4 ms·

It's also worth mentioning that materials wear out in space in ways we don't always appreciate and certainly did not in the golden era of the Soviet space stati

It's also worth mentioning that materials wear out in space in ways we don't always appreciate and certainly did not in the golden era of the Soviet space stations. The Mir, an upgrade over the Salyut program, was pretty trashed by the time it was abandoned. It's absolutely not worth boosting dangerous trash for it to potentially break up. That said, it is sort of a shame we didn't capture Salyut 7 and bring it back down safely, or at least a chunk of it. It would have been interesting to see what uncontrolled heating and cooling does to a body meant for human habitation that big in low orbit.

idontwantthis 3y ago
Would have required using the space shuttle to retrieve a Soviet space station. Impossible, but a very fun idea :) Would the shuttle have landed in the USSR or would Salyut have arrived in the USA?
- troutwine 3y ago
  Hah! Fun question. While I think if you ripped the solar panels and other instrumentation off you could _just_ fit the Salyut in the Shuttle payload bay it was too heavy for a safe return trip. But, I think the Salyut's orbit would have required a USSR launch? Unless alternate history humanity made a truly humongous specialty retrieval craft and inclination changes meant nothing to it. :)
- wongarsu 3y ago
  The Buran had about the same payload capacity as the Space Shuttle (slightly more even). It's first (and only) orbital test flight was in '88, 2.5 years before the Salyut deorbit. Had the Soviet Union been just a smidge more solvent and politically stable we might have the whole Salyut 7 sitting in a museum somewhere. All it would have taken was a slightly accelerated Buran program, a Soviet Union that survived maybe 3 years longer, and a decision that bringing back a decommissioned station is a great test mission that boosts national pride. A near miss in history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buran_(spacecraft) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buran_(spacecraft)

idontwantthis 3y ago

Would have required using the space shuttle to retrieve a Soviet space station. Impossible, but a very fun idea :) Would the shuttle have landed in the USSR or would Salyut have arrived in the USA?

troutwine 3y ago
Hah! Fun question. While I think if you ripped the solar panels and other instrumentation off you could _just_ fit the Salyut in the Shuttle payload bay it was too heavy for a safe return trip. But, I think the Salyut's orbit would have required a USSR launch? Unless alternate history humanity made a truly humongous specialty retrieval craft and inclination changes meant nothing to it. :)
wongarsu 3y ago
The Buran had about the same payload capacity as the Space Shuttle (slightly more even). It's first (and only) orbital test flight was in '88, 2.5 years before the Salyut deorbit. Had the Soviet Union been just a smidge more solvent and politically stable we might have the whole Salyut 7 sitting in a museum somewhere. All it would have taken was a slightly accelerated Buran program, a Soviet Union that survived maybe 3 years longer, and a decision that bringing back a decommissioned station is a great test mission that boosts national pride. A near miss in history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buran_(spacecraft) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buran_(spacecraft)