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I found the Soviet Union's alleged theory explaining the American space shuttle to their own leadership[1] to be quite interesting. According to some documents

I found the Soviet Union's alleged theory explaining the American space shuttle to their own leadership[1] to be quite interesting. According to some documents submitted to the central committee by the head of the fledgling Keldysh institute (famous for it's faculty - Israel Gelfand and Alexey Lyapunov among others), the shuttle could theoretically launch in a trajectory from Vandenburg, CA south towards and over Antarctica and northwards over the Indian Ocean towards Moscow, with several nuclear weapons aboard, as a kind of hypersonic dive bomber. This would, in a nuclear exchange, bring the mean time from initial detection of an American attack to the first nuclear strike on Moscow down from seven minutes (UGM-73 missiles on a depressed trajectory launched from the North Sea near Denmark)[2] to a little over three minutes. Fears of this, according to the theory, led to several of the design specifications for the Buran shuttle. I find the extensive concerns about, and optimizing of strategy around, minimizing warning time in a nuclear exchange to be fascinating. [1]https://www.thespacereview.com/article/3855/1 https://www.thespacereview.com/article/3855/1 [2]https://www.scienceandglobalsecurity.org/archive/sgs03gronlund.pdf https://www.scienceandglobalsecurity.org/archive/sgs03gronlu... (PDF)

xattt 4y ago
Nuclear capability explains the “single polar orbit with a large crossrange” requirement. How was the shuttle capable of such a large crossrange? Maneuverability in the atmosphere?
- nickff 4y ago
  The large delta wings on the space shuttle are what allow the large cross-range, by letting it "turn" on the way down. The single polar orbit was to allow rapid, stealthy insertion of a reconnaissance satellite into polar orbit. According to the space shuttle engineers, there was never any contemplation of arming the shuttle, though the DoD did set many requirements (including payload bay size and cross-range).
  - KRAKRISMOTT 4y ago
    So an old school hypersonic glider
    - nickff 4y ago
      Basically, although the space shuttle has the worst glide ratio of any aerospace vehicle I am aware of. To simulate landing the shuttle, they used a businessjet with the engines in reverse…
      - Sharlin 4y ago
        A brick with small stubby wings bolted on.
      - rpmw 4y ago
        Yep! No go arounds once you re-entered. Here's the training aircraft: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle_Training_Aircraft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle_Training_Aircraft
        NegativeLatency 4y ago
        Cool, interesting bit about how it actually simulated the flight characteristics that I didn't know before: > To match the descent rate and drag profile of the real Shuttle at 37,000 feet (11,300 m), the main landing gear of the C-11A was lowered (the nose gear stayed retracted due to wind load constraints) and engine thrust was reversed. Its flaps could deflect upwards to decrease lift as well as downwards to increase lift.
      - grecy 4y ago
        Here's a cool video of landing the shuttle in real time. The whole landing proceeds unnervingly fast! The actual landing HUD and audio starts at 13:40 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb4prVsXkZU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb4prVsXkZU
  - neuronexmachina 4y ago
yodon 4y ago
>the shuttle could theoretically launch in a trajectory from Vandenburg, CA south towards and over Antarctica Having spent time at the South Pole, the ice runway at the South Pole Station was sized and built and in part funded by NASA to handle the scenario in which a shuttle on a trajectory that took it over the pole found itself in need of an emergency divert runway.
- tobinfricke 4y ago
  To what extent was the runway there "built" as a permanent installation, vs being an ephemeral phenomenon that is refreshed season by season?
  - yodon 4y ago
    It requires maintenance but it's not like the ice is going to melt in the South Pole "summer."
    - TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
      Not yet
      - tomrod 4y ago
        Seems like I just read on HN an article on Antarctic weather patterns (but not ice floes) are self-reinforcing.
        matthewdgreen 4y ago
        That was one model. I sure hope it’s correct. If there’s one lesson I’ve learned over 30 years of following this topic, it’s that things very rarely break in our favor.
        luisapic 4y ago
        [dead]
MomoXenosaga 4y ago
What would that accomplish? The possibility of a nuclear sneak attack were known to both sides.

xattt 4y ago

Nuclear capability explains the “single polar orbit with a large crossrange” requirement. How was the shuttle capable of such a large crossrange? Maneuverability in the atmosphere?

nickff 4y ago
The large delta wings on the space shuttle are what allow the large cross-range, by letting it "turn" on the way down. The single polar orbit was to allow rapid, stealthy insertion of a reconnaissance satellite into polar orbit. According to the space shuttle engineers, there was never any contemplation of arming the shuttle, though the DoD did set many requirements (including payload bay size and cross-range).
- KRAKRISMOTT 4y ago
  So an old school hypersonic glider
  - nickff 4y ago
    Basically, although the space shuttle has the worst glide ratio of any aerospace vehicle I am aware of. To simulate landing the shuttle, they used a businessjet with the engines in reverse…
    - Sharlin 4y ago
      A brick with small stubby wings bolted on.
    - rpmw 4y ago
      Yep! No go arounds once you re-entered. Here's the training aircraft: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle_Training_Aircraft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle_Training_Aircraft
      - NegativeLatency 4y ago
        Cool, interesting bit about how it actually simulated the flight characteristics that I didn't know before: > To match the descent rate and drag profile of the real Shuttle at 37,000 feet (11,300 m), the main landing gear of the C-11A was lowered (the nose gear stayed retracted due to wind load constraints) and engine thrust was reversed. Its flaps could deflect upwards to decrease lift as well as downwards to increase lift.
    - grecy 4y ago
      Here's a cool video of landing the shuttle in real time. The whole landing proceeds unnervingly fast! The actual landing HUD and audio starts at 13:40 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb4prVsXkZU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb4prVsXkZU
- neuronexmachina 4y ago

yodon 4y ago

>the shuttle could theoretically launch in a trajectory from Vandenburg, CA south towards and over Antarctica Having spent time at the South Pole, the ice runway at the South Pole Station was sized and built and in part funded by NASA to handle the scenario in which a shuttle on a trajectory that took it over the pole found itself in need of an emergency divert runway.

tobinfricke 4y ago
To what extent was the runway there "built" as a permanent installation, vs being an ephemeral phenomenon that is refreshed season by season?
- yodon 4y ago
  It requires maintenance but it's not like the ice is going to melt in the South Pole "summer."
  - TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
    Not yet
    - tomrod 4y ago
      Seems like I just read on HN an article on Antarctic weather patterns (but not ice floes) are self-reinforcing.
      - matthewdgreen 4y ago
        That was one model. I sure hope it’s correct. If there’s one lesson I’ve learned over 30 years of following this topic, it’s that things very rarely break in our favor.
        luisapic 4y ago
        [dead]

MomoXenosaga 4y ago

What would that accomplish? The possibility of a nuclear sneak attack were known to both sides.