Credit: © Mark Wade. 11,119 bytes. 371 x 248 pixels.
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| PKA Isometric - PKA Isometric drawing Credit: © Mark Wade. 11,119 bytes. 371 x 248 pixels. |
P V Tsybin’s OKB-256 had built the rocket-propelled transonic research aircraft LL-1, LL-2, and LL-3 from 1945. On 23 May 1955 they were selected to build the RS ramjet-powered Mach 3 intercontinental reconnaissance/strike aircraft (air-launched from a Tu-95N bomber), in competition with the V M Myasishchev (OKB-23) RSS-52 system. After the 1957 success of Korolev's R-7 ICBM and cancellation of most Soviet ramjet projects, the RS was redesigned as the RSR reconnaissance aircraft, conventionally flown from runways with turbojets.
In 1957, in response to the USAF Dynasoar project, the same two aviation bureaux were tasked with producing draft project designs for a manned spaceplane.
Tsybin’s design was called the gliding spacecraft (PKA). The draft project, undertaken in co-operation with Korolev’s OKB-1, was signed by Tsybin on 17 May 1959.
According to the project, the piloted PKA would be inserted into a 300 km altitude orbit by a Vostok launch vehicle. After 24 to 27 hours of flight the spacecraft would brake from orbit, gliding through the dense layers of the earth’s atmosphere. At the beginning of the descent, in the zone of most intense heating, the spacecraft would take advantage of a hull of original shape (called ‘Lapotok’ by Korolev after the Russian wooden shoes that it resembled). After braking to 500 to 600 m/s at an altitude of 20 km, the PKA would glide to a runway landing on deployable wings, which would move to a horizontal position from a stowed vertical position over the back of the spacecraft. Control of the PKA in flight was by rocket jets or aerodynamic surfaces, depending on the phase of flight.
Total time of descent of the PKA from earth orbit would be 90 minutes. Landing would take place on a specially-prepared high-load bearing runway, on bicycle skid gear, rear gear first. The fuselage of the PKA used steel extensively, and was protected from the heat of re-entry by a ventral heat shield, set off from the main spaceframe by a gap of 100 mm. The nose of the PKA and the leading edges of the aerodynamic surfaces, built of steel, used a liquid lithium closed-circuit active cooling system. Maximum external temperature would be 1200 degrees Centigrade, while the internal hot structure would reach 400 degrees. The wings would be stowed at a vertical angle of 55 to 60 degrees, in the aerodynamic shadow of the fuselage, during the period of maximum aerodynamic heating.
 | PKA 3 View drawing Credit: © Mark Wade. 29,336 bytes. 716 x 518 pixels. |
Up to 10 km altitude during the launch phase the cosmonaut would use the ejection seat for escape. Above that altitude the PKA would separate from the launch vehicle, deploy its wings, and glide to a landing at an emergency airfield.
 | PKA Credit: © Mark Wade. 13,084 bytes. 759 x 278 pixels. |
The Tsybin bureau was closed down shortly after the draft project was completed. Tsybin and his staff transferred to the Myasishchev bureau in October 1959 (which had its own on-going VKA-23 winged spacecraft project). The Myasishchev bureau was then in turn closed and the staff transferred to Filial 1 of Chelomei’s OKB-52 bureau in 1960. PKA and VKA-23 engineers were absorbed into the Chelomei Raketoplan spaceplane project team under Khrushchev's son. Work on the RSR/R-020 was stopped by Chelomei in April 1961.
Tsybin himself went to work for Korolev. Tsybin’s work on the PKA was passed to the Mikoyan bureau and formed the starting point for the design of the Spiral spaceplane. For Korolev he worked on the Vostok, Soyuz, and Soyuz-T manned spacecraft; AMS planetary probes; and Molniya communications satellite. He was finally Deputy Designer of the Buran space shuttle from 1974 until his death in 1992.
 | PKA 3 View - PKA 3 View drawing 340 pixels wide Credit: © Mark Wade. 10,866 bytes. 321 x 232 pixels. |
Craft.Crew Size: 1. Total Length: 10.0 m. Maximum Diameter: 4.0 m. Total Mass: 4,500 kg. Electrical System: Batteries.
Tsybin’s design was called the gliding spacecraft (PKA). The draft project, undertaken in co-operation with Korolev’s OKB-1, was signed by Tsybin on 17 May 1959.The piloted PKA would be inserted into a 300 km altitude orbit by a Vostok launch vehicle. After 24 to 27 hours of flight the spacecraft would brake from orbit, gliding through the dense layers of the earth’s atmosphere. At the beginning of the descent, in the zone of most intense heating, the spacecraft would take advantage of a hull of original shape (called ‘Lapotok’ by Korolev after the Russian wooden shoes that it resembled). After braking to 500 to 600 m/s at an altitude of 20 km, the PKA would glide to a runway landing on deployable wings, which would move to a horizontal position from a stowed vertical position over the back of the spacecraft. Control of the PKA in flight was by rocket jets or aerodynamic surfaces, depending on the phase of flight.
 | PKA Isometric - PKA Isometric drawing Credit: © Mark Wade. 4,746 bytes. 180 x 121 pixels. |
The Tsybin bureau was closed down shortly after the draft project was completed. Tsybin and his staff transferred to the Myasishchev bureau in October 1959 (which had its own on-going VKA-23 winged spacecraft project). The Myasishchev bureau was then in turn closed and the staff transferred to Filial 1 of Chelomei’s OKB-52 bureau in 1960. Tsybin’s work on the PKA was passed to the Mikoyan bureau and formed the starting point for the design of the Spiral spaceplane.