On Brazen Wings - From the Pseudo Space Race to Independence and Beyond.

[Gth]

A Most Special Student
August, 1985​

Hi!

She could be seen floating along in the upper deck by the windows, Earth and Discovery's cargo bay were visible behind her. As she spoke, she would glance occasionally below herself, and as her soft, New England accent filled the space, the excitement in her eyes was unmistakeable.

I'm Christa McAulliffe, and we...are onboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, and today, we're going to be sending a space probe, called Galileo off to Jupiter.

But, I won't be alone up here today, as my crewmates and I-

You can hear as several voices shout up from below, greeting the intended audience.

-ha, my crewmates and I have brought up a very special friend with us today, someone I think you will all know very well...so why don't you come on up here friend!

You hear a slight shuffling, and the camera shakes; clearly, someone is coming up from below.

Now, he had a rough ride this morning so don't mind him he's a bit grump-oh haha Big Bird! You're so tiny! What happened?

The face of Big Bird finally comes into view, his big orange feet revealing his face as he tumbles in zero-g. He's noticeably squatter and pudgier, like he got compressed into a flight suit.

Oh jeeze...well, that's spaceflight for you.

How so Big Bird?

Yeah, those nice scientist people told me this would happen; us birds get all squeezed up in space, but they said once were back, I'll spring up just like a flower! Woah!

He was still tumbling a bit, obviously struggling to stay still.

Hey! Wait a minute, how come you aren't all squeezed up like me?

Well, for us, humans its actually the other way around. When we're in space like this for a long time, our bones and muscles begin to relax, and we actually get a little bit taller.

Oh wow! Is that forever?

No, it goes back to normal, but we have to be careful. You see, that's why we keep exercising when we're in space; we have to keep our muscles strong or they'll get so weak we won't be able to stand up when we go back to Earth.

Oh, I love exercise!

Me too! Now Big Bird; Do you know why we came up here today?

Um...no? Yeah no they just kinda took me out of my nest in the middle of the night. I thought that was weird.

Laughs could be heard from down below, and Christa couldn't help but giggle.

Hehe well, come over and look out this window with me!

Big Bird, with Christa's help, moved towards the window and stabilized himself on the controls. The person recording followed behind them, switching between the two as they spoke.

Oh...oh wow.

Carol Spinney, who could see through the special mask that had been made for him, was obviously taken aback at the view; he hadn't been able to look out a window since they reached orbit. Incidentally, Christa had not either, aside from a few glances, as she would tell it in later years.

Isn't it beautiful? Look-that's New York right there, and ooh here comes Greenland!

Wow...

Spinney had to be nudged to get back into character

This is so great. It's so...small yet it's so big! I wonder if I can see my nest from up here?

Well, if you could you'd have better eyesight than all of us Big Bird.

Oh, it is kind of faraway isn't it.

That it is, but do you see what's in the cargo bay there?

She gestured at Galileo; the silvery skin of the Centaur was reflecting the sun a bit, and the gaseous hydrogen could be seen venting off near the rear of the orbiter.

Oooh, what's that?

That is Galileo Big Bird. It's a space probe that we're sending to Jupiter.

To Jupiter? But isn't that...that like 50 gergillion miles away?

It's actually 365 million miles away right now.

Golly thats a big number. Whats it gonna do over there?

Yes, it is. Well, Galileo here is going to be learning about the atmosphere in Jupiter; how its air and weather and storms all work and interact with each other. We can't see it now, but there's also another little probe in there that's going to be launched into Jupiter itself, so we can see what the atmosphere is made out of. We already have a good idea, but because we're going there we're going to be able to know for sure. And the most exciting part, we're going to be taking lots and lots of pictures!

Aww I wish I could go there with it!

Well Big Bird, in a way, you can. We can't strap into to Galileo like we did Discovery, but we can launch her, and that's the next best thing. So, what do you say, do you wanna help me?

Are you sure? I don't want to break anything...

Oh don't worry Big Bird, I'll get it set up for you...all you have to do is press the button.

Okay! I can do that.

For a few minutes Big Bird just looks out the window as Christa prepares the Centaur for release. As the footage goes on, Galileo and the Centaur can be seen moving up into its release position, before it as finally ready, and Houston finally gave the go-ahead for release.

Alright Big Bird, are you ready?

Huh? Oh right! Okay, what button is it?

Christa guided his wing to the button that needed to be pressed.

Okay Big Bird, on 3. 1....2.....3!

A small jolt was heard as the Centaur was released, and Galileo began floating up and away from the Orbiter.

Wow there it goes! Gee wiz it seems to be going kinda slow...won't it take a long time to get to Jupiter?

It would, but you see that big silvery thing in the back? That's called the Centaur; it's a rocket that, once it's a safe distance away from us, is going to fire to send Galileo on its way direct to Jupiter. If all goes well, we think it'll get there sometime next year.

Oh I get it! Its kinda like the car that Galil...gali....Galileo! is gonna ride in?

That's right Big Bird! Now, we have one last thing to do.

We do?

Oh yes! We have to tell Houston that everything went well of course. Do you want to do the honors?

The what?

Do you want to tell Houston? You get to use the radio!

She held up the headset she was wearing.

Well sure! What do I say?

Just say this exactly as I say it okay? Houston, Discovery. And then, when they respond back, just say Galileo is away.

Ok got it!

She placed the headset on his head.

Okay....go!

Houston, Discovery.

Houston responded back.

Uh Houston, this is Big Bird. Galileo is away!

Christa congratulated him. The transmission would be the first time the general public was made aware that Big Bird was on the flight. The footage at this point cuts off, before coming back; a day had passed in orbit.

Good morning Big Bird! We have a lot to do today! You see our friend Ellis here with the camera?

You can see him? I thought I was imagining him like they tell me back on Sesame Street.

Yes, I can see him silly. Well, he's filming us today because we're going to be doing some fun experiments to teach students back on Earth. Do you like magnets?

Oh you bet I do! I've been told I had a magnet in my head once though I didn't get the joke...

The footage continues. Christa and Big Bird work together on the various experiments. Occasionally members of the crew would step in to help, though notably absent would-be Commander Scobee, who opted not to participate until the last day when Christa worked alone, giving a high school level lecture on Jupiter; she would take the camera with her and basically bug Scobee into talking with her about the mission. Carol Spinney, as himself, would also come on occasionally when taking breaks from the rather sweltering costume. By the last day he had fully adapted to space, and was in much brighter spirits than his first few hours on orbit, which were a struggle for him even without the Big Bird costume.

STS 30 would land back at Kennedy Space Center on August 21st, 1985, to be met by President Ronald Reagan, who awarded McAuliffe and Big Bird (and Spinney, conspicuously absent) the Presidential Medal of Freedom for their successful mission. The first of the Teacher in Space Missions, STS 30 was such a resounding success that the second mission, with Barbara Morgan, was moved up to December, to coincide with the Halley Armada mission.

 

[Gth]

Formatting a long chain of dialogue is a real pain in the ass without indents lol.

But anyways, yeah, that was the first post I wrote for the timeline, and its basically the peak of the Early Space Shuttle ITTL. And let me tell you, it was devastating to do the research for this one. Watching Christa train was so bittersweet. She was so excited, and its part of why I felt compelled to not only save the crew and give her her lesson, but to not condemn them, and I like to think I managed to capture some part of her here.

And as for Big Bird, well, butterflies you know. I had the idea that they could write off not using the real Big Bird costume (instead using a mask, boots, and gloves) as then they could use it to segue into talking about physiology and what happens to your body in space.

But, I also needed to fill the seat on the flight anyhow, as I had had McNair butterflied out for different reasons before I came to this mission.

 

[Gth]

Odyssey
Winter, 1985​

As 1985 came to a close, it was already apparent that the year had arguably been the most active and incredibly exciting for spaceflight since those days of Gagarin and Shepherd's race in 1961, or the foregone conclusion that Armstrong's crew would make it down at Tranquility in the Summer of '69. Marked by an unprecedented amount of activity around the world, 1985 saw the destruction of a space station, an international armada of probes and human beings aimed at a comet, great planetary probes to the Outer Planets, and yet more to the Sun and beyond, and of course, the most human beings launched into space in a single year, a record of nearly 250 persons the year still holds to this day.

The United States, of course, played an undeniable part in these accomplishments, with their Space Shuttle program launching the most material and persons of anyone else. In their pursuit of routine spaceflight, missions like STS 32 in October would see not just the Ulysses probe deployed on its way to the Sun, but, as a means of maximizing efficiency, would also be host to a sequel of sorts for the program, ACCESS 2. The experiment, like its predecessor, involved the testing and practice of orbital construction techniques for the American's planned Space Station Freedom, but for STS 32, would also include the intent to treat the experiment as a scaled down full up test, constructing in Atlantis' cargo bay a fully functional truss, with solar panels, radiators, and a communications array, which would be used to replace the Orbiters onboard systems for the duration of the mission. As a result of the dual mission, this also gave engineers on the ground the opportunity to experiment with compressibility of the components, managing to, to be crude, cram in the necessary hardware around the Ulysses probe without interfering in either its or its Centaur's deployment.

STS 33 the next month, would see the last of the original SpaceLab flights, as future events aside, both ESA and NASA were intent on retooling the SpaceLab missions towards SpaceHab missions instead. With SpaceHab finally producing flyable modules, some of which had already flown unmanned, independently through the ESA's Ariane program, and with Freedom on the horizon, the two agencies saw it prudent to make the move. And it was just as well, as 33 would be host to the so-called SpaceLab "J" mission, J indicating the prevalence of the Japanese space program on the mission. NASDA, in tandem with ESA, had greatly modified the original SpaceLab hardware toward their own ends as precursors for the Japanese contributions to Freedom, ranging from a biomedical lab, to a gravity centrifuge, and, at least as part of the SpaceLab flight, a rudimentary orbital manufacturing plant developed in cohort with the South Korean KASDI.

And as the year wrapped up, December would be host to STS 34, the last flight of John Young as Commander, featuring Barbara Morgan in the second Teacher in Space Mission, this time not focused on a Jupiter probe and assorted experiments, but almost purely on Halley's Comet. The mission, considered the American's manned contribution to the international Halley Armada, which notably included the ESA's Giotto, KASDI's Hyeseong 2, and easily the most famous, the USSR's Vega and Gallei probes, which saw Vega arriving first to the comet, providing the world its first look at the comets nucleus, before proceeding on to complete its mission Venus, and Gallei, which was launched on a massive Energia rocket to enable the probe to "land" on the comets surface (in reality the probe was designed to tether itself to the comet using spikes, which then reeled in the probe to the surface to take samples).

Together, this armada would represent one of the greatest odysseys the world had ever undertaken, not of course, under some great banner of unity, but merely united in a shared scientific curiosity and thirst for knowledge.

The Vega and Gallei probes themselves would prove to be a much-needed respite for the USSR, who had had a considerably tough year for their space efforts. Between the scuttling of Salyut and ever-increasing funding problems inducing cutbacks, the probes managed to score yet another set of firsts for the Soviets, harkening at least in some respects back to their glory days of the early 60s or their almost rag-tag collaboration with China during the 70's. In the wake of Mikhail Gorbachev's Perestroika policies, even among the Politburo the relative expense of the MKS and Energia programs, which could readily be pointed as being a fraction of the cost of their American counterparts, was becoming more and more apparent, and amongst the ailing citizens of the Union, the programs which had comparatively little to speak for beyond just being great machines fell under considerable attack. With the war in Afghanistan having long proved itself to be the USSR's Vietnam, and the quality-of-life disintegrating in the fringes of the Union, the state of the country was dire. Unrest was beginning to ferment in the satellite states, and internationally, the USSR was beginning to sever ties with many of its historic partners such as Cuba and North Korea, who were largely left without the Soviet support that they had enjoyed. With these considerations, it was hard for anyone to justify keeping such an expansive space program going.

But, as it were, the two programs were integral to the Union's national defense, and so while the USSR struggled to keep them flying for anything other than their military, they still kept pushing on. Indeed, in this period of monetary hostility, the third MKS orbiter Buran was finally completed, which ended the year (literally, given it was a midnight launch on December 31st) with a rather spectacular bang. Buran 1 was an unmanned mission that, as a result of longstanding pressure to test out the MKS Orbiters SAS system, saw Buran launch on an Energia, just to eject itself using its massive solid abort rocket.

The Energia, already lighting up the night as bright as day light, was almost dwarfed by the Buran's abort motor, which rocketed the Buran away from the booster at nearly 14gs at its peak. The Buran, with little internal fuel, and no payload, would take a much rougher ride than it would during a conventional mission, but Soviet engineering did its job. Buran would make an automated landing some 5 minutes later, while the Energia's Vulkan core would propel itself into a high suborbital path that would crash it back into the Pacific, and upon inspection, Buran would be as pristine as when they launched it. So pristine in fact, it was joked that they could have launched it again immediately if they wanted.

Naturally, for the suspicious and the superstitious, the timing of this mission could not have been any more perfect than it was, unless it perhaps happened to be delayed until January 28th, 1986.

 

[Gth]

1986

Challenger...GO at Throttle Up.

12 months later

Discovery, Houston. Do you read?
Discovery, Houston. Come in. ​

1986. The end of innocence, and the most disastrous year for the American space program since 1967, when that terrible fire took the lives of the Apollo 1 astronauts. On January 28th, Challenger would launch out of Kennedy Space Center, and at approximately 67 seconds into the launch, the right-hand Sold Rocket motor would melt through an o-ring before damaging the booster itself, swiftly causing the total destruction of the vehicle within seconds. The result of long ignored issues with the SRM's, that apparently had gone undisclosed from contractor Morton-Thiokol who was assisting NASA with the refurbishment of the boosters, the flight was a tragedy that saw four astronauts' lives claimed when the crew compartment, which survived Discovery's initial breakup, slammed into the Pacific Ocean some miles off-shore from San Francisco.

But regretfully, this would not be the end of it. Within a year, NASA was approved by a Congressional committee, at President Reagan's behest, to return to flight after the booster problems had been rectified. Discovery, on STS 36 in December, would successfully launch on a mission to deploy a military satellite. However, unnoticed until recordings of the launch were watched back hours later, was the ejection of a large chunk of icy foam from the External Tank, which struck Discovery's wing. NASA expected that the damage was substantial, but between the conventional knowledge that the Reinforced Carbon-Carbon panels that composed the area that was struck being about as strong as they could hope for, and the simple reality that no rescue was really possible, NASA had little recourse but to allow the mission to continue. Mission Control, well aware of this, would eventually permit Discovery's crew to spend their last day in orbit as they wish. While details are uncertain, the crew had suspected what had happened.

And, as is well known, when Discovery would come in for reentry, she would eventually disintegrate somewhere over Mexico and Southern Texas, raining debris all along the Gulf Coast. The icy foam had indeed punctured through the RCC paneling that composed Discovery's leading edge, and as a result of the super-heated plasma washing across the Orbiter's belly, eventually the internal aluminum structure would give out, and as the wing sheared off, the remainder of the orbiter was left to bear the brunt of the reentry plasma, unprotected. Another four astronauts were lost.

In the wake of these events, it was widely suspected that the entire Shuttle program would be cancelled outright, with the outrage and collective trauma NASA had imposed on the nation already bearing down on them as debris was still coming down from Discovery. But, as it happened, not all was lost.

Ronald Reagan, much like he had when Challenger had exploded less than a year earlier, would eventually make a televised statement a day after the loss of Challenger. Looking visibly disheveled, he would go on to give one of his most famous speeches.

My fellow Americans.

The events of the past day have taken a heavy toll; if you are not aware, the Space Shuttle Discovery has been lost, and all hands with her. This comes less than a year after the Shuttle Challenger was lost, her crew with her as well. I know that many of you out there are hurting; are angry, and by god so am I. But in times like these, we must temper our anger; we must be strong. I like all Americans know that this tragedy cannot go unaddressed, and I swear to you tonight that we will bring those responsible for this to justice.

And to that end, I will start: This is my fault. It was not merely NASA or some contractor, it was me. It was my administration. Its this god damn Cold War...I apologize for my language...

This is my fault, America. I pushed the program harder than it should ever have been pushed, and I must take responsibility first, before anyone else. For if I do not, then we are all lost. The Space Shuttle was a program that has accomplished much, but we all knew the risk, and we ignored it. Sometimes I wasn't aware, and the shock I still feel now for those astronauts is evidence of that, but there can be no excuse; the buck stops with me.

So to that end, I make this vow, right now. We will make the Shuttles safe. We will commit everything we have to this endeavor, for while we are all hurting, and, some of us I hear say, cannot bear the thought of ever putting Americans in such danger again, we cannot give in. To touch the face of God cannot come without its consequences, and perhaps in his own way, this is how we must learn to not ignore them.

We must keep going into that frontier, on as brazen a wing as we can manage. We can do this; we must do this. Never again can an American astronaut be allowed to face such unapologetic danger, but we must fly.

I am sorry America. Please, join me now, in a moment of silence.


Good night, and God Bless America.

 

[RanulfC]

Fun little fact was that NASA did not initially take the foam impact seriously for a very good reason: When it was developed Reinforced Carbon-Carbon panels were planned to be used as laminate for tank armor being assumed to be very tough. When the test was run NASA engineers were probably the most surprised when the frozen foam chunk punched right through the panel.

It did not come out till later that the Army had indeed tested the material for tank armor and found it to be tough but exceptionally fragile to impact by high-velocity penetration rounds. So the program was dropped... And classified

Randy

 

[Gth]

Fun little fact was that NASA did not initially take the foam impact seriously for a very good reason: When it was developed Reinforced Carbon-Carbon panels were planned to be used as laminate for tank armor being assumed to be very tough. When the test was run NASA engineers were probably the most surprised when the frozen foam chunk punched right through the panel.

It did not come out till later that the Army had indeed tested the material for tank armor and found it to be tough but exceptionally fragile to impact by high-velocity penetration rounds. So the program was dropped... And classified

Randy

Hah, you made me realize I forgot half a sentence in there.

I swear its crazy how you can read something a dozen times and miss something like that every time.

 

[RanulfC]

Hah, you made me realize I forgot half a sentence in there.

I swear its crazy how you can read something a dozen times and miss something like that every time.

I wrote and re-read the presentation, my wife read the presentation, my supervisor read the presentation... As soon as the first slide went up we all noted we'd missed several misspellings on the first damn slide... it happens

Randy

 

[Gth]

I wrote and re-read the presentation, my wife read the presentation, my supervisor read the presentation... As soon as the first slide went up we all noted we'd missed several misspellings on the first damn slide... it happens

Randy

Indeed. Gotta love our screwy brains.

Also, @Kloka , I'm working on compiling my notes together insofar as the full mission lists for both programs go. I might have it done today, but probably tomorrow or Friday at the latest.

I'll also warn that insofar as the Soviets go, the mission lists will reveal quite a bit that I skipped in favor of focusing on the Americans. Part 2 will see some backtracking, as I dont intend on yada-yadaing some of those missions.

Part 2 in general will start once Ive revised my outline for it (which I haven't even looked at since November so, yeah, it probably needs work). When that'll be, 🤷‍♂️, though knowing how much word vomit I can spit out once I get going it probably won't take terribly long.

And just a tease, but Part 2 will make my non-American/Soviet space fans very happy I think.

 

[Kloka]

And the timeline just went from 60 to 5 real fast. Wasn’t expecting both a Challenger and Columbia equivalent.

 

[Gth]

And the timeline just went from 60 to 5 real fast. Wasn’t expecting both a Challenger and Columbia equivalent.

Pulled a little sneaky on ya. But i mean yeah, they were pushing the system way harder than it ever got IOTL. That they still got to 1986 before suffering a failure is nothing short of a miracle; the foam strike was a time bomb from STS 1, and by the time the boosters had been used the same amount as they were IOTL (which was in March 85), the o-ring blowout was just a matter of when as well.

And, I did say that this would be a unique take way back when, after all. And the dual flight failures arent even the tip of that iceberg...

 

[Gth]

 

[RanulfC]

I do need to point out that you need the similar freezing conditions at Vandenburg that Challenge OTL had in Florida to get the same failure. The O-Ring "problem" was well known by both NASA and Thiokol but in most cases the o-rings melted and resealed whereas the frozen ones cracked and shattered and while they still melted they left gaps which the booster flames ate through. There was a fix proposed but no money from Congress to actually address the problem until after Challenger.

The simplistic sounding "don't launch when it's cold" is actually right even though a 'proper' o-ring seal design would have been better again the funding just wasn't there until after the fact.
Similarly as I noted above the idea that the carbon-carbon leading edge was vulnerable to a frozen foam strike was not thought to be possible given how 'strong' carbon-carbon was supposed to be. Unfortunately 'strong' didn't cover the vulnerability to impact damage and it had never been tested because it hadn't been thought of. Everyone KNEW how fragile the tiles were but carbon-carbon plates were supposed to be vastly tougher than the tiles...

You can tell this by the shock on everyone's faces when the test impact punches right through the carbon-carbon plate.

Randy

 

[Gth]

I do need to point out that you need the similar freezing conditions at Vandenburg that Challenge OTL had in Florida to get the same failure

Indeed. Historical data says the temps at Vandenberg that night/day dropped into the low 40s, and with wind chill it dropped lower.

From what Ive read Morton was saying that anything below 40 at launch then NASA shouldn't launch, so I don't think its much of a stretch to say Vandenbergs weather would have done the job, given I think any Vandenberg flights probably would happen in the middle of the night to boot.

 

[TimothyC]

Indeed. Historical data says the temps at Vandenberg that night/day dropped into the low 40s, and with wind chill it dropped lower.

From what Ive read Morton was saying that anything below 40 at launch then NASA shouldn't launch, so I don't think its much of a stretch to say Vandenbergs weather would have done the job, given I think any Vandenberg flights probably would happen in the middle of the night to boot.

You actually can't get the same burn-through on the FWC SRB at all.

The FWC boosters actually withstood the pressure tests (water, under pressure) in ways that the 'production' design wasn't able to. The part of the joint that captures the section with the seals keeps the sections from separating, and thus there isn't hot-gas intrusion between the o-rings.

 

[Gth]

You actually can't get the same burn-through on the FWC SRB at all.

The FWC boosters actually withstood the pressure tests (water, under pressure) in ways that the 'production' design wasn't able to. The part of the joint that captures the section with the seals keeps the sections from separating, and thus there isn't hot-gas intrusion between the o-rings.

Considering this is the first time Ive ever heard about these, I'm going to say these never got used ITTL. With the heavily pushed flight rate Id wager these, if they come about, are left on the drafting table simply because they don't want to juggle more hardware, even if its just specifically for Vandenberg flights.

 

[TimothyC]

Considering this is the first time Ive ever heard about these, I'm going to say these never got used ITTL. With the heavily pushed flight rate Id wager these, if they come about, are left on the drafting table simply because they don't want to juggle more hardware, even if its just specifically for Vandenberg flights.

The FWCs (Fillament Wound Case) SRBs were needed to reach the payload targets for polar flights (the shuttle, even with 106% SSMEs, could not reach the 32klbm target). They add several thousand pounds of payload, and were, by 1986, included in the theoretical payload of 72.5klbm* out of the Cape (to a 28.5° 160 nautical mile orbit).

*The shuttle was only rated for a 65klbm payload, so the difference can be used for higher inclinations, higher orbits, or more margin.

Edit: One other thing to note is that the last batch of SRB case forgings that were ordered prior to the OTL events of Challenger, had been ordered with the material that would become the capture feature left on the original piece of metal. NASA and Thiokol knew the solution to the burn-through problem, and were already moving forward with the solution when STS-51-L ended so tragically.

 

[Gth]

As promised, here's the mission list for Part 1.

The FWCs (Fillament Wound Case) SRBs were needed to reach the payload targets for polar flights (the shuttle, even with 106% SSMEs, could not reach the 32klbm target). They add several thousand pounds of payload, and were, by 1986, included in the theoretical payload of 72.5klbm* out of the Cape (to a 28.5° 160 nautical mile orbit).

*The shuttle was only rated for a 65klbm payload, so the difference can be used for higher inclinations, higher orbits, or more margin.

Edit: One other thing to note is that the last batch of SRB case forgings that were ordered prior to the OTL events of Challenger, had been ordered with the material that would become the capture feature left on the original piece of metal. NASA and Thiokol knew the solution to the burn-through problem, and were already moving forward with the solution when STS-51-L ended so tragically.

Interesting. I'll have to think on it then, might be some retconning in order; probably just swapping the two failures around.

 

[Gth]

1987
Glushko Vindicated​

As Valentin Glushko sat in his office, the air heavy with the fumes of the cheap vodka he had taken from his assistant's desk, he was still deep in a contemplation that had settled in over the New Year. The events of the last two years had weighed heavy on him, and even as he received a mere sliver of respite, it came with the price of twelve American lives.

His thoughts wandered back in time to the old days of the Space Race. They had been so certain of what the Americans could do and would do, and even he, as much a realist as you'd expect, struggled at times to not buy into it. With the weight of an ever paranoid government and the fog of war obscuring so much rationality, it was, after all, easy to assume an already decadent country would have an equally decadent space program. But even as news of what the American Space Shuttle was, and what it could actually do, began to trickle in very few could let go of it. The Shuttle, to the Soviets, was always a looming specter, and so their own program, MKS, went forward, for above all else, they had to be competitive.

Glushko, however, enjoyed the benefits of seeing on both sides of the curtain. Ever since he and his team had discovered the weaknesses behind the thermal protection of the American Shuttle, it became a long fought and hard-won battle to give MKS a superior, durable system. One that, aside from a debris strike all the way back on Laika 1, had never failed. Reports from America spoke of those tiles they used and how mission after mission, hundreds of thousands of them had to be replaced. The last time the Soviets had to replace a tile on a flying MKS was when Sova struck a bird, flying back to Baikonur. But even then, they built the MKS' strong. Laika 1 suffered nearly the exact same problem that destroyed Discovery, and still, it made it back to Earth. Damaged, and in great need of refurbishment, but intact and safe for the astronauts.

And when Buran made her maiden flight, finally was their abort system, nearly 20 tons of dead weight in every mission prior, tested in a full up flight, and it worked perfectly. No malfunctioning Vulkan or Zenit could have taken her down, and this too was something Glushko had wished to do even earlier in the program, but after the negative press from the Domodevo demonstration, he was left wanting, his only reprieve coming when the military finally agreed with his caution, when their orbiter was to make its first flight.

This was not all that Glushko's caution had afforded the program. The insistance on unmanned flights where possible and co-orbiting with Salyut where not, unless absolutely necessary, while stressful to mission planners and the cosmonaut corps alike proved to be absolute boons to the program, and as sad as it made him to think it, the Americans in 1986 proved him right. His caution would have prevented those disasters.

But, as he continued to ruminate, the glaring white glow of the television illuminating the darkened room, the door ajar revealing the hallway past the door, the telephone hanging there at the stairs began to ring. He watched as his assistant, Vasily, answered and was heard to make a gruff greeting. Almost immediately, he stood up straight and apologized.

"Oh hell..." Glushko muttered to himself as Vasily hung the phone and hurried up the hall to his door. "Who is it then?"

"Sir...its the Premier..."

"Gorbachev?"

Glushko took this in for a moment as Vasily hurriedly shook his head yes.

"Shit."

Glushko rose from his desk and headed up the hall. Vasily stood by in the office, eyeing the bottle of vodka, which had begun to perspire in the heat of the furnace below.

As Glushko grabbed the telephone, he cleared his throat and performed his best attempt at being sober as the voice of Mikhail Gorbachev came over the phone.

Their conversation that evening would be a turning point for the ailing Soviet space program. Ever since the scuttling of Salyut, the program had been at a near standstill, with leadership not approving flights beyond the military missions and the odd science flight to keep up appearances.

Salyut itself, which suffered from a terrible electrical fire stemming from the attempted installation of new solar panels, was already nearing the end of its serviceable life in 1985, and by 1987, they assumed they'd be preparing to destroy the station, if they hadn't already. But even so, having to cut the life of the station short under such circumstances killed a lot of the momentum for the overall program, with nowhere to go and comparatively little to do. A few flights of their payload bay science lab kept the sciences going, but those manifests and experiments were a far cry from even the most rudimentary months on Salyut.

But, as Gorbachev and Glushko spoke, Glushko would find he was not alone in his assessment that he was right all along, and Gorbachev would, reportedly, apologize to him on behalf of the government. Glushko, of course, didn't attempt to question the sincerity of this, but he did ask if this was why the Premier had called him so late in the evening.

Gorbachev then explained to Glushko that, in May, he would be disbanding Soviet military efforts in space as part of an agreement he had made with President Reagan. He then explained that he knew that this effectively meant the end of Soviet spaceflight as they knew it but that he did not want Glushko to worry about that. Instead, he suggested that the discontinuation of the military aspects of the SSSR would be a part of a shift towards peaceful development in space, with cooperation with the Americans at the forefront.

"Glushko, we know they're going to need us. Their Shuttles are all but dead, and who knows when they'll build new ones, or if they even will. And we can use that to our advantage, and we can bring back the old glory days of Vostok and Voskhod."

"The Soviet government is going to be ready to stand behind you now, and we will revitalize our peaceful space efforts. So the question I have for you, and it is a must that you answer this here and now. We have the most powerful rockets in the world: do we seek the Moon, or perhaps we can just go straight for Mars? Where do we go Glushko?"

Glushko was simply stunned, but he did not yet answer.

===
The current state of the 1986 disasters remains the same for now, as I still have to think more on it. Most likely I will take the simple route and swap the disasters around, as a Vandenberg flight was just as susceptible to a foam strike as a Cape one.

That being said, while a short-ish start, we should expect to see much more lengthy posts on average going forward, as there is a lot to talk about.

 

[RanulfC]

On the foam strike:
A rather well-known but highly likely to be "untrue" story...

Someone, (the version I heard was the British but it varies ) was conducting bird-strike research and during the first test run the air-cannon propelled chicken not only penetrated the cockpit windshield, it also punched through the pilot seat, the aft cockpit bulkhead and about two thirds of the fuselage...

In a panic the researchers called up another well known aero-research organization from whom they had gotten the basic layout of the test rig, (in this version the Americans) and explained their consternation over the apparent vastly more dangerous issues of bird strikes.

Said organization calmly suggested some modifications and to repeat the test.
"Step one: Unfreeze the Chicken"...

Randy

 

[Gth]

On the foam strike:
A rather well-known but highly likely to be "untrue" story...

Someone, (the version I heard was the British but it varies ) was conducting bird-strike research and during the first test run the air-cannon propelled chicken not only penetrated the cockpit windshield, it also punched through the pilot seat, the aft cockpit bulkhead and about two thirds of the fuselage...

In a panic the researchers called up another well known aero-research organization from whom they had gotten the basic layout of the test rig, (in this version the Americans) and explained their consternation over the apparent vastly more dangerous issues of bird strikes.

Said organization calmly suggested some modifications and to repeat the test.
"Step one: Unfreeze the Chicken"...

Randy

Indeed that story seems to be a be one of those you hear about but you don't know why.

I hadn't heard the part about the frozen chicken almost punching through the entire plane though; the version I always knew just said it destroyed the cockpit