Great episode, second season best so far.
At first, I found it strange when Margo pointed to a problem in solid rocket boosters for Buran. In our timeline, the Energia Rocket utilized liquid rocket boosters. However, when I looked closely at the diagrams on the scene that margo check the Buran schematics, I found that the show version of Buran does not utilize the RD-170 engine but a solid rocket fuel engine.
My theory:
In our timeline, the Buran was managed by Valentin Glushko, which developed the Liquid Lox/Kerosene RD-170 engines utilized on the Energia rocket boosters. In the show timeline, Korolev did not die in 66. In fact, he is still alive and is probably the head of the soviet space effort. Glushko and Korolev had differences. I doubt that they would put these aside for the RD-170 to be possible since, without Korolev's death, Glushko would continue developing engines with hypergolic fuels instead of developing Lox/Kerosene engines.
As for solid rocket Engines, Korolev saw them as an excellent safer alternative for military missiles instead of hypergolic rocket Engines. Korolev even started developing the first soviet solid fuel ICBM (RT-2), which Vasily Mishin concluded.
I believe that Korolev's preference for solid fuels in ICBMs, together with the USA space shuttle's early development (this would give more time to the spies of the soviet union), could lead the USSR to opt for solid rocket boosters instead of liquid rocket boosters.
Bonus Theory:
I also believe that the four engines on the show version of the Energia rocket core are not the RD-0120, but in fact, NK-15VM or NK-35 LOx/LH2 engines since the development of the N-1 rocket was continued.
That "Old Engineer" is almost certainly Korolev:I’m a bit skeptical that they’d go to putting solids on a manned booster, though, especially after going to all the trouble to build the world’s best kerolox engines. As to N1, an article in the season’s opening crawl said they’d made it to N3 by now, and that it’s the most powerful on Earth (before Sea Dragon, I think)—so I’m gonna guess it’s ~200 tonnes to LEO.
I loved the ending scene, but such things as the Buran booster question leave me mildly infuriated. It’s like that Drake meme.
NO: Explore why the USSR went with solid boosters on its shuttle despite having no reason to do so.
YES: Danny Stevens cultivating a taste for MILFs and starting his naval career off by trying to bed an admiral’s wife.
I wonder who that Soviet engineer was. He looked too young to be Korolev himself, but I think he was supposed to be, given his Gulag anecdote.
That's how I would do it as well. And I'd have the boosters recovered downrange in Siberia, as was planned for Zenit IOTL. Because Sakhalin really doesn't make any sense as a new launch pad for the Soviets. It's not like shipping things by water helps them with anything--unless they're also opening a new factory at Vladivostok, they're limited by tunnel diameters on the trans-Siberian railroad or the size of things they can carry on big airplanes.These things like the solid Buran booster annoy me too. If I was doing the show and if the Energia-Buran were strictly needed, I would use boosters with four NK-33 and a core with four NK-35. This would speed up the development of the Energia Rocket. In this way, maybe it would be plausible that they would have everything almost ready to fly by 1983.
Yeah, they are more character. Honestly, their world-building problems would not be noted by the general public. However, I also don'tThat's how I would do it as well. And I'd have the boosters recovered downrange in Siberia, as was planned for Zenit IOTL. Because Sakhalin really doesn't make any sense as a new launch pad for the Soviets. It's not like shipping things by water helps them with anything--unless they're also opening a new factory at Vladivostok, they're limited by tunnel diameters on the trans-Siberian railroad or the size of things they can carry on big airplanes.
I get it, they're more character- than worldbuilding-driven, but must they botch fundamental things like this for no reason?
That is a fair point, and a definite possibility--Lord knows we bitch about Alabama and Utah driving disadvantageous NASA decisions enough IOTL (indeed, even the OTL solid rocket boosters had some of that behavior in their backstory--Thiokol sent the president of the LDS Church to try to cajole the Mormon NASA Admin into giving them preferential treatment). Maybe Andropov's son-in-law works in the solid-propellant factory.I know @Polish Eagle and @lucaorom are talking engineering, something I can’t really jump into, but just to point out that the show indicated that NASA did the designing on this shuttle rather than the Russians. It’s so cool that you can both dig into the AH of rocket-building decisions, but what about the AH the show is suggesting? Some high-ranking political idiot tells the generals to tell the engineers to just build the damn thing from the plans we stole.
Given how political and militarized the Soviet space program was, maybe you're right. Stole plans and spying will always exist. Simply put, in our timeline, the Soviet leadership (high-ranking political idiots) and military (generals) wanted parity with the USA in rocket technology after losing the moon race. So they (engineers) started a shuttle (Buran-Energia) project highly "inspired despite some key differences" (enter the stole plans) on its American counterpart.but what about the AH the show is suggesting? Some high-ranking political idiot tells the generals to tell the engineers to just build the damn thing from the plans we stole.
I feel that Margo will have some bad outcomes at NASA for her decision to tell Sergei Nikulov the problem. Still, I believe that was an "in character" move on her part. This action guarantees a successful soviet shuttle in the show context. However, I expect a positive outcome from the bond she formed with Sergei Nikulov, maybe in the season finale.Given how the Pentagon Guy emphasized they absolutely couldn't tell the Soviets about the O-ring issue, my guess is that Margo will inevitably be exposed for her leak. That may not know for sure it was her, but she'd be best positioned to make it happen. That, combined with Ellen's character arc, makes me suspect that Ellen will be asked to fire Margo. (That, or Ellen will volunteer to fire her for the sake of kudos from the Reagan administration.)
Very true.Lord knows we bitch about Alabama and Utah driving disadvantageous NASA decisions enough IOTL (indeed, even the OTL solid rocket boosters had some of that behavior in their backstory--Thiokol sent the president of the LDS Church to try to cajole the Mormon NASA Admin into giving them preferential treatment).
Probably Brezhnev son-in-law, but maybe, who knows?Maybe Andropov's son-in-law works in the solid-propellant factory.
OK, I can go with that.
There was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Soviet_nuclear_false_alarm_incident and it involved this man https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_PetrovI do agree with the head-scratching on the dubious choice of Sakhalin. It reminds me of the decision to launch Sea Dragons from Guam but build them in a place that requires the use of the Panama Canal. It does just feel like the creatives needed a couple more Cold War tension points.
I wonder if Able Archer is on the way, or if we’ll even get that far now that the moon has kicked off. Am I wrong or is there an OTL near nuclear launch around this time? One of those radar mistakes where if some colonel hadn’t said “wait a minute that’s a flock of seagulls” we’d all be fighting rad roaches right now?
I still think that is Korolev. Glushko was sentenced to Gulag. However, he was put to work on various aircraft projects with other arrested scientists [https://www.planetary.org/profiles/valentin-glushko]. Besides that, as I said in my anterior post, that flag conversation was probably something that an N1-L3 project leader would say. I don't see Glushko (who was the leader of the soviet space effort in 1983 in our timeline) saying the things about the flag in the way that the "Old Engineer" did, and Mishin (who would probably be the leader in the show timeline if Korolev was dead) didn't go to a gulag.Episode 7 was impressive
I think the Soviet who talk with Poole was Valentyn Glushko the actor had great likeness to him
The birth records (one dated 1966, the other 1974) are definitely South Vietnamese, with the father's occupation being an ARVN interpreter and the distinctive hyphenation between syllables of the same word (i.e. Việt-Nam instead of Việt Nam, a Southern practice phased out completely after reunification). The postage stamps are all OTL post-unification designs, though, and the ink stamps and sender's address clearly reads "Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh" (in constrast to the birth records, which reads "Saigon"); either a glaring oversight or a hint that the North took over in ATL as well. That the ARVN father emigrated to Texas is probably evidence for the latter.
I still think that is Korolev. Glushko was sentenced to Gulag. However, he was put to work on various aircraft projects with other arrested scientists [https://www.planetary.org/profiles/valentin-glushko]. Besides that, as I said in my anterior post, that flag conversation was probably something that an N1-L3 project leader would say. I don't see Glushko (who was the leader of the soviet space effort in 1983 in our timeline) saying the things about the flag in the way that the "Old Engineer" did, and Mishin (who would probably be the leader in the show timeline if Korolev was dead) didn't go to a gulag.
As for the actor likeness, I don't' know if I am breaking any forum rules posting screen capture of the show here, but here is a comparison with Korolev:
View attachment 638830
IRL, KAL007 lead to Reagan to open the USA's GPS system to the rest of the world for navigation aid. I wonder if that will even still happen here.
There were another reason, Extrem IslamistSadat’s assassination, I’m surprised it still happened ITTL (albeit he survived). Wasn’t the motive for his death was because of the successful Camp David Accords?