Documents / FOIA release
This Central Intelligence Agency file is a 1991 JPRS translation, report JPRS-USP-91-005. It carries the annotation and text of a Soviet brochure on the space program, written by one of the first cosmonauts. The brochure reviews what manned and unmanned spaceflight have achieved and calls the American lunar program a costly dead end pursued for prestige. It then proposes future tasks, including environmental monitoring satellites, orbiting factories, an international monitoring system, Mars sample return, radio telescopes and space robots.
“Low Earth orbit”15 pages
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
## Document 5 of 10 something is wrong with things when people show up on planet where they're searching for life, and they begin by poisoning the landing site and the living organisms they're looking for in that area. Pragmatic considerations urge the use of reliable, convenient components that are toxic, and the reputations of the people associated with Mars missions have long been ruined: after all, just such components have been used in all the unmanned vehicles that have landed on the Martian surface. But it wouldn't be a bad idea to look for a nontoxic gas consisting of components that have a high boiling point (i.e., that are in liquid form at normal temperatures), are hypergolic (for purposes of reliability of operation of engines that cut-in tens, hundreds, or even thousands of times), and are sufficiently stable and shock-resistant. In theory, there is such a gas that comes close in terms of its characteristics to meeting those contradictory requirements: concentrated hydrogen peroxide and some kind of nontoxic hydrocarbon propellant with additives that ensure self-ignition with hydrogen peroxide. Additives to hydrogen peroxide (stabilizers) that will raise its stability still need to be found. 214. The lander must have equipment that is needed during the descent and during the mission's stay on the surface, but is not needed in the return from the surface to the orbiter: a forward heat shield used during the main deboost phase in the Martian atmosphere and jettisoned after the parachute system is triggered; the parachute system itself; a laboratory section for operations inside the craft on the Martian surface; electric-power generators (probably isotope generators); equipment for controlling the landing; a temperature-regulation system for the lander and the craft as a whole, which operates on the surface and includes heaters (probably isotope heaters) for the Martian night (as well as the Martian day); life-support system equipment and stocks (oxygen and water); an airlock and space suits for exiting the craft, with the necessary onboard equipment; systems for communications and television observation of the space outside; consoles and systems for displaying incoming information; a Mars rover that will enable rather extensive, long expeditions, with its own systems for things like electric power supply, life support, communications, and control and a system for temperature regulation; and research equipment (atmospheric probes, drilling units, analyzers, tthermostats, etc.). 215. Here the problem of the size of the laboratory section stands out-after all, the mission will have to work on the Martian surface for, maybe, several months. That means that dozens of cubic meters will be needed, plus individual cabins. 216. How many individuals will land on the surface of Mars? It would be expected that work will be done at the landing site at the same time that work is being done on the Mars rover. So the mission
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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 53 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.