Igla approach system
The IGLA proximity system ( Russian Игла "needle") was a Soviet telemetry system for automatic docking maneuvers of Soyuz spaceships .
The first prototypes were made in 1965. On October 30, 1967, the first automatic docking maneuver of two unmanned Soyuz spaceships took place with Kosmos 186 and 188 .
But there were also problems. For example, the Igla system at Soyuz 8 on October 14, 1969 did not correctly capture the Soyuz 7 target , so that the planned coupling could not be carried out. The Soyuz 15 mission was canceled on August 26, 1974 when the Igla system failed during the docking maneuver at the Salyut 3 space station . Manual docking was not planned, so Soyuz 15 had to return to Earth.
Salyut 5 , launched on June 22, 1976, was equipped with an improved Igla system. Nevertheless, Soyuz 21 had problems with the automatic docking maneuver on July 6, 1976, but was able to dock manually. At Soyuz 23 on October 16, 1973, both automatic and manual docking attempts at Salyut 5 failed and the spaceship had to return to Earth.
The successor system course came into use from 1987, for the first time with Soyuz TM-2 .
Web links
- Sven Grahn: The IGLA radio system for rendez-vous and docking (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Sven Grahn: Radio observations of Kosmos-186/188 - the first automatic docking. Retrieved October 11, 2010 .
- ↑ Soyuz 8 in the Encyclopedia Astronautica , accessed on October 14, 2010 (English).
- ↑ Soyuz 15 in the Encyclopedia Astronautica, accessed on October 11, 2010 (English).
- ↑ OPS-3 (Salyut-5) space station. russianspaceweb.com, accessed October 11, 2010 .