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From: brody@eos.arc.nasa.gov (Adam R. Brody)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle,sci.space
Subject: Soviet docking (2 of 4)
Keywords: Soviet docking
Message-ID: <7739@eos.arc.nasa.gov>
Date: 26 Dec 90 18:31:04 GMT
Followup-To: sci.space.shuttle
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, California
Lines: 12


"Only 10 weeks after Soyuz 3, . . . the shortest gap between non-related manned space missions to that time," (Clark, 1988, p. 50) the Soviets launched Soyuz 4.  "The launch of Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 in January 1969 marked the first winter launch in the Soviet manned space programme, suggesting that the flights had to be urgently completed" (Clark, p. 51).  Another descendant of the lunar fly-by mission was the first manned docking in January 1969 with Soyuz 5.  After practicing almost 800 dockings in the si










mulator at Star City, Vladimir Shatalov accomplished an objective of the failed Soyuz 1 mission, i.e., the first Soviet manned docking.  In Soyuz 4 he flew a manual approach to within a few kilometers of Soyuz 5.  He then activated the automatic system which reduced the range to 100 meters.  Shatalov then regained control and docked during a live Soviet television broadcast.  
This docking set a precedent in that it did not occur during the first orbit.  The Soviets announced the combined spacecraft "as the world's "First Experimental Space Station" (Clark, p. 51).  Yevgeniy Khrunov and Aleksey Yeliseyev used the opportunity to perform the first transfer from one spacecraft to another.
The Soyuz was then modified for use as a space station ferry.  Soyuz 10 and Soyuz 11 were the only flights with the original Salyut ferry.  The most important change was the introduction of a crew transfer system which precluded the necessity to go EVA to board the station.
The Soviets used Volga trainers to prepare for the docking operations.  The Volga consisted of movable mockups of both Soyuz and Salyut mounted on rails.  They would respond to commands made by the cosmonauts.  A television view of the Salyut was presented to the Soyuz periscope system to give the crew a simulation of what an actual approach would be like (Clark, 1988).

While manual control has been relegated to a back-up position for unmanned supply vehicles, the Soviets have utilized manual control for manned dockings to space stations.  This began with Soyuz 10, in April 1971, which brought the first crew of Vladimir Shatalov, Aleksey Yeliseyev, and Nikolay Rukavishnikov to Salyut 1.  Salyut 1, mankind's first space station, was launched in April 1971 aboard the Soviet Union's most powerful space launcher, the D-1, and re-entered the atmosphere in October.  The Salyut










 assisted in the docking maneuver not only by maintaining attitude control, but "also made four orbit changes to match orbit with the approaching Soyuz" (Newkirk, 1990, p. 99).  At a range of 180 meters, Shatalov took over control from the automatic system and performed a manual docking.  Problems, most likely with the Soyuz, prevented the crew from boarding.
The Soviets and the Americans both advocate manual back-up for automatic docking maneuvers.  However the Soviets only resort to the manual system upon failure of the automatic one, while the Americans tend to use manual control whenever it is available, not just as a back-up control mode.  Such is the case with shuttle (and other advanced aircraft) landings where the mere existence of a manual control capability is cited as a justification for using pilot control instead of the automated system.

In an October 1970 meeting in Moscow, the Americans and the Soviets started formulating plans for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP).  During a June 1971 meeting in Houston, "[Boris ] Petrov expressed the preference of the Soviet Academy of Sciences for a joint docking flight employing the androgynous docking system" (Baker, 1982, p. 408).  This could be accomplished either with a Soyuz docking with a Skylab/Apollo or an Apollo docking with a Salyut/Soyuz.  The latter was established as the baseline miss










ion.
In June 1971, Soyuz 11 was the next (and last) vehicle to dock with Salyut 1.  The automated system reduced the range from 6 km to 100 meters.  Georgi Dobrovolsky then took over control at a range of 100 meters and a velocity of 0.9 m/s.  (This is nine times faster than suggested by the 0.1 % rule.)  By 60 meters, he reduced the range rate to 0.3 m/s.  Dobrovolsky then completed the docking maneuver.  The crew became the first to inhabit the first space station.  After a record 24-day mission, the mission










 ended in disaster as the air escaped through an open valve 11 minutes before the craft re-entered the atmosphere.  Twelve pyrotechnic devices, used for separation, fired simultaneously rather than sequentially, releasing a seal on the spacecraft's pressure equalization valve.  The atmosphere escaped in approximately 30 seconds while the cosmonauts were in the middle of a 60 second procedure to close the valve manually.
Shatalov consequently replaced General Nikolai Kamanin as head of the cosmonaut corp.  A redesign of the station was necessary but since this would take longer than the Salyut's lifetime to complete, the station was deorbited.  More than two years passed before the next manned mission.