50 Years Ago The First Space Station Launched - Salyut 1

Salyut 1 was a quick hack put together by Soviet engineers who saw an opportunity to develop something historic. They took the structure of the military Almaz station which was still in development and added existing working hardware to make it a fully functioning space station.
Unfortunately, while it was a success there were problems with both visits to the station, one crew was unable to dock properly, while the second crew died on the way back to Earth.
If you want to find out more about soviet era hardware I suggest "Mir Hardware Heritage'
www.hq.nasa.gov/pao/History/S...
And Anatoly Zak's Russian Space Web
russianspaceweb.com/

[@SomeNavySEALs]

Turning off RCS immediately before docking is also a critical procedure on KSP to prevent the larger vessel from summoning the Kraken.

[@ganr1277]

RCS and SAS...

[@julese7790]

This..........

[@Axonteer]

all hail THE KRAKEN - slam that port in there at 5m/s !

[@VaupellGaming]

i have seen fantastic rotations and spins when docking in space, then suddenly everything flies into infinity.. . :p

[@slinkerdeer]

*docks without disabling RCS* *que Davy Jones summoning the Kraken from POTC*

[@KevinBalch-dt8ot]

The Apollo 15 crew named one of the craters near their landing site Salyut. And of course left “The Fallen Astronaut” statue.

[@rpavlik1]

Wow. They really lean into "if it ain't broke don't fix it". Fascinating stories and storytelling.

[@WolfePaws]

Skylab was a retooled S-IVB stage as used in Saturn 1 and Saturn 5 for the Apollo missions. There were even plans proposed to use modified S-IVBs on Solar and Venus/Mars flyby missions. Once engineers find something that works, they really don't like to let it go :D

[@johnladuke6475]

Also, when getting your space budget out of the politicians is like squeezing blood from a stone, it makes you want to find a use for every part of the carcass.

[@AsbestosMuffins]

@@WolfePaws ya but having read those apollo-x proposals with hindsight its pretty certain the crews couldn't have survived in space for something like a year given the limited experience we had with exercise and other life lessons

[@Wallyworld30]

@@AsbestosMuffins Some Russian's have spent more than a year in space in one trip and were fine. How could Russians do it but not Americans?

[@falconeagle3655]

If Russian engineering works it works really really well

[@docnele]

There are two versions how Soyuz 10 crew unlocked the docking mechanism because they probably used top secret tools in the form of hammer, blue insulating tape and obscene swearing ;)

[@orolab1]

Swearing. Where would we be without it?

[@speedstriker]

Too bad hard bass wasn't invented yet because it would have made the process a lot smoother.

[@Chrisamic]

I bet they cyka blyat(ed) the heck out of it.

[@noop9k]

Just read a few pages of KGB surveillance reports (unrelated) where the most frequent abbreviations were “е.т.м.", “х.." and “б..".

[@zapfanzapfan]

Put it in reverse and gun it!

[@robbytheremin2443]

Semi on topic: One of the most giggle like a little girl moments of my years as a ham radio operator was contacting the Mir space station. Twice. 😎

[@AaaAaa-ly3on]

Make Scott to do a video about this, please!.. ;)

[@Saukko31]

In Finland, in 1984 a full scale model of Salyut was set up, I vaguely remember my parents taking me to see it.

[@MeatBallFreak333]

Kova homma harmi etten ollu elosda

[@AsbestosMuffins]

every kerbal veteran can appreciate RCS going nuts

[@CPS747-8]

I've played the game for over a year and I only just found out they have actuation toggles.

[@xeLJoYo]

The KSP mod used in the video is Tantares by Beale, it's an amazing mod for reproducing Soviet rocketry. Really should be credited properly in the video!

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

13:12 Richard Nixon saw the photo of Patsayev's daughter (in white with scarf) and wrote her to say, "I know your father would want you to go on with a courage to match his own."

[@johnladuke6475]

It's weird hearing stories about Nixon and the space program because based on those anecdotes alone he seems like such a classy upstanding gentleman.

[@luckyrail23]

@@johnladuke6475 Sadly, not every looks down to earth the same way they look to the stars, no matter the party or scandal or anywhoo, people look to the stars and see potential for a utopia of which the level precedent and challenge unrivaled. Nixon is a prime example, and if you only saw him from the space side, he was an outstanding person. He oversaw the Apollo program and commenced the shuttle program.

[@brianwoodel2160]

@@johnladuke6475 even bad people can have redeeming qualities

[@Behemoth29]

@@johnladuke6475 Nixon is no worse than any other US President... He just got caught

[@DonalMountain]

@@brianwoodel2160 you just said what he said

[@RCAvhstape]

Tom Stafford also flew on the joint US/USSR Apollo Soyuz Test Project, where the American and Soviet programs learned how to build common docking systems and did an in flight docking.

[@aidegrod]

This is masterpiece. I can't find this kind of piece of history in russian youtube. U did great job as always! TY.

[@henningerhenningstone691]

@Eric E Not just space, mankind as a whole really. Art and science bring people together, politics pry them apart.

[@aidegrod]

​@@henningerhenningstone691 Totally agree..

[@TheKurtkapan34]

@@henningerhenningstone691 we need to colonize mars so that we can make one world government and fight against dusters instead

[@ilyachaplygin8573]

Подумал о том же самом. (These are my exact thoughts on this video)

[@rugan0723]

I went to work at Vandenberg AFB in the early 80s. There were still signs at several facilities designating them for the MOL program. The pad for MOL was our infamous Space Launch Complex 6 (SLC-6). Which, might be worth doing a video about someday (not that you need any ideas). The MOL was why we were going to have west coast space shuttle launches. The enterprise shuttle was brought out for form, fit, function testing on all the infrastructure and launch complex modifications. Discovery was scheduled to launch, before Challenger happened that is. Today SLC-6 is where we launch the Delta-IV Heavy from. People would be shocked at how much money went into building/re-building SLC-6 for all the various cancelled/successful programs it was to support over the years.

[@Mskvaer]

I was dismayed on reading the title: "50 years" - Fifty?! As in: I remember this.

[@Chrisamic]

Well I remember Apollo 11 and 13. That's only slightly worse LOL

[@Mskvaer]

Gemini program ... but I do not remember Sputnik :-)

[@DrWhom]

Yes. This.

[@magnadolosfs2707]

Same

[@lostpony4885]

As a kid of the 70s watching Skylab fall i thought it was the only one. Wow if only i had all this information then i'da been soooo happy.

[@JeffreyBue_imtxsmoke]

I remember very well when the Soyuz 11 crew perished returning from Salyut 1. At that time, it was the longest anyone had stayed in space and there was some speculation they might have succumb to something related to that. Back in those days, it was difficult to get any reliable information from the Soviets so there was always a lot of speculation. Fast forward a few years later when Apollo-Soyuz-Test-Project (ASTP) became a "thing", I remember reading a news article describing the errant pressure release valve as being the cause of the death of the cosmonauts on Soyuz 11. I guess since the US was going to dock an Apollo to the Soyuz, NASA demanded full disclosure about that cause of the accident before allowing the mission and it became public knowledge - at least that's when I found out about it.

[@user-un1ge1sv8y]

no way your were alive at the time

[@AbuctingTacos]

I just visited the Stafford Air and Space museum. Absolutely amazing. They have a real V2 engine and flown Gemini capsule

[@raydar1541]

that's so cool. Id love to visit an aero space museum!

[@tangydiesel1886]

@Not Bugarev agree. The cosmosphere is great. A lot of stuff from V1/V2 era, all the way through Apollo/Soyuz.

[@marcusdamberger]

Indeed that is a great treasure, had no clue how much cool stuff they had. They also have an Apollo-Soyuz Docking Ring, the predecessor to the APAS-95 that was used on the Shuttle Mir missions and then later on the ISS. Apollo-Soyuz led to a lot of later cooperation.

[@bobinmaine1]

What an excellent episode Scott! I was literally glued to my screen fascinated by every second of this story. A warrior is a warrior no matter what they fight for and a hero is a hero no matter what nation they come from. These men deserve the utmost respect.

[@nagualdesign]

Whatever you do, do not try to remove the screen by force or by using solvents. In a day or two the outer layer of your epidermis will shed naturally, and the screen should peel away without damaging the skin.

[@bobinmaine1]

@@nagualdesign Oh thank you I was getting scared I'd have a phone stuck to my face forever😂😂

[@glynwilliams4204]

I agree. I was initially unsure whether I would have found this interesting. Oh was I wrong! This is gripping drama!

[@RKroese]

Delusional much?

[@bobinmaine1]

@@RKroese No idea what words mean much?

[@alexzummo5342]

Could you please do a video diving into the technical aspects of Mir space station! I’d love to see how the Russian design evolved over the years.

[@SebastianSchleussner]

@Not Bugarev *ba-dum-tsss*

[@Marinealver]

I want to know about the cannon they test fired on Salyut 3.

[@noop9k]

@Not Bugarev I *vaguely* remember this happened because of the new docking system, because the old was made in (or used parts / software from?) Ukraine.

[@deniskhaidarov9166]

@@noop9k that wasn't a new docking system. It was poorly prepared test of TORU system for manual remote control of arriving cargo spacecrafts.

[@lifefordummies]

This was such a good informative video. The kerbal visuals were done so well i forgot for a second he was using kerbal to demonstrate it. Hahaha

[@luckyrail23]

Docking in space is a very pro gamer move.

[@7890tom7890]

What an incredible video! Rest in peace to those Cosmonauts, it was such a heavy story of their last flight.

[@jointscript]

The stories of the Soviet space programs are amazing. Every single one of them is worthy for its own movie, like the Slyut 7 one. Watch it, its just pure awsomness

[@xiniks]

Funny how the same docking problems occured in KSP. SAS fighting against docking and if I remember correctly a docking bug many versions ago that needed “hacking” the craft in the save file to have it properly release.

[@jasonwalker9471]

Little known factoid: the designers of KSP needed to save time, so they stole the original Salyut docking code.

[@judet2992]

@@jasonwalker9471😂

[@canadianigel]

For two diameters. You want station as wide as possible. But you also want to mount sensitive fragile equipment on the outside. Hence two zones: one wide but aerodynamically clean, another narrower but with a lot of mounting external surface. Bonus: a shorter, more conventional fairing. Skylab also had big clean diameter and all "ugly stuff" was hidden under a fairing. Solar batteries were the only exception to the "clean diameter" rule... and they did not hold so well after all.

[@BlackSkyLegion]

RESPECT to 3 heroes of humanity and respect to you for great content! Right on CMDR! 07

[@badgerello]

Amy over at the vintage space did a story on the Soyuz 11 crew where she talks about Equatorial Guineas bizarre commemorative stamps for this tragic event. Strange is an understatement.

[@cwulfe1]

Amy @ Vintage Space also did two episodes on MOL.

[@tousifzaman9392]

The recovery of Salyut-7 deserves an episode from Scott Manley

[@t.mitchell9135]

Hasn’t he already done one on this?

[@scottmanley]

You know I had planned one, then Curious Droid did it.

[@catmate8358]

@@scottmanley we like your approach. Also, it would be interesting to find out what artistic freedoms the film took relative to the real events. BTW it's a terrific film, imho.

[@pablogarin]

So basically, the soviets where docking and experience a kraken attack... I get it, I've been there: docking, RCS goes crazy, kraken attack... maybe the part count was too high... or maybe autostrut...

[@ComandanteJ]

Maybe they didn't check their stagin'

[@judet2992]

@@ComandanteJ😂

[@yurttgjk]

Непросто космос покорялся! Интересные подробности, спасибо!

[@XavierBetoN]

All those facepalms I've endaggered whilst on KSP, are actually real facepalms made by Soviet scientists. I feel alone no more..

[@Marinealver]

The different Space Stations: Salyut, Skylab, Mir, Freedom, Tainzhou. So that's how they got a bomber tailgun on the Salyut, it started as a military station.

[@Makkis]

You forgot the ISS

[@johnladuke6475]

@@Makkis He named that as "Freedom", which was what the US portion was called before it was entirely clear that it would be an ongoing international collaboration. Not clear why OP would put it that way, because it was renamed and re-envisioned ISS by the time anything actually got launched.

[@TheArklyte]

@@johnladuke6475 if we forget that Freedom was only half of the original and MIR-2 is also part of ISS?

[@johnladuke6475]

@@TheArklyte That's why I'm confused that the OP called it Freedom. That was a name on some drawings once upon a time, and the thing that was actually launched was ISS. But technically, it wasn't missed in the list, just misnamed.

[@TheArklyte]

@@johnladuke6475 do you care how he tickles his pride? I don't. Let him name it whatever he wants, it's ISS.

[@Caroline_Tyler]

Hearing Scott Manley speaking Russian names brings back memories of "The Hunt for Red October" ;)

[@AaaAaa-ly3on]

And he nailed it! -Almost... :) Except for couple inherent English-speaking people's problems, of course...

[@simongeard4824]

Eh, Scottish, Russian... close enough, right?

[@AaaAaa-ly3on]

@@simongeard4824 -R-r-right! ;)

[@noop9k]

He is only slightly better than before. His usual pronounciation of “Наука" is still irritating AF. In the first video he used it, I didn’t even recognize. .. in case Scott accidentally sees this: Nauka is pronounced as 3 syllables, not 2. Salyut as two syllables(Sa-l’yut), not three. Because vowel “Ю"(yu/ju) exists, vowel au does not exist, these are two separate vowels. Yu, Ya, Yo etc. are pronounced more like 2 vowels if in the beginning of a word. Otherwise it is single vowel and the preceding consonant is softened. Also, any russian dictionary for foreigners has stress marks that show which syllable should be pronounced slightly longer/louder.

[@AaaAaa-ly3on]

@@noop9k -Common! -At least he's trying!.. If not for really astounding Soviet achievements he wouldn't even mention any Russian name or word probably... :( Except "Great Visionary Mind" as Rogozin, of course! -And it's much easier to pronounce than Korolyov also... ;))

[@ShiftingDrifter]

I love the Salut cutaway picture illustrating a table and 2 chairs - items of paragon importance in a weightless environment. lol

[@dylanthrust6683]

Reason for smaller size has to do with weight. On the top stage of a rocket reducing weight by 20-25% is amazingly important. If it is not need then it reduces fuel needs. Also smaller top means less aerodynamic drag. Again losing 5% in drag mean more payload. Remember these old rockets did not have a lot of extra DeltaV left over.

[@virgoshorizon2739]

Salyut is actually very interesting, didn't know much about it before this. Thanks for the information.

[@marcturcotte1962]

Apollo 11 and Soyuz 11, 2 different endings. For the 50th anniversary Google should doodle in their memory. Long live space exploration.

[@rwboa22]

With Almaz, we got Salyut, Mir, the TKS Spacecraft with Merkur return capsule (and the derived modules to Mir), Zvezda, and Zarya.

[@canadianigel]

Yep. Was very impressive program, one of my favourites!

[@rwboa22]

@@canadianigel all I wish for is they release the Salyut 7 movie out with English subtitles. What they did makes Skylab's rescue and repair operation made by the Skylab 2 crew look like routine duct tape and WD-40 garage repair.

[@canadianigel]

@@rwboa22 Oh, be careful what you wish for! :-). The movie is horrible, they've sensationalized everything they could, blew up every minor mishap out of proportion and into full life-threatening emergency, dumped incidents from different flights into single one... Especially funny for me, as the whole story developed pretty much in front of my eyes, and I remember it pretty well - how cool (in both ways) and how matter-of-factly the whole thing went in real life. Did not even bother to watch the whole movie...

[@canadianigel]

@@rwboa22 ...And no, I would totally compare Skylab and Salut-7 repairs. Both crews were ready for some problems, specially prepared for them, faced some unexpected challenges, overcame all obstacles one by one, in a very orderly way... Great job and invaluable experience to borrow from in the decades to come!

[@joeyknight8272]

Great videos! Always love your content. You are such a wonderful reporter of space flight!

[@AstroGoalHorns]

I paid $10 for this video. Thanks for talking about Almaz Scott!

[@bennybooboobear3940]

We all appreciate your regular uploads!!

[@caonabo2]

Very interesting video Scott.

[@parlainthtownie85]

Very cool. Good job. Love the pics and the Kerbal stuff. I would really like to hear about Almaz shenanigans.

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

Love the fact you have a RCS nozzle waiting for you next to your computer 😂

[@JMurph2015]

The description of that docking incident gave me horrific KSP flashbacks.

[@martiantexan7632]

Awesome story, thanks for the presentation!

[@NovelIdeaIndeed]

What a fascinating window on an obscure but important piece of space history! Thank you!

[@bobiboulon]

I clicked faster than yt notifications. Litterally: It notified me of your video once I was on that page.

[@williamchamberlain2263]

Faster than the speed of information

[@bobiboulon]

@@williamchamberlain2263 Great Scott! We can only hope it won't rip the very fabric of space-time!

[@manualLaborer]

Faster than the speed of love

[@Kosmonooit]

Excellent episode of space history, thanks!

[@OCinneide]

It's sad to think of the stuff the dead crew could have left behind, was never seen before the space station was destroyed.

[@dramaticusflatudicus3839]

I read they were really pleased with how their plants had grown, and they looked forward to waking up to see them growing every day. They sounded really happy with those little achievements for their green fingers. Such a shame it ended that way.

[@PierreH1968]

Great narration, interesting story! Thanks Scott!

[@SuperCleary]

Love this. I went on a deep dive about Skylab the other day and it’s all so interesting.

[@timothypirnat3754]

Thanks Scott. Well done.

[@Unfaced85]

I love how you make space history so fun :)

[@mowogfpv7582]

About 25 years ago my father had an approach about publishing Yeliseyev's memoirs in English. It was a bit out of his area so he passed it around but sadly it seems it never came together. I was always fascinated by what could be in the chapter titled "space trap!".

[@Luke..luke..luke..]

Always stop what I'm doing to catch these early 🙏👌

[@WWeronko]

I always learn things I never knew before when I watch a Scott Manley video. Thank you very much Scott.

[@HobbsBhipp]

Well researched - as always.

[@blackterminal]

Thanks for this video Scott

[@paulhaynes8045]

Very interesting, thanks Scott. The (apparently) scripted bit at the beginning was a bit weird though - I've got so used to the ad-lib style of the 'three videos a week' age!

[@favesongslist]

What a good history lesson and as always great video footage, never understand why people downvote such amazing content.

[@jacobjackson5607]

Love you, great videos!

[@GhostFlashDrew]

i love him more

[@user-nq7xu6gz7n]

There was also one curious development along Almaz and Salyut stations series - TKS spaceship which was intended for crew and supplies delivery to Almaz stations. Eight missions were launched in unmanned cargo delivery mode to Soviet orbital stations. Later TKS design was repurposed as FGB - Functional-Cargo Block which was used in missions to Mir station. ISS module Zarya was also based on TKS design. Unfortunately, TKS was eclipsed by success of Soyuz/Progress spacecrafts and is relatively little known.

[@richardloewen7177]

Hi Scott, please also do an episode on Skylab--sent up 2 years later, in 1973. (I was 16 at that time.) 17 meters wide. Intended as the hub for a space station. But LEO atmospheric drag was underestimated. It came down, before space shuttles were launched. It was intended as a field station for shuttle flights, assisting those flights In turn, those shuttles could bring up additional station components. MUCH EASIER, if there was already in place a wide-diameter aired hub. As I look at our current struggles--in all national and international endeavours--to expand space station diameters beyond a few meters, I like to frustrate myself by WHAT IF mental games. What if the shuttle program had developed faster, with Skylab still available, as a space station core to be built up? How scaled up could have been our current space stations? Signed, a highly frustrated 66 year old.

[@Backtrack3332]

2AM. Time for another Scott Manley Video

[@andersjjensen]

I just love the Swedish name for Batman! :P

[@JeffreyBue_imtxsmoke]

Jim Oberg is a great source for all things Soviet space. I've collected many of his books over the years.

[@scottmanley]

He’s great!

[@dvv18]

Strangely enough, I discovered him only when I was trawling internets for information on KAL007 shootdown. He's not only about Soviet _space_ things :)

[@lynxdiamond4888]

When I asked why the Soviet space station modules were tapered on Reddit they called it a boring question but I and many more space nerds beg to differ. Scott I wonder if you could make a video on why space station modules are the shape they are or the lineage of space station modules?

[@cresshead]

excellent vid thank you.

[@miroslavmilan]

Thanks for the fascinating story.

[@anthoneyking6572]

Wow Again Scott a well interesting thing you talked about Thank you

[@DanKrishtal]

When i was a student, i was inside the Salyut station in a museum. Its a very small and narrow piece of tube. Still bigger than my appartment

[@nikospapageorgiou57]

It is very interesting to observe how similar early space stations were, with the first underwater habitats, like SEALAB and AQUARIUS!

[@StealthTheUnknown]

Love the new intro, Scott!!

[@redcirclesilverx4586]

Super interesting episode. Have you done a lot of these space history discussions? I may have missed those.

[@LuciFeric137]

Another great post

[@engineeredlifeform]

How timely, I caught a couple of episodes of "Atomic Age Declassified" on the Smithsonian channel recently, and one covered the US Manned Orbital Laboratory.

[@StYxXx]

The lift-off @11:50 looks so cool. Like taken from an old scifi movie

[@AlexanderBatyr]

Russian names sounds really good. Nice job!

[@allancopland1768]

Thanks Scott.

[@MrJustinUSCM]

Russian Space Web is such a great site. It's interesting reading about the Soviet side because everyone always talks about the American Missions.

[@tbyte007]

Soviet. More than half of the scientists were Ukrainian, Armenian and Belarusian. Korolev was an Ukrainian. Stop insulting them by calling them "Russian".

[@yearswriter]

@@tbyte007 Chill, you can write the same thing without being an ass. Also, hate is such a poison, regardless of how justified it can be. Stalin also was Georgian, not Russian you know. And before that, a lot of it was Russian Empire. The point is, they are Soviet, yes, but calling someone Russian is not an insult, just not true as far as those people origin goes.

[@tbyte007]

@@yearswriter The only thing I said was "Stop calling other nations something that they are not". Especially calling them with the name of their occupier and oppressor. It's like calling the French "Germans" or something.

[@yearswriter]

@@tbyte007 again, with the oppressor. It is either all Russian history, or all more precise and nuanced history of the states that were, not some weird mix when people can not call USSR Ukrainian Russian (which is fair), but also can be offended with term "Russain" which does not equal "Soviet", while it was Soviet government, who occupied those territories. There were multiple nationality leaders at the head of the USSR it is hard to tell who oppressed whom. You perpetuate hate instead of knowledge and state of the matter. You also mix together multiple states that existed at different points in time on the territory of the USSR the same way the original comment did. And you most definitely equated mistake to an insult. And no, the Germans example also is not correct, since Germany existed in many different governments and states, and only Natzy and Empire German regimes were occupants. Nether Bismark or Hitler also were French by origin. BTW all the above does not mean that shit didn't happen, it is history, we gotta learn from it, from the ugly sides too. Or that there are people on all sides who dream about the USSR past as their own and how things should be. That's just how some people can be - stupid and hateful. It is also true, that, in the end, Russia is the one country that benefited the most. Again, what I have an issue with is the clear hate brewing, not the facts

[@noop9k]

Always take Russian sources with a grain of salt. Or, rather, with a bucket of salt.

[@ovidiulu]

I wish I had a history teacher like Scott

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

The smaller diameter on the upper part of the module seems to be here for folded solar panels (if they later planned to put bigger ones), when the thing is stacked on the top of the rocket. But I might be wrong. ^^

[@MattPM0000]

Loved the new intro.

[@captntorthenaer-do-wellcad3191]

You're awesome! Thanks!

[@l00t3R]

Scott I've followed your channel for a couple of years now. You've even commented on some of my idiotic comments. I love the history space vids you do. Will follow your content for plenty more years ❤

[@frankgulla2335]

Another wonderful job, filling the history gap.

[@tommorningstar6373]

Unswervingly awesome.

[@GameplayReviewUK]

Loved this video :D

[@DaveJLock]

Hi Scott, Interesting piece, I too have often wondered about the odd shape of the Salyut and its subsequent clones. Out of interest, have you any plans to do a piece on "Big Gemini"? I believe at one point it was in the running as being the craft to take USA astronauts to the moon before the decision to produce Apollo.

[@timocallaghan4408]

I would love to see more videos on Mir, Tianhe etc

[@NotHonkyTonk]

Really interesting what he said about Thomas Stafford at the funeral and in russian relations. Can anyone recommend a good source to read more about this relationship?

[@renerpho]

Check out "Salyut - The First Space Station: Triumph and Tragedy" by Grujica Ivanovich. It has a whole section about the funeral, including the details of Stafford's participation. Stafford later played a central role in the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Project. You may want to check that out, too, just to see what happened later. The 1971 incident wasn't solely responsible for Stafford being on the first joined Russian-American mission, but it surely helped.

[@alantownsend5468]

I found this interesting as well. Gives that "good sportsmanship" vibe to the whole space race conversation.

[@K.O240]

What a fantastic episode, everything from the research to the kerbal demonstrations. Fascinating, heart breaking story. Thanks!

[@5Andysalive]

Apollo 14 had a somewhat similar docking problem after TLI. The softdock didn't work. So after much (relative) elaboration and simulation, they did it without. The much less famous issue, Apollo 14 had. But it would have been a mission ender.

[@igorsmihailovs52]

Thank you very much for the video! Learning about the setbacks with "Almaz" made me believe that maybe "Nauka" will eventually fly into space.

[@timblack6422]

Very interesting!

[@cabbycabby1770]

Love this video. Space stations and extended human presence in orbit is so fascinating. But how do you feel about UAP?

[@connork.2131]

Wow what a coincidence. I am playing through my first career mode run and just yesterday I launched my first space station which I based on Salyut.:)

[@konradcomrade4845]

I still remember Salyut. Still have the book of the early space program, Apollo and Mercury!

[@hardyhousinger7426]

love the new intro!

[@starlight-1152]

One of the Chinese engineers said the hull is of two different sizes because the smaller section is for folding up the solar panels to fit inside the fairing. TG-1, TG-2, Tianhe's solar panels are all extended from the smaller section of the hull.

[@simongeard4824]

Makes sense... I've done KSP stations the same way for just that reason, the narrow waist being a good place to put solar and radiator panels, antennae, etc. It's not entirely coincidence that results in a classic Salyut shape, but it's quite practical too.

[@noop9k]

This is what Scott said, among other things.

[@sciencewolf7775]

This is so going in my book.

[@mahkus]

I love how Scott uses KSP for loads of things; thumbnails, etc.