FAS | Space | Guide | Russia | Piloted ||||| Index | Search |

Kvant

With the advent of the Mir space station in 1986, a new requirement for permanent expansion of the orbital complex was set. In 1987 Kvant 1, a specialized module left over from the Salyut 7 program, was attached to Mir not only to provide a complex set of scientific equipment (the international Roentgen X-ray Observatory consisting of the HEXE, Pulsar X-1, Sirene-2, and TTM instruments; the Glasar UV telescope; and the Svetlana electrophoresis unit) but also to enhance space station support systems, in particular attitude control via six large gyrodynes. When attached to the aft docking port of Mir Kvant 1 measured 5.8 m in length and 4.2 m in diameter with an initial mass of 11 metric tons (References 87, 89-90, 96-97).

The four forward radial ports were reserved for full-size modules of about 19.6 metric tons each. The highly specialized modules were built at the Khrunichev Machine Building plant for the Energiya NPO, now RKK Energiya. Kvant 2, which was attached in 1989, was also known as the additional equipment module in accordance with its wide variety of new systems. Perhaps the most important feature of the new module was the unique air-lock chamber with an enlarged (1 m diameter) exit hatch. In addition, the 12.4 m long, 4.4 m diameter Kvant 2 housed the following major equipment:

• Six gyrodynes
• MKF-6MA multi-spectral camera system
• ITS-7D infrared spectrometer
• MKS-M2 optical spectrometer
• KAP-350 Topographic camera
• ARIS X-ray sensor
• Inkubator 2 hatchery
• Rodnik water system
• Elektron and Vika electrolysis units
• ASP-G-M exterior instrument platform.

Less exotic but equally important are Kvant 2's two solar arrays with a capacity of 6.7 kW at beginning of life (References 87, 89-90, 98-103).

86. The "Soyuz" Transportation Spacecraft, brochure issued by Energiya NPO, 1991 and later editions.

87. V. A. Pivnyuk, Space Station Handbook, Matson Press, 1992.

88. Yu. Semenov and V. Timchenko, Pravda, 5 August 1987, p. 3.

89. W.R. Matson, ed., Cosmonautics. A Colorful History, Cosmos Books, 1994.

90. S.P. Korolev Space Corporation Energia, RKK Energiya, 1994.

91. Progress M., technical specification sheet distributed by Energiya NPO, 1991.

92. Recoverable Ballistic Capsule, technical specification sheet distributed by Energiya NPO, 1990.

93. Krasnaya Zvezda, 23 August 1989, p. 3.

94. Gudok, 26 August 1989, p. 4.

95. Sovetskaya Rossiya, 26 August 1989, p. 1.

96. I. Pochkayev, et al, Aviatsiya I Kosmonavtika, September 1987, pp. 44-45.

97. J. K. Beatty, "The High-Flying Kvant Modules", Sky and Telescope, December 1987, pp. 599-601.

98. "77 KSD, Extension Modules", technical specifications brochure distributed by Khrunichev Machine Building Plant,1989.

99. M. M. Lemelev, Zemlya I Vselennaya, May-June 1990, pp. 3-11.

100. G. Glabay, Aviatsiya I Kosmonavtika, February 1991, pp. 46-47.

101. G. Lomanov, Sotsialisticheskaya Industriya, 2 August 1989, p. 4.

102. Krasnaya Zvezda, 2 December 1989, p. 5.

103. Pravda, 27 November 1989, p.1.

Sources and Resources

• Adapted from: Europe and Asia in Space 1993-1994, Nicholas Johnson and David Rodvold [Kaman Sciences / Air Force Phillips Laboratory]

FAS | Space | Guide | Russia | Piloted ||||| Index | Search |