The Geometry The Nucleus

Figure 9
THE KOSMOS SPECIALIZED MODULE
This space station module, which is about
the same size as the Mir core, can be used
for many functions and provides it own power
and return capsule.
Source: Nicholas Johnson, Teledyne Brown Engineering.
The Mir orbital research station in an assembly
testing shop.
and
Figure 10
SCHEMATIC VIEW OF THE SOVIET MIR COMPLEX
The current four-spacecraft Mir complex has only
one craft, a Soyuz, docked at the five-port multiple
docking module. In the next two years, it is likely the
other ports will be occupied.
meters
35-
scribed as having a one-year lifetime. But Johnson stated
that the Kvant is a permanent attachment, because these
other functions are actually primary.
It is expected that all six of Mir's docking ports will be
filled with various specialized laboratories and modules
over the next couple of years, along with the Soyuz craft
that bring the crews and the Progress supply ships that
bring cargo. There is no precise agreement among experts
as to when the Soviets will take a quantum leap and perhaps
use the Energia to deploy a station that is significantly larger
than the Salyut-Mir variety. However, the Soviets certainly
will have the launch capability to do that by the early 1990s.
The so-called purely scientific Soviet missions, such as
their lunar and planetary exploration, were not all successful
in the 1960s, but have scored some impressive results in
the past few years. These have included radar mapping
missions at Venus and the Vega encounter at Halley's comet.
These accomplishments have been aided by the participation
of scientists and equipment from the East bloc
countries, Western Europe, and the United States, but also
represent a maturing—a catching up—of Soviet technology.
Over the next decade, the Soviets' public scientific emphasis
will clearly be on Mars, with at least two unmanned
missions, including one this year, under development.
The Soviets are also developing a reusable space shuttletype
system and an hypersonic craft, and they have already
tested a subscale mini-spaceplane.
In every significant military and military-related space capability
in space, the Soviets have outpaced us. Like the
Soviets' conventional superiority in Europe, their development
of radio frequency weapons, their offensive strategic
superiority in nuclear weapons, and their capabilities in
strategic defense, their overwhelming superiority in space
is a direct challenge to the United States and its allies.
Marsha Freeman, an associate editor of 21st Century, writes
frequently on the space program.
Selected References and Suggested Reading
Marsha Freeman, "Energia: Soviets Take the Lead in Rocketry," Executive
Intelligence Review, Vol. 14 (23):18, (1987).
Nicholas Johnson, Sower Space Programs 1980-1985, (San Diego: Univelt,
Inc. for the American Astronautical Society, 1987).
, The Soviet Year in Space, (Colorado Springs: Teledyne Brown Engineering,
1987). Published annually.
James Oberg, Red Star in Orbit, (New York: Random House, 1981).
, The New Race for Space, (Harrisburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 1984).
Marcia Smith, Space Activities of the United States, Soviet Union, and Other
Launching Countries: 7957-1986, (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research
Service, Library of Congress, 1987).
54 May-June 1988 21st CENTURY