Return to MAI Home Page
In the 1970's the United States developed and deployed the first manned orbital station, SKYLAB. Since that time the Soviet Union has developed and deployed a series of orbital stations beginning with the SOYUZ series and continuing with the present MIR. For the past several years, these stations have been manned nearly continuously. As a result of the Soviet experience a great deal has been learned about the design, development and operation of manned facilities in space, as well as the adaptation of humans to the weightless environment. As the United States continues the preliminary design process for space station FREEDOM, it is appropriate to learn as much as possible from the Soviet experience and share ideas and approaches.
As part of the developing relationship with aerospace establishments in the Soviet Union, MIT and the International Center for Advanced Studies (COSMOS) are proud to host a summer session program intended to make available to the West an insight into the design approach and technology of Soviet aerospace. The COSMOS center is a new collaborative initiative created by Moscow Aviation Institute together with several of the principle ministries and industrial organizations responsible for the Soviet aerospace program. The ministries involved include the Ministry of General Machine Building, responsible for the space program, the Ministry of Aviation Industry, the USSR State Committee on Public Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The industrial organizations include Design Bureau SALYUT, NPO (Research and Production Corporation) KOMPOZIT, the NPO MACHINOSTROENIE, NPO TECHNOMASH, NPO MOLNIYA, TsNPO VYMPEL, Lavochkin NPO, and Research Institute of Thermal Processes.
This program will be presented in cooperation with the Design Bureau SALYUT and TsNIIMash. The course will begin with a discussion of the overall conceptual and preliminary design of manned orbital stations during the system engineering aspects of those designs, and will continue with a discussion of some of the individual systems and subsystems, including the considerations necessary to ensure a long life of the modules, the design of the modules, and problems associated with approaching and docking in the normal and abnormal situations, as well as the astronaut life support systems.
The program is designed for professionals knowledgeable in these fields and will be taught at the level of a professional short course. While familiarity with all aspects discussed is not necessary, a general background in spacecraft design, or in design of one of the systems presented is desirable.
The course will be directed and coordinated by Professor Edward Crawley of the Department of Aeronautics at MIT. Lectures will be presented by a team of faculty from the Soviet Union, led by Professor V.K.Karrask, Deputy Chief Designer of the Design Bureau SALYUT, and Professor N.A.Anfimov, corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, from the Research Institute TsNIIMash. The Design Bureau SALYUT works on the development of space stations, spacecraft and launchers. In particular, it played a major role in the development of the space stations SALYUT and MIR, the modules KVANT I, KVANT II, KRISTALL, and the launcher PROTON. TsNIIMASH is a leading research institute of the Ministry of General Machine Building, which conducts a wide variety of research into the design and development of launchers and manned spacecraft.
Morning and afternoon sessions will be held with six to ten hours of lectures presented in each area. After a specific lecture has finished, ample opportunity for further discussion in small groups will be provided. Lectures and class notes will be delivered in English, although a limited amount of primary reference materials (e.g., texts, articles, etc.) may be provided in Russian when English versions are unavailable.
Return to MAI Home Page