At Home in Space The Late Seventies into the Eighties

Ben Evans

At Home in Space The Late Seventies into the Eighties

~Springer Published in association with

Praxis Publishing Chichester, UK

Ben Evans Space Writer Atherstone Warwickshire UK

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Contents

lliustrations . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . .. vii Author's preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii

1. Unlikely partners. .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . .. . I Thaw in relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I Positive beginning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Hijack! .................................................... 23 Rocky road to partnership ..................................... 24 The men and the mettle of Apollo-Soyuz .......................... 37 Watergate .................................................. 67 Final doubts ................................................ 70 The "hot space summer" ...................................... 76 "Glad to see you" ............................................ 87 Grim reality ................................................ 95

2. A home after Apollo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 5 Of $10,000 scoops and $400 fines ............................... 105 The next logical step? ........................................ 108 Clear road to launch ......................................... 124 Pilots and scientists .......................................... 132 A space station on Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 A rewritten script ........................................... !55 "Day 22, forever" ........................................... 180 Endings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

3. A tale of science, sickness and the Sun ............................ 195 Long-haired messenger ....................................... 195 A sick crew and a sick ship. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 A Skylab rescue? ............................................ 216 Men at work, rest and play .................................... 222

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vi Contents

Thunderbirds aren't go! ...................................... 239 Errors in judgement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242 Mutiny in space? ............................................ 255 "A few extra bucks" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

4. Red stars in the East . ........................................ 275 The ordeal of Vitali Zholobov ................................. 275 Deteriorating detente ........................................ 285 A watery yarn .............................................. 289 Sickly and jaundiced ......................................... 295 Salyut 6: the next generation ................................... 299 From tanks to spaceships ..................................... 315 In for the long haul ......................................... 321 Hitting the stride ........................................... 331 "Open-mouthed" ........................................... 341

5. Dreams and nightmares .. ..................................... 367 "The Enterprise is set!" ....................................... 367 Wings at the edge of space .................................... 379 "Would you like to fly the first one?" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393 Birthing pains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 I Ride of a lifetime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409 A race against the clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421 Halved mission ............................................. 427 Pathfinders ................................................ 439 Monster storm ............................................. 446 Quiet mission .............................................. 455 Dates with destiny .......................................... 464

Bibliography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 71 Index ........................................................ 479

Illustrations

Leonov salutes before launch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Soyuz 19 is prepared for launch ..................................... 13 Rukavishnikov and Filipchenko in Sokol-K suits ........................ 17 Cut-away view of Soyuz descent module ............................... 29 Apollo command and docking modules undergoing tests .................. 32 Leonov and Stafford with commemorative plaque ....................... 39 Slayton inside the docking module. . ................................. 44 Apollo crew during emergency egress training ........................... 52 Apollo prime, backup and support crews. . ............................ 58 Slayton and Stafford during language training. . ........................ 63 Stafford tours Red Square ......................................... 66 Leonov and Kubasov during training ................................. 71 ASTP crew walkout .............................................. 76 Saturn IB rollout ................................................ 79 ASTP crew arrive at the pad ........................................ 84 Apollo launch ................................................... 86 US-Soviet crews with ASTP model. .................................. 91 Apollo simulation ................................................ 96 ASTP splashdown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I 00 Saturn Von pad ................................................ 114 Skylab during rendezvous ......................................... 126 Kerwin, Weitz and Conrad eat food in a wardroom mockup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Pete Conrad ................................................... 135 Joe Kerwin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 ATM image of a solar flare ....................................... 143 SMEA T crew training. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Saturn IB rollout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . !56 Saturn V launch ................................................ !59 Parasol construction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Conrad leads his crew to the pad. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 The sacrificed scientific airlock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 5

viii illustrations

Lousma prepares for six-pack installation ............................. 177 Jammed solar array ............................................. 182 Command module winched aboard the USS Ticonderoga . ................ 188 Conrad's crew with Brezhnev and Nixon ............................. 192 AI Rochford adjusts Jack Lousma's communications headgear ............. 207 Garriott trims Bean's hair ......................................... 213 Apollo docked with Skylab ........................................ 217 Saturn IB rollout ............................................... 221 Pogue, Gibson and Carr train for ATM duties ......................... 228 AI Bean during his EVA .......................................... 233 A technician checks the fins of the Saturn lB .......................... 244 Spectacular liftoff of the final Skylab crew ............................ 248 One of the three dummies aboard Skylab ............................. 256 Lubos Kohoutek speaks to the Skylab crew ........................... 263 Pogue grins after recovery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 Artist's concept of the Shuttle mission to re-boost Sky lab ................. 270 One of the few television pictures ofVolynov and Zholobov .............. 281 Vladimir Aksyonov works aboard the Soyuz 22 orbital module ............ 288 Zudov and Rozhdestvensky, the unlucky crew of Soyuz 23 ................ 292 The Soyuz 23 descent module in the icy waters of Lake Tengiz. . .......... 294 The Soyuz 24 crew of Viktor Gorbatko and Yuri Glazkov ................ 297 Vladimir Kovalyonok and Valeri Rynmin before launch .................. 305 Yuri Romanenko inside Salynt 6 ready for EVA ....................... 310 The Progress I freighter approaches Salynt 6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314 The first group oflntercosmos pilots, selected in 1976 ................... 317 The joint crews of Soynz 26 and 28 at the dinner table ................... 320 Alexander Ivanchenkov during a Salynt 6 EVA ........................ 326 A view of Salynt 6 during the relocation of Soyuz 31. ................... 330 Rukavishnikov and Ivanov in winter survival training. . ................. 336 Rynmin and Lyakhov after their 175-day mission ....................... 339 Valeri Rynmin and Leonid Popov in their Sokol suits ................... 343 Valeri Kubasov and Bertalan Farkas with seat liners .................... 346 Chris Kraft briefs Deng Xiaoping on a visit to Houston .................. 349 The new Soyuz-T spacecraft in orbit ................................. 356 Dzhanibekov and Giirragchaa in water survival training .................. 360 Prunariu signs the Soyuz 40 descent module ........................... 362 Fullerton and Haise before the first captive-active flight .................. 372 Enterprise on the runway after the fourth free flight ..................... 376 STS-1 rollout .................................................. 388 STS-1 prime and backup crews ..................................... 394 Crippen and Young during training ................................. 400 Columbia rolls into the OPF in March 1979 ........................... 405 Young and Crippen arrive in Florida. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408 Spectacular liftoff of STS-1.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411 STS-1 touchdown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420

Dlustratious ix

OSTA-1 iostallation ............................................. 425 External Tank separation on STS-2. . ............................... 429 RMS in action during STS-2. . .................................... 434 Engle, Abbey and Truly .......................................... 438 The 'bam-bumiog' launch of STS-3 ................................. 443 STS-3 touchdown ............................................... 448 STS-4 liftoff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458 Mattingly and Hartsfield with Reagan ............................... 466

Author's preface

"Never judge a book by its cover", or so the saying goes, and a first glance at the cover of this book might leave the spaceflight enthusiast wondering why it is emblazoned with a picture from Skylab, taken in 1973, when the subtitle highlights 'The Late Seventies and Eighties'. I ask the reader to forgive me. When I set out to write a five-volume history of humanity's exploration of the heavens, it seemed a big project, though relatively straightforward. Starting with Yuri Gagarin's pioneering voyage in Aprill961, the journey through five dramatic decades promised to be an exciting one, with specific breakpoints between the volumes: the resumption of manned lunar landings in the 1970s, the arrival of the Shuttle in the 1980s, the development of the International Space Station in the 1990s and the increased 'privatisation' of getting people into space in the opening years of the present century. My intention was for something a little more complex than a basic log of manned expeditions into space, but as time has rolled on, the project evolved into something much larger and more complex than I had envisaged. It has, therefore, been impossible to track an entire decade with each volume. The first volume, Escaping the Bonds of Earth, had to take into account some of the advancements of the 1950s as a prerequisite to focusing on 'its' decade, the 1960s. In a similar vein, the second volume, Foothold in the Heavens, needed the focus to fall in considerable depth on some of the most remarkable achievements of the Space Age - Apollo 11 being the obvious example - at the expense of covering an entire decade.

Furthermore, I quickly realised that spaceflight was not, and is not, a unique phenomenon, outside of public or political control. Rather, it has been an integral part of our social, economic and cultural fabric, and the lightning speed or snail's­pace slowness of its progress tbrough the decades has been increasingly dictated by outside influences: the Bay of Pigs, a mythical 'missile gap' between the Soviet Uuion and the United States and the Cuban Crisis of October 1962 were all instrumental in determining the course of space policy. In the early 1970s, a progressive thaw in relations between the two superpowers similarly impacted their space programmes, allowing for the genesis of Apollo-Soyuz, but very quickly refroze witbin a few years, as disagreements over the Helsinki Accords, a resumption of American diplomatic ties with China and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan drew them back into the icy

xii Author's preface

waters of the Cold War once again. In a sense, the decade or so to be covered in this third volume, At Home in Space, from 1973 until1982, presents a deeply depressing picture: one which began with so much promise for the future, offering not only genuine co-operation in space, but, hopefully, co-operation on Earth, as well, but which ended with hostile words of "evil empire" and equally hostile acts of Star Wars and Able Archer. I feel that it wonld be unconscionable to discuss our progress in space without paying due tribute to why we were doing so, the obstacles we had to overcome in order to get there and the opinions, attitudes and feelings of the political masters who controlled the purse-strings for such endeavours.

By the middle of the 1970s, the heady days of Apollo and the lunar landings had given way to an increasingly more frugal attack on the heavens. Astronauts, managers, scientists and even some politicians saw no reason why a manned expedition to Mars and a permanent lunar base should not be achieved before the end of the century. It might not be on the scale of Arthur C. Clarke's imaginings, but it was certainly more than just a dream. However, for an increasingly apathetic public in America and a largely disinterested Politburo in the Soviet Union, the costs were excessive. America's efforts switched from the Moon and Skylab to the development of what was advertised as a cheaper, more frequent and more reliable means of getting into space- the Shuttle- whilst Soviet Russia focused on gradually mastering the new frontier through the establishment of near-permanent orbital stations, the Salyuts.

My intention in writing this third volume has been to explore some of the reasons why the political, social, cultural and economic climate changed so markedly for both superpowers in the pivotal decade of the 1970s and the early years of the 1980s. More than three decades later, we continue to live with the consequences of those frugal times and the very shape and size of many components of today's International Space Station are dictated by the shape and size of a Space Shuttle, whose own shape and size was set, according to military requirements, all those years ago. Even the Russian segments of the station bear more than a passing resemblance to the design of the early Salyuts. However, 'frugal' or not, the period from 1973 until 1982 was a decade in which- far from 'stopping' or even 'stalling'- a new and exciting chapter in space exploration began ... and human beings truly found a new 'home' in space.

Ben Evans Atherstone, England March 2011

Acknowledgements

lbis book would not have been possible without the support of a number of individuals, to whom I am enormously indebted. I must firstly thank my wife, Michelle, for her constant love, support and encouragement throughout the time it has taken to plan, research and write this manuscript. As always, she has been uncomplaining during the weekends and holidays when I sat up late, typing on the laptop, or poring through piles of books, old newspaper cuttings, magazines, interview transcripts, press kits or websites. It is to her, with all my love, that I would like to dedicate this book. My thanks also go to Clive Horwood of Praxis for his enthusiastic support and to David M. Harland for reviewing the manuscript and offering a wealth of advice and guidance; I deeply appreciate not only their support, but also their patience in what has been an overdue project and one which has proven more difficult to write than I had imagined. Additional thanks go to Ed Hengeveld, who has been enormously gracious with his time in identifying suitable illustrations for this book, including many 'unfamiliar' ones which surely bolster the text. Others to whom I owe a debt of gratitude include Sandie Dearn and Malcolm and Helen Chawner. To those friends who have encouraged my fascination with all things 'space' over the years, many thanks: to Andy Sahnon and Andy Rowlands and to Dave Evetts and Mike Bryce and to Rob and Jill Wood. Our two golden retrievers- the ever-hungry Rosie and the attention-seeking Milly- have provided a ready source of light relief and a regular opportunity for me to leave the laptop and either play with them or give them a biscuit.