, flying out of plane around Soyuz, first at 150 me-ters, then at 500 meters, and finally in plane at 1,000 meters, projected monochromatic laser-like beams of light to retro-reflectors mounted on Soyuz. When the beams were re-flected back to Apollo, they were received by a spectrometer, which recorded the wavelength of the light. Subsequent analysis of these data would yield information on the quantities of oxygen and nitrogen. Some very precise flying was called for in these experiments. After being docked for nearly 44 hours, Apollo and Soyuz had parted for the first time at 7:12 a.m. while out of contact with the ground. Slayton advised Bobko after radio con-tact was re-established that they had undocked without incident and were station-keeping at a range of 50 meters. Meanwhile, Soyuz had extended the guide ring on its docking system in order to test the Soviet mechanism in the active configuration. Once they completed the solar eclipse experiment, with Slayton at the controls, Apollo moved towards Soyuz for the second docking. As he did, Stafford called out to the ground, "Okay, Houston, Deke's having the same problem with the COAS washout that I had." As Slayton explained it, he could see Soyuz and the target initially when they were against the dark sky, but at "about 100 meters or so, it went against the earth back-ground and zap. Man, I didn't have anything." Although worried that he might run over Soyuz, he pressed on with the docking "by the seat of the pants and I guess I got a little closer than they or the ground anticipated." There was too much light flowing into the optical alignment sight for Slayton to get a good view of the docking target. Contact with Soyuz came at 7:33:39, and Leonov advised the Americans that he was beginning to retract his side of the docking assembly. As viewed via Apollo television, this docking looked as if it had been harder than the first, and the two ships continued to sway after capture had been completed. Slayton, speaking in a debriefing, later said: The docking was normal, you guys gave me contact as usual and then I gave it thrust-ing. The only thing that happened then was they seemed to torque off. I was surprised at the angle they banged off there after we had contact.

Despite this oscillation, the Soyuz system aligned the two craft and a proper retraction was completed. Subsequently, there was some discussion of this docking, and the So-viet docking specialist Syromyatnikov was at first worried that an unnecessary strain might have been placed on the Soyuz gear. Bob White said that analysis of the teleme-try data indicated that Slayton had inadvertently fired the roll thrusters for approxi-mately 3 seconds after contact, and that this sideways force caused the craft to oscil-late after the docking systems were locked and rigid. But even with the extra thrusting, the second docking was within the limits of safety es-tablished for the docking system. Slayton's docking took place at a forward velocity of 0.18 meter per second versus 0.25 meter per second for Stafford's docking, but the dif-ference lay in the inadvertent thrusting. Momentarily an issue, the extra motion of Slay-ton's try was not a serious concern after all the data had been evaluated. Even Sy-romyatnikov had to concede that "the mechanism functioned well under unfavourable conditions." It was a case of things looking w orse than they really were. In the end, the incident only demonstrated the reliability and hardiness of the new docking system. It was 10:27 when Apollo and Soyuz undocked for the second and final time. This 4-minute exercise was conducted by Leonov, since it was a Soyuz active undocking. Slay-ton then moved his ship to a station-keeping distance, about 40 meters away. As he did, Leonov opened the retro-reflector covers so that the ultraviolet absorption (UVA) experiment could be performed. A difficult series of manoeuvres were called for in this test. As Soyuz continued its circular orbit, Slayton took Apollo out of plane with Soyuz and oriented his craft so that its nose was pointed at the reflector on the side of the other ship. Orbiting sideways in this configuration, Slayton flew Apollo in a small arc from the front of Soyuz to the rear of that ship while the spectrometer gathered the reflected beams. On the 150-meter phase of the experiment, light from a Soyuz port led to a mis-alignment of the spectrometer, but on the 500-meter pass excellent data were re-ceived; on the 1,000-meter pass satisfactory results were also obtained. After nearly 3 hours of tough flying, Bobko congratulated the crew. "You people flew it fine." Slayton responded: Okay. Great, Bo. And you can thank ol' Roger Burke, Steve Grega, and Bob Anderson, down there, that everything came off right. 'Cause they sure did all the work to make it go. The three men Slayton mentioned had spent hours in the simulators working out the pro-cedures to fly this complicated manoeuvre. Burke, who had worked with developing flight procedures for years, felt that this was one of the hardest experiments a crew had ever been called on to do, especially since the flight plan for it had continued to evolve until a couple of days before launch. Slayton later noted that it had taken all three

Apollo crewmen to complete the ultraviolet absorption experiment. "I was doing the fly-ing, Vance was running the computer and we had Tom down in the equipment bay opening and closing doors, turning on sensors and so forth. So, it was a busy time for all of us." He indicated that the manoeuvres were difficult because orbital mechanics came into play as they tried to fly around Soyuz. When the Apollo crew changed the velocity of their craft, they also affected its orbit. They would have no difficulties if they had had unlimited fuel resources, but being out of plane and playing orbital mechanics with "a very limited fuel budget . . . made it a great challenge." Stafford added that the thruster firings had to be timed because the onboard accelerometers could not meas-ure the changes in velocity. Apollo performed a separation manoeuvre at 1:42 to prevent re-contact with Soyuz, placing the American craft in a 217- by 219-kilometre orbit. With all the joint flight activi-ties completed, the ships were going their separate ways. Soyuz was below and moving ahead of Apollo at a rate of 6 to 8 kilometres per orbit. Leonov and Kubasov prepared to go to sleep, but the American crew had several hours of work scheduled in their crowded flight plan after their mid-afternoon meal before they could settle down for a rest period. The fifth day of ASTP - the second of joint activities - had been a success, and everyone in the Moscow and Houston control centres was pleased that all had gone so well. 20 July - Independent Activities Kubasov and Leonov began their sixth day in space at 1:10 a.m. while their American friends slept. Houston control tried for a second morning to wake the crew with "Tenderness" in Russian. This time they succeeded, and the men began their sixth day at 1:54 a.m. In addition to a day-long earth observation, which they started before break-fast, they concentrated on experiments during their first independent day in orbit. In-cluded in the flight plan were experiments in the multipurpose furnace (MA-010), ex-treme ultraviolet surveying (MA-083), crystal growth (MA-085), and helium glow (MA-088). In the midst of their work during an ATS 6 communication session, CapCom Crip-pen gave them a news report. Crippen included a special item in his report. "Six years ago today at 3:17:40 central daylight time we landed on the Moon. At 9:56, that's when Neil said his famous words about 'small step for man, giant leap for mankind.' " Stafford responded, "Roger. Re-member it well." Slayton: Say, what day of the week is this, incidentally? Crippen: This happens to be Sunday. Brand: [garbled] . . . our day off. Crippen: Oh, yeah. We'll get them off after you guys get back. Y'all . . are certainly not

getting a day off today. Brand: We're not complaining. While there was still much to do, the pressure of the first days of the mission was gone, and the crew was settling down to the routine. The sixth day of the ASTP flight was no-ticeably void of the drama that had been associated with the joint activity. 21 July - Farewell Leonov and Kubasov had signed off the air shortly after 1:37 (9:37 in Moscow) on the af-ternoon of the 20th, after stowing all of the returnable items in the descent module. Fol-lowing a rest period of nearly 10 hours, the Soyuz crewmen advised the ground that they were awake and that all systems were normal. The deorbit burn came exactly on time (5:09 in Houston), and the Soyuz crew notified Moscow that the retro-engine had fired for the calculated period and had been turned off at 5:13:38. Separation of the orbital and descent modules came 9 minutes later. Leonov advised the ground that the gravitational forces had built up, passed, and were less than he had anticipated. A task force of Soviet helicopters and ground-based personnel moved into the landing area. Within a few feet of the ground, the automatically fired landing rockets slowed the "thumpdown" of the descent vehicle. A cloud of dust caused by the braking rockets of Soyuz engulfed the craft and caused momentary anxiety for those viewers who did not understand its meaning. Three minutes after landing, at 5:51, a slightly shaky Kubasov was the first to exit. Leonov and his flight engineer smiled broadly and waved to pho-tographers on the scene. Houston Mission Control reported: "We're just looking at the TV here and see that Soyuz has landed safely, and Alexey and Valeriy were outside of the spacecraft and seem to be in good health." Stafford asked Houston to give the Soviets their best and to say that he was glad to hear that everything went well. For the remain-ing three and a half days, Stafford, Slayton, and Brand would concentrate on their ex-periments, but in many respects the saga of Apollo and Soyuz had come to an end. 22-23 July - Experiments Some minor experiment hardware problems developed during the final days of the mis-sion, but for the most part the crew members worked through their flight plan - which included 23 independent experiments - with few difficulties. CSM 111 was truly the best - as well as being the last - Apollo to fly. After a relatively quiet day of work on the 22nd, the major part of the next day was devoted to preparing for and conducting the dop-pler tracking experiment (MA-089). Paired with the geodynamics experiment (MA-128), these investigations were designed to verify which of two techniques would be best suited for studying plate tectonics (movements of the earth's substrata) from earth orbit. Where the geodynamics experiment utilised Apollo and ATS 6 in an attempt to measure these movements (the so-called low-high approach), the doppler tracking experiment

involved the use of two satellites in low earth orbit (the low -low approach) to measure the existence of "mass anomalies" greater than 200 kilometres in size. When the jetti-soned docking module and the CSM were separated by 300 kilometres, they would theoretically have their orbits affected by the greater gravitational forces exerted by these mass anomalies. As their orbits were perturbed, the radio signals transmitted from one to another would correspondingly be affected. Prior to releasing the docking module on its separate journey, the crew had partici-pated in a second press conference from space. During that 32-minute session, the crewmen were asked to philosophise about the future of manned space flight in gen-eral and upon such diverse topics as trips to Mars and their own participation in the Shuttle program. Their answers were filled with optimism and good humour. Deke Slay-ton's statement that he had done nothing in space that his 91-year old aunt could not have done sent reporters scrambling to find out her name (Mrs. Sadie Link) so they could meet their deadlines. Following the press period, CapCom Crippen told the crew, "you guys did a great job there. Professional as always." He also gave them the news that Leonov had been promoted from colonel to major general. With congratulations over, Stafford told the ground, "Now, back to work." After donning their space suits, the crew vented the command module tunnel and at 2:41 jettisoned the docking module. Filled with all their trash and used equipment that need not be re-turned, the DM tumbled into space at exactly the proper rate. Stafford and his team then executed their separation manoeuvre so that they could take the necessary dop-pler measurements. The docking module would continue on its way until it re-entered the earth's atmosphere and burned up in August 1975. 24 July - Last Splash Approximately 24 hours after they parted from the docking module, Stafford, Slayton, and Brand began their journey homeward. On the ground, the flight control team played Jerry Jeff Walker's "Redneck Mother" to wake the crew. With a cheery "Good morning, gents. Party's over. Time to come home," CapCom Crippen told them to rise and shine. At half past seven, the crew started preparing for its mid-afternoon deorbit. As the men rubbed the sleep from their eyes, ate breakfast, and gathered data for the medical doctors on the ground, Crippen read them the news for the last time, news most of which the Apollo crew was making. The newspapers said that Slayton would fly again and that Stafford was still undecided about the future. Would it be NASA, the Air Force, industry, or politics? "That last option is sure out. I'll clue you, ol' buddy," was the General's response. Crippen gave a favourable weather forecast for the prime recov-ery area - visibility 16 kilometres, winds at 17 knots, scattered cloud cover at 600 meters, and wave height 1.1 meters.

CSM deorbit came at 3:37:47, or about 13 seconds ahead of schedule. Six and a half minutes later, the command module was separated from the service module. As the re-entry vehicle descended, Slayton and Brand commented on the build-up of gravity forces and the fireball that flared up as the heat shield pressed against the earth's at-mosphere. At 4:18:24, Apollo splashed down about 7,300 meters from the recovery ship New Orleans. Houston control was filled with smiling faces and cigar smoke. Unknown at that time to the celebrants was the fact that the crew had inhaled nitrogen tetroxide fumes during the descent. The descent phase had gone without incident until about 15,000 meters. In the days that followed the recovery, the story of the failure to actuate the Earth landing system (ELS) was told and retold several times by Glynn Lunney, John Young, and others. Vance Brand presented his version during the crew technical debriefing. When the CM reached an altitude of 9,144 meters, two earth landing switches that permitted the apex cover to be jettisoned at 7,310 meters were normally armed. The drogue para-chutes would then be released, followed by the main chutes. Commenting on the de-scent, Brand said that as Stafford read steps from the Entry Checklist he threw the proper switches. There was quite a bit of noise in the cabin from the command mod-ule's thrusters and the passage of the craft through the atmosphere. At 30K [9,144 meters], normally we arm the ELS AUTO, ELS LOGIC, that didn't get done. Probably due to a combination of circumstances. I didn't hear it called out, maybe it wasn't called out. Any case 30K to 24K [9,144-7,315 meters] we passed through that re-gime very quickly. I looked at the altimeter at 24K, and didn't see the expected apex cover come off. Didn't see the drogues come out. So, I think at about 23K, I hit the two manual switches. One for the apex cover and also, the one for drogues. They came out. That same instant the cabin seemed to flood with a noxious gas, very high concen-tration it seemed to us. Tom said he could see it. I don't remember for sure now, if I was seeing it, but I certainly knew it was there. I was feeling it and smelling it. It irritated the skin a little bit, and the eyes a little bit, and, of course, you could smell it. We started coughing. About that time, we armed the automatic system, the ELS. . . . The manual deployment of the drogue chutes caused the CM to sway, and the reac-tion control system thrusters worked vigorously to counteract that motion. When the crew finally armed the automatic ELS 30 seconds later, the thruster action terminated. During that 30 seconds, the cabin was flooded with a mixture of unignited propellant and oxidisers from the thrusters. Prior to drogue deployment, the cabin pressure relief valve had opened automatically, and in addition to drawing in fresh air it also brought in unwanted gases being expelled from the roll thrusters located about 0.6 meter from the relief valve. Brand manually deployed the main parachutes at about 2,700 meters,

and despite the gas fumes in the cabin, the crew members continued to work through their checklist as best they could. Due to severe coughing and intercom noise, they had difficulty talking to one another and to the ground. Following a normal but hard splashdown, the command module flipped over, leaving the three men hanging upside down in their couches from harnesses. Brand, who was coughing the most because he was closest to the steam duct opening, saw that Slay-ton was feeling nauseous and reminded Stafford to get their oxygen masks. The com-mander recalled: For some reason, I was more tolerant to [the bad atmosphere], and I just thought get those damn masks. I said don't fall down into the tunnel. I came loose and . . . had to crawl . . . and bend over to get the masks. . . . l knew that I had a toxic hypoxia . . . and I started to grunt-breathe to make sure I got pressure in my lungs to keep my head clear. I looked over at Vance and he was just hanging in his straps. He was unconscious. After Stafford secured the oxygen mask over Brand's face and held it there, he began to come around. Once the entire crew was breathing pure oxygen, Brand actuated the uprighting system. When the command module was upright in the water, Stafford opened the vent valve, and with the in-rush of air the remaining fumes disappeared. Failure to throw the ELS switches led to an unanticipated two-week hospital stay for the crew in Honolulu. For Slayton, it also meant the discovery of a small lesion on his left lung and an exploratory operation that indicated it was a non-malignant tumour. After a short convalescence, Slayton joined the other four ASTP flyers for two tours, one of the Soviet Union and one of the United States. Despite a gruelling month on the road, nei-ther Slayton nor his team mates seemed any the worse for wear, and the warm public reception wherever they went seemed to indicate that the unfortunate accident at the end of the flight had not detracted from the basic success of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Pro-ject. Rivalry had produced the first manned space flights in the early 1960s. But that sense of conflict had been overcome with the creation of an international test project. Ironically, this first joint flight also marked the end of an era. NASA's manned space pro-gram had seen its last splashdown. Apollo would fly no more.

A2 10 A3 10 Advance Defense Shuttle 74, 75 Adventuer 23, 85, 86+G39 Afghanistan 16 Aldrin,Edwin "Buzz" 49, 50, 51, 52 Apollo 13, 14, 49, 54 Apollo 11 49-52 Apollo-Soyuz 15, 58, 125-136 Arab-Israeli Conflict 14, 15, 16 Arafat, Yasser 13 Ares Missions 25 Arianne 61 Armstrong, Neil 49-52 Asterix 47 Bell riots 24 Buran 16, 17, 66, 67 Celestial Dragon 28, 94 Challenger Disaster 62, 63, 64 Chimera 11 China 20, 25, 44, 45 Christopher, John 14 Churchill, Winston 9, 11, 13 Cochrane, Zephram 29, 97, 98 Cold War 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 Colonel Green 27 Columbus Class 26, 27, 90 Connestoga 18, 19 Constantinople Airlift 10 Cooper, Michael 49-52 Cyclops 22, 23, 25 DeGaulle Class 23, 84 Desert Storm 19 Diamant 47 Diana 22, 82 DY-100 18, 19, 20, 76, 77 Eastern Coaltion 26, 27, 28 Eisonhower Dwight D. 11 ESA 17, 18, 61 Eugenics 10, 11, 17

European Union 11 Explorer 34, 35 Falklands 17 First Contact 29, 97 Freedom Space Station 17, 18, 19, 21, 36, 68, 69, 79, 80 Gagarin, Yuri 12, 36 Galileo Class 25, 87 Ganghi, Mahatma 10 Gemini 13, 42, 43, 110-114 Glenn Class 27, 91 Goddard, Dr. Robert 9 Gorbachev 17, 18, 19 Greece 10 Hermes 17, 72, 73 Himawari Class 78 Hitler, Adolph 9, 10 India 14, 19 Iran 16, 17, 18 Ireland 13 Iron Curtain 10 ISS/WSS 23, 69, 79 ,80 Jets 10 Kai-Shek, Chang 10 Keeler, Edith 9 Kennedys 12, 13 King, Martin Luther 12, 13 Kirin 22 Kirk, James Augustus 9 Korean War 11 Krazny Octyaber 16 Kublai 25, 88 Leonov 40 Liberty Class 28, 93 Long March Rockets 44, 45 LTA 23, 26, 27 Luna 13 Lunar Landing 49-52 Lunik 12 Marshall Plan 10 McArthur, General Douglas 9

McBruce 20 Mercury 12, 38, 39, 105-109 Midway 9 Mind Control Riots 26 Mir 18, 19, 70, 71 Mission to Mars 23, 84, 85 Montgomery, Field Marshal Bernard 9 MULE 17 NASA 12 Nicauragua 16, 17, 19 Nomad 21 Nuclear Weapons/Energy 10, 11, 12 Pearl Harbor 9 Peron 15, 20 Phoenix 28, 97, 98 Pioneer 14 PLD 20, 21 Powell, Colin 20 Quaddaffi 16 Quebec 16, 17, 19 Ranger - Lunar Lander 46 Rommel, General Erwin 9 Royal Family 18 Ryuujin Class 26, 89 Saylut 17, 55, 56, 115-124 Seven, Gary 20 Shepard, Alan 12, 38 Shogun 22, 83 Singh, Khan Noonian 11, 15, 19, 20, 76, 77 Skylab 19, 20, 56, 57 SLEOS 16, 17, 18, 19, 56, 57 Solomon Islands 10 Soviet Union aka Russia 10, 11, 12, 19, 54, 55, 66, 67 Soyuz 48 Space Shuttle 16,17,18, 22, 62, 63, 64, 65 Spacewalk 40 Sputnik 11, 12, 32, 33 SST 15, 17 Stalingrad 10 Suez Canal 9, 11

Surveyor 13 Texas Class 28, 95, 96 Titanic 9 Tobruk 9 UES CHARYBDIS 26, 27 UESPA 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 United Nations 10, 21, 22, 25, 26 V1 10 V2 10 Venture Star 21, 22, 81 Vietnam 12,1 3, 14, 15 Viking 15, 59 Voskhod 40, 41 Vostok 12, 36, 37, 102-104 Voyager 21, 60 Vulcans 29, 97 Watergate 14 Weissnacht, Dr. Gottfried 9, 10, 11 World Peaceways 9 World War II 9 World War III 27 Wright, Orville or Wilbur 9 Yamamato 28, 92 Yeager, Chuck 10 Yeltsin, Boris 19

Credits

About the Design Team

Chief Editor and Publisher: Lieutenant General Scott A. Akers Currently the Chief Historian of Starfleet, General Akers’ last posting was as Commandant of the Starfleet Marine Corps during the Dominion War.

Layout Consultant: Colonel John C. Adcock Colonel Adcock is the Dean of Faculty at the Nexus Institute of Military Studies and Adjunct Professor of Special Operations Combat and Anti-Terrorist Opera-tions.

Technical Editor: Admiral Chris Wallace Before taking the ASDB Chairmanship, Admiral Wallace served as the Chief of Starfleet Operations. Before that, he was the Director of the STARFLEET De-partment of Technical Services. He also served as the Executive Director of the Galaxy and Galaxy (II) Class starship development projects and was the Commanding Officer of the U. S. S. Bright Star.

Production Editor: Vice Admiral Kurt Roithinger As the Retired Coordinator of STARFLEET Region Five, Vice Admiral Roith-inger has worked on a number of Starfleet projects.

Graphics: Fleet Captain David Pipgras Fleet Captain Pipgras is the Director of the Region Five Office of Graphic De-sign.

Historical Consultant: Admiral Alex Rosenzweig Admiral Rosenzweig is the current Director of the STARFLEET Department of Technical Services, as well as the Director of the Office of Technical Informa-tion. He has chaired numerous Starfleet committees and panels, one of the most controversial being the commission that oversaw the loss of the U. S. S. Enterprise at Veridian III.

Historical Consultant: Doctor Andreas Kitabau al-Qalb Andreas Kitabatu al-'Qalb, Ph.D., is an Adjunct Professor of Trans-Temporal Physics at the University of Makropyrios. As well, he has taught special semi-nars on "Pre-Federation Colonization Efforts," "The Preservers: An Argument

Against the Prime Directive of Non-Interference?" and "Terran Diplomacy in the pre-Federation Era" at Starfleet Academy. Kitabatu al-'Qalb is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley (Terra), the Kasayang Seminary (Betazed) and the class of 2277 at Starfleet Academy. He served with distinction in Sta r-fleet (including tours of duty on the starships Aries, Tereshkova, Valley Forge and Avenger, and at Shadowstar Station), then later served as Beta Miranda V's representative on the Federation Supreme Assembly for 15 years.

Support Staff: Doctor Rick Sternbach Doctor Sternbach serves with the Advanced Propulsion Unit with the Star Fleet ASDB and did extensive work on the Galaxy, Sovereign, Intrepid, and Defiant Class Starship

Support Staff: Doctor Michael Okuda Doctor Okuda serves with the Advanced Propulsion Unit with the Star Fleet ASDB and did extensive work on the Galaxy and Sovereign Class Starship Development Projects.

Credits TEXT CREDITS SCOTT A. AKERS COVER ILLUSTRATION CHRIS WALLACE LOGOS CHRIS WALLACE, KURT ROITHINGER, AND DAVID PIPGRAS PERSONNEL PLAQUES CHRIS WALLACE AND KURT ROITHINGER GRAPHICS CREDITS SCOTT A. AKERS

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