Амина | An alternate history Mir

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Амина

Although I've done this already, I've decided to do a new original Mir-inspired station for a story.

June 1984

A meeting leads to a consideration of a space station, Sure, they had Salyut, but they needed something better. Salyut stations were becoming old, and most had become catastrophic failures. They had even lost Salyut 7 a few weeks prior to the meeting, so it wasn't helping the situation.

August 1984

Another meeting is held, however this time its about a new space station. Do they do another singular launch station? Or do they do something better?

One of the members in the meeting thinks for a minute, and then comes up with an idea.

"How about we build a modular space station? We launch modules and then we assemble them in orbit over a certain period of time."

The room goes quiet, before the meeting leader decides to think about it.

"That isn't a bad idea. I'll take that into consideration."

A few hours later, the meeting ends. The idea begins to become a concept.

December 1984

The first module begins construction. Its design has 5 ports on the front, and 1 port on the rear for Прогресс spacecraft to dock with it later.
Its design, although simple, has enough sustainability for a crew for up to a month.

April 1985

The first module has been finished. Its life support systems include basic water filtering, oxygen filters which rely on a small amount of water.

It had a gyroscope for easy stabilisation, RCS thrusters, 2 small fuel tanks, and a backup generator in case of any inboard electrical failures.

It begins to be loaded onto a Протон-К rocket, and within 2 days its ready to be launched.

April 22nd, 1985

The Протон rocket is in its final seconds up into launch,

3, 2, 1!

 

It begins its ascent into the atmosphere, planned to be put into an orbit of ~105km. It will be boosted later to an orbit of ~115km.

First stage separation, second stage engines lit.

Fairing separation a few seconds after the second stage is lit.

A few minutes later, the second stage separates and the third stage is lit.

A few seconds later, the third stage is disconnected. The core module is now in orbit.

The module experiences no issues during deployment. Its antennas, systems, radiators and solar panels deploy.

[Kerbalsaurus]

You had me hooked at Амина.

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May 8th, 1985

Soyuz TM-1

Soyuz TM-1, the first of its kind, has been sitting on the launchpad for about a week. It was prepared long before the first Амина module was launched.

Its crew, Bill K, Valentina K, and Bob K. are sitting in the capsule, 10 minutes before launch.

The missions goal is to dock with the core module. The crew will then setup the onboard systems, allowing it to be properly controlled from the ground.

The crew will also prepare the onboard life support systems and begin a month-long stay to test its onboard systems, as well as conduct EVAs to ensure everything is functioning as planned. A progress will also dock during this time, giving the crew food and supplies.

10, 9, 8, 6, Engines lit, 3, 2, 1!

Lift-off!

Booster separation, creating the famous Korolev cross.

First stage separation, second hotstaging and LES ejection.

The crew are now in orbit. Before dumping the last stage, the crew will use it to match the same plane as the station.

The last stage has now been abandoned, and the crew will now rendezvous with the Soyuz engine.

The crew now rests at a ~310km parking orbit, one of the highest heights recorded in the Soyuz.

The crew do a fast flyby to prepare to slowdown, before attempting a proper docking.

The Soyuz finally rendezvouses to the station. They will now preform a visual inspection before docking.

 

The visual inspection is passed. There appears to be no exterior damage.

Unfortunately, it begins to turn dark. However, the crew preforms a perfect docking.

Their month long stay will now begin.

The crew activate the gyroscope in its full functionality, and the station is now stable. This will mark the start of the Амина station.

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June 8th, 1985

After a month and 3 days in orbit, longer than their original planned duration, its time for the crew onboard to leave.

They begin by ensuring the systems onboard are functioning as intended, and after a quick overall inspection, the station will remain operational.

After boarding their Soyuz back home, they begin their deorbit back to Kerbin.

After completing their deorbit burn, they decouple the Service Module and Orbital Module. They will burn up in the atmosphere.

The crew have landed without error, and will be due on another mission soon.

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January 2nd, 1986

 

After long discussion, a new module will be launched. It has been christened the name Вемери.

It has been finished for a long time, however has had its interior changed over time.

As it does not have RCS thrusters, it will instead be docked using an orbital tug.

April 11th, 1986

Вемери has taken lift-off and will dock and rendezvous with the station.

Because a Progress-M spacecraft has already docked to the port where the module will be placed, the module will temporarily float beside the station as the Progress is moved.

The first stage is separated, and falls back down to Kerbin.

20 seconds later, the fairing is separated.

After entering a stable parking orbit, the module will make use of the last stage of the Proton to rendezvous with the station.

All 4 solar panels are deployed.

The third stage begins its final burn to rendezvous with the station.

20 minutes later, the orbital tug comes close to the station. The progress-M spacecraft is being prepared to be relocated.

Unfortunately, after the rendezvous burn finished, during stage separation, the third stage separated improperly and snagged a solar panel, causing it to shatter.

This was not noticed by mission control.

The debris of the solar panel scattered everywhere.

Shortly before docking, the fairing between the module and the tug were separated. This caused a close call to the only remaining solar panel.

The Progress-M spacecraft begins to be redocked.

It begins to get dark quickly, however this doesn't affect the docking procedure.

The tug preforms a successful soft-capture. Shortly after, it preforms a hard-capture.

Although the solar panel for the new module was broken, it still provides sufficient power.

The orbital tug will now be deorbited, as it is not needed.

The mission was a partial failure after mission control realised the power levels were inaccurate, however future EVAS plan to bring a new solar panel up.