November 25, 1983
"Today the soviet Union orbited a new space facility aimed at peaceful purposes. Called Zvezda, the module features eight docking ports, and it only is the first element of a very large orbital complex, itself to become the hub of a network of civilian multipurpose platforms derived from the current Salyuts and Soyuz spaceships..."
The TASS press release evidently trumped noone. Launch of a large space station had been expected for years, yet the launch come amid extreme tensions. That autumn had been a gloomy one, packed with The Day After bleak movie, Able Archer, the INF crisis, KAL-007 shootdown, and that dreadful close call, on September 26, when the World had been as close from nuclear was as at the height of the Cuban crisis. That autumn it was as if doomsday would come from the air or space, one way or another.
Reagan and America had been rightly infuriated by death of Congressmen Larry McDonald, Jesse Helms and Steven Symms. It was bitterly noted that they had been killed while on their way to South Korea to attend a celebration of the 30th anniversary of the United States–South Korea Mutual Defense Treaty - only for their plane to be shot down by Soviet interceptor after straying into Soviet airspace.
That kind of very silly coincidence evidently did not helped cooling down Reagan usual anti-communist rethoric, which reached new heights in ferocity. Helms had been damn unlucky in fact, joinning McDonald aboard the doomed Jumbo in New York, after he already missed another plane and waited for two day airport that other flight that would ultimately kill them all !
Amid that only The Right Stuff stood for a civilian, light tone space program... but John Glenn had just announced he wouldn't be candidate to the democratic nomination. Rumours said that Glenn had had hard times at the Vice Presidency, so it was everything but a suprise... and Walter Mondale had happily filled the void.
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Space station Zvezda is a techno-thriller written by Harry G. Stine under the nom de plume Lee Correy and published in 1985. The title is a reference to both novel and movie Ice Station Zebra of the 60's.
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Ilya Patchikov and Ivan Popov could have been the first Soviet citizens to the Moon in August 1974. They have trained very hard – for weeks they worked eighteen hours a day. But at the last moment and to their great dismay the Politburo decided the mission will be entirely automated; and by a fitting irony for the first time the Soviet Moon machines perfectly worked, including the very troublesome N-1 rocket. And then the Soviet lunar program is cancelled as too late and too backwards when compared to Apollo.
From 1973 onwards the two frustrated cosmonauts get involved with the Apollo – Soyuz test program, visiting the United States and befriending American astronauts Pruett and Johnson. They learn about the Apollo – Soyuz radio link; they visit mockups of the future American space station. Within two years after the Apollo–Soyuz linking Popov and Patchikov hear of Sablin and Belenko defections, both due to the Brezhnev era stagnation and corruption, and are troubled by it. Growing more and more disillusioned by the late Brezhnev era ramping corruption Popov and Patchikov patiently elaborate a plot. At some point in the early 80's they learn that Pruett and Johnson are to man Liberty, so they decide to go into action.
They are send to space station Zvezda, an advanced orbital facility with artificial gravity provided by spinning around Salyut-like modules. After some days they pretext a health emergency, and an hurried undocking followed by a direct reentry. They then told ground controlled that the hurried undocking has consumed most of the Soyuz propellant, leaving them stranded in orbit. For a period they also shut contact with the ground. Meanwhile they use their Soyuz meagre propellant supply to get close from the American space station. But they can't dock – the rings are not compatible. And of course the American crew may refuse to accept them onboard.
The Soviet crew then elaborates an outrageous scheme to twist arm of the American crew.
The Soyuz first gets as close as possible from the Liberty airlock. Then the crew don their space suits before opening the Soyuz docking ring, depressurizing their spaceship. Popov crawls through the docking tunnel into space, and extends his arms outside the Soyuz, with the aim of gripping the American space station external airlock hatch with his gloved hands. Patchikov has to carefully manoeuver the Soyuz in order not to crush his crewmate. The daring manoeuver ultimately succeeds. Standing halfway through the Soyuz docking ring Popov then secures his position with a rope, while Patchikov uses him like an human ladder until he grasp, too, the Liberty airlock external hatch. But the Soyuz is still very close from the two cosmonauts, and there is a real threat they might be crushed by a collision between their spaceship and Liberty. Popov and Patchikov then try a radical approach: they forcefully and repeatedly kick the Soyuz with their feet so that it moves away from them, an exhausting ordeal that ultimately works. The American crew watch the scene, startled, and report to the ground, expressedly asking to welcome the cosmonauts onboard.
With the Soviet suit providing only six hours of life-support, the Americans have to take a difficult decision very fast. Under orders from the U.S government NASA order the Soviet cosmonauts to move back to their Soyuz and reenter Earth atmosphere. The space station crew will do his best to help the Soyuz desorbit, either with the robotic arm or using one of their Agena space tug.
But the Soviet crew refuse to comply. Ultimately Pruett and Johnson desobey orders and get the Soviets onboard, creating a dangerous situation. Once aboard space station Liberty Popov and Patchikov ask for political asylum in the United States.
The situation is made even more explosive considering the events happens late 1983, in an era of tension never seen since the Cuban crisis of 1962. Tension peaks as all of sudden Houston warns the Liberty crew that the Soviet have launched an I.S satellite killer near the American space station; they threaten to cripple the American space station. This prompt president Reagan to call Andropov on the red phone, with a heated exchange happening between the two men. Ultimately the Soviets desorbit the killer satellite as a gesture of goodwill.
Another threat is the abandonned Soyuz that dangerously drift near Liberty; the American crew decides to to use the robotic arm to pick up the Soviet spaceship and keep it at a safe distance from Liberty. A major issue is that the Soyuz lacks a grapple fixture compatible with the arm end. Instead the Liberty crew tries to clamp the arm end on a Soyuz antenna but the manoeuver goes awfully wrong. The antenna bends and breaks, sending the Soyuz tumbling into a wild spin, hitting and breaking the robotic arm. The Soyuz then strike Liberty, causing a small fire and damaging a solar array. Ultimately the Liberty crew decide to fire an Agena space tug to move the space station away from the battered Soyuz, and the manoeuver successfully clear the american space station from any danger.
Meanwhile Andropov is bargaining with Reagan. He will let the crew goes to the United States if Reagan roll back his Strategic Defense Initiative. Reagan, striken by Soviet panick vis a vis the Able Archer excercice and “The day after” gloomy movie decides to make concessions, perhaps through a meeting with Andropov.
In the end Reagan asks Congress to enact a bill granting asylum to the Soviet crew. A trust fund will be set up for them, granting them a very comfortable living. The meeting between Reagan and a terminally ill Andropov never happens, but it paves the way to Gorbatchev perestroika and the end of Cold War – earlier than in our universe, in 1987.
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According to Stine himself “Well, Valery Sabline mutiny aboard a Soviet frigate in 1975 inspired Tom Clancy to write Hunt for Red October a decade later. Meanwhile the year after, in 1976 Viktor Belenko flew his MiG-25 to Japan and this inspired another techno-thriller – Craig Thomas Firefox, published in 1982.
In 1980 John Barron wrote a book about the Belenko case. According to Belenko himself when asked how long did he planned his escape, and what did it involve ?
“In terms of the evolution of my thoughts and making the conclusion to escape I do not have a precise time. I did make that decision based on my dissatisfaction with that country. I tried to do my best. I was one of their best fighter pilots. When I was young I was possessed by socialist and communist ideas which are very appealing because they promise full employment, free education, free medical care, good retirement, free child care, and so on. But later I discovered that those ideas were serving only a very small number of Communist nomenclatura, and the rest of the people were basically slaves. I made my conclusion that I could not change that system. The system is so big that there's no way I could change it or exist inside of it as a normal human being. For me, it was the best thing to divorce myself from that system. I was a fighter pilot, but that had nothing to do with my decision to escape. If I had not been a fighter pilot, I would still have found way to escape from that concentration camp. Even today, with all the slogans and all the freedoms, that country is still a closed society.
It took me a while to build the critical mass in my mind to make that decision, but the final decision I made a month before my escape, and when I made that decision I felt so good about myself! I felt like I was walking on the top of clouds. I felt free. But for me to achieve my objective I must have good weather in Japan and 100% fuel, and it took one month to have those two components in place. During that month I performed my duties so well that my commanding officers were ready to promote me. But on September 6, 1976 all components were in place. By the way, I did not steal the airplane. I had clearances. I just changed my flight plans slightly in the air.” Belenko concluded.
Stine later said “Barron's book about Belenko was fascinating. Then it occurred to me that, since 1978 NASA Liberty faced the OPSEK-Mir Soviet space station. The two were in very similar orbits, 51.6 degree inclined over the equator and 200 miles high. People were saying the situation was very similar to Berlin (before the wall), but in space. This stroke me – could a Soviet cosmonaut pull a Sablin or a Belenko, that is, flying his Soyuz to the American space station and asking for political asylum ? It was an exciting pitch for a novel or a movie script, and I decided to dug the concept further. It reminded me, somewhat, of Martin Caidin Marooned. When I started writing the novel late 1983 I could hardly imagine that the legendary Clint Eastwood would adapt it into a movie at the turn of the century, in 1999.
After the end of Cold War we learned, startled, that Soyuz contingency landing zones included the American prairies. There were landing points in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, North Dakota, Texas and, Oklahoma. The Texas (contingency !) landing point for Soyuz-33 at 33N, 97.6 W was actually quite close to Fort Worth.
Imagine the situation: at the height of Cold War, a Soyuz lands on goddam Texas, kingdom of anti-communism feelings in America. It would make for one hell of a culture clash !
) the LV is now behind and below the aircraft which relieved of the LV mass can get out of Dodge before light off. This means there's no "Whoa!" moment like there was a Spaceship One crossed in front of White Knight 1 during launch 
