manned presence could be permanent, the experience of operating in and to and from this orbit built up well ahead of the power satellite installation schedule. CST calculations have shown that the Soviets could intend to build up sophisticated transport chains using resonant transfer orbits in order to establish large bases in GEO and ultimately build towards SPS by year 2000+ . 4.4 Manned Mars missions and Mir All of the above missions are most economically launched by the 4 and 6 booster versions of the SLW. Why, therefore, is the 280t version, the SLW (8) needed? If this were to carry a 280 tonne cryogenic stage for boost from LEO it would be possible to achieve manned interplanetary missions with all the hardware discussed. In particular, therefore, the Soviets would have access to the technology for a 2.5 year round trip to Mars beginning as early as 1990. Assuming that the interplanetary programme is justified by the industrialization programme, such missions could be undertaken by the Soviets very economically, irrespective of all other considerations. The current US space station programme is small compared to the Soviet one, of which the first phase of implementation may have just begun with the launch of Mir. If this is the case then the USSR programme has an eight year lead. More importantly, the fact that the Soviet space station core, Mir, is compatible with the Proton will enable the new launching system to be used to establish large complexes outside LEO and, in particular, in GEO as soon as it is functioning. Furthermore a graduated Mars programme with a growing advanced base being built up around Mars becomes possible quite early, if CST's conjecture of the 280t planetary injection stage is correct. An interesting recent statement by a Soviet cosmonaut substantiates this view. The BBC monitoring service [13] has reported that: “Viktor Savinikh, who has arrived in Belgrade at the invitation of the Yugoslav Federation of Astronautics and Rocket Organisations, has stated in a ‘Vjesnik' interview that he has volunteered for a flight to Mars. Such a flight, Savinikh said, “will take place before 1995.” For this purpose, he added, the Soviet Union would use its new Mir spacecraft.” 4.5 Operational Logistics of the SLW Calculations by CST confirm that the following key features of the new system are likely to be present. (a) Environmental Aspects. Acoustic noise has already been mentioned as one of the limiting factors on the size of the SLW system. The level of launch rate demanded by an industrialization programme on the scale implied by the Soviet literature raises questions of pollution of the atmosphere by rocket engine products and as discussed Soviet references have themselves stressed the importance of propellant selection to minimize this problem. The large size and high operating pressures of Soviet engines allow equilibrium flow conditions to prevail well into the supersonic nozzle region. Calculations show that the launch of an SLW (8) would add about 200 kg of NO„ and 410 tonnes of CO (and a similar amount of CO2) to the atmosphere. Certainly, the levels of NOX are well below emissions from aircraft even for several SLW (8) launches per day.
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