Salyut 3

Soviet space station (1974–1975)

Salyut 3
(OPS-2 / Almaz 2)

Station statistics
COSPAR ID| 1974-046A
SATCAT no.| 07342
Call sign| Salyut 3
Crew| 2
Launch| 25 June 1974, 04:15:00 UTC[1]
Carrier rocket| Proton-K No. 283-01
Launch pad| Baikonur, Site 81/23[1]
Reentry| 24 January 1975
Mass| 18,900 kg (41,700 lb) at launch[2]
Length| 14.55 m (47.7 ft)[2]
Diameter| 4.15 m (13.6 ft) max.[2]
Pressurised volume| 90 m3 (3,200 cu ft)[2]
Periapsis altitude| Initial: 219 km (136 mi; 118 nmi)[3]
Final: 268 km (167 mi; 145 nmi)[4]
Apoapsis altitude| Initial: 270 km (170 mi; 150 nmi)[3]
Final: 272 km (169 mi; 147 nmi)[4]
Orbital inclination| 51.6°[4]
Orbital period| 89.1 minutes[4]
Days in orbit| 213 days
Days occupied| 15 days
Statistics as of de-orbit and reentry
Configuration

Salyut 3 diagram

Salyut 3 (Russian: Салют-3, lit. 'Salute 3', also known as OPS-2[1] or Almaz 2[2]) was a Soviet space station launched on 25 June 1974. It was the second Almaz military space station, and the first such station to be launched successfully.[2] It was included in the Salyut program to disguise its true military nature.[5] Due to the military nature of the station, the Soviet Union was reluctant to release information about its design, and about the missions relating to the station.[6]

It attained an altitude of 219 to 270 km on launch and NASA reported its final orbital altitude was 268 to 272 km. Only one of the three intended crews successfully boarded and operated the station, brought by Soyuz 14. Soyuz 15 attempted to bring a second crew but failed to dock, after which the third planned mission to the station was cancelled.

Although little official information has been released about the station, several sources report that it contained multiple Earth-observation cameras, as well as an on-board gun. The station was deorbited and re-entered the atmosphere on 24 January 1975. The next space station launched by the Soviet Union was the civilian station Salyut 4; the next military station was Salyut 5, which was the final Almaz space station.

## Background

[edit]

The first space station, Salyut 1 (also known as DOS-1), was launched by the Soviet Union in April 1971. Only one mission successfully docked with Salyut 1: Soyuz 11. Its three-person crew spent 22 days aboard the station in June 1971. Tragically, the crew was killed just before reentry after undocking from the station.

At the time, the Soviet Union had competing "civilian" and military space programs. Salyut 1, was developed under the civilian program.[6] These civilian stations, were also known as Long-term Orbital Stations (DOS). Successors to Salyut 1 included the unsuccessful DOS-2 in 1972 and DOS-3 in 1974, followed by the successful launches of Salyut 4, Salyut 6, and Salyut 7.[2]

The military space stations, known as Almaz stations or Orbital Piloted Stations (OPS), were similar in size and shape to the civilian DOS stations. However, their designs, attributed to Vladimir Chelomey, were significantly different.[6] To conceal their military purpose, these stations were also publicly designated as Salyut stations. The first Almaz station, Salyut 2, launched in April 1973 but failed within days of reaching orbit and was never crewed.[2]

## Description

[edit]

Salyut 3 consisted of an airlock chamber, a large-diameter work compartment, and a small-diameter living compartment, giving a total habitable volume of 90 cubic metres (3,200 cu ft).[7] It had two solar arrays, one docking port, and two main engines, each of which could produce 400 kilograms-force (3,900 N; 880 lbf) of thrust.[7] Its launch mass was 18,900 kilograms (41,700 lb).[2]

The station came equipped with a shower, a standing sleeping station, as well as a foldaway bed.[2] The floor was covered with Velcro to assist the cosmonauts moving around the station. Some entertainment on the station included a magnetic chess set, a small library, and a cassette deck with some audio cassette tapes.[7] Exercise equipment included a treadmill and Pingvin exercise suit.[7] The first water-recycling facilities were tested on the station; the system was called Priboy.[7]

### Earth-observation cameras

[edit]

The work compartment was dominated by the Agat-1 Earth-observation telescope, which had a focal length of 6.375 metres (20.92 ft) and an optical resolution better than three metres, according to post-Soviet sources;[8] NASA historian Siddiqi has speculated that given the size of the telescope's mirror, it likely had a resolution better than one metre (3 ft 3 in).[9] The telescope was used in conjunction with a wide-film camera and primarily for military reconnaissance.[10] The cosmonauts are said to have observed targets set out on the ground at Baikonur. Secondary objectives included the study of water pollution, agricultural land, possible ore-bearing landforms, and oceanic ice formation.[7]

The cosmonauts were able to develop film while on the station. Important or interesting images were printed and then scanned by a TV imaging system for broadcast to Earth.[7] They needed as little as 30 minutes to shoot, develop, and scan a photograph.[7] Less important images were packed into a small Earth-return capsule, which could be ejected from the station.[7]

In addition to the Agat-1 camera, other cameras on board included a topographical camera, a star camera, and a Volga infrared camera with a resolution of 100 metres (330 ft).[1] Cosmonaut Pavel Popovich, who visited the station as the commander of Soyuz 14, recalled that the station was equipped with 14 cameras.[1]

### On-board gun

[edit]

The Salyut 3, although called a "civilian" station, was equipped with a "self-defence" gun which had been designed for use aboard the station, and whose design is attributed to Alexander Nudelman.[1] Some accounts claim the station was equipped with a Nudelman-Rikhter "Vulkan" gun, which was a variant of the 23 mm Nudelman aircraft cannon, or possibly a Nudelman NR-30 30 mm gun.[11] Later Russian sources indicate that the gun was the virtually unknown (in the West) Rikhter R-23.[12] These claims have reportedly been verified by Pavel Popovich, who had visited the station in orbit, as commander of Soyuz 14.[11] Due to the potential shaking of the station, in-orbit tests of the weapon with cosmonauts in the station were ruled out.[1] The gun was fixed to the station in such a way that the only way to aim would have been to change the orientation of the entire station.[1][11] Following the last crewed mission to the station, the gun was commanded by the ground to be fired; some sources say it was fired to depletion,[11] while other sources say three test firings took place during the Salyut 3 mission.[1]

## Station operations

[edit]

Only one crewed spacecraft, Soyuz 14, docked with Salyut 3. One other spacecraft, Soyuz 15, came within 40 metres of the station,[1] but failed to dock due to a malfunctioning rendezvous system.[1]

### Launch

[edit]

The station was launched on 25 June 1974 by a three-stage Proton launch vehicle.[2]

Salyut 3 was the first space station to maintain its constant orientation relative to the Earth's surface.[1] To achieve that, as many as 500,000 firings of the attitude control thrusters had been performed.[1] Its initial orbit was 219 km by 270 km above mean sea level, which was considered low.[3] The suspicions of Western observers were raised by the low altitude, combined with the choice of a crew from the Soviet Air Force, and the use of radio frequencies normally designated for military use.[3]

### Soyuz 14

[edit]

Main article: Soyuz 14

On 4 July, a little over a week after Salyut 3 was launched, the crewed spacecraft Soyuz 14 docked with the station, having been launched the previous day.[13] The crew of Soyuz 14 consisted of commander Pavel Popovich and flight engineer Yury Artyukhin. The crew spent 15 days aboard the station.

On 9 July, it was reported that the crew activated the Earth-observation cameras, and spent several days taking photos of various locations, including central Asia.[1] They placed some film in the Earth return capsule.[1] After undocking, Soyuz 14 safely landed on 19 July.[13]

### Soyuz 15

[edit]

Main article: Soyuz 15

The spacecraft Soyuz 15 was launched on 26 August 1974, carrying a two-man crew consisting of commander Gennadi Sarafanov and flight engineer Lev Demin.[1] They were intended to be the second crew to man Salyut 3, but failed to dock. The Igla rendezvous system on their Soyuz spacecraft malfunctioned, and the crew was unable to dock manually.[14] Due to the limited battery life of their Soyuz spacecraft, they de-orbited and landed two days after launch.[14] At the time of the spaceflight, Demin was 48 years old, earning him the record for the oldest person to fly in space up to that point.[15] This record was broken the following year, with Deke Slayton's spaceflight as a part of the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project.[15]

### Uncrewed operations

[edit]

Following the failed docking of Soyuz 15, it was decided that the Igla docking system needed significant modifications.[15] Due to the amount of time needed to make the changes, and the limited time Salyut 3 had left in orbit due to orbital decay, the next planned mission to the station was cancelled.[15] The spacecraft which would have been used on the third mission to Salyut 3 was later used for the mission Soyuz 20 to Salyut 4 (a civilian space station).[15]

Following this decision, on 23 September 1974, the station's Earth return capsule was released. The ejected capsule was deorbited by small engines. NASA sources report that the parachute of Salyut 3's capsule opened at an altitude of 8.4 km.[7] Other sources say the main parachute did not open, and the capsule was deformed upon landing, but that all the film was recoverable.[16]

Also following the decision to not send any more cosmonauts to the station, the on-board gun was commanded by the ground to be fired; some sources say it was fired to depletion,[11] while other sources say three test firings took place at the end of the mission.[1]

The station was deorbited on 24 January 1975 over the Pacific Ocean.[1]

## See also

[edit]

* Soviet Union portal
* Spaceflight portal

* TKS spacecraft

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Zak, Anatoly. "OPS-2 (Salyut-3)". RussianSpaceWeb.com.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Portree (1995).
3. ^ a b c d Bond (2002).
4. ^ a b c d "Salyut 3 - Trajectory details". NASA.
5. ^ Hall and Shayer (2003).
6. ^ a b c Zimmerman (2003).
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Portree, p.69
8. ^ See Zak's website, as well as Siddiqi p.593. Another NASA source, Portree p.69, states the focal length was 10 metres; but Portree's document preceded Siddiqi's by several years, during which time more information about the specifications was gathered.
9. ^ Siddiqi p. 593.
10. ^ Siddiqi, p.593; also Portree, p.69.
11. ^ a b c d e "James Oberg, Space Power Theory, Ch. 2" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-07-12. Retrieved 2006-07-20.
12. ^ Широкоград А.Б. (2001) История авиационного вооружения Харвест (Shirokograd A.B. (2001) Istorya aviatsionnogo vooruzhenia Harvest. ISBN 985-433-695-6) (History of aircraft armament) p. 162
13. ^ a b "Soyuz 14". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2009-08-22.
14. ^ a b Portree, p. 27
15. ^ a b c d e "Soyuz 15". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2010-11-30.
16. ^ "sal31678". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on November 19, 2002.

## References

[edit]

* Siddiqi, Asif A. (2000). Challenge to Apollo: The Soviet Union and the Space Race, 1945-1974. NASA. SP-2000-4408. Part 2 (page 1-499), Part 1 (page 500-1011)
* Robert Zimmerman (September 3, 2003). Leaving Earth: Space Stations, Rival Superpowers, and the Quest for Interplanetary Travel. Joseph Henry Press. pp. 544. ISBN 0-309-08548-9.
* D.S.F. Portree (March 1995). "Mir Hardware Heritage" (PDF). NASA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-09-07.
* Rex Hall, David Shayler (2003). Soyuz: a universal spacecraft. Springer. p. 459\. ISBN 1-85233-657-9.
* Peter Bond (20 June 2002). The continuing story of the International Space Station. Springer. p. 416\. ISBN 1-85233-567-X.
* Anatoly Zak. "OPS-2 (Salyut-3)". RussianSpaceWeb.com.

## External links

[edit]

* Soviet Space Stations as Analogs - NASA report (PDF format)

* v
* t
* e

Almaz program

* Salyut 2 (OPS-1)
* Salyut 3 (OPS-2)
* Salyut 5 (OPS-3)
* OPS-4 (not flown)

* See also: TKS spacecraft
* Salyut programme
* Excalibur Almaz

* v
* t
* e

Salyut programme

Salyut stations (DOS)|

* Salyut 1 (DOS-1)
* DOS-2
* Kosmos 557 (DOS-3)
* Salyut 4 (DOS-4)
* Salyut 6 (DOS-5)
* Salyut 7 (DOS-6)

Almaz stations (OPS)|

* Salyut 2 (OPS-1)
* Salyut 3 (OPS-2)
* Salyut 5 (OPS-3)
* OPS-4 (not flown)

Successors|

* Mir (DOS-7)
* Zvezda (DOS-8)

TKS spacecraft|

* Kosmos 1267 (TKS-2)
* Kosmos 1443 (TKS-3)
* Kosmos 1686 (TKS-4)

Support craft|

* Soyuz
* Progress
* TKS
* VA
* FGB

Lists|

* Expeditions
* Spaceflights
* crewed
* uncrewed
* Visitors
* Spacewalks

Related|

* Return from Orbit (1984 film)

* v
* t
* e

Space stations and settlements

* List of space stations
* List of commercial space stations

Current|

* International Space Station (ISS)
* Tiangong space station (TSS)

Past|

| Russia /
Soviet Union|

* Salyut
* Salyut 1
* DOS-2†
* Salyut 2† ‡
* Cosmos 557†
* Salyut 3‡
* Salyut 4
* Salyut 5‡
* Salyut 6
* Salyut 7
* Mir

|

United States|

* OPS 0855°
* Skylab

China|

* Tiangong program
* Tiangong-1
* Tiangong-2

Private|

* Genesis
* I°
* II°

Canceled|

| Individual projects|

* Aurora Station
* Bigelow Commercial Space Station
* Deep Space Habitat
* Excalibur Almaz
* Exploration Gateway Platform
* Galaxy
* Industrial Space Facility
* Manned Orbiting Laboratory
* Nautilus-X
* OPSEK
* Orbital Technologies Commercial Space Station
* Skylab II (FlexCraft)
* Skylab B
* Sundancer
* Tiangong-3

|

Incorporated into ISS|

* Space Station Freedom
* USOS
* Columbus MTFF
* Columbus (ISS module)
* Mir-2
* ROS

In development|

| Russia|

* Russian Orbital Service Station

|

Private|

* Axiom Station
* Haven-1
* Orbital Reef
* Starlab

International|

* Lunar Gateway

Proposed|

* Bharatiya Antariksha Station
* Japanese Space Station Module (Mitsui)
* Lunar Orbital Station
* Voyager Station

Concepts|

* Bernal sphere
* Bishop Ring
* McKendree cylinder
* O'Neill cylinder
* Rotating wheel
* Space settlement
* Stanford torus
* Wet workshop

Related|

* List of films featuring space stations
* Space stations and habitats in fiction
* Mission to Mir (1997 documentary)
* Space Station 3D (2002 documentary)
* Orphans of Apollo (2008 documentary)
* Space Tourists (2009 documentary)
* A Beautiful Planet (2016 documentary)

Notes: † Never inhabited due to launch or on-orbit failure, ‡ Part of the Almaz military program, ° Never inhabited, lacks docking mechanism.

* v
* t
* e

← 1973

Orbital launches in 1974

1975 →

* Kosmos 628
* Skynet 2A
* Kosmos 629
* Kosmos 630
* Kosmos 631
* Sphinx
* VDS
* Kosmos 632
* OPS 6889
* Tansei 2
* San Marco 4
* Kosmos 633
* Meteor-M No.30
* Kosmos 634
* Miranda
* Kosmos 635
* Nauka-17KS No.1L
* OPS 8579
* Kosmos 636
* Kosmos 637
* Kosmos 638
* Kosmos 639
* OPS 6245
* OPS 4547
* OPS 3935
* Kosmos 640
* Unnamed
* Westar 1
* Molniya-1-27
* Kosmos 641
* Kosmos 642
* Kosmos 643
* Kosmos 644
* Kosmos 645
* Kosmos 646
* Kosmos 647
* Kosmos 648
* Meteor-M No.22
* Molniya-2-9
* Kosmos 649
* Kosmos 650
* Kosmos 651
* Kosmos 652
* Kosmos 653
* Kosmos 654
* SMS-1
* Interkosmos 11
* Kosmos 655
* Yantar-2K No.1
* Kosmos 656
* Luna 22
* Kosmos 657
* ATS-6
* Explorer 52
* Kosmos 658
* OPS 1776
* Kosmos 659
* Kosmos 660
* Kosmos 661
* Salyut 3
* Kosmos 662
* Kosmos 663
* Kosmos 664
* Kosmos 665
* Soyuz 14
* Meteor-Priroda No.1
* DS-P1-Yu No.68
* Kosmos 666
* Unnamed
* OPS 7518
* Aeros 2
* Molniya-2-10
* Kosmos 667
* Kosmos 668
* Kosmos 669
* Nauka-8KS No.3
* Molniya-1 No.38
* Kosmos 670
* Kosmos 671
* OPS 6983
* Kosmos 672
* OPS 3004
* Kosmos 673
* Soyuz 15
* Kosmos 674
* Kosmos 675
* Unnamed
* ANS
* Kosmos 676
* Kosmos 677
* Kosmos 678
* Kosmos 679
* Kosmos 680
* Kosmos 681
* Kosmos 682
* Kosmos 683
* Kosmos 684
* Kosmos 685
* Kosmos 686
* Westar 2
* Kosmos 687
* Ariel 5
* Kosmos 688
* Kosmos 689
* Kosmos 690
* Molniya-1 No.26
* Kosmos 691
* Meteor-M No.33
* Luna 23
* OPS 7122
* OPS 6239
* OPS 8452
* Interkosmos 12
* Kosmos 692
* Kosmos 693
* Fanhui Shi Weixing 1
* NOAA-4
* OSCAR-7
* INTASAT
* Kosmos 694
* Kosmos 695
* Molniya-3 No.11
* Intelsat IV F-8
* Skynet 2B
* Kosmos 696
* Soyuz 16
* Helios 1
* Kosmos 697
* Meteor-M No.32
* Kosmos 698
* Symphonie 1
* Molniya-2-11
* Kosmos 699
* Salyut 4
* Kosmos 700
* Kosmos 701

Payloads are separated by bullets ( · ), launches by pipes ( | ). Crewed flights are indicated in underline. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in (brackets).
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