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Izvestia report that one of their space journos has come acorss the file for Project Poisk, the Soviet Apollo eavesdropping effort. Bits and pieces so far, they're still analysing the full report.

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&hl=en-US&u=https://iz.ru/1447543/olga-kolentcova/mezhdu-nebom-i-lunoi-chem-boleli-astronavty-vo-vremia-missii-apollon-12&client=webapp

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“This sneezing and coughing has been going on for three days, we have to do something about it. Rinse and you'll be fine. This is some kind of irritation and itching, ”said one of the participants in the flight.

That's how the elixir of life had appeared (see the History section).

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I don't buy it, I've researched the incident many times and the "balls of fire" are probably unrelated. I mean how exactly would this have worked? So the rocket releases fumes somehow, either by a crash which no one in the search saw somehow or from the gases falling down right where the group was, laws of physics be damned. I guess it's possible there had been a crash and people had been forced to keep quiet but then why not say something after the USSR fell? Though that would explain why the case was shut down so soon and the crash site would have been cleaned to keep what happened a secret. But this doesn't explain how the hikers ended up where they were and how they died, all of them either died from freezing or from trauma they got trying to find shelter. If the fumes had only been affecting the area of the tent then why didn't they all die there or nearby? The idea isn't impossible but it's just raises too many weird questions to be a probable cause. I personally think there was either a small avalanche or they thought there would be one and they were forced to cut open the tent. They then had to slowly walk down the mountain to avoid disturbing the snow and find shelter in the woods. Two were found near a fire and they were the worst dressed so they probably stayed there and slowly froze while a portion of the group went back to the tent and died along the way. Another part of the group tried finding a better shelter but were killed in a small avalanche. A very sad and lonely explanation but it makes the most sense. Often with these cases the simplest explanation is the most likely.

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40 minutes ago, kerbiloid said:

Absolutely unrelated to the today balloon show.

https://en.topwar.ru/21525-vysotnyy-istrebitel-m-17-stratosfera.html

*that news* makes me wonder why the USSR did not make any efforts towards reconnaissance aircraft capable of reaching the US (apart from the obvious elephant in the 1950s CPSU meeting room of satellites). Tsybin RSR has been called a Blackbird counterpart but it’s range made it only useful in Europe, likewise I think the Beriev S-13 did not have any provision for refueling that would allow it to reach the US. I haven’t heard of any balloon projects.

SAMs made aircraft unattractive, but in the early 50s, when U-2 development began, that wasn’t clear. How come there was no similar effort in the USSR until later?

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7 hours ago, SunlitZelkova said:

*that news* makes me wonder why the USSR did not make any efforts towards reconnaissance aircraft capable of reaching the US

The M-17 development started (in 1967) after the U-2 had been shot down.
It was an attempt to make a U-2 equivalent in sense of characteristics, but an interceptor.

M-55 was its later recon version, ready in early 1990s, but also it could unlikely pass much farther than a front-line.

By the time of their creation, it was a little late to fly over the anti-aircraft defence by plane.

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14 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

Absolutely unrelated to the today balloon show.

https://en.topwar.ru/21525-vysotnyy-istrebitel-m-17-stratosfera.html

Literally ninja'd.

13 hours ago, SunlitZelkova said:

*that news* makes me wonder why the USSR did not make any efforts towards reconnaissance aircraft capable of reaching the US (apart from the obvious elephant in the 1950s CPSU meeting room of satellites). Tsybin RSR has been called a Blackbird counterpart but it’s range made it only useful in Europe, likewise I think the Beriev S-13 did not have any provision for refueling that would allow it to reach the US. I haven’t heard of any balloon projects.

SAMs made aircraft unattractive, but in the early 50s, when U-2 development began, that wasn’t clear. How come there was no similar effort in the USSR until later?

This is going to sound crass, but the Soviets simply weren't this aggressive. US programs, whether heavier than air or lighter than air, all came with the assumed willingness to penetrate into the opposing country's airspace even in peacetime. Hence the not insignificant casualties to Soviet defences.

The Soviets were generally less likely to just openly careen into the airspace of a NATO country, let alone overfly a target of strategic interest. Pretty much the only time to the contrary I recall were MiG-25 overflights of Tel-Aviv under the very thin veneer of working on behalf of Arab allies.

So why build an aircraft you'd never use?

Edited by DDE
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Unlike this "little accident" weather balloon this time, the US has launched real reconnaissance balloons into Chinese airspace many times in the past 7 decades. Without discussing the many unpleasantries of the last century and the beginning of this one, the most recent "balloon show" took place in 2019. However, it was reported that the PLAAF sent a J-10C to launch a PL-10, which shot down the "foreign balloon" within 30 seconds.

Spoiler

Translate from 1:08

Narrator: Several minutes later, Wu Hui (the pilot) drove his Red Hawk and arrived at the designated airspace.

Ground control: 286, reports after visual inspection

Pilot: copy

Pilot: 286 spot the target

Ground: 286, distance?

Pilot: 30km away

Ground: Maintain status and keep track on it

Narrator: A white spherical airborne object was spotted by visual observation a few kilometers above the fighter. Further observation determined that it was a powered unmanned balloon. The higher command authorities judged that it was most likely a super high altitude reconnaissance balloon, which would threaten air defense security. Wu Hui was ordered to shoot it down.

Ground: 286, can you shoot it?

Pilot: 286 can shoot

Missile launched*

Narrator: With the missile launch from the fighter's left wing, the white balloon exploded instantly, and the scattered material was quickly thrown through the air. Wu Hui took only 30 seconds from locking onto the target to shooting it down.

 

Edited by steve9728
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19 minutes ago, steve9728 said:

Unlike this "little accident" weather balloon this time, the US has launched real reconnaissance balloons into Chinese airspace many times in the past 7 decades.

They were regularly flying above USSR till 1980s. (US ones, I mean)

***

Can't understand, why are they sure that it's from China.

My first thought was that it's a "cheap and angry" greeting from some peninsula to the East from it, to watch where to release it properly.

Edited by kerbiloid
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21 minutes ago, kerbiloid said:

They were regularly flying above USSR till 1980s.

***

Can't understand, why are they sure that it's from China.

My first thought was that it's a "cheap and angry" greeting from some peninsula to the East from it, to watch where to release it properly.

Well this time really was our fault hahaha. Our Foreign Ministry claim it yesterday. I guess by now the diplomatic level on both sides and the military on both sides have let the cat out of the bag about this balloon: "man, this thing really is a faulty weather balloon, here are the relevant properties and data for this model." I think this also objectively explains why their Defence Ministry spokesman seems so calm now.

I do think that at the time, first time, no one at the bottom logically believed that this thing was from China (including me). Everyone was convinced that the USAF would be able to fix this. As long as the USAF can sort this out, it doesn't matter to those media whether it comes from China or not and what its true purpose is. But you know...that thing was really toooooooo high

I was thinking that it shouldn't be too difficult to add a self-destruct mechanism and a post-failure emergency return system consisting of releasing the parachute by detecting changes in air pressure. After all, something that can float so far and so high in the sky for so long must be more expensive than an ordinary car.

Edited by steve9728
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