Almaz

Almaz was a space program by the military of the Soviet Union. Its purpose was to spy on other countries using space stations. After some time, the program chan

Almaz

Almaz was a space program by the military of the Soviet Union. Its purpose was to spy on other countries using space stations. After some time, the program changed to using spy satellites instead.[1]

Since it is hard to hide a space station, the Soviets tried to keep the program a secret another way. They pretended the stations were civilian and gave them names in the Salyut series. The Salyut stations (such as Salyut 1) were normally to learn about how to live in space.

The Almaz program sent three stations to space, but the first failed. In the later years of the program, satellites were used instead since they are cheaper.

Space stations

The Almaz program sent three space stations to space. These were Salyut 2, Salyut 3, and Salyut 5. These had large space telescopes to spy on other countries. The cosmonauts on the station operated these and used cameras to record what they saw.[1]

The Salyut 3 station also had a large cannon, which was test fired once.[2]

Satellites

In 1978, Almaz began to using spy satellites instead of space stations. Four were made as part of the program. These used radar to observe the ground instead of telescopes.[3]

The first was Almaz-T which launched on 29 October 1986. The Proton rocket in launched on failed, and was destroyed by its safety system. The next was Almaz-T2, which went to space on 25 July 1987 and stayed in space for two years. The third was Almaz-1 which launched on 3 March 1991 and stayed in space for 18 months. A fourth satellite (Almaz-2) was built but never sent to space.

Legacy

The design of the Almaz space stations continues to be used even today. The Zarya module of the International Space Station is based on it. And before that, the Kvant-1 module of Mir was based on it.[4]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sven, Grahn. "Almaz space stations". www.svengrahn.pp.se. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  2. ↑ Sean Gallagher (17 November 2015). "Russian television reveals another secret: the Soviet space cannon". Ars Technica. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  3. ↑ "Almaz-T spacecraft". RussianSpaceWeb.com. Archived from the original on 9 October 2012. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  4. ↑ "Mir Hardware Heritage" (PDF). NASA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 February 2009.

Other websites

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Almaz program.

Content Disclaimer

Informasi ini disarikan dari Wikipedia dan disajikan kembali untuk tujuan edukasi. Konten tersedia di bawah lisensi CC BY-SA 3.0. Kami tidak bertanggung jawab atas ketidakakuratan data yang bersumber dari kontribusi publik tersebut.

  1. The information displayed on this website is sourced in part or in whole from Wikipedia and has been adapted for the purpose of restating it. We strive to provide accurate and relevant information, however:
  2. There is no guarantee of absolute accuracy. Wikipedia is an open, collaborative project that can be edited by anyone, so information is subject to change.
  3. It is not intended to constitute professional advice. The content displayed is for informational and educational purposes only. For important decisions (e.g., medical, legal, or financial), please consult a professional.
  4. Content copyright. Wikipedia is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (CC BY-SA). This means that content may be reused with appropriate attribution and shared under a similar license.
  5. Responsible use. Any risk arising from the use of information from this website is entirely the responsibility of the user.