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February 25.
"Kosmos
475". Military navigation
satellite. Perigee:
961 km. Apogee: 993 km. Inclination: 74.0 deg. Period: 104.6
min. March
1. "Kosmos 476" ("Tselina-D" N°
3). Perigee: 379 km. Apogee: 388 km. Inclination: 81.2 deg.
Period: 92.2 min. March 4. "Kosmos 477" ("Zenit-2M")
Area survey photo
reconnaissance satellite. Perigee: 202 km. Apogee: 306
km. Inclination: 72.9 deg. Period: 89.6 min.
Duration: 12 days. March 15. "Kosmos
478" ("Zenit-4M") High resolution photo
reconnaissance satellite Perigee: 176 km. Apogee: 282 km.
Inclination: 65.0 deg. Period: 89.0 min. Duration: 13 days. March 22.
"Kosmos
479" ("Tselina-O" ). ELINT satellite.
Perigee: 517 km. Apogee: 537 km. Inclination:
74.0 deg. Period: 95.2 min. March 25. "Kosmos 480" ("Sfera'") Perigee: 1,170 km. Apogee: 1,196 km. Inclination: 83.0 deg.
Period: 109.1 min. March
26. "Kosmos 481" Perigee: 277 km. Apogee: 496
km. Inclination: 70.0 deg. Period: 92.3 min. Completed
Operations Date: 3 September 1972. April
4. "MAS-1", the French
spacecraft was launched from "Plesetsk" cosmodrome ( with "Molniya-1"
satellite simultaneously). April 5. "Molniya 2-05".
Continued operation of the
long-range telephone and telegraph radio-communication
system within the Soviet Union and transmission of USSR
central television programs to stations in the "Orbita" and
participating international networks (international coope
ration scheme).
April 12. "Kosmos 553". April 19. "Kosmos 554"
("Zenith-4MK"). High resolution
photo reconnaissance satellite; returned film capsule;
maneuverable; exploded in orbit.
April 19, Kapustin Yar. "Interkosmos
9". Solar radition monitor. Name is "Intercosmos Copernicus 500". Investigation
of solar radio-frequency radiation and the characteristics
of the earth's ionosphere. April 25. "Kosmos 555"
("Zenith-2M"). Area survey
photo reconnaissance satellite; returned film capsule;
separated science capsule.
May 5. "Kosmos 556"
("Zenith-4MK"). High resolution photo
reconnaissance satellite. May
14, Cape Canaveral, USA.
"Skylab 1".
First and only US space station to date. Project began life
as Apollo Orbital Workshop - outfitting of an S-IVB stage
with docking adapter with equipment launched by several
subsequent S-1B launches. Curtailment of the Apollo moon
landings meant that surplus Saturn V's were available, so
the pre-equipped, five times heavier, and much more capable
Skylab resulted. An unexpected telemetry
indication of meteoroid shield deployment and solar array
wing 2 beam fairing separation was received 1 minute and 3
seconds after liftoff. However, all other systems of the OWS
appeared normal, and the OWS was inserted into a
near-circular Earth orbit of approximately 435 km altitude.
The payload shroud was jettisoned, and the ATM with its
solar array was deployed as planned during the first orbit.
Deployment of the Workshop solar array and the meteoroid
shield was not successful. In fact the external
solar/meteoroid shield had ripped off 63 seconds into
ascent, tearing away one solar panel wing and debris jamming
the remaining panel. Without shield temperatures soared in
station. Repairs by crews led to virtually all mission
objectives being met. Following the final manned phase of
the Skylab mission, ground controllers performed some
engineering tests of certain Skylab systems--tests that
ground personnel were reluctant to do while men were aboard.
Results from these tests helped to determine causes of
failures during the mission and to obtain data on long term
degradation of space systems. Upon completion of the
engineering tests, Skylab was positioned into a stable
attitude and systems were shut down. It was expected that
Skylab would remain in orbit eight to ten years. It was to
have been visited by an early shuttle mission, reboosted
into a higher orbit, and used by space shuttle crews. But
delays in the first flight of the shuttle made this
impossible. On July 11, 1979, Skylab disintegrated when it
re-entered the earth's atmosphere after a worldwide scare
over its pending crash. The debris stretched from the
south-east Indian Ocean into Western Australia. May
17. "Kosmos 558"
Investigation of the upper
atmosphere and outer space. May
18. "Kosmos 559"
("Zenith-4MK"). First flight of "Soyuz-U"
launch vehicle. High resolution photo reconnaissance
satellite. May 23. "Kosmos 560"
("Zenith-4M"). High resolution
photo reconnaissance satellite.
May 25. "Kosmos 561"
("Zenith-2M"). Area survey
photo reconnaissance satellite; returned film capsule;
separated gamma ray telescope experiment capsule.
May 29. "Meteor 1-15".
Acquisition of meteorological
information needed for use by the weather service. June 3.
Cosmonaut Vladimir Nikolaevich Benderov
dies at age of 48 -- Crash in Tu-144. June 5 Kosmos 562".
June 6. "Kosmos 563"
("Zenith-4M"). High resolution
photo reconnaissance satellite. June 8. "Kosmos 564"-"Kosmos
571" ("Strela-1M"). Eight
satellites launched by a single carrier rocket. June
20. "Kosmos 574".
Military navigation satellite.
June 21. "Kosmos 575".
Area survey photo
reconnaissance satellite. June 26. "Tselina-O" failure.
June 27. "Kosmos 576"
("Zenith-4MK"). Military
topography satellite. July
4. "Zenith-4M".High resolution photo
reconnaissance satellite.
July 11. "Molniya 2-06".
Continued operation of the
long-range telephone and telegraph radio-communication
system within the Soviet Union and transmission of USSR
central television programs to stations in the "Orbita" and
participating international networks (international coope
ration scheme).
July 19.
Cosmonaut Vasily Dmitriyevich Shcheglov
dies at age of 33 - Natural causes.
July 25. "Kosmos 577"
("Zenith-4M"). High resolution
photo reconnaissance satellite.
August
1. "Kosmos 578"
("Zenith-2M"). Area
survey photo reconnaissance satellite.
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