Secret space fortress "Diamond"

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

What were the cosmonauts doing on the secret space station? What kind of space cannon did our designers invent? How long did the spy satellites last on alert? The developers of Almaz, the most closed military space project in the USSR, spoke about this.

Sight from orbit

Is it easy to spot enemy ships in the oceans? At the height of the Cold War, this task was very difficult. The real solution for the USSR was the space observation system. Already in the mid-60s, the first Soviet "spy robots" were launched into orbit. For example, electronic intelligence satellites (US-A, US-P), created in the design bureau Vladimir Chelomey, could "ransack" the World Ocean twice a day and recognize not only the coordinates of the enemy, but also the composition of the ship group, the direction of movement. These were the first spacecraft in the world to operate at a nuclear power plant.

At about the same time, the Zenit-type photo reconnaissance aircraft developed by OKB-1 were launched. Sergei Korolev … However, the percentage of successful shots they had was small.

"Filling" for a spy

So in the Chelomey Design Bureau a project of a secret manned orbital station "Almaz" appeared. Mass - 19 tons, length - 13 meters, diameter - 4 meters, orbit height - about 250 km. Estimated working time - up to two years … In the bow compartment, sleeping places for two or three crew members were supposed, a dining table, rest chairs, portholes. And the central working compartment was literally "stuffed" with the most advanced "spy" technologies. There was a control panel for the commander and an operator's place for surveillance control. There were also television observation systems, a long-focus high-resolution camera and a system for semi-automatic film processing. Plus to everything - an optical sight, infrared equipment, an all-round periscope …

Soviet "spy robots" were the world's first nuclear powered spacecraft

- The periscope was set up the same as in a submarine, and in space it was even very useful, - recalled at one time the pilot - cosmonaut Pavel Popovich. - We, for example, saw the Skylab periscope (the first and only US orbital station - Ed.) At a distance of 70-80 km.

The third compartment was a docking station for a transport supply ship (TKS), which could deliver five times more payloadthan "Union" or "Progress". Moreover, his reentry vehicle, thanks to its powerful thermal protection, was reusable, was actually used three times, and could have been used up to ten times!

But to transfer the filmed cassettes, the cosmonauts launched a special information capsule from orbit to the Earth. She fired back from the launch chamber and landed in a strictly defined area on the territory of the USSR. The resolution of the images obtained in this way is a little more than a meter.… In terms of quality, they are quite comparable with the frames that are provided by modern Earth remote sensing satellites.

But sometimes information had to be passed on urgently. Then the astronauts developed the film on board. On the TV channel, the image went to Earth.

Did the cannon fire?

Perhaps the most secret system of the station is Shield-1. This is a rapid-firing 23-mm aircraft gun designed by Nudelman, modernized and installed in the bow of the Almaz. What for? In the early 1970s, the United States announced the start of work on " Space shuttle": these ships could return spacecraft of large mass from orbit to Earth. The parameters of the shuttle cargo compartment were in good agreement with the dimensions of the" Almaz ". And there were real fears: what if the Americans in their "shuttle" fly up to our station and kidnap it?

Closing the project was a big mistake. If the program continued to be implemented, we would now have a different position in space.

The Shield-1 system itself is still classified, but the details of this experimental weapon have become known to journalists.

Sky in "Diamonds"

50 years ago, in 1967, a commission of 70 respected scientists, designers and officials of the Ministry of Defense approved the project rocket and space complex "Almaz" … And already in 1971, the Proton launch vehicle launched the world's first Salyut-1 station into orbit. Then in KB V. P. Mishin had to modify this project into a civilian version and remove all "spy" equipment. And in 1973, the real military Salyut-2 was launched (this is how Almaz-1 was called for cover). But on the 13th day of the flight, the compartments were depressurized, and the station collapsed from orbit.

Salyut-3 (Almaz-2) in 1974 was more fortunate: it stayed in orbit for 213 days, thirteen of which cosmonauts worked there: commander Pavel Popovichand flight engineer Yuri Artyukhin.

- They were specially "trained" to determine the goals and purposes of ground objects. For example, to make out from orbit, a farm in front of you and whether a rocket base, - says Vladimir Polyachenko. - The astronauts had to work with the most complicated photographic equipment, process the film, equip the capsule …

For psychological relaxation, music, programs were transmitted to the station through open radio communication channels from the MCC to the station, and telephone conversations were available. Once a woman even phoned the station … regular long distance … How and why this could have happened is still a mystery.

The last manned station of the Almaz project, Salyut-5, was launched in 1976. She was in orbit for 412 days. First crew - Boris Volynov and Vitaly Zholobov worked for 49 days. Second - Victor Gorbatko and Yuri Glazkov - 16 days … According to experts, the closure of the Almaz project was a mistake: if the program had been implemented further, we would now have a different position in space.

The legacy of "Almaz"

By the way, a significant part of the International Space Station is the legacy of Almaz. It was from him that the ISS service module Zvezda got the hull structure. And the Zarya module was created on the basis of a multipurpose platform of a transport supply ship.

In 2018, the renovated Cosmos pavilion will open at VDNKh in Moscow. There will be presented not only declassified materials on the program, but also real automatic station "Almaz-1".

by the way

The world's first anti-space defense system based on maneuvering satellites equipped with homing heads was also developed under the leadership of Vladimir Chelomey. The satellite fighter was designed to intercept and destroy space targets.

The first launch was in 1963. And in 1978, the complex was put into service and was on alert until 1993. “This drone could change the altitude and plane of the orbit. With the help of the radar head, it aimed at the spy satellite, blew up its warheads, and a beam of debris hit the enemy,” says Vladimir Polyachenko. this development stopped the space arms race … All the documentation is there, there are live samples, and the technology can now be restored fairly quickly."