 he Plesetsk
cosmodrom, for many
years (1969-1993) was the busiest launch
facility in the world, is located in
northwestern Russia south of Arkhangelsk.
Although capable of launching Korolev's
R-7 ICBM beginning in 1960, Plesetsk did
not perform its first space launch until
1966. By the end of 1996 more than 1,862
launchings had been conducted, including
the "jubilee" launches of
"Kosmos-1000",
"Kosmos-1500" and
"Kosmos-2000".
From its northern latitude (62.8° N),
space missions have been restricted to
orbital inclinations between 63° and
83°. The 1762 km2 (roughly 100 km
long) cosmodrom is supported by the
adjacent town of Mirny. Currently,
Plesetsk supports eight launch vehicle
types now: "Kosmos-3M",
"Soyuz", "Molniya",
"Tsyklon-3", "Zenit", "Rockot",
"Angara",
and "Start". The cosmodrom also has the largest in Europe
oxy-nitrogen plant and more than 600 km
of transportation mains. Mirny town is linked by train to
the launch complexes, 36 km away.
Through good planning from the beginning
it was relatively comfortable town. Mirny
is situated in the taiga forest, with
decent housing, good sports and
recreation complexes, movie theaters,
officer's club, department and food
stores, hotels, playgrounds, memorials,
and parks. In 1966 Mirniy obtained town
status and the population eventually
reached 50,000.
|
