Vertical Sounding Rocket Program
By Charles S. Sheldon II*
1971-1975
E. SOVIET VERTICAL ROCKET PROBES
1. National Flights
The record of major Soviet vertical sounding rockets is incomplete, but, even those that are known show they have made a significant contribution to the total program and to orbital flights which followed them. Most of the major sounding rockets have been launched at the Volgograd Station, otherwise known as Kapustin Yar. Smaller sounding rockets and weather rockets have been launched not only there but at such places as Kheys (Hays) Island , on Soviet scientific research ships at sea, and even in Antarctica .
The largest sounding rocket the Russians have named is one they call the A-3, which in U.S. nomenclature is the SS-3, and which NATO calls the Shyster. It is possible that the major international cooperation flights use the Sandal or SS-4, that is, the first stage of the B-l. One mission was so far ahead of the rest in its reach that it is more likely it used the SS-5 Skean, that is, the first stage of the C-l.
In May 1957, the Russians announced they had sent a rocket 211 kilometers up, which carried five dogs. The payload weighed 2,196 kilograms.
On February 21, 1958 , a very complex geophysical rocket with a wide range of atmospheric and solar experiments was sent 473 kilometers up. The payload weighed 1,515 kilograms.
On August 27, 1958 a payload of 1,690 kilograms was sent up to 452 kilometers, carrying two dogs, Belyanka and Pestraya.
On July 2, 1959 , a rocket carrying about 2,000 kilograms of payload was sent 241 kilometers up. It carried dogs named Otvazhnaya and Snezhinka, and a rabbit named Marfusha.
On July 10, 1959 , another rocket with a payload of about 2,200 kilograms was sent about 211 kilometers up, this time carrying several dogs including Otvazhnaya again.
On June 15, 1960 , a rocket with a payload of 2,100 kilograms was sent 221 kilometers up. Included this time were a rabbit and two dogs, including Otvazhnaya on a fifth flight.
There were similar sounding rocket flights on June 6 and June 18, 1963 . The first went 563 kilometers up.
On September 20 and October 1, 1965 , rockets were sent about 480 to 500 kilometers up doing wide ranging geophysical experiments including taking various measurements of the ionosphere and photographs and spectrographs of the Sun in the ultraviolet and X-ray wavelengths.
By looking at the parameters of these flights, they were probably all conducted with use of the A-3 (SS-3 Shyster) geophysical rocket.
A new series of flights began in 1966, quite possibly with the same launch vehicle or perhaps its SS-4 Sandal successor, but adding to the usual range of geophysical experiments some unusual propulsion experiments as well. The first was called Yantar 1, launched on October 13, 1966 . It made studies of electron concentrations and photo emissions in the ionosphere. But it also scooped up atmospheric nitrogen, after attaining speed through its rocket motor, to sustain a special ion electrical rocket with propellant. This was seen as leading toward future hypersonic aircraft. In 1969 there were more Yantar flights, but the dates and the performance have not been reported in detail. All the flights seem to have operated in the altitude range of 100 to 400 kilometers.
On October 12, 1967 , a single, much more ambitious sounding rocket flight was made, and it seems likely that a larger launch vehicle had to be used. such as the first stage of the C-l (SS-5, Skean). Pictures released of the payload showed an instrument container much like a small Kosmos satellite. If the larger rocket was used, it probably went from Tyuratam, as no pad had been used at Kapustin Yar by that year for such a larger vehicle.
The payload was designed to make a variety of solar and ionospheric measurements, including measures of the concentration and location of electrons and positive ions. The flight lasted 52 minutes, during which time it reached an altitude of about 4,400 kilometers. The payload was separated from the rocket body by more than 100 kilometers to minimize distortion of data which might occur in a location close to the carrier rocket.
In 1970 there were additional geophysical rocket launchings. One of these came on October 3, and flew up to about 500 kilometers. It did solar ultraviolet and X-ray studies.
On September 24, 1971 , a geophysical rocket was sent to an altitude of 230 kilometers. A similar rocket was launched on October 9, 1971 to an altitude of about 500 kilometers.
2. The Vertikal International Program
The Interkosmos organization of Soviet Bloc countries has sponsored geophysical sounding rocket flights under the name Vertikal. Vertikal 1 was launched on November 28, 1970 at Kapustin Yar, probably using the first stage of the B-l (SS-4 Sandal), but possibly still using the SS-3 Shyster, or Soviet designated A-3. The payload was sent about 500 kilometers up. It weighed 1,300 kilograms. The rocket was 23 meters long with a diameter of 1.66 meters. Instrumentation measured the X-ray spectrum, and the concentration of electrons and positive ions. as well as electron temperature. These instruments had been manufactured jointly by the German Democratic Republic and the Soviet Union to specifications also supplied by Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia .
On August 20, 1971 , Vertikal 2 was launched and it flew to an altitude of 463 kilometers. The description of payload weight, dimensions, and participants seemed to match those of the earlier flight. The payload section separated from the single stage carrier rocket at about 90 kilometers, carried by momentum to the high point of the flight. Parachute recovery was used to retrieve the payload.
On September 2, 1975 , Vertikal 3 was launched at Kapustin Yar, at 0740 Moscow time, presumably with the same B-l first stage or Soviet designated A-3 sounding rocket. It reached a maximum altitude of 502 kilometers, following separation from the single stage carrier rocket at 97 kilometers altitude. The experiments continued the previous work on interactions between solar shortwave radiation and the ionosphere and upper atmosphere. The assembly and launch itself were conducted by representatives of Bulgaria , Czechoslovakia , the German Democratic Republic, and U.S.S.R. Two weather rockets with Bulgarian and Soviet equipment were launched at the same time, and various ground stations made measurements at the same period.
It was interesting that during the summer of 1975, the Russians put on display in the usual Moscow museum a replica of the Vertikal payload but referred to the payload as a Prognoz, the name reserved for the three flights which had ranged out in very eccentric Earth orbits. This replica or one like it was at the Paris Air Show in the spring of the same year.
References:
(A) SOVIET SPACE PROGRAMS, 1971-75, OVERVIEW, FACILITIES AND HARDWARE MANNED AND UNMANNED FLIGHT PROGRAMS, BIOASTRONAUTICS CIVIL AND MILITARY APPLICATIONS PROJECTIONS OF FUTURE PLANS, STAFF REPORT , THE COMMITTEE ON AERONAUTICAL AND SPACE .SCIENCES, UNITED STATES SENATE, BY THE SCIENCE POLICY RESEARCH DIVISION CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE, THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, VOLUME – I, AUGUST 30, 1976, GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1976,
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