Salyut 2
{{short description|Failed Soviet space station (1973)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2014}}
{{Infobox space station
| station = Salyut 2 (OPS-1)
| station_image =
| station_image_size =
| station_image_caption =
| extra_image =
| extra_image_size =
| extra_image_caption =
| insignia = Salyut_program_insignia.svg
| insignia_size = 160px
| insignia_caption =
| sign = Salyut 2
| crew = 3
| launch = 3 April 1973
09:00:00 UTC
| launch_pad = Baikonur Site 81/23
| reentry = 28 May 1973
| mass = {{convert|18500|kg}}
| length = {{convert|14.55|m}}
| diameter = {{convert|4.15|m}}
| volume = {{convert|99|m3}}
| pressure =
| perigee = {{convert|257|km}}
| apogee = {{convert|278|km}}
| inclination = 51.6°
| altitude =
| speed =
| period = 89.8 minutes
| orbits_day =
| in_orbit = 54 days
| orbits = 866
| distance = {{convert|35163530|km}}
| COSPAR_ID = 1973-017A
| as_of = 4 April 1973
| stats_ref =
| configuration_image = Almaz drawing.svg
| configuration_size =
| configuration_caption = An Almaz space station
}}
Salyut 2 (OPS-1) ({{langx|ru|Салют-2}} meaning Salute 2) was a Soviet space station which was launched in 1973 as part of the Salyut programme. It was the first Almaz military space station to fly. Within two weeks of its launch, the station had lost altitude control and depressurized, leaving it unusable. Its orbit decayed and it re-entered the atmosphere on 28 May 1973, without any crews having visited it.
Spacecraft
{{main|Almaz}}
Salyut 2 was an Almaz military space station.
{{cite web|last=Portree|first=David S. F.|title=Mir Hardware Heritage|url=http://ston.jsc.nasa.gov/collections/TRS/_techrep/RP1357.pdf|publisher=NASA|date=March 1995|access-date=4 January 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090907191412/http://ston.jsc.nasa.gov/collections/TRS/_techrep/RP1357.pdf|archive-date=7 September 2009|df=dmy-all}}
It was designated part of the Salyut programme in order to conceal the existence of the two separate space station programmes.{{cite web|last=Zak|first=Anatoly|title=OPS-1 (Salyut-2) space station|url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/almaz_ops1.html|work=RussianSpaceWeb|access-date=4 January 2011}}
Salyut 2 was {{convert|14.55|m}} long with a diameter of {{convert|4.15|m}},{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.astronautix.com/a/almazops.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820191922/http://www.astronautix.com/a/almazops.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 August 2016|title=Almaz OPS {{!}} Part of Almaz Family|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Astronautica|author=Mark Wade}}{{cite web|url=https://image.slidesharecdn.com/spacestation-130506223303-phpapp01/95/space-station-13-638.jpg|title=Space Station|work=Mousehunt|via=SlideShare|date=6 May 2013|author=Emied Jacinto}}{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/Salyut|title=Salyut {{!}} Soviet Space Station Series|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|author=David M. Harland}} and had an internal habitable volume of {{convert|90|m3}}. At launch it had a mass of {{convert|18950|kg}}. A single aft-mounted docking port was intended for use by Soyuz spacecraft carrying cosmonauts to work aboard the station. Two solar arrays mounted at the aft end of the station near the docking port provided power to the station, generating a total of 3,120 watts of electricity.{{cite web|last=Zak|first=Anatoly|title=Almaz space station technical overview - Transfer section|url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/almaz_po.html|work=RussianSpaceWeb|access-date=5 January 2011}} The station was equipped with 32 attitude control thrusters, as well as two RD-0225 engines, each capable of generating {{convert|3.9|kN}} of thrust, for orbital manoeuvres.{{cite web|last=Zak|first=Anatoly|title=Almaz space station technical overview|url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/almaz_ops.html|work=RussianSpaceWeb|access-date=5 January 2011}}
Launch
Salyut 2 was launched from Site 81/23 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, atop a three-stage Proton-K rocket, serial number 283-01.{{cite encyclopedia|last=Wade|first=Mark|title=Proton-K|url=http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/protonk.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100822083221/http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/protonk.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 August 2010|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Astronautica|access-date=2 January 2011|quote=1973 April 3...Launch Vehicle: Proton-K. LV Configuration: Proton-K 283-01...Salyut 2}} The launch took place at 09:00:00 UTC on 3 April 1973,{{cite web|last=McDowell|first=Jonathan|title=Launch Log|url=http://www.planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt|work=Jonathan's Space Page|access-date=4 January 2011}} and successfully placed Salyut 2 into low Earth orbit. Upon reaching orbit, Salyut 2 was assigned the International Designator 1973-017A, whilst NORAD gave it the Satellite Catalog Number 06398.{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1973-017A|title=Salyut 2|publisher=United States National Space Data Center|date=8 October 2010|access-date=4 January 2010}} The third stage (8S812) of the Proton-K rocket entered orbit along with Salyut 2. On 4 April, it was catalogued in a {{convert|192|by|238|km|mi}} orbit, inclined at 51.4 degrees.{{cite web|last=McDowell|first=Jonathan|title=Satellite Catalog|url=http://www.planet4589.org/space/log/satcat.txt|work=Jonathan's Space Page|access-date=4 January 2011}}
Failure
Three days after the launch of Salyut 2, the Proton's spent third stage exploded, due to pressure changes within the tanks. This explosion resulted in a cloud of debris, some of which followed a similar trajectory to the station. Ten days later this debris struck the station, damaging the hull and causing depressurization. Both solar panels were torn free, removing the ability of the station to generate power and control its attitude.
Three pieces of debris from the station were catalogued, and had decayed from orbit by 13 May. The remainder of the station reentered the atmosphere on 28 May 1973 over the Pacific Ocean.
An inquiry into the failure initially determined that a fuel line had burst, burning a hole in the station. The damage from the debris collision was only discovered later.{{when|date=September 2020}}
Fidel Castro tour
When First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Fidel Castro was in the Soviet Union as part of a whirlwind tour in 1972, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Leonid Brezhnev brought Fidel Castro to the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre.{{Cite web|url=http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/castro/db/1972/19720706-1.html|title = Castro Speech Data Base - Latin American Network Information Center, LANIC}}
Fidel Castro was photographed inside both the Soyuz docking trainer{{Cite web |title=REGION, USSR. First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Fidel |url=https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/first-secretary-of-the-communist-party-of-cuba-fidel-castro-news-photo/522520796 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511090424/https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/first-secretary-of-the-communist-party-of-cuba-fidel-castro-news-photo/522520796 |archive-date=11 May 2021}}{{bsn|date=August 2024}} and the Salyut-2 (OPS-1/Almaz) military space station.{{Cite web |title=Moscow. General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Leonid |url=https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/moscow-general-secretary-of-the-central-committee-of-the-news-photo/522501500 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512184148/https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/moscow-general-secretary-of-the-central-committee-of-the-news-photo/522501500 |archive-date=12 May 2021}}{{better source needed|date=August 2024}}
See also
{{Portal|Soviet Union|Spaceflight}}
{{Clear}}
References
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Almaz Program}}
{{Salyut Program}}
{{Space stations}}
{{Orbital launches in 1973}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2014}}
Category:1973 in the Soviet Union
Category:Soviet military spacecraft