maks

Fifty One Point Six Stories about unflown space projects from the MTV era.

I started a new Medium publication for all the bits of writing on 80s and 90s space projects, not just Buran.

The Zarya article is the newest arrival and there’s more to come.

fiftyonepointsix.com

in color

Progress-M2 logistics vehicle and possibly a simplified version of the funky 1995 Universal Docking Module?

European Robotic Arm on what looks to be a Docking Module (so an early Pirs) and the USM cluster?

Illustration from a 1998 paper.

slightly melted Buran from "USSR in Space. 2005" from 1989

Zarya — the Super-Soyuz that only lived twice In the late 1980s, with the development of the first modules of Mir nearing its end and their launches on the horizon, NPO Energia started…

I wrote a thing about the Zarya propulsively landed Super-Soyuz project from the 80s.

medium.com/@energiabura...

I have no idea honestly, I've been tinkering with it in blender and every illustration shows something different. The sources I have don't describe it in any meaningful detail either.

good catch, should be "no crew" instead of "3 crew"

"As Energia veterans recall, Feoktistov had a huge
falling out w/ Semenov at that time, after which
he was forced to retire, which had a detrimental effect on
the fate of the new ship. Many years later, [Feoktistov] said that he considered Zarya his mistake" in Novosti Kosmonavtiki

so, poor phrasing on my part, it wasn't the cause

yes, but the Feokitstov-Glushko relation had deteriorated so much that Feokitstov resigned from Energia and apologised for pushing for the project to continue

Zarya — the Super-Soyuz that only lived twice In the late 1980s, with the development of the first modules of Mir nearing its end and their launches on the horizon, NPO Energia started…

I wrote a thing about the Zarya propulsively landed Super-Soyuz project from the 80s.

medium.com/@energiabura...

Progress docking to Mir's Kvant module as illustrated in the Russian-language edition of Scientific American from April 1989.

Retouched by yours truly

My new article: thespacereview.com/article/5033/1

One frustrating element of space history is how even well documented programs can have gaps in the record that result in erroneous entries that have been widely circulated. As an example of this, I would like to explore from the shuttle program "STA-096". 1/

X-38 lifeboat internal layout

neat

What I have a vague memory of is seeing a photo of a desktop model of the Grumman Beam Builder. If anybody knows where I can find that, let me know. If I did see such a thing, it was in a book during the 1980s, not the internet.

and just a couple on archive

archive.org/details/@gal...

space girders a gallery curated by Maks Skiendzielewski

Great read!

btw here's a couple bits of girder-related concept art you might find useful (or know already)

flic.kr/y/3Qg3SK6

even morer

more kistler

𝑅𝑢𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑆𝑒𝑔𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡

for your consideration

a bouquet of kistlers

I N F O R M A T I O N S U P E R H I G H W A Y

what if we kissed under the kistletoe

*Energia Ltd website

Mir from the Energia Ltd. in 2001

Article is now up:
thespacereview.com/article/5027/1