Space race that stalled
QUESTION Were the plans for the Soviet Union’s Buran spacecraft stolen from Nasa?
UNTIL the launch of the space shuttle in 1981, space vehicles were single-mission craft. a shuttle, on the other hand, could be used multiple times and reduce the cost of space exploration.
the shuttle was mostly a civilian programme, though the U.s. military used it occasionally to launch satellites and perform other classified activities. the Russians didn’t know this, and during the Cold War saw it as a potential carrier of nuclear weapons.
the soviet government responded by demanding its own vehicle with similar technical capabilities, so the Russian reusable spacecraft project began and was called Buran (Blizzard).
Russian politicians allowed their engineers to choose how to go about producing such a vehicle, an opening that Buran chief architect Valentin Glushko fully exploited.
We now know from numerous unclassified documents and eye-witnesses that soviet engineers were initially reluctant to design a spacecraft that looked superficially identical to the shuttle, but subsequent wind tunnel testing showed that the aerodynamic shape and dual-swept wings of nasa’s shuttle, which wasn’t a secret, was ideal. the internal architecture, however, was quite original.
there were similarities: both vehicles employed hydrogen fuel cells to produce electricity and burned hydrazine to power onboard hydraulic systems, but soviet engineers had designed their mechanisms from scratch with only a general idea of how the american equivalents worked.
the great innovation of Glushko’s team was in the Buran launch system. Instead of two relatively simple (but, as the Challenger disaster showed, deadly) solid-rocket boosters, on the first stage, the soviets employed four liquid-propellant rockets.
they also used four main engines (instead of the shuttle’s three) designed to provide most of the thrust during a ride to orbit. these were placed in a separate rocket stage, rather than on the winged orbiter itself as was the case with the shuttle.
this approach meant the soviet system would lose its main engines after each flight, instead of returning them to Earth with the orbiter, making it less reusable. on the other hand, it meant that it could carry a massive payload of up to 95 tons. By contrast, the maximum payload of the space shuttle was limited by the 29-ton capacity of the orbiter’s cargo bay.
the Buran’s capability could have been stunning, able to carry a lunar base module, or a Martian expeditionary vehicle in a single payload.
Building Buran in this way, the soviets laid the foundation for the superheavy, multi-purpose rocket later known as Energia, a system now used in the Russian–Ukrainian Zenit launcher.
Many believe the Russian system was superior to that of the nasa, but with the end of the Cold War and the soviet collapse, money was diverted from the space programme and the project collapsed.
the Buran shuttle OK-1K1 completed one unmanned spaceflight in 1988, but was mothballed and destroyed in 2002 when the hangar it was stored in collapsed.
James Wallace, Salisbury, Wilts.
QUESTION Does wearing a medical face mask when you are out and about really prevent you catching a cold?
RESEARCH has demonstrated that the face mask is highly effective in preventing the transmission of disease when used inside closed environments such as hospitals or in the home.
a 2008 study in the International Journal of Infectious diseases (the First Randomised, Controlled Clinical trial of Mask Use In Households to Prevent Respiratory Virus transmission) found that when used correctly, those living with a sick family member were 80 per cent less likely to be diagnosed with the illness.
another study published in the annals of Internal Medicine (Face Masks and Hand Hygiene to Prevent Influenza transmission In Households: a Cluster Randomised trial) reported similar results. the reason for this is simple: the common cold virus is typically transmitted via airborne droplets (aerosols), direct contact with infected nasal secretions, or contaminated objects (fomites).
Just how well masks work outdoors is less well understood. It appears to be more important that the infected patient wears one rather than those attempting to stop infection.
this is well understood in Japan where the mask is actually worn as protection for the public, not against. It’s considered a common courtesy for poorly individuals to wear a surgical mask in an effort not to infect those around them.
It should be noted that such masks are only really a third line of defence: the best protection against the flu is the vaccine, and washing your hands frequently also offers indisputable protection against contagions.
the mask’s effectiveness is also heavily dependent on how the illness is transmitted. For airborne viruses and bugs expelled from the body in large droplets, the mask provides good protection.
the trouble is, the flu and related illnesses aren’t only spread in this manner. one study found that 65 per cent of viruses spread among flu patients consisted of small particles able to escape through the mesh in the mask.
this problem could be overcome by wearing n95 respirator masks, that can filter 95 per cent of airborne particles, but if we all did that, it might feel a bit like wartime london with everyone carrying gas masks.
Dr Ian Smith, Cambridge.
QUESTION At a funeral in Galway, Southern Ireland, there was a discussion in the cemetery about the correct way to place the coffin. The city relatives said the correct way is to place the head at the headstone end, the country relatives were adamant that the head should face east towards the rising sun. Is there a correct position?
FURTHER to the earlier answer, I read with interest the question of the alignment of bodies in cemeteries as usually being west to east, with the feet at the east end.
It brings to mind one Colonel William Cornwallis-West, of Ruthin Castle, north Wales. He died on July 4, 1917.
His desire was to be buried in st Peter’s Church graveyard north to south so that on the day of resurrection he would be raised facing Ruthin Castle. His wish was granted. Brian W. Williams, Ruthin.
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