Dec 21 1983
From The Space Library
An Office of Technology Assessment study released today said that the Soviet Union was nearing construction of a permanent space base that would serve as an eventual springboard for Soviet settlements on Mars and the Moon. "The Soviet space station program is the cornerstone of an official policy which looks not only toward a permanent Soviet human presence in low-Earth orbit but also toward permanent Soviet settlement of their people on the Moon and Mars," the report said. "The Soviets take quite seriously the possibility that large numbers of their citizens will one day live in space" The report pointed out that the United States was still debating NASA's request for as much as 5200 million in FY85 to begin development of a U.S. space station. However, the Soviets had committed to a permanent space base.
The report pointed out that, while the United States "seems to have gained a substantial lead over the Soviet Union" in space science and communications, the picture in human spaceflight was "less clear." The report noted that Soviets had flown six models of the Salyut space station in the last 12 years; their cosmonauts had flown more than three times as many hours in space as U.S. astronauts and had accumulated extensive experience "in flight operation, experimentation, and earth observation on trips that last for months." However, U.S. space experts had long criticized the Soviets for sticking with what they believed was essentially outdated technology in the Salyut. It could not fly back to Earth, deploy other satellites, or carry as many people as the Space Shuttle. But the report pointed out that "Salyut may be the penultimate step leading to a permanent, large-scale presence in space." As evidence that the Salyut represented only a stepping stone to larger ventures in space, the report said that there is "unclassified photographic evidence" that the Soviets were developing a small space plane and a larger "heavy-lift" shuttle that would carry "more massive payloads into low-earth orbit" than the U.S. Space Shuttle could lift. (W Post, Dec 22/83, A-1; Salyut, Soviet Steps Toward Permanent Human Presence in Space, A Technical Memorandum, OTA, Washington, D.C., Dec 83)
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