Word: salyut
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...that period, while Soviet cosmonauts set one orbital endurance mark after another, finally reaching 185 days, more than twice the duration of America's longest Skylab mission. Most of this time was spent aboard a single Soviet spacecraft, a remarkable 20-ton mobile home in the sky called Salyut...
...four years ago, the bulbous, beetle-shaped ship was the latest in a series named in "salute" to a Soviet folk hero, the late Yuri Gagarin, first man in space. Though weighing only about a quarter as much as Skylab, which came tumbling ignominiously back to earth in 1979, Salyut was durable and highly innovative in design. Among its technological features were two docking ports (to receive visiting spacecraft, including a new class of fully automated, unmanned supply ship) and large, winglike solar panels (to convert sunlight into electricity). Salyut carried myriad scientific and observational gear, notably a multi-spectral...
...monotony was also broken by the visits of other cosmonauts, who arrived in Soyuz ferry craft, the workhorses of the Soviet manned space effort. In addition to regular supplies, they carried mail, such special snacks as fresh borsch, strawberries and quail pate, not to mention a guitar. Though Salyut was designed to last 18 months, it continues to function thanks to on-board repairs by the cosmonauts plus periodic shipments of fuel, food, water, air and equipment...
...understandable then that Cosmonaut Vladimir Kovalyonok, 39, got a little sentimental last month when he and his rookie sidekick, Viktor Savinykh, 41, headed back to earth in an advanced Soyuz T spacecraft after 75 days in space. Theirs was the final visit of cosmonauts to Salyut, although it could be used for unmanned missions. The Soviets have indicated that they may dock an unmanned Cosmos satellite on Salyut soon, perhaps this week. After looking back at the ship for the last time, Kovalyonok rhapsodized: "It was so beautiful it gave my heart a pang...
...important as spy-in-the-sky activity may be to the Soviet space effort, Salyut's latest cosmonauts plainly had their hands full. In fact, they may have set a record for doing science in space. According to the Soviets, the experiments included physiological and biological stress tests, notably monitoring the skeletal changes that occur during prolonged exposure to weightlessness. The cosmonauts made extensive surveys of the earth, looking for oil deposits, checking crops and forests, and seeking untapped sources of fresh water. They cultured yeast cells and grew layers of gallium arsenide crystals, an important component of computer...