A few days ago, a short message flashed in the news feed of the domestic media about the planned launch of a privately-built spacecraft in the United States into low-earth orbit.
It is not surprising that against the background of the events in Ukraine that excite every Russian person, such news could hardly attract attention. Meanwhile, if you brainwash, its importance can hardly be overestimated.
A spaceship "following a dream"
As I wrote above, our Russian media released this news, as it were, between other things, in passing. I turned to English-language sources for details. And this is what I found on Space.com (I tried to translate as accurately as the difference in the turnover of English and Russian allows):
- The commercial space company will conduct the first test orbital launch of its Dream Chaser spacecraft in 2016, its debut will be unmanned, in order to confirm that the spacecraft is capable of flying into space with astronauts on board.
On Thursday (January 23), the company announced that the launch of Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser (translated as “dream chaser” or “dream chaser”) is scheduled for November 1, 2016. From Cape Canaveral, Florida, using the Atlas 5 launch vehicle.
While the spacecraft - which looks like a mini-version of NASA's bygone space shuttles - is, of course, designed to carry people and cargo into orbit, its maiden flight will be uncrewed, Sierra Nevada officials say. They added that the test flight should pave the way for manned launches to lower Earth orbit in 2017.
“We expect to have an entire fleet of such transports, which are in many ways similar to shuttles, which had different purposes,” said vice president and project manager for space systems of the company, Mark Cirangelo, at a conference on January 23. - Some will only be passenger, some will be cargo and passenger. Some will be cargo, some will be service, and we also think that these transports will partly serve scientific purposes. It is a multipurpose vehicle, we like to think of it as our 'space utility vehicle' and we are very proud of it."
To prepare the reusable Dream Chaser for flights and its post-flight service, representatives of Sierra Nevada also plan to use the technical capabilities of the NASA Space Center. Kennedy in Florida. It is noteworthy that this center is also building and testing the Orion spacecraft, designed for long-distance flights into space with astronauts on board.
Spacex dragon
With NASA's space shuttles (shuttles) gone in 2011, the space agency depends on companies like Sierra Nevada to ultimately solve the problem of getting and returning US astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS). In the meantime, in order to transport American astronauts and astronauts from partner countries to the station, NASA is forced to buy seats on the Russian Soyuz space capsules.
Sierra Nevada is one of several companies that build spacecraft for manned flights, supported by NASA as part of the commercial flight program. Other ships under construction are SpaceX's Dragon space capsule, Boeing's CST-100 space capsule, and Blue Origin's Space Vehicle (just to make the readers laugh a little, I'll translate its name - "Blue Origin").
Test of the CST-100 capsule at Dry Lake, Nevada, 2012
In the meantime, there is still two more years to work on the Dream Chaser before its first orbital flight. Sierra Nevada officials plan to conduct at least one unmanned spacecraft launch from Edwards Air Force Base and will then be equipped with an ejection seat for manned atmospheric test flights, said Steve Lindsay, program manager for Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser.
Lindsay said that the orbital flight in November 2016 will be autonomous and unmanned and may last for about a day before landing on the west coast of the United States.
“The transport (scheduled to fly in 2016) is pretty much the same as the one we will launch in about a year with a crew on board,” Lindsay explained. "We intend to test the operation of all systems and subsystems on board before proceeding with the certification of manned orbital transport."
In 2013, Sierra Nevada conducted the first three Dream Chaser flights to test automated approach and landing systems. Although the test flight went smoothly, upon landing, the spacecraft left the runway. due to a malfunction, its landing gear was deployed at the wrong angle.
And what follows from this?
Alas, I must admit that I myself was once among those who, upon learning of our enemy's refusal to use space shuttles, “rubbed their hands”. I myself was glad that the Americans would have to buy (for big money) seats on our launch vehicles. However, I quickly recovered from such a stupid schadenfreude, but only now I understand TO WHAT DEGREE it was stupid …
In fact, as one knowledgeable person explained to me, our apparent gain was already a loss from the beginning. After giving (albeit for millions of dollars) a place to an American, our country lost exactly one of its cosmonaut, which is very important for the crew of the space station.
But it turns out that there were only "flowers" … Having abandoned expensive and not entirely safe shuttles, the United States got a kind of respite, which they used, as they say, to the fullest.
And the decision to give the development and subsequent construction of spaceships to private offices (by the way, shuttles were also developed by North American Rockwell) turned out to be more than wise on their part. It is known that NASA will choose the BEST development in the end. It turns out that at the stage of invention and construction of prototypes, their state treasury will save a lot.
But the most important thing is that each inventor, each developer will approach the matter differently, i.e. will not chase after someone, but will create his one and only. Well, well, about the "one and only" a little bent, but we see: two companies are improving the classic capsules (like our "Union"), the third went the other way and builds (more precisely, is already testing) a spacecraft, and the fourth does - a mystery shrouded in darkness.
After what I read, I turned to my source at Roscosmos with the faint hope of hearing about our space aircraft developments. However, I was disappointed. The source said that he had not heard of anything like this.
And his answer can mean one of two things: we really do not have anything of the kind, or there is something, but simply highly classified.
Recalling the recent history of the Severodvinsk nuclear submarine, I came to the conclusion that the latter is extremely unlikely. Then, as soon as a couple of English newspapers praised our submarine a little, the domestic media responded with tenfold fanfare. In other words, they did not make a secret of the finally completed construction of Severodvinsk. On the contrary, they used it for propaganda "to the fullest" (or they could at least remember that they had been building it since 1993). They would trumpet even louder about the spacecraft.
But we could have been the first …
Let us, a little (only in general terms, this has been written many times), recall the story. Initially, the idea of reaching space by plane was also called "spiral flight". Looking ahead, the first Russian project in this industry was called Spiral. Its essence is that an orbital aircraft is launched into space, first by a hypersonic booster aircraft, then by a rocket stage.
Apparently, such is the whim of fate that our rivalry with the United States here also proceeded along a kind of spiral. They refused some kind of program - it was as if we were picking it up.
It began, as you know, with their project of the X-20 Dyna Soar space bomber (from Dynamic Soaring), which was curtailed by order of Defense Secretary Robert McNamara in 1963 (note that its first manned flight was planned in 1966 -m).
X-20 Dyna Soar
As soon as they refused, our project "Spiral" was launched. This is symbolic, but in the case of Russia-USSR, an almost finished experimental manned orbital plane was also buried by the Minister of Defense (Soviet, of course) Grechko, who drew a resolution: "We will not be engaged in fantasies."
"Spiral"
Then again the American move - the Space Shuttle (we have repeatedly mentioned the space shuttle), whose development began in 1971.
Well, and this time we did not keep ourselves waiting long with a worthy answer, which was the Energia-Buran project.
At first glance, it may seem that Russia-USSR have been catching up all the time. However, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that in the case of the X-20 Dyna Soar, several large-sized models of the apparatus were made and extensive scientific and technical research was carried out. But a scaled-down copy of the Spirali orbital aircraft at a scale of 1: 2 BOR-4 (unmanned orbital rocket plane) was launched into orbit (albeit within the framework of the Buran project).
The shuttles were put on stream by the Americans, but … The flight of Buran, created under the leadership of the outstanding designer Gleb Evgenievich Lozino-Lozinsky (by the way, he is also the head of the Spiral project), passed without a crew in automatic mode using an on-board computer and on-board software, in contrast to the shuttle, which traditionally makes the last stage of landing on manual control (entry into the atmosphere and braking to the speed of sound in both cases are completely computerized). This fact - the flight of a spacecraft into space and its descent to Earth in automatic mode under the control of an on-board computer - entered the Guinness Book of Records!
We can say that they (the USA) have some gain in time, but for us - in terms of quality. And the quality gap could well have become a deep abyss, if not … In general, let Gorbachev (and Borka the bloody - posthumously) and his comrades also hang an order for this.
To this we add that the only one that flew into space (1988) "Buran" was destroyed in 2002 during the collapse of the roof of the assembly and test building at Baikonur, in which it was stored along with ready-made copies of the "Energia" launch vehicle. In such cases, I always have a hard time believing in "coincidences" and "coincidences" …
On May 12, 2002, a catastrophe occurred at the Baikonur cosmodrome. The roof of the test facility collapsed, killing eight people. Complex "Energia" - "Buran" destroyed by collapsed structures
In fairness, I must say that the ideas embodied in Spiral and Buran were further developed in the Multipurpose Aerospace System (MAKS) project, started under the leadership of the same Lozino-Lozinsky. This project received a gold medal (with honors) and a special prize from the Prime Minister of Belgium in 1994 in Brussels at the World Salon of Inventions. In 2012, they even started talking about the resumption of work on MAKS. But we need those who are ready to invest in it, one state supposedly does not pull.
And what does this threaten us, and what can be done?
A bleak story turns out. They are in full swing testing the spacecraft, they are about to be launched into orbit. We have - the only unique spacecraft "Buran" that has flown into space has been destroyed. A manned orbital aircraft according to the MAKS project has not yet been built.
It is worth recalling here that Buran was originally created as a military system, which was a response to the planned use of American shuttles for military purposes.
But, if for military purposes it was supposed to use shuttles, later discontinued, can it be denied that modern Dream Chaser spacecraft will also be used for the same purposes? - Of course, the United States says that the purpose of this device is "exclusively peaceful" (including the very fashionable space tourism), but the very possibility of installing weapons on them should not be rejected. And returning to the beginning of the article, we ask ourselves, why do they need a whole fleet of such spacecraft for "exclusively peaceful" purposes?
In general, it's time to seriously think so that it is not too late when the strategic enemy will also gain superiority in space.
Moreover, our developments are not completely lost. Will you say that the developments are not lost, but there is no money? Well, the United States is also not in the best position, but finds it for strategic needs.
Find by attracting interested individuals. I must say right away that this method is unacceptable for us. Our moneybags simply do not see the point of investing in defense (I hope no one will argue that space is the most defenseless defense) of the country in which they are not going to live. Their rich is a different matter, they invest in the only country that will ensure their safety.
It turns out, we come to the same thing: while the incomes of the richest country in the world will go to the construction of palaces of "Rubeland" (as well as palaces in other parts of the world), we will not see any rocket planes or modern tanks and airplanes put on stream …
