TKS (spaceship)

Schematic representation of a TKS spaceship with WA landing capsule (front left)

Sectional view of the DCS

TKS return capsule (Kosmos 1443)

The TKS (short for Russian Транспортный корабль снабжения / T ransportny K orabl S nabschenija translated transport ship for utility purposes ; GRAY index 11F72) was from 1969 by the Soviet Union as a manned, heavy feeder and supply ship for military Almas - space stations constructed. When fully loaded, it weighed 20 tons, was 17.51 ​​meters long, had a maximum diameter of 4.15 meters and, with the solar cells extended, was 17 meters wide.

construction

TKS consisted of the orbital section FGB (functional no-grusowoj block; GRAU index 11F77) and the detachable return capsule WA (Vosvrashayemy apparatus; GRAU index 11F74). The reusable (designed for multiple missions) return capsule WA could accommodate a crew of three, had a rescue tower (SAS) for emergencies and was similar to the American Apollo command capsule with its conical shape .

Both elements, WA and FGB, had their own control and position control system and could be operated completely independently of one another. The WA capsule could guarantee the life of three cosmonauts for three hours or two orbits. At the start, TKS and the SAS rescue system weighed 21.62 tons. After dropping the rescue system and the payload fairing, the mass after reaching the orbit was still 17.57 tons. 3822 kg of this was fuel ( UDMH and dinitrogen tetroxide ), which was carried in eight tanks (diameter 48 cm, length 3.2 m) on the outside of the FGB. The payload of the TKS was given as 12.6 tons including the WA capsule. In fact, around 5.2 tons of solid cargo could be carried along with the three cosmonauts. In addition to material, supplies and consumables, this should also include seven KSI type capsules for recycling exposed photographic material.

The Proton-K was intended as the launch rocket .

Test flights

Model of the TKS spaceship on the ILA-2000, the SAS rescue system on the right

From 1976 to 1979, the return capsule were initially tested on various flights. The first launch took place on December 15, 1976, when a Proton rocket carried two WA capsules, Kosmos  881 and 882, into orbit. This launch was used to test reentry and landing, with two capsules being launched at the same time to increase data yield and better utilize the Proton's payload capacity. The capsules were arranged on top of one another so that only the upper capsule had a rescue tower. Other similar launches followed on August 4, 1977 (false start), March 30, 1978 (Kosmos 997 and 998, successful), April 20, 1979 (the Proton's engines shut down shortly after ignition, the rocket remained undamaged, and the rescue system became operational however triggered and brought the upper lander away from the rocket) and on May 22, 1979 (Kosmos 1100 and 1101, successful).

commitment

TKS 1 was launched unmanned as Kosmos 929 on July 17, 1977 , but without flying to a space station. After tests and several orbital maneuvers, the return capsule was detached and then brought back to Earth on August 17, 1977.

TKS 2 was launched unmanned as Kosmos 1267 on April 25, 1981 and docked with the Salyut 6 space station on June 19, 1981 . The return capsule returned to Earth on May 24, 1981.

TKS 3 was launched unmanned on March 2, 1983 as Kosmos 1443 with 4 tons of fuel and 2.7 tons of other payload and docked 2 days later with the Salyut 7 space station . On August 14, the spaceship detached itself from the station and the landing capsule brought 350 kg of cargo from Salyut 7 back to Earth on August 23, 1983.

Cosmos 1686

TKS 4 was supposed to be the first manned flight, but difficulties with the Salyut 7 space station or political reasons prevented this. After the end of the TKS program for manned missions, the landing system, seats and on-board controls for the crew were expanded, and the spacecraft was instead equipped with Defense Department photo reconnaissance equipment to be used as a space station module on the Salyut 7 space station . TKS 4 was finally launched unmanned on September 27, 1985 as Kosmos 1686 and docked at the Salyut 7 space station. It remained connected to the space station in the earth's atmosphere until it burned up on February 5, 1991, and was used by the fourth long-term crew for military experiments.

TKS 5 and 6 were finally revised and used for other tasks. The FGB module of the TKS 5 carried the Kwant module to the Mir space station in 1987 and the FGB module of the TKS 6 was used in the technology prototype for the Poljus missile defense system , which was launched on May 15, 1987 with the first Energija missile, used.

Later, the technology of the TKS spaceships served as the basis for the construction of most modules of the Mir space station as well as the Zarya and Multipurpose Laboratory modules of the ISS .

auction

On May 7, 2014, at the Lempertz auction house in Brussels, a private bidder bought a TKS return capsule for one million euros, which was involved as Kosmos 881 in space and in the false start on August 4, 1977.

Cosmonauts

Six engineers from the TsKBM design office had already completed cosmonaut training for the planned manned flights. In the autumn of 1979 four teams of three were put together for manned TKS flights. They each consisted of a commander and a flight engineer from the Air Force, as well as an engineer from the TsKBM:

• Team 1: Beresowoi , Glaskow , Makruschin (start January 1981 for the Almaz-2 OPS-4 to be started in December 1980, stay 3 months)
• Team 2: Koselsky, Artjuchin , Romanow (start April 1981, stay 4 months)
• Team 3: Sarafanov , Preobrazhensky , Jujukov (started August 1981)
• Team 4: Malyshev , Lavejkin (started April 1982)

A short time later the teams were changed:

• Team 1: Glaskow , Stepanow, Makruschin
• Team 2: Sarafanov , Preobrazhensky , Romanov
• Team 3: Artjuchin , Beresowoi , Jujukow
• Team 4: Vasyutin , Roshdestvensky , Grechanik

Artjuchin and Glaskow already had experience on board an Almaz space station ( Salyut 3 and Salyut 5 ). Sarafanov and Roshdestvensky also had space experience, but their spaceships could not be docked with the space station. Preobrazhensky had already been assigned to a space flight as a substitute.

As part of the preparation, Team 2 carried out an eight-day long-term test in an Almaz simulator in the Yuri-Gagarin cosmonaut training center in November 1979 .

After the decision to send a TKS spacecraft unmanned to Salyut 7, the crews were reorganized in 1982:

• Team 1: Vasyutin , Savinych , Volkov
• Team 2: Alexandrov , Salej , Viktorenko
• Team 3: Vladimir Solovyov , Serebrov , Moskalenko

The first crew actually worked on board the Salyut 7 in 1985 as part of the fourth long-term crew, but the mission had to be terminated prematurely due to Vashutin's illness.

In the spring of 1987 the TKS cosmonaut group was disbanded.

Web links

Commons : TKS spaceship  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• TKS in the Encyclopedia Astronautica (English)
• TKS in the Russian Space Web (English)
• Sven Grahn: The TKS ferry for the Almaz Space Station (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Igor Afanasjew, Drugoi Korabl, Part 1, Russian, Novosti Kosmonawtiki NK 9/2002, pp. 60-64
2. ↑ Auction Russian space capsule: "Kosmos" bought at auction. In: Spiegel Online . May 8, 2014, accessed August 8, 2014 . 
3. ^ Gunter Krebs: TKS-VA (11F74). Gunter's Space Page, accessed August 8, 2014 . 
4. ^ Hall, Shayler, Vis: Russia's Cosmonauts . Springer, Berlin 2005, ISBN 978-0-387-21894-6
5. ^ TKS in the Encyclopedia Astronautica , accessed on May 25, 2009 (English).