TKS SPACECRAFT

'TKS spacecraft'
Soviet TKS crew delivery/cargo ship
Description
'Role:'	Manned spacecraft spacecraft to supply the military Almaz space station.
'Crew: '	three
Dimensions
'Height:'	57.44 ft	17.51 m
'Diameter:'	13.61 ft	4.15 m
'Volume:'		45.00 m3
Rocket engines
'Main Engine' (N2O4/UDMH) :	1763 lbf ea	7840 N
Performance
' Endurance:'	7 days
' Apogee:'	266 km
' Perigee:'	223 km
' Inclination:'	52 degrees
' Spacecraft delta v:'	2290 ft/s	700 m/s
' Cutaway of TKS vehicle'
Cutaway of TKS vehicle. Details are conjectural. The broad black line outlines the vehicle’s pressurized compartments. A tunnel (stippled) connects the FGB and VA capsule
TKS spacecraft

'TKS spacecraft' was designed by Vladimir Chelomei as a Proton rocket launched manned spacecraft alternative to the Soyuz spacecraft to supply the military Almaz space station. Development began in 1965 but by the time the first flight articles were ready the ''Almaz programme'' had been abandoned. The 'VA (Merkur) capsule' was flown separately on four test missions with two capsules in one booster to test the design, as well as one "all up" test mission and three resupply missions with no 'VA (Merkur)' capsule. It was never flown manned, although in December 1978 the formation of a special group of six cosmonauts for manned missions on board the 'TKS spacecraft' was approved.
The project had further evolution with space station ''"Modulny"'' or ''"modules"'' based on the basic TKS design, having docked to the 'Salyut 7', 'Mir' and 'ISS' space stations. These evolutions are designated 'FGB', or 'Functional Cargo Block'.

Contents

Design

TKS SAS

TKS BSO

TKS VA

TKS FGB

Details

Missions

Orbital test missions

TKS-1

TKS-2

TKS-3

Further usage

Gallery

See Also

External links

Sources

Design

The TKS spacecraft is composed of:

TKS SAS

'TKS SAS' for ''"Sistem avariyovo spaceniya"'' or ''"Emergency escape system"''.

TKS BSO

'TKS BSO 'for ''"Blok Skhoda s Orbiti"'' or ''"Deorbit Block"''.

TKS VA

Main articles: Merkur (spacecraft)

The 'VA'' ("Vozvrashchaemiy apparat" or "Reusable re-entry capsule") ''Merkur'' reentry capsule was similar in configuration to the American ''Apollo'', but 30% smaller. It was derived from earlier capsule designs for the Chelomei ballistic ''Raketoplan'' and LOK manned circumlunar spacecraft of the 1960s. Although extensively flight tested, it never flew with a crew aboard.

TKS FGB

'TKS FGB' for ''"FGB Functional / Cargo Block"'' or ''"Orbital Living and Service Module".''
The 'FGB' was entered from the 'VA (Merkur)' capsule via a short tunnel. At the aft end a pilot station was equipped with controls and windows for manual docking with the 'Almaz' space station. The docking port was also located here. Operational 'TKS' would have delivered 'KSI film return capsules' to 'Almaz' stations. These would have been located around the docking port and grappled by a small manipulator arm on the 'Almaz' for transfer to the film capsule airlock for loading.

Details

:Crew Size: 3.
:Design Life: 7 days.
:Orbital Storage: 200 days.
:Typical orbit: 223 km x 266 km at 52 degrees inclination.
:Length: 17.51 m (57.44 ft).
:Maximum Diameter: 4.15 m (13.61 ft).
:Span: 17.00 m (55.00 ft).
:Habitable Volume: 45.00 m3.
:Mass: 17510 kg (38600 lb).
:Payload: 12600 kg (27700 lb).
:Main Engine Thrust: 7.840 kN (1763 lbf).
:Main Engine Propellants: N2O4/UDMH.
:Main Engine Propellants: 3822 kg (8426 lb).
:Main Engine Isp: 291 sec.
:Spacecraft delta v: 700 m/s (2�290 ft/s).
:Electrical System: Solar panels 17 m span 40 m².
:Electric System: 2.40 average kW.
:Associated Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82K.

Missions

Orbital test missions

:Cosmos 881 and Cosmos 882 - pair of two VA (Merkur) capsules that started jointly and reentered separately
:Cosmos 929 - lone flight of full 'TKS-0' with FGB and VA (Merkur) capsule
:Cosmos 997 and Cosmos 998 - pair of two VA (Merkur) capsules that started jointly and reentered separately
:Cosmos 1100 and Cosmos 1101 - pair of two VA (Merkur) capsules that started jointly and reentered separately

TKS-1

On April 25, 1981 TKS-1 was launched unmanned as Cosmos 1267. The VA (Merkur) capsule was recovered on 24 May 1981. The FGB docked with Salyut 6 on June 19 after 57 days of autonomous flight. It remained attached to the station until both deorbited and were destroyed on July 29, 1982.

TKS-2

On 2 March 1983 TKS-2 was launched unmanned as Cosmos 1443. This time, the VA (Merkur) remained attached and the TKS docked to Salyut 7 two days after launch. TKS-2 separated from the station on 14 August. The VA re-entry capsule separated and deorbited itself on September 19, 1983. The VA capsule continued in space for four more days demonstrating autonomous flight, before successfully re-entering on 23 August 1983, landing 100 km south-east of Arkalsk and returning 350 kg of material from the station.

TKS-3

TKS-3 was launched unmanned as Cosmos 1686 on 27 September 1985. In Merkur capsule all VA landing systems, the ECS, seats, and manned controls were removed and replaced with a high-resolution photo apparatus and optical sensor experiments (infrared telescope and Ozon spectrometer). The TKS successfully docked with Salyut 7. After 21 November 1985, Salyut 7 was moved to a higher orbit while awaiting the second 'TKS' crew, but control of the station was lost. There were plans to return using the Buran shuttle for inspection, but the first flight of the spaceplane was delayed. Salyut 7 and Cosmos 1686 burned up in the atmosphere together in a fiery show over Argentina on February 7, 1991.

Further usage

The TKS design, which has never been flown manned, has gone on to provide the basic structure for several space future space station components, such as:

★ Kvant-1 tug

★ Kvant-2 Mir module

★ Kristall Mir module

★ Spektr Mir module

★ Priroda Mir module

★ Polyus (FGB) spacecraft

★ Zarya (FGB-1) ISS module

★ Russian Research Module (FGB-2) ISS module

★ Multipurpose Laboratory Module (FGB-2) ISS module
TKS VA (Merkur) capsules are presently being modernized for commercial use, by the private spaceflight company, Excalibur Almaz.

Gallery

TKS based and descendant spacecraft and modules.

See Also

★ Merkur capsule

★ Almaz

★ Zarya

★ Big Gemini - Planned U.S. equivalent to the TKS spacecraft

★ Manned Orbiting Laboratory - U.S. Air Force equivalent to Almaz space station

★ TKS-Based Spacecraft

★ Kvant

★ Kvant-2

★ Kristall

★ Spektr

★ Priroda

★ Polyus

External links

★ http://www.astronautix.com/craft/tks.htm

★ http://www.russianspaceweb.com/tks.html

Sources

★ http://www.russianspaceweb.com/almaz_ops4.html