Technological experiments aboard “Salyut-5”

During the flight of the Soviet orbital space complex “Salyut-5”—“Soyuz” the experiments on the space technology and materials production had been conducted amongst the versatility of various scientific research. The experiment “Diffusiya” was aimed at investigating the features of mass transfer under near-zero-gravity conditions. The experimental results had been compared with those obtained under terrestrial conditions and theoretical calculations. The experiment “Potok” was aimed at studying the gas inclusions motion dynamics in the liquid. The crystal growth from solutions was fulfilled with the aid of the “Crystal” instrument. The experiment “Sphera” had an objective to study the solidification of multicomponent metal sample with a free surface. When soldering the pipe junctions use was made of the “Reaktsiya” instrument. The experimental results contributed greatly to the creation of scientific foundations of space technology and material production.     

Monitoring of the space system

We have performed monitoring of the space system that includes the Earth, the Moon, the Sun, and the GPS satellite group. We have discovered semi-diurnal and diurnal periodicities in the number of satellites detected as well as in the altitude, latitude and longitude by a GPS receiver. We have revealed tidal deformations related to changes in the Earth?s orientation with respect to the Moon and the Sun.     

Spacecraft images obtained with a telescope at the Altai Optical Laser Center using adaptive optics

We present the results of experiments in which low-orbit spacecraft were observed from the Earth’s surface by the 600-mm optical telescope of the Altai Optical Laser Center. Thanks to the use of an adaptive optical unit, the angular resolution of images obtained is limited only by diffraction on the collective aperture of the telescope, and this angular resolution is better than that determined in a turbulent atmosphere without adaptive optics by a factor of 5 to 10.     

Imaging mass-spectrometer of ions for studying near-planetary plasma

A numerical model of an ion mass-spectrometer is developed based on the new type of charged-particle analyzer CAMERA suggested previously [1–3]. The spectrometer provides for complete instantaneous imaging of the flux distribution of various ions in a hemisphere. Such a type of the mass-spectrometer is chosen, which allows one to analyze a conelike beam of ions at the exit of the CAMERA. The mathematical model of the CAMERA with this time-of-flight mass-analyzer ensures sufficiently high mass resolution (M/ΔM > 100) at conserved imaging capabilities of the CAMERA. Such an instrument can find a wide application both in magnetospheric studies and in studying various objects of the solar system.