Prognoz Program
THE PROGNOZ PROGRAM
By Dr. Charles S. Sheldon II [1917-1981], *
1971-1975 / 1976-1980 / 1981-1987
Prognoz 1
While the Russians had gathered some solar data in a variety of flights, they had not operated in the most recent past complex multi-purpose space laboratories doing such work. Current and comprehensive data are viewed as important not only to support the general advance of science, but to aid the weather reporting work by cloud cover picture-takers, and also to aid solar flare predictions when manned flights are planned.
Kosmos 159 looked as if it might be such a satellite when it was launched on May 17, 1967 into an orbit ranging between 60,600 and 380 kilometers at an inclination of 51.83 degrees. However, no findings have been noted in the literature and the flight was not repeated.
Prognoz 1 was launched on April 14, 1972 into an orbit ranging from 200,000 and 950 kilometers, using the A-2-e launch vehicle, and placed in an orbit inclined at 65 degrees with the launch occurring at Tyuratam. It was described as intended to study corpuscular, gamma, X-ray, and solar plasma interactions with the magnetosphere. The weight was given as 845 kilograms.
Later, pictures were released to show the probe as being a pressurized cylinder with hemispherical ends, 4 solar panels, and various external instruments and antennas. The payload was put in its highly elliptical orbit from an Earth orbiting platform, and then after separation from its probe rocket, it used special memory devices to orient itself toward the Sun and spin-stabilize it.
It carried an X-ray spectrometer and proportional counter in the 1,500 to 30,000 electron volt range, and scintillation spectrometer for gamma rays in the 30,000 to 350,000 electron volt range. Another spectrometer measured the proton flux in the 1 to 35 million electron volt range. It had a Cerenkov counter for electrons in the 40,000 to 140,000 electron volt range, and a scintillation spectrometer for protons in the 30,000 to 210,000 electron volt range. Other devices measured the solar wind, and radio emissions in the 1.6 to 8 kiloHertz range and also in the 100-700 kiloHertz range. It also had a magnetometer, orientation detectors, and dosimeters.
Prognoz 2
Prognoz 2 seems to have been virtually a repeat of the earlier flight. It was launched on June 29, 1972 into an orbit ranging from 200,000 kilometers to 550 kilometers at an inclination of 65 degrees. In addition to the experiments as listed for its predecessor, it also carried a French solar wind experiment. Prognoz 2
The French part of Prognoz 2 was only supplemental instrumentation. This was designed to study the solar wind, outer regions of the magnetosphere, gamma rays of the Sun, and search for neutrons of solar origin. The flight occurred on June 29, 1972 from Tyuratam at an inclination of 65 degrees, and ranging between 200,000 and 550 Kilometers-
Prognoz 3
This flight came on February 15, 1973 . It carried about the same instrumentation as its predecessors. The orbit ranged from 200,000 to 590 kilometers, at an inclination of 65 degrees.
A follow-up report in early 1974 implied all three payloads were still active, but was not quite so specific as to state this. It said that the devices were calibrated periodically, and were returning data. A still later report on February 16, 1974 , as Prognoz 3 began its second year, mentioned only Prognoz 3 as active. There had been 160 radio sessions with it to report data on solar activity and on solar-terrestrial relationships.
Prognoz 4
After a lapse, the Prognoz program was renewed with the launch of Prognoz 4 on December 22, 1975 . It was described as being in general like its predecessors, except the weight was a little higher at 905 kilograms. It was designed to study the corpuscular and electro-magnetic radiations of the Sun and magnetic fields near Earth. The orbit was 199,000 by 634 kilometers at a 65 degree inclination, with an orbital period of 95 hours, 40 minutes. It was launched by an A-2-e rocket system from an orbital launch platform.
Prognoz 5
Prognoz 5 was launched on November 25, 1976, into a 199,000 by 510 km orbit,
inclined at 65°, with a period of 95 hours and 13 minutes It carried instruments for studying corpuscular and electro-magnetic radiation from the Sun and solar plasma, and magnetic fields in near-Earth space to determine the effect of solar activity on the interplanetary medium and on the Earth's magnetosphere. Two French experiments measured the electron flux in solar wind, and helium and hydrogen concentrations. Prognoz 5 carried a radio transmitter which operated at 928.4 MHz. (19)
Prognoz 6
Prognoz 6 was launched September 22, 1977, and was virtually identical to earlier Prognoz flights. The spacecraft was launched into a 197,900 by 498 km orbit, inclined at 65°, with a period of 94 hours and 48 minutes.
In addition to the types of experiments carried on earlier Frognoz missions, this spacecraft carried the French Galatika 1 experiment for research on galactic ultraviolet rays. (20) The Soviet Union and France also performed joint research on the interplanetary environment, the concentration of hydrogen and natural helium, and the corpuscular content of solar plasma. (21) Czechoslovakia contriteuted equipment for studying the proton and electron content of solar flares. Similar data on solar flares was collected by Prognoz 5 and Venera 11 and 12. The integral peak flux and density dependence was analyzed in relation to kinetic energy. Prognoz 6 found that the number of high energy protons undergoing stochastic particle propagation depended on the speed of the shock wave. (22) Prognoz 6 detected a rare solar flare with energy levels higher than 500 MeV, (23) and gathered gamma ray data in coordination with Prognoz 7, Signe 3, and Venera 11 and 12 as a part of the Signe II MP program (Solar International Gamma Ray and Neutron Experiments). (24) Both Prognoz 6 and 7 carried RGS-1M radiation measuring instruments which had an analyzer of fine temporal structure for the study of solar x-ray flares. Prognoz 6 also carried an AYaKS spectrometer which detected nine ion-rich events associated with solar flares. Ion-rich events occurred when there was a wide range in the kinetic energies of accelerated nuclei. (25)
Prognoz 7On October 30, 1978, Prognoz 7 was launched to continue the work of previous Prognoz flights. The spacecraft was placed into a 202,965 by 483 km orbit, inclined at 65°, with a period of 98 hours and 8 minutes. Equipment included a Swedish electromagnetic analyzer [PROMICS], a Soviet magnetometer, a Czech x-ray photometer, and the French Galaktika 2 instrument for recording spectra of ultraviolet radiation sources. Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and the Soviet Union cooperated on a set of experiments on the distribution of ion streams in the solar wind.
Prognoz 7 also carried equipment developed by the Soviet Union and France to
conduct research on x-ray and gamma radiation, corpuscular emissions from the Sun and high energy particles in the upper atmosphere of the Earth. (26) Data analysis from the gamma ray experiments on Prognoz 7 was coordinated with observations by similar experiments on the U.S. Pioneer Venus Orbiter, the Soviet Venera 11 and 12 spacecraft, and International Sun-Earth Explorer-3 [ISEE-3], a joint program involving the United States and the European Space Agency. On April 6, 1979, Prognoz 7 and other spacecraft recorded a gamma ray burst with a single spike of 0.2 seconds duration and a spectral feature near 400 KeV. (27)
In coordination with Venera 11 and 12, Prognoz 7 studied the effects of solar wind propagation in the interplanetary plasma. The instruments used to measure the solar wind's heavy ion content included an electrostatic ion analyzer in an SKS plasma spectrometer. The wind's parameters were measured at a velocity of 280 to 330 kilometers per second, with an ion concentration of approximately 8-40/cubic centimeters, proton temperatures of approximately 20,000 to 50,000 K, and alpha particle temperatures in the same range or lower. During the period of the study, a high concentration of heavy ions in the solar wind was noted. (28)
Prognoz 7 gathered data on the nature of the Earth's plasma mantle, particularly the high latitude boundary layer, which indicated that the northern component of the interplanetary magnetic field alters the upper layer structure of the plasma mantle. The inner part of the boundary was relatively unaffected. (29)
Prognoz 7 also studied the solar wind, with special emphasis on the region of interaction between the slow solar wind and a fast flux (possibly from a low-latitude coronal hole). Data showed that a boundary separated the region into a bow shock wave with a dense, hot, turbulent magnetoplasma and a reverse shock wave with a strong, regular magnetic field and a cold plasma. Momentum acquired by the slow wind in the bow wave is four times greater than the momentum lost by the fast flux in the reverse wave. (30)
Prognoz 8
Prognoz 8 was launched on December 25, 1980, carrying instruments from the Soviet Union, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Sweden. The spacecraft was placed into a 199,000 by 550 km orbit, inclined at 65°, with a period of 95 hours and 23 minutes. Its mission was to study the influence of the Sun's particle and electromagnetic radiation and plasma streams on interplanetary space and Earth's magnetrosphere.
The equipment on Prognoz 8 included: a spectrometer made by the Soviet Union, a charged particle detector made by the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia, two spectroanalyzers also made by the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia, an ultralow energy spectrometer made by the Soviet Union and Poland, two magnetometers made by the Soviet Union, and an x-ray solar photometer made by the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia,32 and a PROMICS charged particle experiment (similar to the one on Prognoz 7) made by Sweden. (33)
The spacecraft returned data on solar wind interaction with the Earth's magnetosphere and on the structure of the boundaries of the magnetosphere. The Soviets hoped this information would contribute to an understanding of the ability of solar particles to penetrate spaceship cabins, and they use information on the Sun and the magnetosphere to forecast favorable times for launching spacecraft. (34)
Prognoz-9
The ninth Prognoz satellite was launched on July 1, 1983, into a highly elliptical orbit with an apogee of 720,000 km, well past the orbit of the Moon. The satellite has a perigee of 380 km, a period of 26.7 days, and is inclined at 65.8°. Equipment from the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, and France is aboard the spacecraft, and it is designed to study the universe at radio wavelengths, although X-ray and gamma ray studies are also being conducted.
Prognoz 9 is dedicated to gathering information on the structure and evolution of the universe. The radio telescope onboard the satellite has two antennas which operate at 8 mm. One is a horn antenna oriented along the satellite's axis of rotation and receives radiation from the direction away from the Sun; the other is oriented perpendicularly to the first. The satellite revolves around an axis directed toward the Sun with a period of 2 minutes. During one rotation, 72 sections of the celestial sphere can be surveyed, each with an angular dimension of 5°. Mapping of one "ring" of the celestial sphere takes 1 week, after which the satellite axis is tilted 7° and the next ring is mapped. A map of the entire sphere can thus be made in 6 months. (34) The sensitivity of the radio telescope has been described as ten-thousandths of a degree of arc.(35) Results from the satellite's observations were not available by the end of 1983.
Prognoz 10 -Interkosmos
Prognoz 10-Interkosmos, the first satellite with a combined desig nation like this, was launched on April 26, 1985. Its objective was to study the structure of interplanetary and near-earth shock waves arising from the interaction of the solar wind and Earth's magnetosphere. Czechoslovakia contributed some of the experi ments on the spacecraft. It was placed into a highly elliptical orbit typical of Prognoz spacecraft, 200,000 by 400 kilometers, with a period of 96 hours 25 minutes and inclination 65 degrees. The shock wave is at a distance of 100-150,000 km; hence the choice of orbit. Czechoslovakia developed a computer to control the space craft since its instruments needed to be activated just at the moment when the spacecraft crossed into and out of the shock wave during its orbits.
In describing the need for the spacecraft, Dr. A. Galeev of the Soviet Institute for Space Research 4 explained that the shock wave is very thin and the spacecraft takes literally one second to pass through it. Hence the need for computer control to ensure that the instruments are operating at that precise moment. The spacecraft encountered the shock wave twice on each orbit. 5
According to Stanislav Fischer, deputy director of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences Institute of Astronomy, the project took 8 years to prepare because of technical and organizational problems, noting it was an "unprecedentedly major project in terms of cost, and work investment" comparable to the VEGA project 6 (see below). Soviet scientists referred to this mission as "Inter-Shock."
COSMOS 1809
On December 18, 1986, Cosmos 1809 was launched into a 980 by 960 km orbit, inclined at 82.5 degrees, with a 104.2 minute period. Little information was given about the satellite, other than that it was a cooperative project between the Soviet Union and Poland for ionospheric studies. On February 2, 1988, TASS announced that the spacecraft's mission was complete and data processing had begun. Wave propagation in the upper layers of the atmosphere, effects of ground radio transmitters on the ionosphere, and the nature of electromagnetic interference caused by orbiting spacecraft were areas of study.
References
1. 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,
(A). SOVIET SPACE PROGRAMS: 1976-80 (WITH SUPPLEMENTARY DATA THROUGH 1983), UNMANNED SPACE ACTIVITIES, PREPARED AT THE REQUEST OF Hon. JOHN C. DANFORTH, Chairman, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION, UNITED STATES SENATE, Part 3, MAY 1985, Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, 99th Congress, 1 st. session, COMMITTEE PRINT, S. Prt. 98-235, U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 1985
19. Tass, Nov. 25, 1976. 1427 GMT.
20. Tass, Sept. 22, 1977. 1140 GMT.
A . SOVIET SPACE PROGRAMS: 1981-87, SPACE SCIENCE, SPACE APPLICATIONS, MILITARY SPACE PROGRAMS, ADMINISTRATION, RESOURCE BURDEN, AND MASTER LOG OF SPACEFLIGHTS, Part 2, April 1989, Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D.C. 1989, Committee print 1981-87- part-2
4 At the end of 1988, Dr. Galeev was elected to the position of Director of the Institute for Space Research, replacing Roald Sagdeyev.
5. Sotsialisticheskaya Industriya, Apr. 27, 1985, p. 4.
6. Moscow Domestic Service, 1500 GMT, Apr. 26, 1985.
34. Pravda, Oct. 10, 1983, p. 7.
35. Leninskoye Znamyua, Oct. 18, 1983, p. 3.
* Dr. Sheldon [1917-1981] was the Senior Specialist in Space and Transportation Technology
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