View source for Salyut 2

{{short description|Failed Soviet space station (1973)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2014}}
{{Infobox space station
 | station                = Salyut 2 (OPS-1)
 | station_image          =
 | station_image_size     =
 | station_image_caption  = 
 | extra_image            =
 | extra_image_size       =
 | extra_image_caption    =
 | insignia               = Salyut_program_insignia.svg
 | insignia_size          = 160px
 | insignia_caption       =
 | sign                   = Salyut 2
 | crew                   = 3
 | launch                 = 3 April 1973<br/>09:00:00 UTC
 | launch_pad             = [[Baikonur Cosmodrome|Baikonur]] [[Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 81|Site 81/23]]<ref name=nasa20101008/>
 | reentry                = 28 May 1973
 | mass                   = {{convert|18500|kg}}
 | length                 = {{convert|14.55|m}}
 | diameter               = {{convert|4.15|m}}
 | volume                 = {{convert|99|m3}}
 | pressure               =
 | perigee                = {{convert|257|km}}
 | apogee                 = {{convert|278|km}}
 | inclination            = 51.6°
 | altitude               =
 | speed                  =
 | period                 = 89.8&nbsp;minutes
 | orbits_day             =
 | in_orbit               = 54&nbsp;days
 | orbits                 = 866
 | distance               = {{convert|35163530|km}}
 | COSPAR_ID              = 1973-017A
 | as_of                  = 4 April 1973
 | stats_ref              =
 | configuration_image    = Almaz drawing.svg
 | configuration_size     =
 | configuration_caption  = An Almaz space station
}}

'''Salyut 2''' ('''OPS-1''') ({{langx|ru|Салют-2}} meaning ''Salute 2'') was a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[space station]] which was launched in 1973 as part of the [[Salyut programme]]. It was the first [[Almaz]] military space station to fly. Within two weeks of its launch, the station had lost altitude control and depressurized, leaving it unusable. Its orbit decayed and it re-entered the atmosphere on 28 May 1973, without any crews having visited it.

==Spacecraft==
{{main|Almaz}}
Salyut 2 was an Almaz military space station.<ref name=portree1995>
{{cite web|last=Portree|first=David S. F.|title=Mir Hardware Heritage|url=http://ston.jsc.nasa.gov/collections/TRS/_techrep/RP1357.pdf|publisher=NASA|date=March 1995|access-date=4 January 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090907191412/http://ston.jsc.nasa.gov/collections/TRS/_techrep/RP1357.pdf|archive-date=7 September 2009|df=dmy-all}}</ref> 
It was designated part of the Salyut programme in order to conceal the existence of the two separate space station programmes.<ref name="RSW">{{cite web|last=Zak|first=Anatoly|title=OPS-1 (Salyut-2) space station|url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/almaz_ops1.html|work=RussianSpaceWeb|access-date=4 January 2011}}</ref>

Salyut 2 was {{convert|14.55|m}} long with a diameter of {{convert|4.15|m}},<ref name=EA>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.astronautix.com/a/almazops.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820191922/http://www.astronautix.com/a/almazops.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 August 2016|title=Almaz OPS {{!}} Part of Almaz Family|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia Astronautica]]|author=Mark Wade}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://image.slidesharecdn.com/spacestation-130506223303-phpapp01/95/space-station-13-638.jpg|title=Space Station|work=Mousehunt|via=[[SlideShare]]|date=6 May 2013|author=Emied Jacinto}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/Salyut|title=Salyut {{!}} Soviet Space Station Series|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|author=David M. Harland}}</ref> and had an internal habitable volume of {{convert|90|m3}}. At launch it had a mass of {{convert|18950|kg}}.<ref name="RSW-Almaz"/> A single aft-mounted docking port was intended for use by [[Soyuz (spacecraft)|Soyuz]] spacecraft carrying cosmonauts to work aboard the station. Two [[solar panel|solar arrays]] mounted at the aft end of the station near the docking port provided power to the station, generating a total of 3,120&nbsp;watts of electricity.<ref>{{cite web|last=Zak|first=Anatoly|title=Almaz space station technical overview - Transfer section|url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/almaz_po.html|work=RussianSpaceWeb|access-date=5 January 2011}}</ref> The station was equipped with 32 attitude control thrusters, as well as two [[Chemical Automatics Design Bureau#New Projects – New Engines. Seventies of last century|RD-0225]] engines, each capable of generating {{convert|3.9|kN}} of thrust, for orbital manoeuvres.<ref name="RSW-Almaz">{{cite web|last=Zak|first=Anatoly|title=Almaz space station technical overview|url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/almaz_ops.html|work=RussianSpaceWeb|access-date=5 January 2011}}</ref>

==Launch==
Salyut 2 was launched from [[Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 81|Site 81/23]] at the [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]], atop a three-stage [[Proton-K]] rocket, serial number 283-01.<ref name="EA-Proton">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Wade|first=Mark|title=Proton-K|url=http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/protonk.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100822083221/http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/protonk.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 August 2010|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Astronautica|access-date=2 January 2011|quote=1973 April 3...Launch Vehicle: Proton-K. LV Configuration: Proton-K 283-01...Salyut 2}}</ref> The launch took place at 09:00:00 UTC on 3 April 1973,<ref name="LL">{{cite web|last=McDowell|first=Jonathan|title=Launch Log|url=http://www.planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt|work=Jonathan's Space Page|access-date=4 January 2011}}</ref> and successfully placed Salyut 2 into [[low Earth orbit]].<ref name="EA-Proton"/> Upon reaching orbit, Salyut 2 was assigned the [[International Designator]] 1973-017A, whilst [[NORAD]] gave it the [[Satellite Catalog Number]] 06398.<ref name=nasa20101008>{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1973-017A|title=Salyut 2|publisher=United States National Space Data Center|date=8 October 2010|access-date=4 January 2010}}</ref> The third stage (8S812) of the Proton-K rocket entered orbit along with Salyut 2. On 4 April, it was catalogued in a {{convert|192|by|238|km|mi}} orbit, inclined at 51.4 degrees.<ref name="satcat">{{cite web|last=McDowell|first=Jonathan|title=Satellite Catalog|url=http://www.planet4589.org/space/log/satcat.txt|work=Jonathan's Space Page|access-date=4 January 2011}}</ref>

==Failure==
Three days after the launch of Salyut 2, the Proton's spent third stage exploded, due to pressure changes within the tanks. This explosion resulted in a cloud of debris, some of which followed a similar trajectory to the station. Ten days later this debris struck the station, damaging the hull and causing depressurization. Both solar panels were torn free, removing the ability of the station to generate power and control its attitude.<ref name="RSW"/><ref name=nasa20101008/>

Three pieces of debris from the station were catalogued, and had [[orbital decay|decayed from orbit]] by 13 May.<ref name="satcat"/> The remainder of the station [[Atmospheric reentry|reentered the atmosphere]] on 28 May 1973<ref name=portree1995/><ref name="satcat"/> over the [[Pacific Ocean]].<ref name=EA/>

An inquiry into the failure initially determined that a fuel line had burst, burning a hole in the station.<ref name="RSW"/> The damage from the debris collision was only discovered later.{{when|date=September 2020}}

==Fidel Castro tour==

When First Secretary of the Communist Party of [[Cuba]] [[Fidel Castro]] was in the [[Soviet Union]] as part of a whirlwind tour in 1972, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the [[Soviet Union]] [[Leonid Brezhnev]] brought [[Fidel Castro]] to the [[Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/castro/db/1972/19720706-1.html|title = Castro Speech Data Base - Latin American Network Information Center, LANIC}}</ref> 
Fidel Castro was photographed inside both the [[Soyuz (spacecraft)|Soyuz]] docking trainer<ref>{{Cite web |title=REGION, USSR. First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Fidel |url=https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/first-secretary-of-the-communist-party-of-cuba-fidel-castro-news-photo/522520796 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511090424/https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/first-secretary-of-the-communist-party-of-cuba-fidel-castro-news-photo/522520796 |archive-date=11 May 2021}}</ref>{{bsn|date=August 2024}} and the Salyut-2 (OPS-1/[[Almaz]]) military space station.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Moscow. General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Leonid |url=https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/moscow-general-secretary-of-the-central-committee-of-the-news-photo/522501500 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512184148/https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/moscow-general-secretary-of-the-central-committee-of-the-news-photo/522501500 |archive-date=12 May 2021}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=August 2024}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Soviet Union|Spaceflight}}
*[[Salyut]]
*[[TKS spacecraft]]
*[[Almaz]]
*[[Mir]]
*[[Skylab]]
*[[International Space Station]]

{{Clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{Almaz Program}}
{{Salyut Program}}
{{Space stations}}
{{Orbital launches in 1973}}

{{Use British English|date=January 2014}}

[[Category:1973 in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:1973 in spaceflight]]
[[Category:Salyut programme]]
[[Category:Soviet military spacecraft]]
[[Category:Spacecraft which reentered in 1973]]
[[Category:Almaz program]]
[[Category:Spacecraft launched in 1973]]