Children of Apollo: From the Earth, to the Heavens
- Thread starter Its_Just_Luci
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lmao, yeah, N1 engine recovery would honestly not be bad. I did the math, and the aft section shouldn't be heavier than the RSRMs (definetly not the RSRMV or S-IC, both of which have been proposed to be parachute recovered) plus it's shape means it'd go slow. The issue is, with the hellish tankage of the N1... that just wouldn't help a ton, hence why they are banking on a more clean slate flyback concept rather than a P/A module. That and trying to propulsively land the booster would (despite being hillarious) likely not end well, or really be considered.Recovery for the N1 should be easy, there's a reason it was made in the shape it was. Obviously they were copying Von Braun's "Ferry Rocket" they just need to add some parachutes, a bunch of toxic propellant (looking at you Glushko) a nearby ocean and you're good
Randy
Flyback and parachute recovery are pretty much the 'standard' of thinking at the time. Boostback and powered landing more so were seen as taking too much of a payload penalty, especially with most of the Soviet boosters.
Randy
Been just following this TL and I'm impressed! Just one wee question regarding the Voyager mission, with it seemingly following the original Grand Tour plans with 4 Voyager probes, does this mean that we get an earlier visit to Pluto in 1986 as what had been suggested if they had not done the Titan flyby?
Either that, or if the Soviets join in the tour with probes of their own to help out?
Either that, or if the Soviets join in the tour with probes of their own to help out?
yes, the Voyager 1 probe (if I am remembering correctly) visits Pluto, one probe swings by titan, and another by enceladus after plumes are spotted. I had a segment written about it that got scrapped, largely bc I couldn't find real mission parameters for the planned Pluto flyby but it does happen canonically.
Yeah, they wouldn't have even considered it really, but glide-back is the most well-rounded solution. Relatively easy and with low payload hit, all the while being quite doable technology wise. Only downside is money, or the somewhat nonexistent Soviet equivalent of it, like many things regarding the Soviet economy, in their universe (COA) and ours, there's a lot of hand waving/smoke and mirrors.
EDIT: Also, I missed yesterday, few chapters going up in a bit
Chapter 29: The Swansong of Galileo.
Chapter 29: The Swansong of Galileo.
(Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody/Radio Gaga - Live Aid)For fiscal years 1988 through 1991, we have found that DOD, NASA and USAF payloads will account for sixteen flights per year of the Space Shuttle, and two of the Space Transportation System. Commercial payload launches will account for as many as 4 payloads per year, or two Shuttle launches per year. We anticipate this number to grow dramatically as the decade progresses, the Shuttle has demonstrated the capabilities to launch multiple payloads to geosynchronous transfer orbits, and, alongside the coming Archer Spacetug, we expect to see major competition with the European launch market.
We presently expect the flight rate for FY 1990 to demonstrate the system’s peak capabilities, with upwards of 24 shuttle launches, and 4 STS missions. With that said, the commercial space launch market will need to grow to meet these capabilities, and we expect to see this growth continually until 1995 at the latest.
- NASA Internal Revenue Report, Q4 1984.
Galileo was the swansong of an era, the last of the great missions that had preceded it, the mariners, the pioneers, the voyagers. Underway within the space agency was a shift away from these missions of great expense and towards the faster, better, cheaper, mantra of Daniel Goldin, Ronald Regan and now George HW Bush’s pick for NASA administrator. As such, many viewed Galileo as the grand finale to those planetary exploration programs of the 60s and 70s, one final lunge into the void before whatever was to follow. Despite the fears of many, ‘Faster, Better, Cheaper’ did not mean less; If NASA’s commercial ventures were to be successful, it may, in fact, mean many, many more. Engineers gave one last look at the space probe before sending him off, the space shuttle’s payload bay doors were closed, and Polaris was readied for flight. Weeks later, Enterprise would lift off, delivering the European solar-polar probe, Ulysses, to orbit, paving the way for the next shuttle mission to come just days later.
Hauck: We see Ulysses overhead, it's on its way to Jupiter-
Lounge: Woo-hoo!
Hilmers: All Right!
Mission Controller 1: We have Archer shutdown, beginning safing.
Capcom: Archer-1 has shutdown, Enterprise, good work up there!
The shuttle was to stay on orbit, conducting a series of experiments while it waited for Polaris to reach orbit. This was made easier thanks to Ulysses size in comparison to Galileo, not only allowing ample room to mount directly to the Archer prior to launch, but to fit a small spacelab module in the bay alongside it. Before long, and only 4 days after the successful deployment of Ulysses, another Jupiter-bound payload lay in wait at LC-39B.
Capcom: All engines running-
Walker: Let’s go baby-
Launch Commentator: We have main engine start, all six engines throttling up-
Capcom: Liftoff-
Launch Commentator:-We have a liftoff, 32 minutes after the hour, Liftoff of STS-41!
McCulley: We have a roll program-
Capcom: Roger Roll, Vanguard!
A deafening roar rolled over Florida that morning; The early morning launch of Galileo lifted off at 6:32 am, and by 7:30 am EST, Polaris had her payload bay doors open, and her Archer deployed.
(Archer stationkeeping with Polaris)
Walker: Alright, I have control of the Archer, and Ronny is deploying the arm as we speak. We are stationkeeping with the archer-
Archer had separated, and used its small, nitrogen thrusters to maneuver itself to be more easily attached to by galileo and the Canadarm. The maneuver was complex, but was proving easier than expected. The crew managed to free the Galileo probe after grasping it with the robotic arm; The arm outstretched, and the two spacecraft were briefly made one once more. The satellite mating adapter clicked into place, and the Jupiter-bound assembly was freed.
Grabe: Alright, pulling away from the orbiter.
Capcom: Roger that Polaris, congrats on a good payload mating.
…
…
…
Grabe: Okay, RS-30 pre-start. We have turbines up- Ignition!
Archer roared to life, and flew off into the distance. The complex mission had proven itself, and before long, the two orbiters would begin entry procedures. Enterprise had been on orbit for nearly 6 days, and Polaris under one, but within 24 hours, both shuttles would touch down at the Lifter Landing Facility, and the Shuttle Landing Facility respectively. As Galileo left Earth’s sphere of influence, one final confirmation was received. The probe’s high-gain antenna had deployed, and only minimal course correction maneuvers would be required. Within 2-years time, the satellite would come screaming into the Jovian system, and decades of science lay ahead of the probe.
As NASA prepared for their next milestone of the year, the launch of Space Station Freedom, a press event was gathered at NASA’s headquarters in DC. The president walked onto stage shortly after the speeches of three American heroes, the crew of Apollo 11.
Good evening, I am honored to be here in front of some of this country's best and brightest, our living legacy, the American astronaut corps. We are overjoyed to be part of this unprecedented gathering of America’s space veterans, alongside those who will soon join their legacy. As many of you know, it has been 24 years since this great nation first put a man into space, and nearly 2 decades since an American performed our first spacewalk. These were astonishing accomplishments, and they were followed on by the successful landing of man on the moon just four short years after. Conrad, Armstrong, and Bean; These were the crew of Apollo 11, and fate would ordain that they would be the first to walk the desert plains that we look up to at night.
America is a nation built on dreams, and the American dream is unending. At first many said the idea of putting a person into space, and returning them to the earth was unthinkable. Then, once the nation had done it, the idea of someone stepping out of the safety of their capsule, into the void below seemed too dangerous to perform, and certainly too dangerous to become routine. Then, many thought, how were we to get to the moon? How were we to return to the earth safely from such great heights? It was impossible, surly, they thought.
Mercury is where this nation learned to walk, and Gemini is where we learned to run. Apollo gave us the tools necessary to explore, and to roam free from the Earth, however we came back. In the years since Apollo, this nation has committed itself to getting the price of accessing space down to a level that is not only affordable, but accessible. Universities, Telecommunication Companies, and the nations of the world now have access to space thanks to America’s Space Shuttles. These great icons of American excellence have allowed us to access space at an unprecedented rate, they have delivered space-probes to the heavens, allowed countless scientific discoveries, and allowed demonstrations of new technologies.
Ten years ago, the idea of flying reusable spacecraft nearly two dozen times a year would have seemed unthinkable- impossible even. But this great nation has never let impossible stop us. We don’t use that word here, not at NASA. With the support of congress, the president, and most importantly the American people, this agency has proven time and time again that the impossible is possible. There is little doubt in my mind that in the coming century, mankind will once again stray from the Earth in search of great adventure. What was once impossible, now seems inevitable. The time has come to look beyond encounters, and look towards longer term objectives. I believe that this nation must commit itself to a sustained and present program of manned exploration of the solar system- and yes, the permanent settlement of space.
In 1961, it took a crisis; The space race drove us to the moon. Nowadays, we don’t have such a crisis, but an opportunity- An opportunity to seize the future we long for, one in which American men and women, and the people of this earth may work, live, and thrive in space. But we must commit ourselves fully to this future; Longing for it is not enough- From the voyages of Columbus, to the Wright brother’s first flight, and even the voyages to the moon itself. History has proven that this nation has never failed in pushing the envelope, and expanding our frontier.
In 4 years, on the 25th anniversary of America’s first grasp of the lunar soil; The way to honor the astronauts who served during those programs that got us there isn’t to call them to Washington again. It is to have Space Station Freedom up there, operational and permanently crewed, and to begin building a permanent bridge between the worlds; And to invest into the growth, prosperity, and technological superiority of our nation. Space Station Freedom will serve as a gateway. A gateway to the Earth, and a strategy to save it; Environmental damage has reared its ugly head, and this nation must commit itself to tackling it. A new, international solution will need to be found to ozone depletion, and global warming, ensuring a safe and welcoming world for our children, and theirs. The mission of freedom to the earth reflects upon what the astronauts of Apollo said was most striking, the distant blue orb, fragile, precious, and in need of protection. It wasn’t the moon or the heavens that hung heavy in the minds of Apollo, it was home.
The station has seen overwhelming support from those in our audience today. From Senator Glenn, and Pete Conrad, and all those veterans whom we honor today. However it is but a first step. A national committee will be needed to determine what is next for this nation. That is why I am summoning the National Space Council, chaired by the first woman in space, Sally Ride, alongside some of NASA’s greatest veterans and my own right hand man, Dan Quale, to determine what technologies and specifics will be required for the next round of exploration. This nation is committing itself to the continuous exploration of the moon, for generations to come. It is of the utmost importance that this nation seize the moment, not in the face of tragedy, but in the light of opportunity. This panel will investigate the feasibility of international cooperation, the phases and timing required, and produce realistic timetables, budgets and milestones to achieving a permanent, sustained presence on the moon. The Council will report to me as soon as possible, and with their recommendations, we will chart a permanent and present course, first to the Moon, then to Mars, and beyond.
- George H W Bush. May 5th 1985.
The council was to shape the future of NASA, defining not only what the agency's next major step would be, but what the agency's purpose was in an era without Apollo. Twenty Six years ago, the agency had been founded to beat the Soviets to putting humans into orbit, and then once that failed, the moon. As such, in an era after this goal had been achieved, what was NASA’s ultimate purpose? Was it a technological investment, or a social one? Was the agency to push the envelope, or simply make it easier for others to? This was all to be decided by the National Space Council, and they began their dive into the present, and future of NASA the coming week.
Interlude 2: Snegopad’s Press Releases
Interlude 2: Snegopad’s Press Releases
This is a CNN Breaking News Update: Footage of a rocket launch was released today by the Soviet press. The footage shows a large, unknown booster resembling the Soviet moon rocket lifting into the air before eventually burning through all of its propellant. The rocket doesn’t stage like the soviet moon rocket, instead, a large flared segment, perhaps a payload, seems to separate from the nose of the rocket before the vehicle ultimately flips around its axis and begins burning once more. The vehicle looks to be winged, however it has not been confirmed if the craft successfully landed, or if it was even meant to.
- CNN Morning news, 09:00 EST, May 14th 1985.
We do believe that this is authentic footage of a new soviet super-heavy rocket. Whether the footage was leaked to the American media as an act of sabotage, or as a show of strength remains to be seen. NASA’s lead designers agree that the footage appears to show the development of a reusable super heavy lift rocket, comparable to the STS Lifters we have. This is not to be taken as something to be afraid of, and Americans have nothing to fear as the rocket appears to be operating in a test configuration, and we have no evidence that the launcher is intended to launch missiles. At present, we advise Americans to remain cautiously optimistic, as we currently believe there is nothing to fear.
- White House Press Briefing, 13:00 EST, May 14th 1985.
Does this mean Voyager 2 still makes it to Uranus and Neptune like OTL? If so and that we get to Pluto here eailer and the discovery that Triton and Pluto are pretty much the same as being ice dwarf worlds of the same materials, it might lead to an eairler demotion of Pluto as a planet.
Might mean New Horizons is butterflied and that we get an Ice Giant mission here?
Eh, physical composition never had much to do with the demotion, it was the slow creep of larger TNOs being discovered, up to Eris
New horizons is butterflied, we get a number of missions instead. Overall the fate of uncrewed outer planet exploration is dramatically and permanently shifted because of HW Bush's Moon-then-mars initiative, though that will be explained in due time.
We might discover more TNO's if a voyager or two head out that way, though I reckon Pluto being a planet is still a heavily debated issue for some time to come.
Chapter 30: Sweet, Sweet Freedom.
Chapter 30: Sweet, Sweet Freedom.
(Tears For Fears, Everybody Wants To Rule The World)“Preliminary work aboard Freedom is expected to stimulate still more uses. Space Station Freedom, therefore, is being attuned to a philosophy of adaptability and change. Its design, for example, features "hooks and scars," electronic and mechanical interfaces that allow Freedom's designers to expand capability. In this way, new and upgraded components, such as computer hardware, data management software, and power systems, can be installed easily. The concept is similar to buying a home pre-wired for eventual hookup to a TV cable system even though the cable company has not yet reached your area.”
“Space Station Freedom, A Foothold on the Future”
- NASA Public Affairs Office.
As the study into NASA’s upcoming lunar architecture continued, it quickly became apparent that NASA’s current maximum of 8 crew members aboard the shuttle wasn’t going to remain sufficient for much longer. With this in mind, the agency asked the European Space Agency to look into equipping the Spacelab Orbital Laboratory with additional seating for 7, allowing the shuttle to begin ferrying crews of 14 or 15 to orbit. The ESA Obliged, and before long Spacelab was chosen to be a core part of not only Space Station Freedom’s expansion, but its routine operations as well. The Spacelab Crew Ferry would, the agency hoped, allow NASA to perform simultaneous rotation of crews in lunar and low earth orbits, meaning the agency would semi-regularly b e dealing with crews of twenty or more in the vicinity of Freedom. The plan was bold, as seemed to be a theme with the agency of late, but research into this First Lunar Outpost marched onwards.
Before the agency could perform these titanic crew operations however, Freedom would have to be launched and readied for permanent operations in orbit. Months prior, the station had been mated to its launch adapter, and readied for flight aboard Space Lifter Vanguard.The lifters had been marching onwards at breakneck speeds, not showing any signs of stopping, which combined with NASA’s regular replacement of the ERD’s seemed to be proving the systems overall capabilities. NASA and the Air Force both projected as many as 24 shuttle launches by 1987, and up to 6 more flights with the STS alone. This schedule would prove a difficult one to upkeep, but NASA showed no signs of stopping, and before long Freedom had been rolled out to the launchpad, marking the agency's 10th flight that June.
Launch Commentator: Liftoff, we have a liftoff!-
(STS-47 lifts off carrying the most massive payload yet, Freedom.)
Launch Commentator: and the Lifter has cleared the tower, Godspeed Vanguard, Godspeed Freedom!
Williams: We got a roll program, baby!
Capcom: Roger Roll, Vanguard
Launch Commentator: The vehicle is approaching the point of maximum aerodynamic pressure, we anticipate center engine shutdown at any-
Bobko: Center engines off-
Capcom: Vanguard go at throttle-up.
Williams: Roger, go at throttle up.
The Lifter's four outboard engines screamed back to full throttle, delivering the space station and its upper stage further into the heavens. The rocket had begun pitching up slowly but surely, buying itself and its payload time to get to their final destinations.
Launch Controller: Hot-staging-
Williams: MECO, we can feel those J-2s roaring-
Bobko: Good separation-
Capcom: Roger clear, Vanguard, proceed for boostback.
Bobko: Boostback burn initiated.
Freedom, sitting enclosed in her fairings atop the S-IIB drifted slowly but surely away from Vanguard beneath it. The Lifter began pitching over onto her belly, and the two center engines flared to life:
Capcom: Vanguard, positive return.
Launch Commentator: Vanguard is now on her way home, and Freedom’s S-IIB is continuing to function nominally-
Williams: Engine out, back down we go!
The two stages began drifting apart faster now, and Freedom began to build a significant portion of her orbital velocity. The station was showing no obvious red flags, and the S-IIB continued to orbit.
Bobko: Ok, we got atmospheric interface.
Williams: Gettin real fiery out there, good thing we have these windows.
…
…
Launch Controller: Fairings have deployed successfully.
…
…
Bobko: Three G’s, going down-
…
…
Williams: Okay, mach 2, opening those intakes now.
The lifters 8 turbofans roared to life, trying their best to keep the monolithic rocket supersonic. The lifter continued supercruisng back to the cape, all the while Freedom was beginning to round out her orbit.
Boom-Boom.
Williams: WooHoo!
Capcom: We hear ya babe, let the sound of freedom ring!
Launch Controller: S-IIB shutoff, Freedom has separated.
Capcom: Station made it up in tact, let's get you two down safely.
Bobko: Roger, throttling down now, descent cone initiated.
Vanguard circled the landing strip, lining up her nose with the runway. The lifter deployed her gear, and initiated reverse thrust, coming to a stop just over halfway down the landing strip.
Launch Commentator: Vanguard has touched down, and her engines have stopped. Welcome home Donald and Karol.
Shortly after touchdown, ERD-8 began its deorbit burn, slowing the External tank and capsule to a collision course with Earth’s atmosphere. The capsule would land directly on mark in the California desert, while the tank would splash down in the Pacific that evening. Enterprise was scheduled to fly to the station within the week, delivering the stations first expansion module
The following morning, fighters scrambled into the skies over Europe. Soviet Mig-29s and American F-16s filled the French skies with roaring engines and loud clapping sonic booms. Today was the first day of the Paris Air Show, an event that drew in tens of thousands from around the world to lay witness to aerospace’s latest and greatest technologies. Video presentations were given on the Freedom Space Station, and the American Space Shuttle. These videos showed the planned expansions for the station, starting at the core module, and going through the development and deployment of the main and secondary truss structures.
The ESA presented their work on the latest Theseus-IV booster, and its plans to eventually launch crews to the station alongside NASA’s shuttle. Additionally, glimpses were given at a potential European Crew-Tended Scientific Platform, a polar-orbiting space station to be operated by the coming Pan-European crew carrier. The news for the aerospace industry was exciting, and 1985’s show marked a period of extreme optimism within the general public of Europe, The United States, and the world at large.
Starting off the second day of the show was a grand entrance. Overhead, an enormous aircraft loomed out of the clouds; Decorated in soviet flags, and escorted by a team of Migs, the Snegopad Super-Heavy Lift Booster made her grand entrance. The booster began her descent, eventually coming in for a final landing. Today, it seemed, was the Soviet Space Agency’s time to shine.
(Snegopad flying over the clouded skies near Paris.)
Boom
Boom
The two Mig-29 escorts broke away from the vehicle, accelerating to supersonic speeds and nosing into the sky. Snegopad, meaning snowfall, had finally touched down, and with it marked the announcement of a new era of Soviet Spaceflight. The booster shut down her 6 atmospheric engines, and her crew disembarked while onlookers gazed in awe at the 30 engines at her base. It seems the soviets were on a warpath, determined to match the American lifter at any cost. The booster seemed, by all metrics, comparable to the American Lifters, but it would prove different in many important ways.
Firstly, the rocket was more efficient, being powered by 30 fuel rich staged combustion engines, the booster could be larger and more capable than her american counterpart. Secondly, the booster need not fly with crew; Her ascent into orbit would be autonomous, and only ferried from landing site to launch site would be piloted. This allowed the USSR to more easily maintain the vehicle with a limited number of pilots, allowing the nation's relatively small astronaut core to not be stretched to their limits. The airshow proved to be an opportune moment for the Soviets to make an announcement of sorts that they were not and would not fall behind, and any capabilities the American space program possessed, they too could do.
In the west, it was currently unknown if the Soviets possessed a space shuttle, or even an upper stage for the Snegopad lifter. Nevertheless, military officials were reassured that the booster was not a weapon, and posed no threat to American national security whatsoever. In the wake of Snegopad’s unveiling, and less than a week after the launch of Space Station Freedom, Enterprise lifted into the heavens, on a journey to initiate the expansion and deployment of the station.
Capcom: Enterprise, negative return.
Brand: Roger, switching to TAL.
Launch Commentator: Enterprise is no longer capable of returning to the launchsite, meaning in the case of a failure, the crew will have to cross the Atlantic to find a landing site.
Boom-Boom
Launch Commentator: And with those sonic booms, Liberty is knocking on the sky, telling us she’s okay.
Enterprise would ultimately enter a rendezvous with the station, slowly matching velocity with her target and maintaining adequate distance. Before long, Enterprise moved in to perform the first docking of the program, contacting the station just shy of a week after its launch. Prior to docking, Commander Vince Brand had brought the orbiter around the station, performing a preliminary visual inspection to verify no issues had occurred during ascent.
Once this inspection had been completed, Enterprise readied herself for the next task at hand. While future visitors to the station would enter Freedom through a dedicated docking module, This mission was to be different. Enterprise would dock to the station through the expansion module, allowing the spacecraft to dock the primary module required to install the docking module.
Brand: Contact, retracting soft capture ring.
Gibson: Those solar panels are beautiful. Glad we don’t got a repeat of skylab.
Brand: You can say that again.
…
…
Brand: Contact-light. Hard Capture.
Capcom: Roger capture, Enterprise. Welcome aboard.
The Nadir-Truss-Node, Journey, had been mated successfully to Freedom’s core module. From here, the crew boarded the station via a tunnel in the shuttle’s cargo bay, and began their two-week mission of prepping the station for further expansion, and future visitors. Journey featured a small laboratory, as well as ports for the mounting of future modules, and the central truss structure. The module was critical for the future expansion of the station, and with its delivery, great things seemed to be just over the horizon.
The crew worked tirelessly, routing cables through the station, setting up experiments and verifying systems and subsystems. In the end, the station was proving healthy, and it seemed that Freedom was on-track to receive her next major expansion in a few months time. For now, Enterprise was to come home, the crew had done what they could to get the station ready, and Freedom was already proving to be much healthier and happier post-launch than her sister station, Skylab.
Brand: Alright, we’re detaching from the Journey module-
Capcom: Roger that, Enterprise.
Boom-Boom
Enterprise arrived at the cape seemingly proud of her work. The shuttle had flown the longest continuous flight of a reusable spacecraft to date, clocking in at just under 15 days on orbit. The long-duration flight was in large part due to her upratings via the Long Duration Orbiter kit, and the additional power generated by the station. Despite the extended stay, the vehicle had taken on the mission in stride, and post-flight checkouts showed nearly no damage to the orbiter. Coming out of an extended-maintenance turnaround, NASA’s first orbiter, Kitty Hawk, was to deliver her next payload in just a few weeks time.
Chapter 31: Enter Patriot.
Chapter 31: Enter Patriot.
(Kate Bush, Running Up That Hill)
Air conditioning bill? Shuttle will pay for that. The stripes on the VAB starting to fade? Shuttle program will cover it. The MCC needs their roof replaced, Shuttle Program, you guessed it. All of this goes into the launch cost of a Shuttle, it’s all a baseline factor. There’s a minimum operating cost we can expect to achieve, but the more we launch, the more we can divide that cost.
- Anonymous Shuttle Program Office Employee
Freedom would see near slow expansion and development in the coming months. December of 1985 would see the docking of the Freedom Shuttle Docking Adapter (SDA) to the forward port of the Journey module. Meanwhile, in the Soviet Union, Snegopad was hard at work. The booster had completed its fit tests, and soon began a series of testing campaigns leading up to the first full-duration engine test. January 12th, 1986 saw Snegopad light all 30 of her main engines, the signal was sent, and engineers lay anxiously in wait.
Screech-
Controller 1: Зажигание! (Zazhiganiye, ignition.)
Boom… Hisss…
A roaring crackle filled the air over Baikonur. The night sky was once again lit by a man-made sun. Snegopad roared to life, just as her sister N1 had on many occasions, quickly bringing all 30 NK-33M main engines to maximum rated thrust. The Lifter sat on the launchpad, a stream of hot gasses and plasma lighting her underside. Before long, 6 of the inboard engines shut down, followed shortly by the remaining engines throttling up. The lifter shut down her remaining 24 engines, and the seconds counted by.
Controller 2: В любую секунду сейчас- (V lyubuyu sekundu secychas-, Any second now-)
Controller 1: Огонь! (Ogon!, Fire!)
Controller 2: снегопад при максимальном внутреннем дросселе! (Snegopad pri maksimal'nom vnutrennem drossele, Snegopad is at maximum inboard throttle.)
Snegopad relit her core 6 engines, quickly picking the healthiest 3 and shutting down the others. The burn lasted under a minute, and before long a hushed silence fell over the Kazak skies once more.
Multiple Controllers: Ура! (Ura!, Hooray!)
The lifter had completed her final pre-flight test. The next phase would see the booster lift shuttle mass-simulators, and eventually, Стрелка itself. This testing would last through June of 1986, and overlap with the other major Soviet Space endeavor: Mir. Mir began assembly just over a month after the initial test burn had been completed, and before long, her first crew would arrive. Pressure had been placed on Soviet space officials to launch the Mir core as soon as possible, leaving the space agency without much to do with the large spacecraft. Nevertheless, Mir’s core would launch on February 25th, 1986 atop the final N1, resembling the N1 launched stations that came before her: Salyut 6 and Salyut 7.
The following day, two STS rockets sat atop their launch pads at the Kennedy Space Center in florida. STS 56 and STS 57/SM-41, the 3rd and 4th missions of the year, respectively, sat ready for their launches a mere 24 hours apart. The launch would mark the first time crewed spacecraft flew with such cadence, topping the record set by SM-26 and SM-27 the year prior. Nevertheless, The two rockets sat ready. STS-56, also known internally as Freedom Assembly Flight 3 (FAF-3) was to deliver a payload that would, with the help of SM-41, form the backbone of the station. STS-56 lifted off on course for a direct-rendezvous with the station. The launch went as scheduled, and within 2 hours, Liberty had landed back in the cape, and the payload, atop an ADDRESS, was stationkeeping with the space station.
Controller 1: Contact light, soft capture confirmed-
Controller 2: Ring-retract-
Screech- Thud Thud Thud.
Controller 1: Alright engine off, systems idle, ADDRESS has docked to Freedom!
Controllers cheered, the payload had been successfully delivered. On board freedom, docked to her aft docking port now sat hundreds of aluminum rods, ready to partake in the largest orbital construction project to date. Tested on previous shuttle flights, Freedom’s Beam-Builder was to be lofted to orbit aboard SM-41, allowing crews to begin the months-long assembly of Freedom’s many truss structures.
Capcom: Alright, Lifter swing arm retracted, Shuttle swing arm retracted.
Hartsfield: Alright, Let’s do this-
…
Oswald: Alright, engines gimballing well
Capcom: 15-
Cameron: Green for liftoff-
Capcom: 7… 6… 5-
Cameron: Ignition-
Capcom: Two, One-
Hartsfield: There’s the kick!
Capcom: Liftoff!
SM-41 shot into the sky, racing off the pad in pursuit of her station. Before long, America had separated and begun her boostback burn, carrying Pilot Kennith Cameron and Stephen Oswald back to the KSC.
Boom Boom
Launch Commentator: America has returned to the Kennedy Space center!
Capcom: T-minus 60 to cutoff, Intrepid.
Nagel: Roger, 60 to cut.
Cameron: Entering the descent cone-
Hartsfield: Engine off-
Capcom: Intrepid Houston, welcome to space.
…
…
…
Cameron: Touch, reverse throttle…
Oswald: Wheels stopped, engine off-
Capcom: America, welcome home.
As hectic as shuttle launches always were, the 10 astronauts made it to their destinations. Intrepid opened her payload bay, and deployed her radiators. Before long, the crew could see a twinkle appear in their front window. The sparkling object grew and grew until Intrepid laid eyes upon the SDA ahead.
Hartsfield: Okay, we’re go for docking.
Capcom: Roger, go for docking-
The shuttle approached the SDA, slowly closing the distance between the orbiter and the station. Eventually, a light lit up on the orbiters control panel, DA-Contact
Hartsfield: Contact light.
…
Hartsfield: Okay we're docked.
Capcom: Intrepid Houston, welcome to Freedom.
Hartsfield: Me and the crew are happy to be here, flight.
Capcom: Alright, go ahead and proceed to post-docking checks.
Hartsfield: Roge.
The docking tunnel pressurized, and the crew made their way on board the station. The beam-builder was mounted to the Journeys starboard truss mount, and the solar power package mounted to a temporary position on the front node of Freedom's OWS. By days end, Intrepid and her two pilots were ready to return to the Earth, delivering the shuttle back to the Kennedy Space Center for her next flight.
The crew of Expedition 1 were now on their own, without a shuttle, but with a mission that would take months to complete. The 6-astronaut crew, consisting of Bonnie Dunbar, James Buchli, Guion Bluford, Reinhard Furrer, Ernst Messerschmid, and Jacob Wolf consisted of half NASA and half ESA astronauts. This crew reflected Freedom’s international heritage, as future cres promised to.
On day 8 of the mission, the first EVA began. Bonnie Dunbar and James Buchli made their way out the stations airlock, climbing down to the Journey modules exterior. Operation of the beam builder was a group effort, and Buchli operated the machine while Dunbar aligned the truss beams. Over the course of the EVA, the first truss segment was erected. From here, after 5 hours on EVA, the two reboarded the station. On day 18, the pair would once again disembark, constructing the second starboard section of the truss structure.
The truss was now ready to receive its first solar power package, and on day 25 of the mission, Dunbar and Bluford departed the OWS airlock wearing AIMS' on a mission to mount the SPP. All the while, the station's crew worked tirelessly performing experiments and research in the station's laboratories.
Dunbar: Alright, let's see what we're working with.
Bluford: looks like it shouldn't be too bad.
…
Dunbar: these things fly pretty intuitively.
Bluford: Just like the sim, isn't it?
Dunbar: sure is-
Capcom: Alright you two, make your way towards the SPPs underside when you can.
Bluford: Got it.
The two slowly drifted their way towards the package's mounting point, beginning the slow process of removing it from the station's forward attachment point. Eventually, with a little effort, the module was freed, allowing the two to grapple the large, solar power plant and begin driving it down towards the end of the station's truss. The SPP sat atop a rotating mount, allowing the panels to rotate independently of the truss, and point towards the sun at all times. This allowed the station to recieve near continuous power, regardless of orientation, allowing more in depth Earth observation experiments to take place.
The two astronauts took turns, each tethering themselves to the truss below, and slowly inching along with their jetpacks, handing off the payload as needed. Before long they had reached the truss’ end. The two astronauts now began the nearly two hour process of mounting the SPP, and routing its cables along the outer truss. By hour 7 of their 8 hour scheduled EVA, the crew were making good work of the task at hand, and with but 15 minutes to spare, the two boarded the station once more. This EVA, lasting 7:45:00 would set a new record for the longest spacewalk performed by a US, or Soviet, astronaut or cosmonaut.
With the closing of EVA 3, Expedition 1 had now largely completed its primary objective. The 6 crew onboard were to remain on station a further 5 months, conducting scientific and engineering experiments in the meantime. Now that the Solar Power Package 1 had deployed, the power output of the station nearly tripled. The OWS solar panels were already proving insufficient for further expansion modules, and with the completion of the S1 and S2 truss structures, future crews would be able to install SPP-2, and construct the Port and Nadir truss elements.
But this would be a task for a later time. As February turned to March, delays piled up, as they often do for new spacecraft, leading up to the launch of Space Shuttle Patriot. Patriot sat atop Space Lifter Vanguard, ready for launch the morning of March 18th, 1986. Originally scheduled for ten days prior, USA-8 was finally ready for flight. The payload was highly classified, but Air Force personnel were eager to get the satellite airborne as quickly as possible. Frank Casserino, William Pailes, Gary Payton, and Charles Jones sat aboard patriot, ready for launch, as the countdown passed 15 seconds.
Capcom: T-minus 15-
Bolden: Alright, let’s go.
Shriver: Let’s rock and roll!
Capcom: 10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5-
Shriver: Main engine start-
Bolden: Throttle wide open-
Capcom: 2…
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAR
Capcom: 1-
BANG
Hisssss
Capcom: Vanguard has separated, we have… we have a liftoff, 34 minutes past the hour liftoff of Space Shuttle Patriot!
Patriot and Vanguard, the final additions to the fleet, rose skywards. The vehicle rolled over facing its belly to the sky and pulling backwards. Before long, the vehicle reached Max-Q, and all 6 F-1A engines began throttling down, then up again before ultimately shutting down the central pair.
Bolden: (Unintelligible) Center engine cutoff
Capcom: Roger engine off, Vanguard!
The lifter continued its trajectory South, flying out over the Pacific briefly before shutting down her engines. The lifter peeled off, and communications with the shuttle became slim. From here, the mission was to be highly classified, and only encrypted communications would be allowed. Nevertheless, Vanguard continued contact with Houston, while Patriot would continue communications with the Air Force’s Space Command.
Shriver: Alright, boostback start-
Capcom: Roger successful ignition, Vanguard.
Bolden: Alright, engines stopped, we’re heading North.
Capcom: Roger that, see you when you get here, Vanguard.
Minutes later, Vanguard would arrive in California once more, and Patriot would silently reach orbit. The payload bay doors swung open, and the tangled mess of wires beneath was exposed. The payload, unbeknownst to many on the ground, was a Magnum Signals Intelligence satellite. The satellite rode atop an ADDRESS, which soon placed the payload into a 4,000x35,000 km orbit, with its lowest point directly over the Soviet Union. Once the payload was inserted into its orbit, the ADDRESS was expended, and the Shuttle descended to Vandeburg once more. In total, the mission lasted just over 24 hours, and with its closing, the Air Force had an operational space vehicle.
Expedition-1 had proven to be a complete success, and before long, NASA was preparing for their next mission to the station. The coming mission would further expand the station’s capabilities, delivering an additional SPP module, and expanding the station’s truss-structure. SM-51 was undergoing final checkouts, and within 4 days was anticipated to be docking with the space station.
Expedition-2 was to be a special one, alongside smashing the existing record for most american and non-american astronauts in space simultaneously, the mission was to carry one very special passenger for her layover flight to Freedom. Two years prior, and at the end of his tenure as president, Ronald Regan had called upon NASA to deliver a series of schoolteachers into orbit, inspiring the coming generations to pursue Science and Technology based fields. Of the thousands of applicants, only a handful of finalists were chosen to complete their training, and first up on the flight deck was Chrsita McAuliffe.
Christa was a Social Studies teacher by trade, teaching the importance of history to her students. She taught of kings, politicians, rulers… But also of the normal folk, the citizens, believing “they were as important to the historical record as kings, politicians or generals” She was beloved by her students, and eager to fly to Freedom. With just days leading up to her flight, the entire crew of STS-67 were beaming. Expedition 2 was about to set sail, just as those ancient explorers once had.
Launch Commentator: Vehicle is now experiencing the maximum aerodynamic pressure. Those 6 main engines aboard Liberty are throttling back-
Capcom: Liberty, go at throttle up.
Lifter Commander: Roger, go at throttle-up.
The six main engines roared back to life, delivering the 12.4 million pound punch the vehicle needed to continue supersonic. Liberty lofted the orbiter up over the horizon, shutting down her engines just over a minute later.
Lifter Pilot: Okay, we have separation-
…
Lifter Commander: Ignition!
Capcom: Roger, good ignition Liberty.
Launch Commentator: As Liberty is returning to the launchsite, the crew of SM-51 are continuing their journey upwards at this time.
Boom Boom
Liberty arrived back at the Cape, soaring towards the runway as Enterprise made orbit. The S-IIB main engines cut off, and the vehicle separated from the External Tank below-
Capcom: Enterprise, Houston- Welcome to space.
The crew of SM-51 breathed a sigh of relief, knowing they had made it through the most complex and difficult part of their journey. The astronauts unclamped their helmets, stowing them beneath their seats for the time being before unbuckling, and making their way to the windows to glance at the earth below.
McAuliffe: Oh the view is spectacular!
The 9 astronauts gathered in the flight deck, gazing out the orbiter's front and top windows. The view was unmatched, and before long, Freedom came into view.
(Freedom during the Arrival of STS-67/SM-51)
Scobee: This is Enterprise on final approach to Freedom, how do we look?
Messerschmid: 10/10, Enterprise.
Smith: Capcom, we are green for docking.
Capcom: Roger that, mike. You two can bring it in whenever ready.
…
…
…
…
Scobee: Contact light-
Smith: Capture ring retracting.
…
Smith: Okay, hard capture. Pressurizing-
Hissss
The tunnel pressurized, and the two spacecraft reached equilibrium. For the first time in history, 15 astronauts were on board a spacecraft for the first time. While future missions would make this routine, and even far surpass it, the moment was still something worth celebrating. Many at the Marshall Spaceflight Center began clapping, and Capcom passed on this regard-
Capcom: Congrats on a successful docking, thanks for helping us break double digits.
Scobee: We’re happy to help. Here’s hoping this becomes normal in a few years time.
The hatch opened, and the station proved to be a full house. Despite the crowd, SM-51 would spend a full week docked to the station, allowing the Teacher in Space to teach a plethora of lessons she had planned. The lessons varied in topic, but largely centered around the sciences.
McAuliffe: Good evening students! Today we’re going to be talking about Isacc Newton, and his laws of motion. Now a lot of you have probably heard of Newton before, and he was a brilliant mathematician and scientist, he was even one of the first mathematicians to explore and use calculus. Newton discovered three laws about motion, and today we’ll be talking a look at two of them.
The camera panned away from Christa, showing Commander Scobee soaring arms outstretched down the massive OWS module.
McAuliffe: See, Newton discovered that an object in motion will stay in motion, until acted upon by another force. While on Earth, objects often come to a stop when they reach the ground, here in space, objects can continue a lot farther. As Commander Scobee demonstrated, objects in space continue their movement basically forever, and if we threw a ball out of that airlock, it would remain in motion for centuries, at least until it hit something.
Scobee pretends to hit his head on the side of the OWS, remarking Ow, kinda like that.
McAuliffe: The second thing that Newton discovered was that heavy things are hard to move. Now, to most people that sounds like common sense, but Newton applied mathematics to it, giving us a scientific definition of force, equal to an object's mass times its acceleration.
Onizuka then appears from off frame holding two bags, handing them to christa before moving out of frame holding a bungee cord.
McAuliffe:By using this law, we can demonstrate how this bag, which is really light, and this bag, which is really massive, are not equally hard to move.
The pair proceed to sling the two bags across the OWS module, demonstrating that the two bags have different masses, and thus given the same force, experience differing accelerations.
McAuliffe: That’s all for today's lesson, but tune in tomorrow, where we’ll be talking about bubbles in microgravity!
McAuliffe waves to the camera, and the first of many nation wide broadcasts concluded. Her lessons would continue throughout the week, lasting until Thursday morning. All the while, two astronauts had begun the work required to install the SPP onto the Starboard truss structure. Before this could happen though, a spacer-truss would need to be assembled in order to allow additional clearance between the solar panels. With this in mind, Judith Resnik and Jacob Wolf were tethered to the S-1 Solar power packaged, maneuvering about with theirAIMS jetpacks, fixing the station’s beam-builder to the SPP’s mounting point. The work was repetitive, but relatively labor intensive, requiring one astronaut to align the beams with their hands, and another to weld them together. Through teamwork, astronauts had made quick work of the S1 truss thus far, and today was proving to be no different.
Wolf: Alright, just one more beam on this cross-section and we’ll be good to put another ring on it
Resnik: Got it, here’s the last one-
Wolf: Uh-oh.
Chapter 32: A Breaking of Procedure.
Chapter 32: A Breaking of Procedure.
(Bon Jovi, You Give Love A Bad Name)
Resnik: We’re gonna need the medkit at the airlock when we get back, we are aborting the EVA!
Capcom: Roger abort, what’s happening up there?
Wolf screamed in shock, something must have slipped. In reaching out to grab the rod from Judith, he had bumped the rotational controls on his jetpack with his elbow. Instinctively he reached out to the truss structure to his left to stabilize himself, but that’s when it happened.
Resnik: Wolf’s got a glove puncture-
Capcom: Come again?
Resnik: The truss went through his hand, flight. Jake, wait here, I’m gonna go get the cutters from the cargo hold, I’ll be right back-
Wolf: Wait!
Resnik: Don’t move! You’re going to be okay.
Resnik began navigating her way down the truss structure, violating EVA rules and detaching from the station entirely, using her AIMS alone to reach the base of the truss element. All the while, Jacob sat fixed to the truss, unable to move his hand for risk of losing suit pressure.
Resnik: Alright, I’m almost to the pallet, Jacob, just hold on buddy-
Capcom: Ellison, do you read?
Onizuka: Yes, we just heard Judy, what’s happening out there?!
Capcom: Jacob’s punctured his hand. We don’t know how bad it is, but we need everyone to drop what they’re doing and get ready to support those two when they get into the airlock. This may be bad-
Onizuka: On it.
Ellison Onizuka began hurling himself towards the OWS, while many more on the station began to do the same. All the while capcom sent further instruction to the commander of Space Shuttle Enterprise-
Capcom: Dick, can you get any of the Orbiter's cameras pointing that direction?
Scobee: Yeah, uhh- I’ll see what I can do-
…
…
…
Scobee: Oh, oh god-
Capcom: Oh dear-
Scobee: We need all hands on deck!
Resnik wrestled the storage container open, fighting the anxiety and stress behind her helmet. Scobee locked the camera onto the two astronauts, granting Houston an unobstructed view of the horror unfolding 300 miles overhead. Wolf had managed to slip, entering a tumble and driving the one-third inch (8.46 mm) rod through his hand, and out the opposite side of the glove. The beam builder rod had stopped at the abrupt diameter change, intended to separate the structural majority from the welded small-diameter extension, allowing the hole in Wolf’s suit to be largely plugged by the metal opposite his glove.
This wouldn’t, however, help the wound. Minimal but continuous pressure was being applied to the hole in Jacob’s hand, causing the hand to swell up, and constrict around the rod. While the pain was immense, it wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been. Because of the nature and location of the injury, bleeding, at least initially, was minimal. However, this didn’t promise to be the case, Resnik knew that with any sudden movement, the rod could snag an artery or vein, worsening the wound and shrinking the window they had to safely get him home considerably.
Resnik: Alright, I’m on my way-
Resnik once again hurled herself down the truss, reaching Jacob roughly a minute later. Once there, she again grasped the seriousness of the situation, and how much more difficult a problem this might become. If the rod were to come loose, Wolf’s suit could rapidly lose pressure, and if it moved too much, he may start bleeding rapidly. However, she had to free him from the truss structure, or else he’d remain attached to the station’s exterior. With this in mind, Judith began to cut the rod a few inches from his hand, making an attempt to keep movement of the object to a minimum. All the while, Jacob dangled from the truss structure, trying his best to not move as he was cut free.
Overcome by shock, he didn’t feel much pain, at least not after the initial sting. However, he didn’t know if this was due to the wound itself, the small suction from the suit puncture, or something else entirely. Nevertheless, he sat idly, watching his co-astronaut shear the beam penetrating entirely through his hand. Eventually, Resnik freed the gargantuan splinter from the remainder of the truss, but then the next task became painfully evident, finding out how to make it to the airlock.
Resnik: Alright, I’ve gotcha.
Jacob: I can’t pilot my pack like this-
Resnik: Yeah. Let me figure this out…
…
…
Resnik: Just keep that arm out for me, okay?
Jacob: This is it, isn’t it?
Resnik: No, you’ll be okay, we just have to get you to the airlock. Just keep breathing and talk to me, alright?
Jacob: Okay.
Resnick tethered herself to him, grasping him from behind in order to avoid the now jagged beam sticking out of his glove. She could see a small red mist emanating from the glove, and she knew this meant the clock had begun ticking. While station procedures called for the astronauts to travel via jetpack only when both astronaut’s AIMS were functional, she knew that the time for safety procedures had long passed. She rotated her injured colleague around, allowing him to face her.
Resnik: fold your arm, keep the other one to the side.
Jacob: Damn, that hurts.
Resnik: I know, we’ll get you through this-
With Jacob’s arm folded across his chest, and hers across her own, the two astronauts locked arms, and Resnik fastened the improvised spacecraft together with an EVA restraint hook. She began piloting her way to the airlock, stopping near it to adjust orientation, and grab hold of the door. Once opened, she pulled Wolf onboard the station, and slammed the door shut behind them-
Resnik: Pressurize it!
Onizuka: Got it!
In an instant, the blackened silence of space became filled with a hiss, then with the sounds of the machine breathing around them. This sense of safety, however, was overshadowed by the immediate problem the station’s crew had on their hands. To remove the EMU, the astronauts typically had to remove their gloves, then retract their arms from the torso assembly entirely. However, with Wolf’s hand in the condition it was in, this answer proved impossible. The only way out would be to remove the rod, and all on board realized this immediately. Onizuka and Scobee began cutting the injured astronaut's glove, getting as much fabric and metal away from the wound as possible. Scobee handed Wolf a bag of water, and a pair of painkillers. There was going to be no pretty solution to the problem at hand, and Onizuka prepared to extract the foreign body. The crew gave Jake a shop towel to bite down on, and then they backed away.
Onizuka: Three, Two-
Wolf: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Resnik: Alright, he’s losing blood- Ellison, get the gauze-
Onizuka: I need you to stay still okay?
Wolf: I’m trying, fuck.
…
Wolf: Fuck, fuck, fuck
…
Wolf: Fuck that hurts!
Wolf: Ow!
Resnik: We’re almost done, Jake, just hang on.
The crew had started to stop the bleeding. Thankfully, despite the extent of the wound, the blood loss was minimal. The swelling, however, was intense; The crew wound the gause as tightly as possible around Jacob’s hand, hoping that the wound could be properly tended to once he returned to Earth. In the meantime, with the metal rod removed, the crew now began the process of unsuiting Jacob, and freeing him from the metallic prison that surrounded him.
Capcom: Status update?
Resnik: He’s doing better, but still not good.
Capcom: Gotcha, how’d this happen?
Resnik: I’m not sure. I think he may have forgotten to safe his AIMS, but that's just a guess at the moment.
Capcom: Gotcha, okay. Well, make sure the pack comes back on Enterprise, and make sure you guys have him gauzed up good before coming back down.
Resnik: Dick’s taking good care of him, and he’ll make sure he’s good to go before entry. We’re setting him up somewhere to lay down on the middeck, I just hope he’ll make a good recovery.
Capcom: I’m no doctor, but with an injury like that? He’ll be lucky to have a hand at the end of this.
The crew were doing whatever they could to just salvage the poor astronaut's hand. He was stitched together as well as those on board could handle, given further treatment for pain, and loaded into the shuttle’s middeck. The Expedition-1 crew boarded the shuttle, and Enterprise waved the station an unceremonious farewell. Wolf had to be returned to the Shuttle Landing Facility ASAP, and there wasn’t time for proper goodbyes, or Christa’s final lessons.
After landing, men in hazmat suits approached the orbiter. Wolf was unloaded on a stretcher, and transported to an ambulance awaiting him nearby. The crew had returned mere hours after the incident, and, at least initially, the chances of a full recovery seemed likely. After an emergency surgery, cleaning, treating and caring for the wound, Wolf was once again laid down, this time in a hospital bed. The accident had left him scarred, and with some loss of function in his left thumb. Nevertheless, he would survive.
In the wake of the accident, safety procedures on the station were questioned extensively. NASA was determined to figure out how this happened; And with a mission to the moon seeming less than a decade on the horizon, NASA needed to ensure this was no longer a possibility. Space was a risky business, however the agency had committed itself to minimizing this risk. With this mindset, NASA set about an investigation into the SM-51 accident, and the results of this investigation would dictate EVA and IVA protocols for the coming decades.
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Chapter 33: Стрелка Part II: Birds of a Feather.
Soviet Controller 1: Взлет, мы очистили башню. Начата программа прокатки MKS! (Vzlet, my ochistili bashnya. Nachata programma prokatki MKS! Liftoff we have a Liftoff. MKS has begun the roll program!)
Snegopad rose into the air, riding atop a roaring flame that seemed to lick at the launchpad as she left it. The vehicle rolled quickly, and began nosing up backwards towards the horizon. The vehicle began to reach her maximum acceleration, and to mitigate the stress, first her 6 core engines shut down, then an additional 6 around her perimeter. Her wings fought to keep her steady through the vibrations, and her engines began throttling to stabilize the vehicle's rotation. Before long, though, Strelka above lit her 8 main engines, and Snegopad could see the end of her job was nearing. She let go, sending Strelka towards the heavens as she fell gracefully back to the Earth.
The vehicle began breaking her descent, and boosting back slowly towards the launch facility. Snegopad’s 6 atmospheric engines would handle the remainder of the energy required to return, and ground controllers knew they would soon hear the roaring scream of her turbojets running at full thrust. All the while, Strelka continued upwards, pulling up and away from the booster below, and beginning to level out as she throttled back her main engines. As thrust hit its minimum, and mass continued to be expended, Strelka shut down 4 of her engines, beginning to reach her final velocity.
Soviet Controller 1: Стрелка достигла скорости выключения- (Strelka dostigla skorosti vyklyucheniya- The Strelka has reached shutdown velocity-)
Soviet Controller 2: Отключение НК-33А, переход на орбитальный маневровый двигатель.(Otklyucheniye NK-33A, perekhod na orbital'nyy manevrovyy dvigatel.Shutdown of NK-33A, transition to the orbital maneuvering thruster)
Strelka’s NK-33A engines slammed to a halt, and her primary RD-58 derived OMS engine. The craft reached orbit, as Snegopad approached the launchsite. Snegopad began descending upon the Baikonur Cosmodrome, diving rather swiftly, and approaching the runway. Making her final descent the vehicle pitched up, flaring her nose to the air, and bleeding off speed as she flew level with the runway.
Russian Controller 2: Двигатели на полной отрицательной тяге! (Dvigateli na polnoy otritsatel'noy tyage! “Engines at full Negative Thrust!”)
Snegopad’s engines roared to life, slowing the vehicle down rapidly. Before long, and more abruptly than anticipated, the nose wheel slammed onto the tarmac, bouncing before coming to an eventual halt. The vehicle had made a frightening landing, but touched down intact. Engineers approached the Lifter shortly thereafter, inspecting the craft's skin for signs of corrosion or burnthrough. None were present.
Snegopad had waded through the fire unabated. The vehicle seemingly was immune to the flames licking at her skin. If the engineers didn’t know better, they likely would have put the vehicle back out on the pad the next morning, but below the surface there was still minor wear. The Soviets had largely copied the American lifter, seeing the strength and elegance of the design, as well as its capabilities. With enough willpower, funding and labor, the MKS could be made to do nearly a flight a month, and could be scaled to meet the American’s STS, should the need arise.
Additionally, the vehicle was cheap enough and simple enough to be maintained by the Soviet Space Program; This would allow the shuttle to not bankrupt or exceed the capabilities of the USSR, while allowing a similar degree of capability to the Americans.
While the US government had known about the existence of the Soviet MKS and Shuttle for years, to many in the American public and around the world, this was the first they had heard of the Soviet Space Program since the conclusion of the Space-Race nearly 15 years prior. After landing, Snegopad was taxid to her hangar, but Strelka would not prove as convenient. Landing downrange of the launchsite, the Shuttle was loaded onto the AN-225 carrier aircraft before being ferried back to her hangar in Baikonur. While many in the US were taken aback by the Soviets rapid advancement of spaceflight capabilities, NASA marched on unphased. The findings of the SM-51 accident investigation board suggested that NASA should upgrade the EMU and AIMS systems within a decade to provide the following-
The Evolved Extravehicular Mobility Unit (E-EMU) should be pressurized to 57 kilopascals, or 8.3PSI of internal pressure. This will allow astronauts to don and doff the suit without risk of developing the bends, or needing to perform hours of pre-breathing prior to suit up. Additionally, the suit should be made more resistant to tearing or puncture, allowing the suit to perform in more conditions and minimizing the risk of injury on EVA. In combination with this, the suit should be able to be donned and doffed easier, faster and more independently. All of these capabilities, NASA hoped, would allow the astronauts to have a minimized risk of injury or loss of life on orbit, and ensure that an accident of this nature would never happen again.
Additionally, the AIMS should be adjusted so that the pack can be controlled by ground controllers and station crew remotely. This will allow controllers to ‘safe’ or disable the jetpack remotely if an astronaut forgets about it while on EVA. In addition, this will allow NASA to pilot the pack while astronauts are performing work, allowing them to have their hands freed up considerably while they are flown around the station. In theory, these changes would not only make the jetpacks safer to use, but allow for the capabilities of an astronaut on EVA to be greatly expanded.
These changes would come gradually, but NASA intended to test the upgraded AIMS in the coming year, and by 1991 the agency hoped to have an upgraded and evolved EMU spacesuit. For now, though, station crew would simply have to be much more cautious, ensuring that they followed EVA procedure to the T, and disabling their AIMS packs before performing EVA tasks. Equipment however wasn’t the only thing scrutinized by the report, and the question of whether or not NASA’s current methods of training were appropriate for this new era of spaceflight was quickly brought up.
NASA had been training Shuttle pilots, mission specialists and payload specialists for 2 years prior to each mission, and the agency began to question if this was in fact the best way to handle training moving forwards. It was realized that in the coming years, with 20 shuttle missions scheduled for 1987, and 24 for 1988, that the current astronaut core wouldn’t be able to serve these missions if the current 2-year minimum was kept. Instead, many wondered, what if NASA moved to more routine testing during operational flight, similar to that of airline pilots. If the astronauts really were just deploying satellites on ADDRESS or Archer, and weren’t performing a first-of-its-kind mission, did they really need two years worth of training?
Instead it was decided that the astronauts could receive proficiencies in the course of their two year training, learning the required skills to deal with certain payloads, spacecraft or operations, and simply receive routine classes, and take proficiency exams every 3 months if they hadn’t flown in 3 months, or a minimum of once per year. This would allow shuttle pilots and commanders to fly two to three missions a year, and scientists, payload specialists, and mission specialists to fly at a similar rate. This, combined with the biggest class in the agency's history, superseding even the Thirty Five New Guys (TFNG) Class of 78, meant that NASA could afford to start thinking bigger in terms of numbers.
Aside from the accident, Expedition 2 proved successful. The crew would go on to expand the port and starboard trusses, installing a second solar power package and greatly expanding the station’s electrical supply. Additionally, a resupply shuttle would deliver the station's first full length spacelab module, immensely expanding the station's scientific capabilities.
As 1986 continued on, NASA would eventually sign the approval of an upcoming mission. To support future endeavors in space, an agreement with Rocketdyne and Boeing was given to design, fly and test a sub-scale propellant depot demonstrating the capabilities necessary to refuel Archer, ADDRESS and other spacecraft on orbit: NASA hoped this would one day allow multi-use spacetugs to one day operate out of the American space station.
The mission was penciled in for 1988, and set out to demonstrate two particular goals. Firstly, the mission would demonstrate a zero or near-zero boiloff design, capable of remaining on orbit with highly cryogenic fuels for an indefinite period. This would demonstrate the capabilities that would be required to refuel cryogenic and semi-cryogenic rocket stages on orbit. Additionally, the mission would demonstrate that the idea was feasible, showing that fluid flow in microgravity could be obtained with minimal use of propellants.
After a rigorous study, started late into 1985, the best method was found: The craft would line the interior of its propellant tanks with spiraled ribbing, allowing directional flow to be obtained with a spin. Using this the depot could, at least in theory, refuel a spacecraft without expending any mass, allowing a near infinite on-orbit lifespan. NASA hoped to expand freedom to one day not only be able to service spacecraft, but refuel and launch them as well. This would one day allow cheap and affordable moon missions to be feasible, and with the lowering launch costs of the Shuttle, NASA hoped that one day landing humans on the moon could cost less than 100 million dollars per person.
Eventually the winter of 1986 would dawn, and with it the second flight of the Soviet MKS, demonstrating the first non-American reflight of a spacecraft, just over half a decade after NASA achieved this feat. The Soviet Space Agency was beaming, and soon they hoped the MKS could replace the N-1 and L-1 families entirely, providing an extremely high cadence replacement for both launchers.
Chapter 33: Стрелка Part II: Birds of a Feather.
(Pet Shop Boys, West End Girls)The Soviet Union's first reusable spacecraft made a triumphant maiden voyage today. From the moment the MKS booster lifted off from a launchpad in central asia, the mission performed, as far as we’re aware, flawlessly. The Soviet craft landed today a mere 15 miles from the launch site, showing no signs of damage or error.
The Soviet Shuttle Strelka, whose name means Arrow, completed two orbits, and flew for just 3 and a half hours. The 60 ton craft launched to orbit from the Baikonur Cosmodrome as part of the fully reusable MKS launcher. When the Vehicle neared its final orbital speed, the six main engines were shut down and a small maneuvering engine was used to circularize the spacecraft’s orbit.
''Until this moment,'' said Yuri P. Semenov, one of the chief designers, the American shuttle ''had one advantage: it flew.'' He continued, “Today, we’ve at least met that advantage.”
He added- “We built a fully reusable craft that can launch and retrieve payloads autonomously, and return to the launch site on its own. In many ways, we’ve achieved things never before seen, and many of us in the program are excited for the potential applications of the vehicle.”
New York Times Front Page News,
September 10th, 1986.
The Soviet Shuttle Strelka, whose name means Arrow, completed two orbits, and flew for just 3 and a half hours. The 60 ton craft launched to orbit from the Baikonur Cosmodrome as part of the fully reusable MKS launcher. When the Vehicle neared its final orbital speed, the six main engines were shut down and a small maneuvering engine was used to circularize the spacecraft’s orbit.
''Until this moment,'' said Yuri P. Semenov, one of the chief designers, the American shuttle ''had one advantage: it flew.'' He continued, “Today, we’ve at least met that advantage.”
He added- “We built a fully reusable craft that can launch and retrieve payloads autonomously, and return to the launch site on its own. In many ways, we’ve achieved things never before seen, and many of us in the program are excited for the potential applications of the vehicle.”
New York Times Front Page News,
September 10th, 1986.
Snegopad rose into the air, riding atop a roaring flame that seemed to lick at the launchpad as she left it. The vehicle rolled quickly, and began nosing up backwards towards the horizon. The vehicle began to reach her maximum acceleration, and to mitigate the stress, first her 6 core engines shut down, then an additional 6 around her perimeter. Her wings fought to keep her steady through the vibrations, and her engines began throttling to stabilize the vehicle's rotation. Before long, though, Strelka above lit her 8 main engines, and Snegopad could see the end of her job was nearing. She let go, sending Strelka towards the heavens as she fell gracefully back to the Earth.
The vehicle began breaking her descent, and boosting back slowly towards the launch facility. Snegopad’s 6 atmospheric engines would handle the remainder of the energy required to return, and ground controllers knew they would soon hear the roaring scream of her turbojets running at full thrust. All the while, Strelka continued upwards, pulling up and away from the booster below, and beginning to level out as she throttled back her main engines. As thrust hit its minimum, and mass continued to be expended, Strelka shut down 4 of her engines, beginning to reach her final velocity.
Soviet Controller 1: Стрелка достигла скорости выключения- (Strelka dostigla skorosti vyklyucheniya- The Strelka has reached shutdown velocity-)
Soviet Controller 2: Отключение НК-33А, переход на орбитальный маневровый двигатель.(Otklyucheniye NK-33A, perekhod na orbital'nyy manevrovyy dvigatel.Shutdown of NK-33A, transition to the orbital maneuvering thruster)
Strelka’s NK-33A engines slammed to a halt, and her primary RD-58 derived OMS engine. The craft reached orbit, as Snegopad approached the launchsite. Snegopad began descending upon the Baikonur Cosmodrome, diving rather swiftly, and approaching the runway. Making her final descent the vehicle pitched up, flaring her nose to the air, and bleeding off speed as she flew level with the runway.
Russian Controller 2: Двигатели на полной отрицательной тяге! (Dvigateli na polnoy otritsatel'noy tyage! “Engines at full Negative Thrust!”)
Snegopad’s engines roared to life, slowing the vehicle down rapidly. Before long, and more abruptly than anticipated, the nose wheel slammed onto the tarmac, bouncing before coming to an eventual halt. The vehicle had made a frightening landing, but touched down intact. Engineers approached the Lifter shortly thereafter, inspecting the craft's skin for signs of corrosion or burnthrough. None were present.
Snegopad had waded through the fire unabated. The vehicle seemingly was immune to the flames licking at her skin. If the engineers didn’t know better, they likely would have put the vehicle back out on the pad the next morning, but below the surface there was still minor wear. The Soviets had largely copied the American lifter, seeing the strength and elegance of the design, as well as its capabilities. With enough willpower, funding and labor, the MKS could be made to do nearly a flight a month, and could be scaled to meet the American’s STS, should the need arise.
Additionally, the vehicle was cheap enough and simple enough to be maintained by the Soviet Space Program; This would allow the shuttle to not bankrupt or exceed the capabilities of the USSR, while allowing a similar degree of capability to the Americans.
While the US government had known about the existence of the Soviet MKS and Shuttle for years, to many in the American public and around the world, this was the first they had heard of the Soviet Space Program since the conclusion of the Space-Race nearly 15 years prior. After landing, Snegopad was taxid to her hangar, but Strelka would not prove as convenient. Landing downrange of the launchsite, the Shuttle was loaded onto the AN-225 carrier aircraft before being ferried back to her hangar in Baikonur. While many in the US were taken aback by the Soviets rapid advancement of spaceflight capabilities, NASA marched on unphased. The findings of the SM-51 accident investigation board suggested that NASA should upgrade the EMU and AIMS systems within a decade to provide the following-
The Evolved Extravehicular Mobility Unit (E-EMU) should be pressurized to 57 kilopascals, or 8.3PSI of internal pressure. This will allow astronauts to don and doff the suit without risk of developing the bends, or needing to perform hours of pre-breathing prior to suit up. Additionally, the suit should be made more resistant to tearing or puncture, allowing the suit to perform in more conditions and minimizing the risk of injury on EVA. In combination with this, the suit should be able to be donned and doffed easier, faster and more independently. All of these capabilities, NASA hoped, would allow the astronauts to have a minimized risk of injury or loss of life on orbit, and ensure that an accident of this nature would never happen again.
Additionally, the AIMS should be adjusted so that the pack can be controlled by ground controllers and station crew remotely. This will allow controllers to ‘safe’ or disable the jetpack remotely if an astronaut forgets about it while on EVA. In addition, this will allow NASA to pilot the pack while astronauts are performing work, allowing them to have their hands freed up considerably while they are flown around the station. In theory, these changes would not only make the jetpacks safer to use, but allow for the capabilities of an astronaut on EVA to be greatly expanded.
These changes would come gradually, but NASA intended to test the upgraded AIMS in the coming year, and by 1991 the agency hoped to have an upgraded and evolved EMU spacesuit. For now, though, station crew would simply have to be much more cautious, ensuring that they followed EVA procedure to the T, and disabling their AIMS packs before performing EVA tasks. Equipment however wasn’t the only thing scrutinized by the report, and the question of whether or not NASA’s current methods of training were appropriate for this new era of spaceflight was quickly brought up.
NASA had been training Shuttle pilots, mission specialists and payload specialists for 2 years prior to each mission, and the agency began to question if this was in fact the best way to handle training moving forwards. It was realized that in the coming years, with 20 shuttle missions scheduled for 1987, and 24 for 1988, that the current astronaut core wouldn’t be able to serve these missions if the current 2-year minimum was kept. Instead, many wondered, what if NASA moved to more routine testing during operational flight, similar to that of airline pilots. If the astronauts really were just deploying satellites on ADDRESS or Archer, and weren’t performing a first-of-its-kind mission, did they really need two years worth of training?
Instead it was decided that the astronauts could receive proficiencies in the course of their two year training, learning the required skills to deal with certain payloads, spacecraft or operations, and simply receive routine classes, and take proficiency exams every 3 months if they hadn’t flown in 3 months, or a minimum of once per year. This would allow shuttle pilots and commanders to fly two to three missions a year, and scientists, payload specialists, and mission specialists to fly at a similar rate. This, combined with the biggest class in the agency's history, superseding even the Thirty Five New Guys (TFNG) Class of 78, meant that NASA could afford to start thinking bigger in terms of numbers.
Aside from the accident, Expedition 2 proved successful. The crew would go on to expand the port and starboard trusses, installing a second solar power package and greatly expanding the station’s electrical supply. Additionally, a resupply shuttle would deliver the station's first full length spacelab module, immensely expanding the station's scientific capabilities.
As 1986 continued on, NASA would eventually sign the approval of an upcoming mission. To support future endeavors in space, an agreement with Rocketdyne and Boeing was given to design, fly and test a sub-scale propellant depot demonstrating the capabilities necessary to refuel Archer, ADDRESS and other spacecraft on orbit: NASA hoped this would one day allow multi-use spacetugs to one day operate out of the American space station.
The mission was penciled in for 1988, and set out to demonstrate two particular goals. Firstly, the mission would demonstrate a zero or near-zero boiloff design, capable of remaining on orbit with highly cryogenic fuels for an indefinite period. This would demonstrate the capabilities that would be required to refuel cryogenic and semi-cryogenic rocket stages on orbit. Additionally, the mission would demonstrate that the idea was feasible, showing that fluid flow in microgravity could be obtained with minimal use of propellants.
After a rigorous study, started late into 1985, the best method was found: The craft would line the interior of its propellant tanks with spiraled ribbing, allowing directional flow to be obtained with a spin. Using this the depot could, at least in theory, refuel a spacecraft without expending any mass, allowing a near infinite on-orbit lifespan. NASA hoped to expand freedom to one day not only be able to service spacecraft, but refuel and launch them as well. This would one day allow cheap and affordable moon missions to be feasible, and with the lowering launch costs of the Shuttle, NASA hoped that one day landing humans on the moon could cost less than 100 million dollars per person.
Eventually the winter of 1986 would dawn, and with it the second flight of the Soviet MKS, demonstrating the first non-American reflight of a spacecraft, just over half a decade after NASA achieved this feat. The Soviet Space Agency was beaming, and soon they hoped the MKS could replace the N-1 and L-1 families entirely, providing an extremely high cadence replacement for both launchers.
Hey just wanted to drop in and say thanks for the Turtledove nomination... I won't be posting for a bit as there's some family stuff in my life that has flared up somewhat. That said, I am gonna be working on-and-off on COA, and some other projects (potentially another piece in universe) I have in the works, however I won't be able to work enough to commit to a release schedule :/ Anyways,
All the best
-Wren
All the best
-Wren
Chapter 34: Demokratizatsiya
Capcom: Enterprise, go for staging-
Adams: Roger, go for adapter sep-
…
…
Adams: We’re off.
1987 would come and go without issue, and before long 1988 dawned. The year promised big things for NASA, aiming to be the first time since the shuttle’s deployment in 1980 that they could demonstrate the peak potential that the system offered. At the same time, the Agency was in the process of finalizing the development of the upgraded AIMS system, and the design of a new spacesuit. 1988 was also an election year, and many at NASA knew this may bring about changes to budgets and timelines for Freedom’s development. However, with little more to do, the agency simply hoped for the best in regards to the question at hand.
January saw the launch of the final SPP module aboard Space Shuttle Intrepid, alongside the delivery of Expedition 5. The station's residing crew returned safely to the earth, with an additional batch of beam-builder segments meeting the Expedition 5 team in orbit days later. The station was maturing at a desirable pace, with the racetrack underneath Freedom’s OWS being nearly complete. Her truss was almost completely assembled as well, and before long, station managers hoped to begin moving towards Freedom’s ‘Phase-II’ goals.
During the station's conception, it had been hoped that two full crews may one day reside on station, allowing as many as 12 people to remain in orbit at all times, maximizing the scientific and engineering potential of the orbital outpost. By 1990 the ESA planned to have the Theseus-IV booster online, and the year after the Hermes spaceplane was to make its maiden voyage. Japan was also working on a spaceplane to be launched by their in development H-II rocket, one day allowing the island nation to launch crew and cargo to Space Station Freedom and beyond. However, for the time being NASA was the only agency in the SSF program capable of launching crew to the station, and Phase-II would have to begin with their capabilities alone. By 1990, the agency intended to have 4 crew rotations flown to the station every year, with 12 permanent residents aboard the station year round.
By the end of January, the third STS flight of the year was readying itself on the launchpad. Inside the payload bay sat a special payload in the works for half a decade. Magellan, atop her Archer, began fueling up on the 31st of January, 1988.
Capcom: Roger good gimbal check Independence.
…
…
…
Scott: Auto-Sequence start, main engines running-
Launch Commentator: Liftoff, we have a liftoff, 33 minutes after the hour liftoff of SM-80!
Smith: (Garbled) Roll program-
Capcom: Roger roll, Independence.
Enterprise shot into the air atop Independence riding the lifter skywards towards the heavens. Independence separated from the S-IIB below, lofting the shuttle and her upper stage off towards orbit, before flipping aft-face and returning to the launch site.
Smith: Boostback burn initiated.
Smith: Boostback burn initiated.
Capcom: Roger Boostback Independence.
Adams: Uhh, Houston we got an issue up here-
Launch Controller 1: Control, be advised we see a loss of pressure to Engine 3, shutting it down now.
Capcom: Roger that Enterprise, Negative Return, Press to ATO.
Adams: ATO.
Engine 3 was shut down, and the remaining 3 J-2S engines gimballed to compensate for the loss of thrust, The shuttle would limp to orbit, but had just enough thrust to do so. As the shuttle passed further over the atlantic, however, additional problems quickly arose-
Charles: Engine 1 loss of thrust-
Capcom: Roger that, Enterprise. Push to TAL.
Charles: Transoceanic Abort Landing.
Click.
Capcom: Enterprise, go for staging-
Adams: Roger, go for adapter sep-
…
…
Adams: We’re off.
…
Adams: Archer Propellant Venting.
The shuttle separated from the now-dormant stage below it, lighting her OMS engine to break free of the S-IIB. Gaining distance, the shuttle now began rapidly venting the cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen stored within the Archer’s tanks, preparing herself for entry, descent and landing. The vehicle banked south, and began extending her trajectory enough to make landfall.
The S-IIB fired its retrorockets, decelerating and slowing her trajectory enough to break up over the Atlantic ocean minutes later. Just to be sure, Mission controllers followed protocol, separating the ERD to to attempt recovery before breaking up the tank using a series of shaped charges. The charges fired, unzipping the cryogenic tank into a rupturing cloud of hydrogen and oxygen vapors. The vapors caught fire, charring the ERD as it pulled away from what used to be the tank above-
Mission Controller 1: Alright, ERD separated. Range safety at ready.
Mission Controller 2: Safing-
Mission Controller 1: Alright, ET LOS.
The ERD was beyond saving, not designed to approach from such a steep angle, the pod was intentionally pointed engines-first, ensuring the maximum breakup would occur. This, while upsetting, ensured that little if any debris would make landfall, and thus that the peoples of Earth would remain unscathed. The vehicle was now shattered into pieces, only a shuttle still remained.
Capcom: Targeting LS-Morón
Adams: Roger, targeting Morón.
Charles: Alright, engine stop-
Adams: Altitude 108 and falling, beginning terminal descent, hold on everybody.
Capcom: Roger OMS shutdown. Godspeed Enterprise.
Before long she encountered the atmosphere; Her trajectory carried the orbiter Northwest over Morón, far overshooting the landing facilities there. However, her crew and her flight computers intended to use the vehicle's aerodynamic capabilities, banking South in order to turn the vehicle’s trajectory enough to approach Morón from the North. The theory proved sufficient, and as the orbiter began descending at a bank angle of nearly 65 degrees, her trajectory began sharply turning, delivering her to a pinpoint landing at Morón.
Adams: Alright, I can see the runway.
Charles: 30,000 your hud looks good and… my hud looks good. Let’s get her down.
…
Charles: HAC entry
Capcom: Roger alignment, Enterprise.
Morón Controller: Enterprise on final approach.
Charles: 500.
…
Charles: 400.
Charles: 300.
Charles: 100.
Adams: Get down girl, get down-
Charles: 40-
Charles: 30-
Charles: 20-
Charles: 10, 9, 8, 7- touch!
Adams: Alright, nosing down
Charles: Derotating.
Adams: Chutes out, chutes out.
Charles: Alright wheels stopped. We’re down.
Morón Controller: Wheel stop confirmed, welcome to Spain ladies and gentlemen.
Charles: Gracias mi amigo.
Capcom: Roger you down, Enterprise.
Mission controllers in Houston and Morón breathed a collective sigh of relief. The shuttle had touched down unscathed; Her archer and payload remaining relatively untouched as well. Getting her home would prove a pain, with NASA’s shuttle carrier aircraft needing to make an incredibly long trip compared to her grand voyage from California to the Floridian coast. However, the shuttle would return to Florida in the months after the incident, all the while, NASA honed in on the cause of the issue, aiming to make the STS an overall safer vehicle.
The incident, however, highlighted the ever-present argument that NASA and the private industry made in favor of the shuttle, it provided insurance. Reusable vehicles, especially those which had crew, provided a level of assurance that even in the case of a total launch failure, their payloads would likely come back in one piece. And come back in one piece it did, within weeks, Magellan was ready to go for her next launch attempt. Sadly, by then the window had closed however, and the spaceprobe would have to wait nearly 2 years before his next attempt could be made.
Within a month, the shuttle too was ready for her return to flight. The vehicle’s telemetry was examined rigorously, and a likely source was found in an unlikely place. Onboard Independence was an IMAX camera capturing footage of the shuttle in flight, in preparation for a documentary being made about the system. In a few frames, a small puff could be observed coming out of the side of Engine 3’s nozzle, before quickly being washed out by the light of the engine’s exhausts. After some consideration, engineers realized what the issue had been-
A gold pin, used to disable eroded, worn or otherwise faulty injectors had come loose; Entering the combustion chamber at nearly 2 times the speed of sound, the high-pressure gasses accelerated the metal pin like a speeding bullet, punching a hole clean through the engines nozzle. This caused the engine to leak exhaust for just a few seconds, shooting superheated exhaust like a blowtorch towards engine 1. By the time Engine 3 shut down, Engine 1’s fate was sealed, a hole in the bottom of the nozzle’s outer skin led to the engine leaking hydrogen. This showed up to the computer that the engine was running fuel rich, and the oxygen to the engine was increased. This led to an overthrust of the engine, causing just enough of a deviation for the ERD’s flight computer to shut down the now bleeding engine.
This incident, while significant, was deemed a freak accident. STS would return to flight 44 days after the incident, all the while NASA managed the return of Enterprise. Stopping over in Great Britain, then Greenland, then Canada; After weeks on the road, Enterprise crawled back down the runway towards the OPF, eager and ready to begin her next voyage into space, hopefully to reach orbit this time.
As STS was once again cleared for flight, NASA’s next great experiment was readied on the launchpad. Derived from an Archer spacecraft, the ZXX or Zero-boiloff Crossfeed Experiment was to demonstrate the necessary capabilities to service and refuel a plethora of spacecraft in orbit. The payload was to be launched into orbit atop STS fully fueled, containing little more than enough propellant to refuel an Archer, and maintain its attitude.
Capcom: Liftoff, we see you clearing the tower, America.
…
…
…
Harris: Shutting down inboard engines-
…
…
…
Harris: Alright, S-IIB is off, we see clean ignition, beginning the flipover maneuver
Capcom: We roger you entering boostback orientation-
Harris: Ignition.
Capcom: Boostback confirmed.
The booster once again returned to the KSC, proving that the system was still operating healthily despite the previous launch's hiccups. As America soared towards the Floridian coast, The S-IIB’s fairings separated, and shortly after, the ZXX was released.
Capcom: Successful payload sep.
Harris: Glad to hear it!
America came to a stop at the center of the runway, and the ZDD began unfurling its solar panel arrays. The spacecraft would sit in orbit for 18 months, demonstrating that its cryo-coolers, MLI and sun shields worked properly. Once this had been sufficiently proven, an unfueled archer was to be delivered and birthed to the ZXX by Enterprise, and the refueling process was to be demonstrated. Months went by and the tankage and fuel were proving stable, but across the world, instability was brewing.
Gorbachev: I believe that this nation needs to commit itself to the development of a socialist state under the rule of law, with democratization of life, the state and society, in which all manners of the state serve to benefit and work for us all.
A New Union was being proposed, and for the first time since Europe faced the world wars, a general gathering of all USSR member states was held. A proposal was put forward, calling for the re-establishment of a New Union, focused on democracy, freedoms and socialist ideals. The proposal proved extremely controversial with many in the Soviet high society, with many seeing it as the ultimate downfall of the soviet empire. However, with civil wars and strikes beginning to show their ugly head, others saw it as a way out.
Bang Bang Bang… Hissssss
Anders: Alright capcom, we have attached Archer, we’re retracting the canadarm, and will begin evasive maneuvers soon-
Capcom: Roger that, Enterprise. We’ll begin spin-up shortly.
Boom
In December of 1988, an amendment to the 1977 soviet constitution was made, calling for the dissolution of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, and its replacement with the Congress of Peoples’ Deputies. This Congress was to be made up of freely elected officials, allowing the voting of representatives who would act as electors for the newly remade supreme soviet. These electors were voted upon throughout 1989, and before long, the liberal majority began to shine through. The people of the Soviet Union wanted change, and they wanted it fast. Seeing this, Gorbachev called on a vote of the supreme soviet to adopt the New Union treaty, creating a less centralized and less federalized state. While the treaty did seem to receive popular support, and made it past the lower chamber of the Supreme Soviet, it wasn’t enough to pass, and the liberal reformists seemed to be back to square one.
Capcom: Alright, we’re spinning up the depot now-
Evans: We see it, flight. Let’s get this puppy filled up-
Reporter: A gas station in orbit is what NASA aims to demonstrate today, allowing future missions to maximize payload by leaving the fuel at home. We come to you live from mission control, and will report any updates as they come in-
Controller: Positive pressure!
Reporter: Mission controllers are reporting positive pressure, meaning that the tanks appear to be being filled-
The depot was working. As the two spacecraft spun up, the small spiraling channels carved into the depot's walls caused fuel to begin flowing into the archer attached to it. The tanks were beginning to be refueled and slowly but surely, propellant indicators went from E to F.
Capcom: Alright, go get the change Enterprise, our tank’s fully fueled!
Anders: Oh that’s brilliant!
Evans: Crew’s glad to hear your little theory worked, Flight.
While the depot was at present just a demonstration, the potential that it opened was vast. Future missions may one day drop off fuel in orbit, with further missions being sent to utilize this propellant, and space tugs waiting for them in orbit, to reach far out destinations, cheaply. The scientific prowess of the mission was grand, even if the scale was far from it.
Meanwhile in Moscow, Gorbachev pleaded with the Supreme Soviet, and a negotiation was finally made; The treaty would be voted upon by a popular referendum held in each of the 15 Union Republics. The vote was held in July of 1989, and the treaty received an overwhelming amount of support. With this, a new constitution was to be drafted in the coming month, through an assembly of authorities led by Mikhail Gorbachev.
(Flag of the Union of Sovereign Republics)
Adams: Roger, go for adapter sep-
…
…
Adams: We’re off.
Chapter 34: Demokratizatsiya
(Love Shack, The B-52’s)1987 would come and go without issue, and before long 1988 dawned. The year promised big things for NASA, aiming to be the first time since the shuttle’s deployment in 1980 that they could demonstrate the peak potential that the system offered. At the same time, the Agency was in the process of finalizing the development of the upgraded AIMS system, and the design of a new spacesuit. 1988 was also an election year, and many at NASA knew this may bring about changes to budgets and timelines for Freedom’s development. However, with little more to do, the agency simply hoped for the best in regards to the question at hand.
January saw the launch of the final SPP module aboard Space Shuttle Intrepid, alongside the delivery of Expedition 5. The station's residing crew returned safely to the earth, with an additional batch of beam-builder segments meeting the Expedition 5 team in orbit days later. The station was maturing at a desirable pace, with the racetrack underneath Freedom’s OWS being nearly complete. Her truss was almost completely assembled as well, and before long, station managers hoped to begin moving towards Freedom’s ‘Phase-II’ goals.
During the station's conception, it had been hoped that two full crews may one day reside on station, allowing as many as 12 people to remain in orbit at all times, maximizing the scientific and engineering potential of the orbital outpost. By 1990 the ESA planned to have the Theseus-IV booster online, and the year after the Hermes spaceplane was to make its maiden voyage. Japan was also working on a spaceplane to be launched by their in development H-II rocket, one day allowing the island nation to launch crew and cargo to Space Station Freedom and beyond. However, for the time being NASA was the only agency in the SSF program capable of launching crew to the station, and Phase-II would have to begin with their capabilities alone. By 1990, the agency intended to have 4 crew rotations flown to the station every year, with 12 permanent residents aboard the station year round.
By the end of January, the third STS flight of the year was readying itself on the launchpad. Inside the payload bay sat a special payload in the works for half a decade. Magellan, atop her Archer, began fueling up on the 31st of January, 1988.
Capcom: Roger good gimbal check Independence.
…
…
…
Scott: Auto-Sequence start, main engines running-
Launch Commentator: Liftoff, we have a liftoff, 33 minutes after the hour liftoff of SM-80!
Smith: (Garbled) Roll program-
Capcom: Roger roll, Independence.
Enterprise shot into the air atop Independence riding the lifter skywards towards the heavens. Independence separated from the S-IIB below, lofting the shuttle and her upper stage off towards orbit, before flipping aft-face and returning to the launch site.
Smith: Boostback burn initiated.
Smith: Boostback burn initiated.
Capcom: Roger Boostback Independence.
Adams: Uhh, Houston we got an issue up here-
Launch Controller 1: Control, be advised we see a loss of pressure to Engine 3, shutting it down now.
Capcom: Roger that Enterprise, Negative Return, Press to ATO.
Adams: ATO.
Engine 3 was shut down, and the remaining 3 J-2S engines gimballed to compensate for the loss of thrust, The shuttle would limp to orbit, but had just enough thrust to do so. As the shuttle passed further over the atlantic, however, additional problems quickly arose-
Charles: Engine 1 loss of thrust-
Capcom: Roger that, Enterprise. Push to TAL.
Charles: Transoceanic Abort Landing.
Click.
Capcom: Enterprise, go for staging-
Adams: Roger, go for adapter sep-
…
…
Adams: We’re off.
…
Adams: Archer Propellant Venting.
The shuttle separated from the now-dormant stage below it, lighting her OMS engine to break free of the S-IIB. Gaining distance, the shuttle now began rapidly venting the cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen stored within the Archer’s tanks, preparing herself for entry, descent and landing. The vehicle banked south, and began extending her trajectory enough to make landfall.
The S-IIB fired its retrorockets, decelerating and slowing her trajectory enough to break up over the Atlantic ocean minutes later. Just to be sure, Mission controllers followed protocol, separating the ERD to to attempt recovery before breaking up the tank using a series of shaped charges. The charges fired, unzipping the cryogenic tank into a rupturing cloud of hydrogen and oxygen vapors. The vapors caught fire, charring the ERD as it pulled away from what used to be the tank above-
Mission Controller 1: Alright, ERD separated. Range safety at ready.
Mission Controller 2: Safing-
Mission Controller 1: Alright, ET LOS.
The ERD was beyond saving, not designed to approach from such a steep angle, the pod was intentionally pointed engines-first, ensuring the maximum breakup would occur. This, while upsetting, ensured that little if any debris would make landfall, and thus that the peoples of Earth would remain unscathed. The vehicle was now shattered into pieces, only a shuttle still remained.
Capcom: Targeting LS-Morón
Adams: Roger, targeting Morón.
Charles: Alright, engine stop-
Adams: Altitude 108 and falling, beginning terminal descent, hold on everybody.
Capcom: Roger OMS shutdown. Godspeed Enterprise.
Before long she encountered the atmosphere; Her trajectory carried the orbiter Northwest over Morón, far overshooting the landing facilities there. However, her crew and her flight computers intended to use the vehicle's aerodynamic capabilities, banking South in order to turn the vehicle’s trajectory enough to approach Morón from the North. The theory proved sufficient, and as the orbiter began descending at a bank angle of nearly 65 degrees, her trajectory began sharply turning, delivering her to a pinpoint landing at Morón.
Adams: Alright, I can see the runway.
Charles: 30,000 your hud looks good and… my hud looks good. Let’s get her down.
…
Charles: HAC entry
Capcom: Roger alignment, Enterprise.
Morón Controller: Enterprise on final approach.
Charles: 500.
…
Charles: 400.
Charles: 300.
Charles: 100.
Adams: Get down girl, get down-
Charles: 40-
Charles: 30-
Charles: 20-
Charles: 10, 9, 8, 7- touch!
Adams: Alright, nosing down
Charles: Derotating.
Adams: Chutes out, chutes out.
Charles: Alright wheels stopped. We’re down.
Morón Controller: Wheel stop confirmed, welcome to Spain ladies and gentlemen.
Charles: Gracias mi amigo.
Capcom: Roger you down, Enterprise.
Mission controllers in Houston and Morón breathed a collective sigh of relief. The shuttle had touched down unscathed; Her archer and payload remaining relatively untouched as well. Getting her home would prove a pain, with NASA’s shuttle carrier aircraft needing to make an incredibly long trip compared to her grand voyage from California to the Floridian coast. However, the shuttle would return to Florida in the months after the incident, all the while, NASA honed in on the cause of the issue, aiming to make the STS an overall safer vehicle.
The incident, however, highlighted the ever-present argument that NASA and the private industry made in favor of the shuttle, it provided insurance. Reusable vehicles, especially those which had crew, provided a level of assurance that even in the case of a total launch failure, their payloads would likely come back in one piece. And come back in one piece it did, within weeks, Magellan was ready to go for her next launch attempt. Sadly, by then the window had closed however, and the spaceprobe would have to wait nearly 2 years before his next attempt could be made.
Within a month, the shuttle too was ready for her return to flight. The vehicle’s telemetry was examined rigorously, and a likely source was found in an unlikely place. Onboard Independence was an IMAX camera capturing footage of the shuttle in flight, in preparation for a documentary being made about the system. In a few frames, a small puff could be observed coming out of the side of Engine 3’s nozzle, before quickly being washed out by the light of the engine’s exhausts. After some consideration, engineers realized what the issue had been-
A gold pin, used to disable eroded, worn or otherwise faulty injectors had come loose; Entering the combustion chamber at nearly 2 times the speed of sound, the high-pressure gasses accelerated the metal pin like a speeding bullet, punching a hole clean through the engines nozzle. This caused the engine to leak exhaust for just a few seconds, shooting superheated exhaust like a blowtorch towards engine 1. By the time Engine 3 shut down, Engine 1’s fate was sealed, a hole in the bottom of the nozzle’s outer skin led to the engine leaking hydrogen. This showed up to the computer that the engine was running fuel rich, and the oxygen to the engine was increased. This led to an overthrust of the engine, causing just enough of a deviation for the ERD’s flight computer to shut down the now bleeding engine.
This incident, while significant, was deemed a freak accident. STS would return to flight 44 days after the incident, all the while NASA managed the return of Enterprise. Stopping over in Great Britain, then Greenland, then Canada; After weeks on the road, Enterprise crawled back down the runway towards the OPF, eager and ready to begin her next voyage into space, hopefully to reach orbit this time.
As STS was once again cleared for flight, NASA’s next great experiment was readied on the launchpad. Derived from an Archer spacecraft, the ZXX or Zero-boiloff Crossfeed Experiment was to demonstrate the necessary capabilities to service and refuel a plethora of spacecraft in orbit. The payload was to be launched into orbit atop STS fully fueled, containing little more than enough propellant to refuel an Archer, and maintain its attitude.
Capcom: Liftoff, we see you clearing the tower, America.
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Harris: Shutting down inboard engines-
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Harris: Alright, S-IIB is off, we see clean ignition, beginning the flipover maneuver
Capcom: We roger you entering boostback orientation-
Harris: Ignition.
Capcom: Boostback confirmed.
The booster once again returned to the KSC, proving that the system was still operating healthily despite the previous launch's hiccups. As America soared towards the Floridian coast, The S-IIB’s fairings separated, and shortly after, the ZXX was released.
Capcom: Successful payload sep.
Harris: Glad to hear it!
America came to a stop at the center of the runway, and the ZDD began unfurling its solar panel arrays. The spacecraft would sit in orbit for 18 months, demonstrating that its cryo-coolers, MLI and sun shields worked properly. Once this had been sufficiently proven, an unfueled archer was to be delivered and birthed to the ZXX by Enterprise, and the refueling process was to be demonstrated. Months went by and the tankage and fuel were proving stable, but across the world, instability was brewing.
Gorbachev: I believe that this nation needs to commit itself to the development of a socialist state under the rule of law, with democratization of life, the state and society, in which all manners of the state serve to benefit and work for us all.
A New Union was being proposed, and for the first time since Europe faced the world wars, a general gathering of all USSR member states was held. A proposal was put forward, calling for the re-establishment of a New Union, focused on democracy, freedoms and socialist ideals. The proposal proved extremely controversial with many in the Soviet high society, with many seeing it as the ultimate downfall of the soviet empire. However, with civil wars and strikes beginning to show their ugly head, others saw it as a way out.
Bang Bang Bang… Hissssss
Anders: Alright capcom, we have attached Archer, we’re retracting the canadarm, and will begin evasive maneuvers soon-
Capcom: Roger that, Enterprise. We’ll begin spin-up shortly.
Boom
In December of 1988, an amendment to the 1977 soviet constitution was made, calling for the dissolution of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, and its replacement with the Congress of Peoples’ Deputies. This Congress was to be made up of freely elected officials, allowing the voting of representatives who would act as electors for the newly remade supreme soviet. These electors were voted upon throughout 1989, and before long, the liberal majority began to shine through. The people of the Soviet Union wanted change, and they wanted it fast. Seeing this, Gorbachev called on a vote of the supreme soviet to adopt the New Union treaty, creating a less centralized and less federalized state. While the treaty did seem to receive popular support, and made it past the lower chamber of the Supreme Soviet, it wasn’t enough to pass, and the liberal reformists seemed to be back to square one.
Capcom: Alright, we’re spinning up the depot now-
Evans: We see it, flight. Let’s get this puppy filled up-
Reporter: A gas station in orbit is what NASA aims to demonstrate today, allowing future missions to maximize payload by leaving the fuel at home. We come to you live from mission control, and will report any updates as they come in-
Controller: Positive pressure!
Reporter: Mission controllers are reporting positive pressure, meaning that the tanks appear to be being filled-
The depot was working. As the two spacecraft spun up, the small spiraling channels carved into the depot's walls caused fuel to begin flowing into the archer attached to it. The tanks were beginning to be refueled and slowly but surely, propellant indicators went from E to F.
Capcom: Alright, go get the change Enterprise, our tank’s fully fueled!
Anders: Oh that’s brilliant!
Evans: Crew’s glad to hear your little theory worked, Flight.
While the depot was at present just a demonstration, the potential that it opened was vast. Future missions may one day drop off fuel in orbit, with further missions being sent to utilize this propellant, and space tugs waiting for them in orbit, to reach far out destinations, cheaply. The scientific prowess of the mission was grand, even if the scale was far from it.
Meanwhile in Moscow, Gorbachev pleaded with the Supreme Soviet, and a negotiation was finally made; The treaty would be voted upon by a popular referendum held in each of the 15 Union Republics. The vote was held in July of 1989, and the treaty received an overwhelming amount of support. With this, a new constitution was to be drafted in the coming month, through an assembly of authorities led by Mikhail Gorbachev.
A new flag rose overhead in Red Square this morning, signifying the end of an era here in Moscow. Replacing the flag of the Soviet Union, which had flown in its current incarnation since 1955, the USR’s flag symbolizes a renewed sense of hope for their citizens, and the future of their nation. Coming next, citizens of the Union talk to our correspondence about what this iconic shift means for them.
ABC News
December 1st, 1991.
ABC News
December 1st, 1991.
(Flag of the Union of Sovereign Republics)
Interlude 3: Revolyutsiya!
Interlude 3: Revolyutsiya!
(Been a Son, Nirvana)Gunshots rang out over the skies of Moscow as protesters charged into the streets. Tanks rolled across Red Square, and the sounds of screaming could be heard. Sunrise brought with it the news that Gorbachev was missing, with many suspecting the military were holding him hostage, or worse. The Августовская революция, or August Revolution had begun. While the military expected the Soviet people to bow down, and submit as they had for decades prior, something was different this time; Civilians mounted tanks, many with knives, and molotov cocktails in hand. Inspired by the prospect of freedom, the prospect of a functional country that reflected their values and respected their needs, many refused to lay idle. The general response could be described as one of horror, no one had expected the degree of resistance that the soviet people would put up, and before long, prominent resistance figures began to join in as well.
The military's attempt to suppress the people had begun to waver, being toppled by workers and former military servicemen. The Russian state began slowly returning to normalcy, but in the wake of the violent outbreaks, many were dead across the Union. Thankfully, many soldiers had chosen to side with the revolutionaries, lending their aid to the cause, and preventing unnecessary deaths in the process. By day 4 of the August Revolution, Gorbachev had returned, and Moscow was all but rid of military forces. In a speech addressing the nation that evening, Gorbachev stated his intentions to continue with the formalization of a new union that evening, and over the course of 5 days, a constitution was drafted. Voted for by the people, a New Union was being forged in Moscow.
The news came as a shock to the outside world, overnight, the Soviet Union, a global superpower had devolved into violence, and then fizzled out. Like a firecracker, the union had exploded, wasting all of its fuel before ultimately becoming something new. Glasnost, the Soviet policy of transparency, and Demokratizatsiya, the policy of Democracy had overcome the struggle the military had fought to keep restrained. By September, the New Union had been formalized, and the birth of a nation, the Union of Sovereign Republics, was taking place live on TV across the globe. The USR was, for the time, stabilizing. All the while, people from across the world watched in a state between shock and curiosity. Anxious about what the collapse of the soviet union may mean for the lay-folk, but wondering if maybe the outcome may breed fruitful in the years to come. A balance had seemingly been restored, and the iron curtain seemingly became more than a picket fence, something that divided Europe, but only to a limited extent.
Although many Former Soviet Union member states did wish to stand by the delicate balance that had held them together, many more wished not to. Ukraine cut ties with the USR, preferring instead to become independent, with hopes to one day forge closer ties with central and western Europe. East-Germany too decided to abandon Moscow, instead opting to reunite itself with the west, forming a unified nation for the first time in nearly half a century. The effects of August to September would echo across the continent, and around the world. However, for the remainder of 1989, peace and stability seemed to remain. NASA spent the closing months of the year planning for the launch of Hubble, and another major project, the
Solar Power Demonstrator. The SPD was to be a flagship class mission, assembled over 6 flights, the SPD would be capable of beaming nearly 50 megawatts of electricity to Earth. The demonstrator platform would utilize an immense solar array to power ion engines capable of raising it to geosynchronous orbit. From there, the payload would utilize a microwave laser, capable of beaming the energy with minimal losses due to atmospheric turbulence.
The mission went off without issue, launching 5 solar arrays to Freedom, and an additional array of radiators, ion engines and a microwave transmitter. Crews worked on the mission over the following months, eventually sending it off some 3 months after the initial launch. The SPD would take months to reach GSO, and in the meantime, all NASA could do was wait.
As 1990 continued, a single program sat in the heads of many at NASA’s goddard space flight center. Hubble was to be the agency's next major uncrewed program, deploying a massive, expensive and extremely capable space telescope into low earth orbit. The telescope, derived from an early KH-11 design, was too large to fit into the shuttle’s payload bay, and would thus be launched in early 1990 atop an STS rocket. The launcher was undergoing final checks, and many in the program sat with bated breath knowing one error after liftoff could cost them their multi-billion dollar spacecraft.
The launch, however, would go off without a hitch. The spacecraft was released from the STS’s payload mount in the hours after liftoff, alongside half a dozen other small LEO payloads. While the launch proved to leave the spacecraft undamaged, it was becoming ever clearer that Hubble had one glaring issue: nothing was clear. The telescope was proving to be nearsighted, meaning that despite billions of dollars of work being put into the spacecraft, the telescope couldn’t see more than blotches across its sensors. The issue was an embarrassment to NASA, and Goddard in particular. Engineers would quickly need to assess if the issue may be fixable, and if not, what to do then.