credit: Roscosmos

All the specialists involved in this outstanding program were confident that the national astronautics had reached a fundamentally new, high level of development, and the process of transition from costly disposable launch vehicles to reusable space transportation systems, which could potentially reduce the cost of launching payloads, was activated. into orbit and will also ensure their return to Earth. This would increase the intensity of space activities and contribute to the emergence of new, profitable, areas of application of space technology.

But all this was not destined to be realised. The reasons could be different: the economic crisis of the late 80s, the change in the political and economic structure of the country after 1991, followed, like any revolution, the decline of the economy, the influence of external competitors who do not want to take our country among the leaders in such an important in economic and military terms.

The first thing that showed the fate of the ambitious program to create a reusable space system "Energy-Buran" - the need to define the goals and objectives of the project at the beginning of the journey.

credit: Roscosmos

In the context of the above, I remember one event that happened approximately two months after the successful flight of the Buran. The whole team of our company, NPO Molniya, was in a state of euphoria. Far ahead was the prospect of great and serious work on the continuation of automatic and manned flight operations, the modernisation of the ship, and the development of new projects.

credit: Roscosmos

One day, Gleb Evgenievich Lozino-Lozinskiy (since 1992 - General Designer), Director General - Chief Designer of NPO Molniya, calls the author of this article and, looking into his eyes, says: “Buran” dies, the military abandoned him, you have to search and the rationale for new civilian applications for Buran. These words shocked me. 12 years of hard work and successful solution of the most difficult scientific and technical problem ultimately led to a dead end.

One explanation for what happened can be that our overseas opponents, having created the Space Shuttle reusable space system and making sure that we have an alternative, abandoned the implementation of the Star Wars program. We, as usual, followed their example, especially since we had a big problem with finances.

Returning to the assignment, as the author of the article later became convinced, several of our specialists received a similar assignment. I, on the other hand, Gleb Evgenievich instructed me to work out a direction on the use of the orbiter (OK) "Buran" in the interests of the development of space technology. At that time, the term “space technologies” was understood as research on the use of specific orbital flight factors, such as vacuum and weightlessness in technological processes for the industrial production of new high-quality materials and biological products. Such experimental work constituted a significant part of research at the Russian orbital stations Salyut-6, Salyut-7, Mir and on the returned Foton spacecraft (unmanned version of the Vostok spacecraft).

The competence center in this area was the branch of NPO Composite, which was headed at that time by Doctor of Technical Sciences Leonid Vasilyevich Leskov. With the participation of Leonid Vasilievich and his staff, we established contacts with a number of research organisations working in the field of materials science of the radio-electronic industry and microbiology. In these research institutes, methods and equipment were prepared for conducting experimental work at orbital stations on the technology of producing high-quality semiconductor materials, biological products and drugs.

In the course of this work, the author of the article met with the head of the department of the General Mechanical Engineering Design Bureau (design bureau OM) Igor Vladimirovich Barmin, who led the development and testing of the Zona technological installation in orbital flight. It was intended for zone melting in conditions of weightlessness of a single germanium crystal. The purpose of the experiment was to obtain the most correct crystal lattice of this semiconductor material. In the future, Igor Vladimirovich was the head - the general designer of the design bureau OM. He is currently President of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics.

As part of this work, there were several working meetings with the director of the Institute of Biomedical Technology, USSR Pilot-Cosmonaut Boris Borisovich Egorov. Methods and experimental installations for electrophoretic purification of bio-preparations under microgravity conditions were considered with him.

The Scientific Research Center Scientific Research Institute (Zelenograd), the State Research Center GIREDMET, the Institute of Bio-organic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the State Research Institute of Geology, the Research Institute Microbiology (Serpukhov) and a number of other scientific organisations took part in the work.

In the course of this work, initiated by G.E. Lozino-Lozinsky, connected, in the person of Deputy Chief Designer Boris Ivanovich Sotnikov, the head organisation for the Energy-Buran program is NPO Energia. As a result, a program of the third flight of the Buran spacecraft was prepared, which was planned completely for carrying out experiments on space technologies. As a payload, experimental facilities designed for the research areas of the above organisations should have been used. The flight was planned in an unmanned version lasting 30 days. But, unfortunately, as well as the second flight, it did not take place.

Given this sad experience, Gleb Evgenyevich Lozino-Lozinsky in the next generation project of the Multi-Purpose Aerospace System (MAKS) initiated, along with the solution of technical feasibility problems, large-scale research in the areas of military and civilian use.

Without going into details of the potential multipurpose use of the MAKS system, I would note that according to the results of studies on the use of the Buran spacecraft in the interests of actual production in orbit, one of the most practical interests was identified - industrial production of nanoheteroepitaxial semiconductor structures.

For the results of studies of molecular beam epitaxy in the preparation of semiconductor nanoheterostructures Academician Zh.I. Alferov received the Nobel Prize. Laboratory studies were conducted in terrestrial conditions. The technological environment for these processes is a deep vacuum. Considering this factor, the proposal to implement these technologies in a dynamic vacuum created during orbital flight appeared, and was justified.

But the high cost of operating the Energy-Buran system, as well as the American Space Shuttle, does not provide a cost-effective implementation of the above technologies, and a smaller in dimension and having a high degree of multiple use of the component parts of the MAKS system, according to a number of domestic and foreign expert organisations, meets the criterion of profitability (in more detail about this version of the target application was described in the journal AviaSouz No. 6, 2008).

The next lesson of "Buran" concerns personnel policy and, first of all, the appointment of the chief designer of the project.

The political decision to create the reusable space system "Energy - Buran" was made in 1976, five years after the start of work in the United States on the Space Shuttle system. The development of an orbital spacecraft airframe was ordered by the Government Resolution to the NPO Molniya of the Ministry of Aviation Industry. In contrast to the generally accepted concept - the airframe - in this case it was meant not only the design, but also the design, justification of the aerodynamic layout, external geometry, the solution of problematic issues of high-velocity aerodynamics from 0 to M = 28, the study of the issues of flight thermodynamics at high hypersonic speeds and creation of heat-shielding coating for reusable construction, creation of algorithms and equipment of the control system in automatic and manned execution, basic designs with the solution of all the issues of strength during multimode flight, life support systems, thermal control, power supply, hydraulics and a number of others. That is, it was required to create a fully aircraft, ensuring the functioning and livelihood of the crew in orbit, and planning a flight when returning from orbit with an automatic landing at the airfield. The parent organisation of the Energy - Buran program - NPO Energia supplemented the airframe with a joint propulsion system for manoeuvring in orbit, power sources, a lock chamber with a docking station, a manipulator, fifth and sixth jobs, designed to work with the payload and perform the operation docking in orbit. After that, the glider officially turned into an orbital spacecraft (NPO Energia was also the lead developer of the Energia launch vehicle).

Such work, which requires solving an unprecedented number of scientific and technical problems, was entrusted to the newly created NGO Molniya. At the same time, the NGO consisted of three design bureaus that had no practical experience in creating space technology.

At the same time, the development of the Space Shuttle with the United States was led by the well-known firm North American Rockwell, which has a stable team and long-term traditions.

The Space Shuttle was developed since 1971, the first flight took place in 1981. Work on the Energy-Buran system began in 1976, the first flight was in 1988. The development time of both systems turned out to be approximately the same, but the starting positions differed significantly from in our favour.

The determining factor in our success was the appointment to the position of the head of the NGO Lightning and the chief designer of the glider OK Buran, G.Е. Lozino-Lozinsky. He was 67 years old, and after him - many years of work in the OKB OKI. Mikoyan as head of the propulsion department, chief designer of the MiG-31 fighter-interceptor, and chief designer of the Spiral aerospace system project. At his insistence, a large group of specialists from the MKB Raduga (Dubna) were transferred to NPO Molniya, who previously worked on the Spiral project.

Gleb Evgenievich immediately set an intensive mode of operation and by his example supported him during the whole period of creation of the Buran OK. His working day began at 8.30 and ended after 19.00. The deputies and heads of departments adhered to the same daily routine. For employees of the company was introduced premium wages, taking into account overtime work. In the month there were three working days of the Sabbath, and the trade union strictly observed that the fourth was non-working.

Unlike most managers, in Gleb Evgenyevich the sphere of direct working contacts extended far beyond the circle of deputies and heads of departments. He remembered well the names, middle names and middle names of the specialists directly solving technical issues. He often communicated with them directly. Gleb Evgenievich addressed all the employees of the enterprise, including young specialists and cleaners, to “You”. Only five of his closest associates, who had worked with him for many years at the A.I. Mikoyan, could have been awarded an appeal to "You": G.P. Dementiev, I.I. Seletsky, E.A. Samsonov, L.P. Voinov and MP Balashov.

These are just some of the touches to the portrait of the leader who ensured our victory in space activities. (A series of articles about this outstanding person was published in AviaSoyuz magazine, No. 2, 2009, No. 5, 2009, and No. 5, 2014)

From the above we can conclude: if a country wants to get positive results in the field of scientific and technical activities, then professionals who have experience and understand well in which direction to go and how to optimally allocate human and financial resources should be appointed to lead the work.

In confirmation of this, we can state the fact that in the 90s. in the aerospace industry, the companies that were headed by professionals were left afloat: BY. Sukhoi - General Designer MP Simonov; ASTC them. OK. Antonova - General Designer P.V. Balabuev; RSC Energia - General Designer Yu.P. Semenov; NPO Mashinostroenie - General Designer G.A. Yefremov.

As the third lesson of the Buran, I would like to note the importance of work to ensure the reliability of the orbital ship.

Success in the first flight of such a technically complex object was not a mere coincidence. In the process of creating QA, a comprehensive experimental testing program was developed and implemented. It was the main directive document on the basis of which plans were developed for the creation and reconstruction of an experimental test base, the manufacture of test objects, the preparation of test programs, the testing of units, systems, and the orbital ship as a whole. The program had two major areas: ground based experimental testing and flight experimental studies (for more details on this, in AviaSoyuz magazine No. 3/4 of 2009).

This experience of experimental testing of the Buran complex should be studied in order to determine the optimal distribution of funds between the direct creation of an object and its experimental testing.

Accidents at the flight test stage often end with the closure of the project and the irretrievable loss of funds spent on its implementation. The cost of reducing the likelihood of loss of the object during flight tests will pay off with its further successful operation.

The next lesson deals with the problem of saving the created one. Popular wisdom says: "the rich will not be the one who squanders money right and left, but the one who cherishes the created, accumulates and uses in business."

The author of the article during the period of labor activity had the opportunity to take part in several space projects. The last years of the lunar program, four unsuccessful launches of the super-heavy class H-1 rocket - and the program is closed, all the material parts of the rocket are utilised. Next comes the development of a new super-heavy rocket, later called the “Energy”. The history repeats: two successful start-ups - the program is closed, the hardware has been utilised.

The issue of creating a super heavyweight rocket is currently being intensively discussed. This is the third attempt. Where is the rationale for its necessity? Where are the guarantees and motivations that this work will be brought to regular operation?

And how do such cases are solved with competitors. Despite the poor predictions of the cost-effectiveness of the Space Shuttle system, it has been in operation for 25 years. They are rich, can afford. Undoubtedly, during this time a great experience of operating reusable transport systems was obtained. But after closing the program, all the remaining Space Shuttle were sold to museums. And on the basis of external fuel tank technologies, solid fuel boosters and engines of the Space Shuttle system, a new super-heavy SLS class rocket is being created. It will surpass the moon carrier Saturn-5 by the mass of the payload and create conditions for the lunar and interplanetary programs of the USA.

In conclusion, in order not to end on a pessimistic note, it should be noted that among those who make decisions, there are more and more frequent statements about the need to work on reusable space systems. It is desirable to quickly move to the real business. It is also encouraging that young university graduates show interest in such topics. Let's hope that they, like we once, will be in the right place at the right time.