Cosmos 1686

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Mission dates
Mission: Cosmos 1686
Crew: unmanned
Target: Salyut 7
Start vehicle: Proton K
Start on: September 27, 1985 / Baikonur
Coupling on: 2nd October 1985
Decoupling on: -
Re-entry on: February 7, 1991
Flight duration: 1,959 days (5 years)
burns up over: Pacific
Earth orbits: around 31,600
previous DCS mission :

Cosmos 1443

following DCS mission :

TKS-5 / Kwant

Cosmos 1686

The fourth Soviet spaceship in the TKS series was launched on September 27, 1985 under the name Kosmos 1686 (or TKS-M ) . Originally, the TKS ships, which are quite large at around 20 tons, were planned as space shuttles for transporting people in the military Almas program (for comparison: the Soyuz spaceships for transporting two to three people weigh less than eight tons). Manned flights were never realized with TKS. The TKS-4 ferry was converted and launched unmanned as Kosmos in 1686 to supply the Salyut 7 space station with supplies and fuel. Since the two previous missions Kosmos 1267 and Kosmos 1443 already indicated that the TKS ships could be used as expansion modules to enlarge space stations and that people could be transported more cheaply with Soyuz spaceships, the TKS-4 thought of manned flights completely discarded. In order to save weight, seats and on-board instruments for the crew have been removed. Furthermore, the braking and landing system at the front end of the return capsule was expanded for the first time. This left enough space to equip the ferry with scientific and military equipment. Kosmos 1686 was the first full-fledged module to expand a Salyut station and thus to build a modular space station.

Kosmos 1686 in association with Salyut 7

After a six-day flight, Kosmos 1686 automatically docked on October 2, 1985 at the front, narrow end of Salyut 7. A crew of Soyuz T-14 had started for the space station ten days earlier and it was the first time that a remote-controlled module docked with a manned space station. For safety reasons, the crew was in the Soyuz spacecraft at the time of the docking maneuver in order to be able to return to Earth in an emergency. The main task of the crew was to put the new module into operation and to carry out military experiments. However, this only partially succeeded, as the commander Vladimir Wasjutin became seriously ill and had to return to Earth prematurely. The Salyut 7 / Kosmos 1686 complex was then used by the crew of Soyuz T-15 from May 6, 1986, which carried out the previously unique flight between two space stations (from the Mir space station to Salyut 7 and back again). During the 50-day stay, the main task was to continue the military experiments and then dismantle valuable material and equipment and transfer it to the new Mir space station. This mission was the last time Salyut 7 was manned.

While it was docked, Kosmos took over, among other things, supplying the complex with energy from its own solar cells in 1686 and carried out maneuvers for height and attitude control using its own engines. In August 1986, Kosmos 1686 brought the complex into higher orbit in order to be ready for later missions, including with the space shuttle Buran . However, strong solar winds caused the atmosphere to expand and the complex sank faster than assumed. In December 1989, the orientation system of Kosmos 1686 failed, which made plans for further manned flights even worse. A repair was not carried out in favor of the new Mir space station for cost reasons. Salyut 7 flew unmanned for another year and crashed on February 7, 1991 together with Kosmos in 1686 over the Pacific.

On the basis of the TKS ferry, modules were developed for permanent stay at the Mir space stations (e.g. Kwant 2 ) and the international space station (e.g. Sarja ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ N2YO: COSMOS 1686. Retrieved August 17, 2017 .

Web links

literature

  • David SF Portree: Cosmos 1686 . In: Mir Hardware Heritage . RP-1357. NASA History Office, 1995, ISBN 978-1-4935-9422-1 , Chapter 3.4, pp. 160–161 (English, nasa.gov [PDF; 2.4 MB ]).