glennc@CS.SFU.CA (02/06/91)
The Soviets have announced that the older Salyut 7 space station will
renter the earth's atmosphere sometime on Feb. 6th or 7th, according to
Radio Moscow. On Feb. 4th the station had an altitude of 200 Km (125 mi).
The Salyut 7 complex currently consists of the Salyut 7 main body, launched
in April '82, and the Kosmos 1686 expansion module (added in Oct. '85), for
a combined mass of about 40 Tonnes. According to mission control only the
2 tonne rentry module still attached to the station will survive the
atmosphere. The exact point of reentry will not be known until about 4
hours before but could range anywhere between 51.6 degrees north and south
latitudes. The head of NPO Energiya has stated that there are no
radioactive or other dangerous chemicals left on board. There is no fuel
left on board to control the reentry, but radio control will be maintained
to try an make it come down in ocean areas.
The Salyut 7 complex hosted 10 Soyuz missions for a total of 712 days
of occupation during is 1529 day operational period. Some 1821 man days of
crew time were spent on it. It was not without problems, suffering a
problem with the fueling system in Aug. '83, and a major failure of the
solar power system which required an emergency repair flight by the Soyuz
T-13 crew in June '85. It was last visited in May '86 by the Soyuz T-15
crew of Leoind Kizim and Vladimir Solovyov. That flight was actually a
transfer from the Mir station to Salyut 7, and back again. In Aug. '86
Salyut 7 was boosted into a 492 x 474 km (309 x 296 mi) orbit, with the
intention of being recovered by their Buran space shuttle. However, like
Skylab before it, delays in the shuttle program prevented such an attempt,
while a Progress tanker mission to allowed a controlled reentry was
scratched due to lack of funds. (Radio Moscow Feb 4/5, Spaceflight Feb '91)
A sad end to a station that for four years was the only semipermanent
base of mankind in space.
Glenn Chapman
Simon Fraser Univ.
glennc@cs.sfu.cadgrusin@tramp.Colorado.EDU (GRUSIN MICHAEL) (02/07/91)
...can we get updated orbital elements for this event, or running commentary from someone who's 'tracking' it as to when / where it's going to finally fall? (The re-entry's going to be something to see, for those in the right place (especially at night!)). -grusin@tramp.colorado.edu
john@newave.UUCP (John A. Weeks III) (02/09/91)
In article <1991Feb6.174920.14922@csn.org> grusin@tramp.Colorado.EDU (GRUSIN MICHAEL) writes: > ...can we get updated orbital elements for this event, > or running commentary from someone who's 'tracking' it > as to when / where it's going to finally fall? According to CNN, there is no need to update the orbital elements. It crashed in the Andes in Argentina on Wednesday or Thursday. -john- -- =============================================================================== John A. Weeks III (612) 942-6969 john@newave.mn.org NeWave Communications ...uunet!rosevax!tcnet!wd0gol!newave!john ===============================================================================
john@newave.UUCP (John A. Weeks III) (02/09/91)
In article <9102060831.AA07882@cs.sfu.ca> glennc@CS.SFU.CA writes: > A sad end to a station that for four years was the only semipermanent > base of mankind in space. At least Salyut 7 flew before it came to an end. I am not so sure that Fred will ever see the hardware stage. And at least Salyut 7 had a successor. Skylab came to the same end as Salyut 7, with no follow in sight. -john- -- =============================================================================== John A. Weeks III (612) 942-6969 john@newave.mn.org NeWave Communications ...uunet!rosevax!tcnet!wd0gol!newave!john ===============================================================================