Salyut 2 (OPS-1) (Russian: 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 attitude 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.
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Station statistics | |
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COSPAR ID | 1973-017A |
SATCAT no. | 06398![]() |
Call sign | Salyut 2 |
Crew | 3 |
Launch | 3 April 1973 09:00:00 UTC |
Launch pad | Baikonur Site 81/23[1] |
Reentry | 28 May 1973 |
Mass | 18,500 kilograms (40,800 lb) |
Length | 14.55 metres (47.7 ft) |
Diameter | 4.15 metres (13.6 ft) |
Pressurised volume | 99 cubic metres (3,500 cu ft) |
Periapsis altitude | 257 kilometres (160 mi) |
Apoapsis altitude | 278 kilometres (173 mi) |
Orbital inclination | 51.6° |
Orbital period | 89.8 minutes |
Days in orbit | 54 days |
No. of orbits | 866 |
Distance travelled | 35,163,530 kilometres (21,849,600 mi) |
Statistics as of 4 April 1973 | |
Configuration | |
![]() An Almaz space station | |
Salyut 2 was an Almaz military space station.[2] It was designated part of the Salyut programme in order to conceal the existence of the two separate space station programmes.[3]
Salyut 2 was 14.55 metres (47.7 ft) long with a diameter of 4.15 metres (13.6 ft),[4][5][6] and had an internal habitable volume of 90 cubic metres (3,200 cu ft). At launch it had a mass of 18,950 kilograms (41,780 lb).[7] 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.[8] The station was equipped with 32 attitude control thrusters, as well as two RD-0225 engines, each capable of generating 3.9 kilonewtons (880 lbf) of thrust, for orbital manoeuvres.[7]
Salyut 2 was launched from Site 81/23 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, atop a three-stage Proton-K rocket, serial number 283-01.[9] The launch took place at 09:00:00 UTC on 3 April 1973,[10] and successfully placed Salyut 2 into low Earth orbit.[9] Upon reaching orbit, Salyut 2 was assigned the International Designator 1973-017A, whilst NORAD gave it the Satellite Catalog Number 06398.[1] The third stage (8S812) of the Proton-K rocket entered orbit along with Salyut 2. On 4 April, it was catalogued in a 192 by 238 kilometres (119 by 148 mi) orbit, inclined at 51.4 degrees.[11]
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.[3][1]
Three pieces of debris from the station were catalogued, and had decayed from orbit by 13 May.[11] The remainder of the station reentered the atmosphere on 28 May 1973[2][11] over the Pacific Ocean.[4]
An inquiry into the failure initially determined that a fuel line had burst, burning a hole in the station.[3] The damage from the debris collision was only discovered later.[when?]
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 СССР of the Soviet Union Leonid Brezhnev brought Fidel Castro to the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre.[12] Fidel Castro was photographed inside both the Soyuz docking trainer[13] and the Salyut-2 (OPS-1/Almaz) military space station.[14]
1973 April 3...Launch Vehicle: Proton-K. LV Configuration: Proton-K 283-01...Salyut 2
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Almaz stations (OPS) |
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Notes: † Never inhabited due to launch or on-orbit failure, ‡ Part of the Almaz military program, ° Never inhabited, lacks docking mechanism. |
← 1972 · Orbital launches in 1973 · 1974 → | |
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Luna 21 (Lunokhod 2) | Kosmos 543 | Kosmos 544 | Kosmos 545 | Kosmos 546 | Kosmos 547 | Molniya-1 No.31 | Kosmos 548 | Prognoz 3 | Kosmos 549 | Kosmos 550 | Kosmos 551 | OPS 6063 | OPS 8410 | Meteor-M No.29 | Kosmos 552 · Nauka-16KS No.2L | Salyut 2 | Molniya-2-5 | Pioneer 11 | Kosmos 553 | Kosmos 554 | Interkosmos 9 | Anik A2 | Unnamed | Kosmos 555 · Nauka-14KS No.2 | Kosmos 556 | Kosmos 557 | Skylab | OPS 2093 | Kosmos 558 | Kosmos 559 | Unnamed | Kosmos 560 | Unnamed | Skylab 2 | Kosmos 561 · Nauka-9KS No.1 | Meteor-M No.27 | Kosmos 562 | Kosmos 563 | Kosmos 564 · Kosmos 565 · Kosmos 566 · Kosmos 567 · Kosmos 568 · Kosmos 569 · Kosmos 570 · Kosmos 571 | Kosmos 572 | Explorer 49 | OPS 6157 | Kosmos 573 | Kosmos 574 | Kosmos 575 | OPS 4018 | Kosmos 576 | Unnamed | Molniya-2-6 | OPS 8261 | ITOS-E | Mars 4 | Kosmos 577 | Mars 5 | Skylab 3 | Kosmos 578 | Mars 6 | Mars 7 | OPS 8364 | Kosmos 579 | OPS 7724 | Kosmos 580 | Intelsat IV F-7 | Kosmos 581 | Kosmos 582 | Molniya-1-24 | Kosmos 583 | Kosmos 584 | Kosmos 585 | Kosmos 586 | Unnamed | Kosmos 587 | Soyuz 12 | OPS 6275 | Kosmos 588 · Kosmos 589 · Kosmos 590 · Kosmos 591 · Kosmos 592 · Kosmos 593 · Kosmos 594 · Kosmos 595 | Kosmos 596 | Kosmos 597 | Kosmos 598 | Kosmos 599 | Kosmos 600 | Kosmos 601 | Molniya-2-7 | Kosmos 602 | Explorer 50 | Kosmos 603 | Kosmos 604 | Transit-O 20 | Interkosmos 10 | Kosmos 605 | Kosmos 606 | Mariner 10 | NOAA-3 | Kosmos 607 | OPS 6630 · OPS 6630/2 · OPS 7705 | Molniya-1 No.32 | Skylab 4 | Kosmos 608 | Kosmos 609 | Kosmos 610 | Kosmos 611 | Kosmos 612 | Kosmos 613 | Molniya-1-26 | Kosmos 614 | Kosmos 615 | OPS 9433 · OPS 9434 | Explorer 51 | Kosmos 616 | Soyuz 13 | Kosmos 617 · Kosmos 618 · Kosmos 619 · Kosmos 620 · Kosmos 621 · Kosmos 622 · Kosmos 623 · Kosmos 624 | Kosmos 625 | Molniya-2-8 | Oreol 2 | Kosmos 626 | Kosmos 627 | |
Payloads are separated by bullets ( · ), launches by pipes ( | ). Crewed flights are indicated in underline. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in (brackets). |