Diamond description of the mineral properties of the stone

Chemical composition

Diamond formula

C (Carbon)

In terms of its chemical composition, diamond is a crystallographic modification (variety) of carbon and is a sibling of graphite. Essentially, both the graphite lead of a pencil and the bright diamond in a ring are pure carbon. The difference in the properties of these two related minerals lies in their internal structure - the arrangement of atoms in the lattice, associated with the physicochemical conditions of the formation of these minerals.

Diamond in nature

Diamond.
Photo of an octahedral crystal. Yakutia In nature, the mineral is found in the form of individual crystals and their fragments, as well as in the form of crystalline aggregates, i.e., intergrowths of a large number of small crystals. Externally, the crystals of this mineral are very diverse. The weight of diamond crystals found in nature varies - from hundredths to several hundred and even thousands of carats (1 carat is equal to 200 milligrams). Most often you come across small crystals weighing 0.1-0.4 carats, less often - weighing 1 carat or more, and very rarely more than 10 carats. Therefore, since ancient times, the discovery of a large crystal was a great event, and such a stone was always given its own name.

Properties of diamond

The strongest acids have no effect on it. Dissolves very slowly only in alkali melts. If for a technical diamond the main properties are high hardness and chemical resistance, then for jewelry quality the most important feature is a special shine and play of colors. Due to the high refractive index, a white ray of light, falling at an angle on the crystal, does not pass through it, but is reflected from the edges and decomposes into individual colored rays. The stone seems to glow with all the colors of the rainbow. Combined with the strong shine of the edges, this phenomenon creates an exceptionally beautiful play of colors. Under the influence of ultraviolet, x-rays and cathode rays, a diamond glows bluish, bluish, greenish and yellow. This phenomenon is called luminescence. This ability is sometimes used when extracting crystals from concentrate.

The color varies, pure varieties are colorless, water-transparent, sometimes they have shades of brown, red, yellow, blue and other colors. It has a strong, so-called diamond, luster. Hardness 10. Density 3.5. The cleavage is perfect (along the octahedron). The fracture is conchoidal. Other properties: fragility, chemical resistance; fluoresces in ultraviolet rays in a bluish-blue color.

Varieties

There are jewelry and technical ones.

Diagnostics

The mineral can be diagnosed by a number of signs:

high hardness
diamond shine
insolubility in acids
luminescence.

Mineral satellites

Garnet (pyrope), olivine, diopside.

Diamond extraction technologies

Currently, when developing diamond mining technology, another characteristic property of diamonds is used - the ability to not be wetted by water and stick to certain fats. At diamond mining enterprises, the method of extracting diamonds from concentrates on fat tables is widely used. In oxygen at a temperature of 700° C, diamond burns, forming carbon dioxide and a small amount of ash. According to the characteristics of the crystalline form and preservation of the crystals, the degree of transparency and density of color, as well as depending on whether they contain inclusions and mechanical damage, diamonds are divided into jewelry and technical. Jewelry includes transparent, colorless or light-colored crystals without inclusions or mechanical damage. Such diamonds are used to make polished diamonds.

Other meanings of this word:

... Grigory Grigorievich (1734-1783) - Moscow governor, count
Alexander (1871-1947) Russian literary critic, academician
Alexander (1873-1948) Russian conductor
Alexander (1880-1954) Ukrainian astronomer
Alexey (1735-1807/08) count, general-in-chief, participant in the palace coup of 1762
Boris (born 1934) Russian test pilot
Former Soviet football player, forward. Master of Sports of the USSR. He is better known as a sports television commentator. Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation. Winner of the TEFI Award 2008. (surname)
Vasily (1896-1974) Russian actor
Vladimir (1895-1938) Russian military leader, 1st rank fleet flagship
Vladimir (born 1936) Russian writer, novel “Violist Danilov”
brought out the famous Russian trotters
Outstanding Soviet researcher of the physical nature of comets
Infantry general, military writer and theorist, aeronautics pioneer. (surname)
Major General, Decembrist. (surname)
Georgy (1901–85) Russian architect
the hero of Marat Basharov in the film “72 Meters”
The hero N. Eremenko in the film “The Tsar’s Hunt”
hero N. Eremenko in the film “The Tsar’s Hunt”
Head of the Republic of Kalmykia, namesake of the Governor of the Arkhangelsk Region
City in Kirov region
City in Russia, administrative center of the Oryol district of the Kirov region
Statesman, one of the leaders of the Gulag of the NKVD of the USSR, major general of the engineering and technical service. Candidate member of the CPSU Central Committee. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR 2, 4, 6 convocations. (surname)
The Count is Catherine the Great's favorite
Count - favorite of Catherine the Great
Count, Russian military and statesman, favorite of Empress Catherine II. Brother of her other favorite Alexei Orlov. (surname)
Count, favorite of Catherine II (1734-1783)
Count, favorite of Empress Catherine II
the count who bred trotters in Russia
Earl-horse breeder
Count-favorite of Catherine
Graph. The eldest of the Orlov brothers
Count horse breeder
count's diamond and the city on Vyatka
Gregory (1734–83) count, favorite of Catherine II
city on Vyatka and Catherine's favorite
Decembrist (1788-1842)
Dmitry (1892-1955) Russian actor
Egor (1865-1944) Russian chemist, academician
Famous Diamond
Ivan (1861-1928) Russian inventor
Priest, a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church, canonized as a confessor in 2000 by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. (surname)
famous diamond with a count's surname
Famous children's poet and playwright. (surname)
famous diamond of Catherine 2
Historian, poet, vice-president of the Belarusian PEN Center. Greek Catholic. (surname)
Which Russian count became famous for horse breeding?
Prince, Russian statesman, cavalry general, adjutant general; the chief head of the III department of the Own E.I.V. Office and the chief of gendarmes. (surname)
Prince, participant in the Crimean War, Russian diplomat, ambassador to Brussels, Paris and Berlin, military writer and public figure. (surname)
Football commentator
Test pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union (1974)
Personal honorary citizen, Russian railway employee and politician, active participant in the monarchist movement. (surname)
Lover of Catherine II
lover of Catherine the Great
Mikhail (1788-1842) Decembrist, major general, participant in the War of 1812
It can mean a common Russian surname, as well as a city in the Kirov region. It ranks 27th in the list of all-Russian surnames. Orlovs
illegitimate husband of Catherine II
one of the largest Russian generalist chemists of the first half of the twentieth century, author of a book published in 1908 - “Formaldehyde, its extraction, properties and applications”
One of the most famous diamonds
One of Catherine the Great's favorites
The first great love in the life of Catherine the Great
producer of the Radio Truba program
Professor at Cornell University, physicist, author of hundreds of scientific publications, participant in the dissident movement, emigrant from the USSR. (surname)
the role of V. Steklov in the film “Broken Circle”
Russian architect, one of the authors of the Dnieper Hydroelectric Power Station project (1901-1985)
Russian astronomer (1880-1958)
Russian cavalry general, military ataman of the Don Cossack army, hero of the Izmail assault. (surname)
Russian statesman. Graph. Lieutenant General. Director of the Academy of Sciences, under the President of the Academy of Sciences Kirill Grigorievich Razumovsky. The youngest of the Orlov brothers. (surname)
Russian zoologist, paleontologist (1893-1966)
Russian inventor who developed methods for producing woven credit cards, single-pass multicolor printing
Russian sculptor (1911-1971)
Russian sculptor of the 20th century, author of the statue “Mother”, the monument to Yuri Dolgoruky, Afanasy Nikitin, the porcelain composition “Alexander Nevsky”
Russian chemist (1865-1944)
Russian military and statesman, chief general, count, associate of Catherine II, brother of her favorite Grigory Grigorievich Orlov. (surname)
Russian military and statesman, count, general-in-chief, chief prosecutor of the Governing Senate. (surname)
Russian count, favorite of Catherine II
Russian writer ('Violist Danilov')
Russian artist, master of graphics, one of the founders of the Soviet political poster, Honored Artist of the RSFSR. (surname)
the largest in the Diamond Fund
Sergei (1880-1958) Russian astronomer
Sergei (1911–71) Russian sculptor
Sergei (1921–77) Russian poet
owls academician, historian of Russian literature
Sov. poet; owls actor
Soviet academician, historian of Russian literature
Soviet theater and film actor, director, theater teacher, People's Artist of the Belarusian SSR. (surname)
Soviet theater and film actor, director, theater teacher, professor. Laureate of the Stalin Prize, People's Artist of the USSR. (surname)
Soviet military leader, division commander. (surname)
Soviet naval leader, commander of the Black Sea Naval Forces, head of the Red Army Naval Forces, 1st rank fleet flagship. (surname)
Soviet statesman, last Minister of Finance of the USSR. (surname)
Soviet and Russian scientist-economist. People's Deputy of the USSR. Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor. (surname)
Soviet literary critic. Winner of the Stalin Prize, third degree. (surname)
Soviet party and statesman, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, Deputy Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. (surname)
Soviet poet; Soviet actor
Soviet intelligence officer, state security major. Illegal resident in France, Austria, Italy, resident of the NKVD and adviser to the Republican government on security in Spain. (surname)
Super Diamond
Ukrainian astronomer (1880-1954)
Catherine's favorite
Favorite of Catherine the Great
Favorite of Catherine II
Catherine's favorite and the city on Vyatka

History of mining in the world

The first country where diamond mining began was India. In the sacred Indian books - the Vedas - diamond is mentioned several thousand years BC. The diamond-bearing region extended over a large area of the mountainous part of India, called the Deccan, stretching from the Penner River in the state of Madras in a northern direction to the Son and Ken rivers flowing into the island. Ganges in the province of Pradesh. The largest Indian diamonds, Kokhinoor, Orlov and others, were found in the rich Golconda mines, located in the lower reaches of the Kistna River, near the city of Ellura.

Production in India

For a long time, the methods of diamond mining in India were shrouded in deep secrecy. The owners of the stones deliberately invested the diamond with mystery in order to raise its price. Therefore, in Indian literature, truth was so mixed up with fiction that it was impossible to separate them from each other. A.E. Fersman, in his book “Essays on the History of Stone,” cites one such legend found in Aristotle’s stories about precious stones. Diamonds in India and Ceylon were found in valleys so deep that the bottom was not visible. When Alexander the Great came across such a valley during his campaign in India, he wished to get diamonds. However, none of the people dared to go down into the abyss where there were poisonous snakes. On the advice of the sages accompanying him, Alexander ordered pieces of raw meat to be thrown to the bottom of the abyss. The birds of prey flying behind the army, descending for meat, picked up the diamonds that had stuck to it. Diamonds mined in this way were the size of lentils, sometimes as big as half a pea. This legend is found in Indian literary sources in different versions. Stories about mining diamonds from inaccessible abysses with the help of birds were widespread in ancient literature. They are available in Epiphanius of Cyprus, in the Armenian collection on stones, in the Russian ABC Book, in Marco Polo and others. These legends were wittily ridiculed at the beginning of our era by the outstanding Uzbek naturalist Biruni (973-1048). This is what he wrote in his book “Collected Information for the Knowledge of Jewels (Mineralogy)”: “Many fables are told about diamond mines and how diamonds are found. So, among the diamond’s nicknames is the name “Eagle Stone”; and it was given to him, as they say, because diamond seekers cover a nest with eagle chicks with glass, and the eagle, seeing him and not being able to penetrate the nest, flies away, brings the diamond and places it on the glass. When a lot of diamonds have been collected, the seekers take them and remove the glass, so that the eagle will think that he has achieved success in what he did; after a while they again put the glass on the nest and the eagle again brings diamonds... the story as a whole is stupidity, nonsense and fiction. Equally absurd is the statement that all the diamonds that exist now are those that Dhu-l-Qarnain mined from the valley (of diamonds). There were snakes there that people died from looking at. And so he ordered a mirror to be carried in front, behind which those who carried it were hiding. When the snakes saw themselves (in the mirror), they immediately died. But even before that, one snake saw another and did not die, and yet the body itself would be more capable of killing than its reflection in the mirror. If what they say concerns only people, then why should the snake die when it sees itself in the mirror? And finally, if people learned what Dhu-l-Qarnain came up with, then what prevents them from repeating it? business after that? There are also people who claim, when talking about diamonds, that they are in an abyss where there is no passage or descent for anyone, and that the people who hunt them cut the body of the animal into pieces and throw pieces of fresh meat there, which fall on the diamonds , and they stick to them. And there are eagles and vultures flying there, who know these places and are accustomed to such actions of people, have ceased to be afraid of them and have become tamed to them. They grab the meat and carry it to the edge of the gorge, where they begin to devour it, shaking off everything that has stuck to it... Then people come and pick up what might fall from the diamonds there. That is why it is called “Eagle Stone”. And there is no end to this nonsense." Biruni. Collection of information for knowledge of jewelry. The spread of all kinds of legends was facilitated by the owners of diamonds themselves, since investing the stone with mystery and fables about the difficulties of its extraction helped set high prices. Meanwhile, diamond mining was carried out in a fairly simple and accessible way. Biruni indicates that diamond sand was washed in the same way as gold-bearing sand; the sand was washed away from the conical tray, and the diamond settled below. In India, as a rule, only high-quality large stones were mined, which could be used as jewelry in their natural form after grinding the edges. Diamonds unsuitable for this purpose were thrown into dumps. There was already a caste classification here in ancient times. White crystals belonged to the highest caste of “brahmins”, with a reddish tint - to “kshatriyas”, greenish ones - to “voishya”, gray ones - to “sudras”. The “Brahmins” had the highest Value, the “Sudras” the lowest. This was the first attempt to classify by color. Until the 10th century AD, India was the world's only supplier of diamonds. In the 6th-10th centuries AD, Indian emigrants penetrated the island of Borneo (Kalimantan) and discovered rich diamond deposits here in the basin of the Landak, Sikoyam and Sarawak rivers, which flow into the river. Kapuas in the west of the island. At the end of the 17th century, minerals were discovered on the Tana-Lyaut Peninsula (in the basin of the Martapura River and its tributaries Riam-Kiva, Riam-Kanan and Banjo-Irang), near the city of Banjermaski (in the southeast of the island). The island of Borneo, together with India, were the main suppliers until the middle of the 18th century, and only they supplied the world market with diamonds.

Production in Brazil

In 1695, in Brazil, in the state of Minas Gerais, prospector Anthony Rodrigo Ardao discovered the first diamonds while panning for gold in Tejuco (now Diamantina). But then, out of ignorance, they were not given much importance, and the found crystals were used as stamps during the game. This went on for almost 30 years. In 1725, Bernardo da Francesco Labo was the first to announce the discovery of diamonds. Lisbon experts confirmed that the stones found are indeed diamonds. A diamond rush has begun in Brazil. Prospectors - individuals and groups of enterprising people rushed to search for and mine diamonds. So many of the latter were mined that already in 1727, i.e. two years after Labo’s application, the price of diamonds fell sharply. In order to maintain high prices on the world market, diamond traders resorted to all sorts of tricks. Dutch traders, for example, who controlled the supply of diamonds from India, declared that no diamonds had been discovered in Brazil at all and that supposedly the so-called “Brazilian” diamonds were nothing more than low-grade Goan diamonds brought to Brazil, from where they were exported to Europe disguised as Indian. In the 70s of the 18th century, diamonds were discovered in the states of Goiás and Mato Grosso. Their production has increased even more. If from 1730 to 1740 200,000 carats were mined, then from 1741 to 1771 there were already 1,666,569 carats. The decline in diamond prices was halted by the Portuguese government, which imposed high taxes and such onerous conditions that diamond mining in Brazil ceased. In 1772, diamond mining was declared a state monopoly. In 1822, Brazil freed itself from Portuguese rule and became an independent state. The country's government has again allowed private individuals to mine diamonds. In 1844, Brazil's diamond industry received a new boost with the discovery of diamonds in the state of Bahia. It was here that black diamond, carbonado, was first discovered. For a century and a half, Brazil was the main supplier of stones to the world market, but then its glory faded due to the discovery of the richest South African deposits.

Production in Australia

In 1851, gold and tin placers were discovered during panning in Australia. But only the placers of New South Wales, discovered in 1859-1867, turned out to be industrial, where in some years up to 4,000 carats were mined. The increase in production occurred until 1915, when 186,963 carats were obtained, after which their production fell sharply due to the depletion of placers; it now produces just over 200 carats a year.

The fate of "Almaz"

Almost forty years have passed since the Soviet military orbital station Almaz was put into operation in manned mode.
However, it should immediately be noted that the public learned much later that the station launched into space was Almaz, as well as what it was actually intended for. And then, in 1974, an official announcement was made about the launch of an orbital station called Salyut-3, where Soviet cosmonauts conducted research and experiments exclusively for peaceful purposes. Scientists have long dreamed of a time when it would be possible to build entire space settlements in orbit around the planet. One of the first scientists who described in detail not so much the space station as the living conditions on this station was K. Tsiolkovsky.

Back in 1923, the German scientist Obert Hermann published his article entitled “Rocket in Planetary Space.” In this work, proposals were made for the first time regarding the creation of a manned space station for observing the Earth and meteorological changes, using it as a communications satellite, and a refueling station for spacecraft. The scientist was convinced of the need to create an artificial gravity station on board so that the crew could work normally.

Five years after the appearance of Herman’s work, in 1928, a large number of articles appeared in one of the German publications that were devoted to orbital stations. The author of all these works was Guido von Pirquet. Unlike Herman's work. These articles did not make a single proposal regarding the design of the station itself, but they presented a serious analysis of the necessary characteristics that a spacecraft must have in order to make a successful flight to the planets and into low-Earth orbit.

In 1928, even a whole book appeared entirely dedicated to orbital stations. Its author was captain of the Austrian army Potochnik, who took the pseudonym Hermann Nordung. The author was confident that the station should have three compartments in its structure (living compartment, observatory and power plant), connected to each other using air hoses and electrical cables. The book also proposed placing a space laboratory into orbit with an orbital period of 24 hours.

By the way, most books on space flight that appeared in the 1930s mentioned space stations. But at the same time, most authors were confident that the appearance of stations would become possible only if a person was able to go beyond the atmosphere. Therefore, little attention was paid to them, but the main problem was how to overcome gravity.

Then the Second World War began, which forced scientists to abandon orbital stations for six long years. And during this period of time, mentions of them could only be found in science fiction books. It was thanks to this that after the war, experts returned to the idea of creating an orbital station. And these ideas began to acquire real features with the advent of the space age.

In the Soviet Union, one of the first developments in this area was the program to create a manned orbital station called Almaz, the concept of which was formulated in early October 1964 during a meeting of the enterprise management by OKB-52 General Designer Vladimir Chelomey. It was assumed that the station would solve defense, scientific and national economic problems. However, first of all, the designer saw in it a fairly powerful means for conducting operational space reconnaissance.

On October 27, 1965, an order appeared from the Minister of General Engineering of the Soviet Union. At the same time, work began on creating the system. The station's draft design was completed in 1966. At the same time, the Ministry of Defense chose Almaz for implementation as an intelligence system. And the Resolution of the Council of Ministers and the Central Committee of the CPSU of August 14, 1967 determined the development time frame and tactical and technical calculations.

Initially, it was planned to launch the station together with the return vehicle for the crew. This solution had a great advantage, because work on board could begin immediately. But very soon it became obvious that this option also had a very significant drawback - the presence of a heavy apparatus in the station significantly reduced the weight of the reconnaissance equipment that was necessary for conducting research.

Therefore, in the end, the final preliminary design of the Almaz consisted of a base unit without a return vehicle, as well as a transport supply ship, which was equipped with this device. The project was approved in 1967 by the Interdepartmental Commission.

It should be noted that all the equipment that was developed for the complex was the most complex and advanced at that time. So, for example, it was planned to make a unique camera as the main means of observation, with a mirror diameter of about 2 meters and a focal length of about 10 meters.

It was assumed that Almaz would operate in manned mode. And the crew will change every three months. The three cosmonauts worked in stages. At the first stage, one of the cosmonauts worked with a camera, another did training on simulators, and the third rested. Shift changes were carried out every 8 hours. In addition, the transport supply ship had to deliver the necessary consumables to the station, in particular, food, water, and photographic film. While the ship was still in the process of manufacturing, these functions were planned to be assigned to the Soyuz ship.

While developing their station, Soviet specialists were well aware that in the United States of America during the same period of time they were creating interceptor satellites and inspection satellites. Therefore, Almaz developers began to think about the need to create protection from enemy attacks. The station was equipped with a Nudelman-Richter PR-23 aircraft cannon, the firing range of which was about 3 kilometers, and the rate of fire was about 950 rounds per minute. At the same time, in space, recoil during firing was compensated by turning on rigid orientation engines or propulsion engines. This gun was a purely defensive weapon, and no one planned to use it as a weapon to attack enemy space stations and ships. Moreover, it was very difficult to do this. Therefore, only one mention of the actual testing of the gun remains in the documents. This happened at the end of January 1975, when work on all programs was completed on board the Almaz-2 (Salyut-3) station. Then a single salvo was fired.

But that’s for later, because at the end of the 60s, the flight of Salyut-3 was not even dreamed of. Then the main questions were somewhat different. At the beginning of 1970, two flight and eight test bench units of the station were manufactured, and in addition, the development of on-board systems was actively carried out. Cosmonaut training for Almaz also began, which was carried out at the Cosmonaut Training Center.

The first group of cosmonauts for the station was formed back in 1966. Its members included L. Demin, L. Vorobyov, V. Lazarev and A. Matinchenko. The group was led by Soviet pilot-cosmonaut P. Belyaev, who by that time had already been in space on Voskhod-2. However, since at that time “Almaz” existed only on paper, the preparation was theoretical.

In 1968, V. Rozhdestvensky, V. Preobrazhensky, A. Fedorov, V. Shcheglov, E. Khludeev and O. Yakovlev were also included in the group of cosmonauts for Almaz, and at the end of the same year the group included G. Dobrovolsky and V. Zholobov. The following year, the group was supplemented by V. Isakov, S. Gaidukov, V. Kozelsky. P. Popovich became the head of the cosmonaut training center. In 1970, he was replaced in his post by G. Shonin, and V. Alekseev, Yu. Glazkov, M. Burdaev, V. Zudov, A. Petrushenko, M. Lisun, G. Sarafanov, N. Porvatkin were transferred to the “diamond” group , E. Stepanov.

Thus, at the beginning of 1971, the “diamond” group became the most numerous in the center of military cosmonauts for the entire period of its existence. This is evidence of the enormous importance attached to this top-secret military program. Subsequently, there were constant changes in the composition of the crews, so there is no way to talk about all of them.

As for the creation of the complex itself, it was carried out in difficult conditions. That is why among the main issues that worried the military was the problem of prompt delivery of intelligence data to Earth. It was not very convenient to use a transport ship for such purposes, because the timing of their landings rarely coincided with military needs.

To solve this problem, the development of “data release capsules” began, which, as most experts believed, could become exactly the object for which the entire station was built. The crew had to equip the capsule with film and shoot it through the launch chamber at the right moment. Film processing was carried out under terrestrial conditions.

At first glance, everything looked as if the Almaz project had everything in place: acceptable working conditions, powerful reconnaissance equipment, and a means of prompt delivery of information. Moreover, the rocket that was supposed to launch the station into space had been ready for a long time and was flying successfully.

But in 1970, at a time when Almaz was almost ready, some work on the complex was transferred to RSC Energia (at that time TsKBEM). This enterprise hastily worked to create a long-term orbital station, which, under the name “Salyut,” opened the era of orbital stations. But work on Almaz stopped. It is for this reason that the further fate of the complex was not very favorable. However, in 1973, the first Almaz orbital station was ready. She was taken to Baikonur. And so that potential opponents (read: Americans) would not guess what the true purpose of the device is, it was decided to give it the name “Salyut-2”.

Initially, it was planned that the crew would be sent into space ten days after the station’s flight. However, just before the launch began, an urgent message came from Energia that the launch was being postponed for technical reasons. What exactly these reasons were is still unknown. Since the launch vehicle was already filled with fuel, management decided not to delay the launch, but instead to extend the duration of the station’s autonomous flight. Thus, on April 3, 1973, the Almaz orbital station, which was called Salyut-2, was launched into orbit. For two weeks it was successfully in space, but on the night of April 15, the compartments depressurized, and soon telemetry data stopped receiving. The device itself began to quickly lose altitude. There are assumptions that the depressurization occurred as a result of a collision of the station with debris from space debris, which arose due to the explosion of residual fuel in the third stage of the Proton-K launch vehicle, with the help of which the station was delivered into orbit. It is clear that in the current situation the crew’s start was cancelled. And at the end of April the station completely burned down in the dense layers of the atmosphere. Therefore, the crew who were preparing for the flight on Salyut-2 began preparing for the flight on Salyut-3.

Under the name of the third Salyut, the first operational model of the Almaz military station was launched. This happened on June 25, 1974. And already on July 4, the first crew consisting of Yu. Artyukhin and P. Popovich arrived on board. They worked on board the Almaz for two weeks, after which they returned to Earth. The flight went relatively well. The second crew, consisting of G. Sarafanov and L. Demin, launched on July 15 aboard Soyuz-15. They also had to dock with a military station and work on board for 25 days. However, this time everything went wrong. When the stage of long-range rendezvous began on the second day, the cosmonauts realized that the propulsion system was working with major malfunctions: instead of acceleration, there was braking and vice versa. No attempts to fix engine problems brought results. In addition, the fuel supply was running out. Therefore, the astronauts decided to begin negotiations with the Earth, and as a result they received an order to prepare for landing. But further events developed unfavorably. When the braking motor was ready to turn on, the gyroscopes spun up. The astronauts were monitoring the onboard stopwatch and ammeter, when suddenly the ammeter began to go off scale. People were well aware that nothing might work out with the landing, but they decided to take a chance. They were lucky: the engine managed to push the ship out of orbit. And even a thunderstorm during landing seemed like a real trifle to the astronauts. As a result, after landing, a debriefing was held. It is clear that the crew members were made to blame, although in reality they themselves became victims of circumstances. After the failure, the operation of the Salyut-3 spacecraft in manned mode was stopped, and the flight on Soyuz-16 by V. Zholobov and B. Volynov was cancelled.

The launch of the new Almaz took place on June 22, 1976. This time it was called “Salyut-5”. Two crews worked on board the ship: “Soyuz-21” V. Zholobov and B. Volynov and “Soyuz-24” Yu. Glazkov and V. Gorbatko. However, as before, working on board the ship was not without problems.

The Soyuz-21 spacecraft launched on July 6, 1976. It was expected that he would stay in space for 60 days. Moreover, the military wanted to increase the flight duration to 90 days, but this was impossible for objective reasons. The spacecraft's flight was a reconnaissance mission, so the cosmonauts' tasks included regularly replacing the film in the camera and developing it. During the first month of operation, everything was fine, if you do not take into account the unpleasant smell in the station's departments. The astronauts were sure that the reason for it lay in the release of toxic fuel vapors into the atmosphere, as well as in the material of the internal lining of the ship. In addition, it did not affect daily work in any way. However, troubles soon began. On the 42nd day, an alarm suddenly sounded, the lights and most of the on-board instruments went out. The astronauts did not understand what was happening and how serious it could be. The situation was getting worse every minute. The air regeneration system stopped working, and oxygen reserves were becoming increasingly scarce. Despite this, the crew members managed to bring the ship back to normal.

But the accident could not pass without a trace. Zholobov began to suffer from headaches and insomnia. Not a single medicine that was in the on-board first aid kit helped. Every day the astronaut got worse. For a certain period of time, nothing was reported about Zholobov’s illness, but soon, in one of the sessions, the cosmonaut himself complained of feeling unwell. Negotiations began, as a result of which on the 49th day an order was received to return.

During the debriefing, many speculations were made as to what actually happened on board the ship. Most were inclined to think that the crew turned out to be psychologically incompatible, and that by the end of the second month in space, the crew members had quarreled with each other so much that some even began to think about using weapons. However, blaming everything on the human factor is always much easier than making efforts to ensure safe flights.

The next flight of Almaz took place in October of the same 1976. The crew consisting of V. Zudov and V. Rozhdestvensky had to conduct atmospheric research and also check the serviceability of the station’s life support systems. And only after this it was possible to begin two months of reconnaissance work on board the ship. The next day after the launch, the station and the ship began to approach each other. Everything went according to schedule, the equipment worked without failures. But when there were about two hundred meters between the objects, something happened that came as a big surprise to both the crew and the leadership on Earth: the parameters of the ship’s motion relative to the station, laid down in the program, did not coincide with the real values. All this caused the acceleration of management processes, which required immediate intervention. Since the measuring equipment was not working correctly, the order was given to cancel the docking and prepare to return. And two days later, the ship, having left orbit, splashed down on Lake Tengiz (by the way, the only one in the entire history of Soviet cosmonautics). The astronauts waited for nine hours to be rescued from the lander, which ran aground.

Next, Yu. Glazkov and V. Gorbatko visited the station. Subsequently, it was planned that another expedition consisting of A. Berezovoy and M. Lisun would go to the station. The launch was planned for March 1977. However, due to certain circumstances, the operation of Salyut-5 in manned mode was discontinued, and in early August 1977 the station sank in the Pacific Ocean.

Thus ended the history of the orbital station called Almaz. Of course, there were also projects for a second generation station, provided for by a resolution of the Council of Ministers and the Central Committee of the CPSU of the Soviet Union, but that is a completely different story.

Materials used: https://epizodsspace.airbase.ru/bibl/molodtsov/01/07.html https://www.cosmoworld.ru/spaceencyclopedia/publications/index.shtml?zhelez_56.html https://epizodsspace.airbase .ru/bibl/kr/1992/1-almaz.html https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%BE%D1%8E%D0%B7_(%D0%BA%D0% BE%D1%81%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%BA%D0%BE%D1%80% D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%BB%D1%8C) https://alternathistory.org.ua/kosmicheskaya-pushka-pod-bryukhom-almaza

Production in Russia

The first statement about the possibility of finding diamonds in Russia belongs to the founder of Russian mining science M.V. Lomonosov, who back in 1763 wrote in his treatise “The First Foundations of Metallurgy, or Ore Mining”: “By many evidences, I conclude that in the northern terrestrial in the depths of the earth, nature reigns extensively and richly... Considering this and imagining the time when elephants and grass from the southern lands were growing in the north, we cannot doubt that diamonds, yachts and other expensive stones could have appeared, and they could be found, as recently silver and gold , which our ancestors did not know." Later, in 1823, the famous naturalist of the 19th century A. Humboldt noted the similarity of the geology of the placers of the Urals and Brazil, where diamonds are found in placer deposits together with gold and platinum. According to this scientist, diamonds in the Urals should have been discovered soon.
In 1828, at a reception at the Russian court, Humboldt declared that he would not return from his trip to the Urals without the “first Russian diamond.” On July 5, 1829, in the Urals, in the area of the Holy Cross gold placer, 14-year-old Pavel Popov found the first diamond crystal, which weighed half a carat. Three days later, a second crystal weighing 2/3 carats was found, and a few days later a third crystal weighing 1/g carat was found. In subsequent years, they were discovered in other places of the Urals: on the eastern slope (1831), on the river. Kushayke is a left tributary of the river. Saldy (1838); at the Uspensky mine in Verkhneuralsky district (1839); along the river Silver (1876). The next discovery of a diamond dates back to 1884 at a placer along the river. Crane - tributary of the river. Is, in 1891 in the placer of the river. M. Sap, near the village of Ayatsky. In 1892, they were found on gold-bearing placers in the Southern Urals. One diamond was found near the village of Kochkar, the other - at the Viktorovsky mine along the river. Kamenka. Two diamonds were found along the river in 1895. Polozhikhe, near the village of Koltyshi. There are references to the discovery of two diamonds along the river. Bobrovka in Nizhne Tagil region. During the period from 1829 to 1858, 131 crystals weighing a total of 59.5 carats were found at the Krestovozdvizhensky gold mines, where the first diamond was found. In total, 239 diamonds with a total weight of 79,242 carats were found in the Urals from 1829 to 1920. The largest stone found weighed about 3 carats. Almost all the crystals were found by chance by prospectors while panning gold-bearing sands. Very few special searches for diamonds were carried out. There is information about such searches only in Adolfovsky Log (Ural). The owners of gold mines and the management of state-owned factories tried to organize ski. Thus, in 1828, a “highest decree” was widely published regarding state-owned factories, which read: “To encourage the discovery of diamonds, decent monetary rewards should be established for those who will find this precious mineral in the districts of state-owned factories.” In 1888 and 1895 At the Krestovozdvizhensky mines, special exhibitions of diamond crystals were organized in order to familiarize prospectors with the external features of this precious stone. In 1898, the former owner of the Krestovozdvizhensky mines, P. Shuvalov, invited the French engineer B. Boutan, who tried to introduce here the search methods used in the placers of South Africa, as well as the systematic excavation of the placer, depositing the washed material and dismantling the concentrate on tables. Later, in 1902-1903, exploration for diamonds was once again carried out at the Adolfovsky and Krestovozdvizhensky placers with the removal of ore from the washed material. However, the work carried out did not produce positive results. In other regions of our country, isolated finds of diamonds were known in the Yenisei taiga (along the Melnichnaya River and Tochilny Klyuch) and on the Kola Peninsula (along the Paz River). In 1936, indications were received of the diamond potential of the Eastern Sayan, where microscopic fragments of diamond were recorded in the bedrock—in carbonaceous peridotite, but were later not confirmed. According to literary data, during the period from 1829 to 1937, 270-300 crystals were found in Russia, and 250 crystals were discovered on the western slope of the Middle Urals. However, industrial diamond deposits were not found in any area. The reasons for this failure are obviously that geological, prospecting and exploration work was carried out on a small scale; The indigenous sources of diamond placers were not reliably known, and the views of scientists on the issue of the origin of diamonds in indigenous deposits were very different; there were no sufficiently reliable methods for searching, exploration, testing and identifying diamonds in exploration samples. A new period in the history of diamond research in our country began in 1938. Since that time, prospecting and exploration work for diamonds has been carried out on a large scale. For these purposes, many geological organizations and research institutes of the country were involved. A number of institutes have begun to develop methods and technologies for the enrichment of diamond-bearing rocks. As a result of prospecting work carried out in 1938-1939, a number of diamond-bearing placers were discovered in the Middle Urals, in the lower and middle reaches of the river. Koiva and in the middle reaches of the river. Vizhay. Industrial diamond mining in the USSR began in 1941. As a result of geological prospecting and exploration work in 1941-1945. A number of new deposits were discovered in the Middle Urals. However, all of them were characterized by low diamond content and small reserves. Therefore, there was a need to strengthen geological prospecting work in the Urals in order to search for richer deposits, to organize scientific and geological prospecting work in new areas of the country. To accomplish these tasks, prospecting and exploration work in the Urals was significantly expanded and diamond searches were organized in the Yenisei Ridge, in the Eastern Sayan, in the basin of the Angara and Podkamennaya Tunguska rivers, on the Kola Peninsula, in the Far East, in Eastern and Western Siberia and in the North Caucasus . At the same time, diamond mining was developing in the Urals, for which new enterprises were built, more productive extraction methods were developed and improved. However, the indicated rates of development of geological exploration and production work turned out to be insufficient for a sharp increase in production. The first information about diamond finds in the river basin. Vilyuy in Yakutia was reported by the Yakut local historian, self-taught geologist Pyotr Khrisanfovich Starovatov. In his article “Mineral riches of the Vilyui River basin.” Before the revolution of two very valuable stones on the rivers Chone and Kempendyae. One miner was panning for gold on Chon. In a shallow place he saw a stone, the play of which in the sun attracted his attention. A gold buyer who came from the city of Olekminsk exchanged this stone for one and a half pounds of tobacco. The next year, the buyer again came to the same place and began asking about the prospector from whom he bought the stone. The prospector was no longer here. The buyer was asked: “Why are you looking for this prospector?” “I sold the stone I received from him at a very high price, I would like to add,” was the answer... The second incident occurred at the Kempendyai resort with a certain Isaev, who profitably exchanged one stone for goods that were very valuable at that time. In this article, Starovatov does not call the “valuable stones” diamonds, but apparently they were. According to Yakut local historian Modest Krotov, who studied Starovatov’s archive, it is known that in September 1939, the Central Geological Exploration Organizations had already received from Starovatov specific information about the finds of diamonds in the river basin. Vilyui; this information is based not on oral accounts of eyewitnesses, but on Starovatov’s own findings. So far, nothing has been mentioned about Starovatov’s activities in the literature on Yakut diamonds. It was first mentioned by Doctor of Technical Sciences N.V. Chersky in his book “The Wealth of the Subsoil of Yakutia”. Meanwhile, Kh. Starovatov is essentially the first person to point out the presence of the river in the basin. Vilyuy diamonds. In 1949, diamonds were discovered in Yakutia along the river. Vilyui, in connection with which the center of geological exploration was moved to the Siberian platform. In 1950, diamonds were found in the river valley. Marzhi, and in subsequent years, many diamond-containing placers were discovered in the Vilyui region: along the rivers Vilyui, Markha, M. Botuobiya, Daldyn, Tyung, Morkoka, etc. A remarkable event was marked in 1954, when the first kimberlite pipe was discovered, which turned out to be diamond-bearing. Subsequent exploration showed that the diamond content of this pipe was low and it turned out to be non-commercial, but the significance of this discovery is certainly great. The debate about the sources of Siberian diamonds ended, since everyone could see both the diamonds in the rock and the typical companion of diamond - blood-red pyrope. In addition, the kimberlites themselves - the source rocks of diamonds - were of great scientific interest. In the same year, rich diamond placers were discovered in the river basin system. Botuobia and especially along the river. Irelyakh.

In June 1955, rich primary diamond deposits were discovered simultaneously in two areas: in Maly Botuobinsky - the Mir kimberlite pipe and in Daldynsky - the Udachnaya kimberlite pipe, and since 1956, along with exploration, associated diamond mining has been successfully going on here . In 1957, experimental industrial diamond mining began at the Mir pipe. Placer and primary diamond deposits discovered in 1954-1955. in the Vilyuisky district of the Republic of Yakutia, are the largest deposits of world importance. On their basis, a diamond industry has been created, which fully meets our country’s needs for diamonds.

The first orbital station: how Almaz became Salyut

On April 19, 1971, the Proton launch vehicle launched the first ever long-term orbital station, Salyut, into space. From that day on, an unprecedented program for the exploration of near-Earth space began, which became the true pride of the Soviet rocket and space industry. However, at that time, few people knew that orbital stations were created primarily to solve military problems.

Fantastic idea

The idea of creating orbital stations belongs to the founders of astronautics. Many people, including Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, wrote about the need to create such stations before flying to other planets. The orbital stations were to serve as shipyards, scientific laboratories, observatories and factories. In addition, on board astronauts could master life in fundamentally new living conditions: in weightlessness, under the influence of cosmic radiation, in an artificial atmosphere.

Options for military use were also considered. For example, the scientist Hermann Oberth, who laid the foundations of German rocket science, argued in his book “The Rocket into Outer Space” (Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen, 1923) that the future station could be used for reconnaissance, control of troops and fleets, and also as a weapon of mass destruction . To do this, he proposed building a giant mirror with a diameter of 100 km next to it, which could focus the sun's rays, influencing the climate and, if necessary, causing damage to the enemy. Obert wrote:

“Since such a mirror, unfortunately, could also have very important strategic significance (blowing up military factories, causing whirlwinds and thunderstorms, destroying marching troops and their convoys, burning entire cities and, in general, causing great destruction), it is not excluded that that one of the cultural countries could begin to implement this project in the foreseeable future - especially since in peacetime most of the invested capital would pay for itself.”

Of course, all these ideas were well known to Soviet designers of rocket and space technology. At the same time, they considered the orbital station primarily as an “intermediate site” for interplanetary flights. For example, Sergei Korolev, who headed the Special Design Bureau No. 1 of the State Committee for Defense Equipment (OKB-1 GKOT), in the early 60s began developing the concepts of a Heavy Interplanetary Vehicle (TMK) and a Heavy Orbital Station (TOS).

The operating model of the “donut” orbital station, first presented on June 16, 1959 in the “Electrification of the USSR” pavilion at VDNKh. The project of this station is mistakenly attributed to K. Tsiolkovsky. Photo of M. Filimonov from the RIA Novosti archive.

Korolev’s surviving notebook contains relevant considerations in this regard, dated September 14, 1962:

“Issues related to weightlessness are basic!
Apparently, here the experiments on the Soyuz and on the TOS will make it possible to obtain long and very long durations (up to 1 year) of stay in weightlessness conditions (which at 1 year solves the problem of flight to nearby planets, since periods of 3-5 years will already be approximately same order).
During a long-term space flight, it will be possible to thoroughly check:
the effect of weightlessness on different people and on a sufficiently large number of people,
various medical and biological agents,
various mechanical means of temporary and permanent artificial gravity.
It will be possible for the first time to deploy real medical and biological research and observations in outer space under real conditions, etc.
All equipment for longer flights will also be checked here.
Apparently, the creation of TOS is a necessary stage for long-term flights in outer space, since here people and all equipment will be trained near the Earth (i.e., easily accessible from the Earth).
This is an important methodological step! Without which you cannot pass...”

At the same time, working for the military, Korolev was aware that what was expected of him, first of all, were projects that would help strengthen the country’s defense capability. Therefore, along with general considerations, he proposed very specific ideas for using the station as a combat spacecraft.

Military orbital station TOS designed by OKB-1. astronautix.com

The project for a military version of TOS began with the advent of Resolution of the CPSU Central Committee and the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 715-296 of June 23, 1960 “On the creation of powerful launch vehicles, satellites, spacecraft and space exploration in 1960-1967.”

Department No. 9 of OKB-1 completed the development of the concept of the station in May 1961, and the explanatory note indicated that in addition to solving scientific and technical problems, TOS could be used for radio and photographic reconnaissance, combating satellites and bombing. The station was supposed to rotate around its own axis, creating artificial gravity for greater crew comfort.

Over the course of four years, the project, which received the unofficial name “Star” (in honor of Alexander Belyaev’s novel “The Star of KETS”), was modified many times. In 1965, the draft version of the combat TOS was roughly ready, but the concept changed again. Now OKB-1 was required to design a Multi-Purpose Space Base-Station (MSBS), which was supposed to serve as a “space port”: if necessary, other orbital vehicles (mainly reconnaissance vehicles) would enter it for the delivery of photographic materials, recharging, refueling, prevention and repair .

Multipurpose space base-station MBKS designed by TsKBEM. astronautix.com

In January 1966, Korolev died, and his place in OKB-1, transformed into TsKBEM (Central Design Bureau of Experimental Mechanical Engineering), was taken by Vasily Mishin. He entrusted the work on the MKBS to ballistics specialist Vitaly Bezverbom. According to the new version, the station, which consisted of two large blocks weighing over 80 tons each, was supposed to accommodate crews of 6-10 people. The MKBS was going to be equipped with various types of anti-missile and anti-space weapons, including beam weapons.

Development of the project was stopped in the early 70s in favor of the creation of a long-term orbital station (DOS) 17K, called Salyut.

Project "Almaz"

On October 12, 1964, a meeting of the enterprise management was held at the Experimental Design Bureau No. 52 of the State Committee for Aviation Technology (OKB-52 GKAT), located in Reutovo near Moscow. At it, general designer Vladimir Chelomey proposed the concept of an orbital station to solve “defense, scientific and national economic problems”

. Chelomey, who devoted many years to the design of advanced military equipment, saw in such a station a means of operational space reconnaissance, superior in its capabilities to any analogues created by that time.

Work on it began by order of the Minister of General Engineering dated October 27, 1965. A preliminary design for the station, called Almaz, was released in 1966. The station was supposed to be launched into orbit by a Proton launch vehicle (UR-500K) with a payload capacity of 20 tons, which was also created at OKB-52.

Initially, the astronauts were going to be launched along with the station - in a return vehicle located in its front part. A more detailed analysis revealed that such a scheme has serious drawbacks. The presence of a heavy return vehicle significantly influenced the mass of the target equipment towards a decrease, which in itself reduced the potential of the station. In the end, this idea was abandoned, deciding to test the docking process on the Soyuz maneuvering spacecraft, which at that time were being developed at TsKBEM.

The Almaz rocket and space complex project, which included a base unit and a TKS supply transport ship, was approved in August 1967. It was supposed to become a more advanced orbital reconnaissance aircraft than the automatic Zenits, giving an obvious advantage in the speed of receiving and processing information.

The astronauts could view the Earth in the visible and infrared ranges of the spectrum through powerful “space binoculars.” When they saw something interesting, they would give the command to take a series of pictures. The film was developed on board under the control of the crew. Noteworthy fragments of the resulting images were transmitted to Earth via a television channel. The same areas of the planet could be viewed using side-scan radar.

Almaz orbital station designed by TsKBM. Poster from the archives of NPO Mashinostroyenia.

The equipment that was created for the station was, by the standards of that time, the most advanced, very complex and expensive. In particular, the main means of observation from orbit was to be the unique Agat camera with a focal length of up to 10 m and a main mirror diameter of 1.9 m, comparable in resolution to modern orbital telescopes. The employees of the Central Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering (TsKBM; this name was assigned to OKB-52 in 1966) and the Krasnogorsk Mechanical Plant (KMZ), which took over the Agat, spent three months just to coordinate the technical characteristics of the camera. At the same time, the blank for the production of the mirror had to cool in the mold for a year and a half!

In 1968, the first models of Almaz appeared. Structurally, the station was divided into two parts, which can be roughly called compartments of small and large diameters. The internal volume of the station included household, working, instrument and transition zones.

The living area with several viewing windows was located in a small-diameter compartment and was intended for astronauts to rest, eat and conduct medical experiments. At one side there were chairs, a table with canned food warmers, water containers and food containers. A life support system control panel was mounted above the table. On the other side there are cabinets with medical equipment, sets of linen, household items and personal belongings, a tape recorder with a music library and a radio. The end of the living area was given over to sleeping places.

Large optical telescope and camera ASA-34R of the Agat system. Photo by I. Marinin from the archives of the “Cosmonautics News” magazine.

The household area was followed by the work area. Its rear part was occupied by the Agat-1 equipment and the station control system. A large optical telescope with a variable focal length was combined with an ASA-34R wide-film camera and occupied a sealed niche from floor to ceiling. In the work area there was a developing machine for processing photographic film and a light table, on which it was possible to examine the developed frames in detail, with magnification. The most interesting and important fragments were read, encoded and transmitted to Earth via radio channel.

In the working area of the large-diameter compartment there were station control and monitoring panels, a pilot’s console with a station position indicator, an orientation control knob, an OD-4M optical visor (which made it possible to “stop” the movement of the earth’s surface and observe individual areas with a resolution of 7-8 m), a panoramic view - a POU-11 survey device for a wide view of the earth’s surface and a “Falcon” all-round viewing periscope for monitoring outer space.

The command and control center of the Almaz station with the OD-4M optical device, the POU-11 panoramic survey device (bottom right) and the Sokol all-round viewing periscope (top right). Photo by I. Marinin from the archives of the “Cosmonautics News” magazine.

In addition, Pechora television equipment and an information retrieval system were placed in the work area to promptly obtain data on the operation of the equipment. A complex exercise machine with a treadmill and a mass meter (mass meter) were also installed there. Of course, there was also a gateway for removing waste containers, a toilet, and a cabinet with personal hygiene items.

The instrument area housed the equipment and units of the station’s onboard systems: orientation and motion control, life support, power supply, radio communications, telemetry, radio command line and other systems. This entire complex was controlled by the Argon-16A digital computer. Heat exchanger panels, orientation system sensors, telemetry and radio communication antennas were mounted outside the pressurized compartment.

The transition zone was spherical in shape and rigidly connected to the large-diameter working zone. A pressurized hatch was located between the transition and working areas. Outside, at the end of the transition zone, there was a passive docking unit of the “Cone” type with a manhole for astronauts. At the top of the zone a hatch was made for spacewalks; there was also a container for storing spacesuits.

The Almaz designers knew that work was underway in the United States on projects for inspector satellites and interceptor ships. To protect the station from the enemy, it was equipped with a Nudelman-Richter NR-23 aircraft cannon, modifying the finished tail gun of the Tu-22 jet bomber. The firing range at orbital targets had to be at least 3000 m.

The space gun fired 950 shots per minute, and a projectile weighing 200 g flew at a speed of 690 m/s. In ground tests at a range of more than a kilometer, a cannon salvo cut a metal gasoline barrel in half. The gun was installed under the “belly” of the station - it could be aimed at an enemy object through a special sight, turning the entire station manually. Recoil when firing in the void was compensated by turning on stabilization engines or propulsion engines.

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General Designer V. Chelomey and Air Force Commander-in-Chief Marshal P. Kutakhov in the main compartment of the Almaz orbital station. Photo from the archive of NPO Mashinostroyenia.

Orbital station "Almaz" in the workshop of the enterprise. Photo from the archives of NPO Mashinostroyenia).

It is clear that Almaz itself could not attack anyone: what is the point of using an observation post weighing 20 tons, equipped with a giant camera and other valuable equipment, as a space fighter? At the same time, the station would be quite capable of resisting an attack. Fortunately for everyone, the Americans never risked approaching the Almaz missiles operating in orbit.

Salyut in orbit

Meanwhile, the general situation in the rocket and space industry has changed. The initiative to develop a long-term orbital station passed to Mishin. Another revision of the projects was also facilitated by NASA's announcement of its intention to launch a large research station, Skylab, in mid-1972. The Soviet Union faced the threat of losing another important historical priority. To catch up and overtake the United States, Mishin’s employees proposed using ready-made Almaz hulls and units of the new Soyuz spacecraft (7K-T) to quickly create a research orbital complex.

They were supported by the Central Committee of the CPSU, and in January 1970, preliminary studies began on the design of the station, called the “DOS-7K complex.” Yuri Semenov was appointed lead designer. According to the technical specifications, the complex was intended for orbital flights of two or three interchangeable crews of three cosmonauts, conducting scientific experiments, medical and astrophysical research. The station's flight life in manned mode was three months.

On February 9, 1970, Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 105-41 on the development of DOS-7K was issued, and in March the first working meeting of specialists from two bureaus - TsKBEM and TsKBM - took place.

Of course, Chelomey had a negative attitude towards the project of the new orbital station, seeing it as a competitor to Almaza, but was forced to submit to the government decision. Soon after this, four finished buildings were transferred to TsKBEM. They were used to create the first flight station (serial number 121) and experimental models. DOS-7K differed from Almaz in the transition compartment in the front part of the small-diameter zone, to which the Soyuz spacecraft docked. In addition, the instrument-assembly compartment and solar panels of the Soyuz were installed at the “hybrid” station.

The orbital station was going to be built within a year, so work was carried out around the clock and seven days a week. Despite the rush, it was not possible to meet the deadlines, and the start was postponed several times.

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Orbital block of the DOS-7K station (Zarya, Salyut). Photo from the book “Salyut in Orbit”, 1973

Launch vehicle "Proton-K" with orbital station 17K ("Zarya", "Salyut"). Photo from the book “World Manned Cosmonautics. Story. Technique. People", 2005

It is interesting that at first they wanted to call the station “Zarya”, and this word was written in large letters on its side. But already at Baikonur it turned out that the first Chinese satellite, launched in 1970, was also called, and they decided to rename the station “Salyut”, and then other stations “inherited” the beautiful name.

On April 19, 1971, the Proton launch vehicle (UR-500K) was launched, which launched the world's first orbital station DOS-1 (Salyut) into space. On April 23, the Soyuz-10 spacecraft was launched with a crew of commander Vladimir Shatalov, flight engineer Alexei Eliseev and test engineer Nikolai Rukavishnikov.

The next day, the ship docked to the station, but, as it immediately became clear, not completely: there was no hermetically sealed joint and the electrical circuits were not connected. Shatalov tried to “press” the ship with the help of engines - to no avail. From the command post in Yevpatoria, the crew was given the command to undocking, but now the ship “did not want” to separate from the station. A complex emergency situation has arisen. It was possible to “shoot” the Soyuz’s service compartment, but then the station’s only docking port would be occupied, and its further operation would become impossible.

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A launch vehicle with the Soyuz-10 spacecraft at the start. Photo from the book “World Manned Cosmonautics. Story. Technique. People", 2005

The crew of the Soyuz-10 spacecraft: Alexey Eliseev, Vladimir Shatalov and Nikolai Rukavishnikov. Photo from the book “World Manned Cosmonautics. Story. Technique. People", 2005

“Salyut” was saved by Vsevolod Zhivoglotov (one of the developers of the docking unit) and Nikolai Rukavishnikov, who, according to his instructions, opened the electronics unit and installed a jumper on certain pins. Soyuz-10 safely separated from the station, and on April 25 its crew returned to Earth ahead of schedule. Based on the results of the flight debriefing, the docking unit of the 7K-T spacecraft and the control system were modified.

The tragedy of Soyuz-11

Despite the Soyuz-10 fiasco, Mishin proposed sticking to the original plan and sending two more expeditions to the station.

On June 6, 1971, the Soyuz-11 spacecraft launched with Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Patsayev on board. The next day, it successfully docked with Salyut, and the cosmonauts moved to the station, immediately starting a program designed for 25 days.

The flight was not easy: for the first time, the problem of psychological compatibility made itself felt - the flight directors working in Yevpatoria had to be creative in communicating with the astronauts in order to smooth out rough edges. On June 16, a wiring fire occurred at the station - the crew was given the command to prepare the ship for evacuation. The problem was quickly resolved, and the cosmonauts continued working on Salyut. Participation in saving the station brought them together, and the tension in their relationship disappeared.

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The Soyuz-11 spacecraft is being tested. Photo from the book “Salyut in Orbit”, 1973

A launch vehicle with the Soyuz-11 spacecraft at the start. Photo from the RIA Novosti archive.

While on Salyut, the cosmonauts were engaged in various experiments and observations. For example, they had at their disposal the Orion ultraviolet telescope, developed by the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory. The astronauts used it to obtain spectrograms of Vega and Agena (Beta Centauri), thanks to which the theoretical model of the photosphere of high-temperature stars was later refined.

On June 24, the flight duration record set in 1970 by Andriyan Nikolaev and Vitaly Sevastyanov on Soyuz-9 was broken. By that time, the Salyut crew was exhausted and very tired, which was evident from the communication sessions. Doctors were also concerned about the cosmonauts’ refusal to fully implement the physical training program, so it was decided to shorten the flight plan by a day.

The crew of the Soyuz-11 spacecraft: Viktor Patsaev, Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov. RGANTD. Arch. No. 1-506 color

On the evening of June 29, the cosmonauts took their places in the spacecraft’s descent module and closed the hatch, but the “Hatch Open” banner continued to burn. The flight control center gave instructions to repeat the manipulations with the hatch - the banner did not go out. Then again - the banner continued to burn. The crew began to get nervous: a leaky hatch on the descent module meant certain death. The fact is that spacesuits were not provided for on the ships of the 7K-T series: an autonomous life support system for three people simply did not fit into this ship, and it was abandoned at one of the design stages.

The control center finally found the reason: the sensor contact on the edge of the hatch was faulty. Georgy Dobrovolsky placed a piece of plaster under the end switch of the sensor and closed the hatch again - the banner went out. The tightness was checked by releasing the pressure in the household compartment. When it turned out that everything was normal, the control center gave the command for undocking and descent. After midnight, June 30, the ship's engine was turned on for braking. In Evpatoria they were eagerly awaiting reports from Soyuz-11, but there was no communication.

At about two o'clock in the morning, the search service discovered the descent module in the estimated area. A helicopter landed nearby. Search engines ran up to the device and opened the hatch in just a minute. The astronauts showed no signs of life. The doctors tried to resuscitate them right there on the spot, but it turned out that it was too late: Dobrovolsky, Volkov and Patsayev died from suffocation.

An analysis of the records of the Mir autonomous on-board measurement recorder showed that from the moment the compartments were separated at an altitude of more than 150 km, the pressure in the descent module began to fall rapidly and dropped to almost zero within 115 seconds. A technical inspection also revealed the reason for such a sharp decompression: when separating the compartments, the ventilation valve, designed to equalize the pressures inside and outside the descent vehicle before landing, opened prematurely. Georgy Dobrovolsky tried to save the crew by untying himself from the seat and closing the valve, but he did not have enough time.

The Soyuz-11 descent module at the landing site. Still from the filming “Preparation for flights, flights of astronauts”, 1971.

The first experience with the orbital station ended in tragedy. Soviet designers and testers of space technology had to take this gloomy lesson into account.

Unlucky Salyut 2

Based on the results of the investigation, the designers once again deeply modified the 7K-T ship: in fact, a new modification of the Soyuz was created.

Of course, the first thing to do was replace the ventilation valve: it was made more shock-resistant and equipped with a manual plug. But most importantly, a fundamental decision was finally made to use spacesuits: the high-altitude aviation spacesuit “Falcon” was taken as a prototype, which after modification received the name “Falcon-K”. Taking into account the mass of the spacesuits and the support system for them, it was impossible to place three cosmonauts in the ship, so in the future, crews of two people flew at the station: a commander and a flight engineer.

On July 29, 1972, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, a Proton launch vehicle launched the DOS-2 station, similar to the previous one in design and composition of scientific equipment. It was assumed that a crew consisting of Alexey Leonov and Valery Kubasov would go to her. However, at the 182nd second of flight, the propulsion system of the second stage of the launch vehicle was turned off - the station died, and its existence was classified for a long time.

By that time, TsKBM employees had completed work on the first military station, Almaz. Her training at the technical position of the Baikonur Cosmodrome began in January 1973 and lasted three months, despite severe frosts and snowstorms.

The launch took place on April 3, 1973. Almaz entered orbit, and the TASS agency released an official message about the launch of Salyut-2. Workers from Chelomey’s bureau grumbled about the name: they still preferred to call their brainchild “Almaz.” Demonstrating their protest, they put the inscription “Salyut-2” on the spacer connecting the main block with the last stage of the rocket: after entering orbit, the station separated from the spacer and went into flight without the “alien” and, as many believed, “unlucky” name. However, this cunning action was not successful.

TASS report on the launch of the Salyut-2 station, published in the Pravda newspaper on April 4, 1973.

In accordance with the program, all Almaz systems were activated and solar panels were deployed. A normal atmosphere was maintained in the compartments. Radio control and telemetry ensured constant control.

On April 4 and 8, corrections were made, and Salyut-2 rose from its launch orbit (215 x 260 km) to its working orbit (261 x 296 km). On April 14, the station went into “dead” orbits, which could not be controlled by Soviet controls. And when leaving them on the night of April 15, a failure of the main telemetry system was recorded. Additional telemetry showed a sharp drop in pressure in the pressurized compartment of the station. In the interval between the 177th (April 14) and 193rd orbits (April 15) there were about

The state commission concluded that “the most likely cause of the accident was a manufacturing defect in the propulsion system.”

, however, the station developers still have doubts about the reliability of the proposed version.
On April 30, a report appeared in the American press that on April 14 (that is, during “deaf” orbits), Salyut-2 experienced “catastrophic destruction
,” and two dozen fragments separated from the station, many of which quickly left orbit.

Further study of the issue led the station designers to the conclusion that after entering orbit, the remaining fuel in the third stage of the launch vehicle exploded - as a result, a cloud of debris was formed into which Salyut 2 entered and where it most likely received damage. It is clear that it was not possible to save the crippled station at that time.

The first successful launch of the Almaz military station, called Salyut-3, took place only the following year - on the night of June 24-25, 1974. A few days later, Soyuz-14 docked with it. The long-term orbital epic has begun.

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