The Black Russians and the Black Horses

The Black Russians and the Black Horses
Chapter Two

Sounds a bit ambiguous I know, but I don't mind keeping this low key as I am not finished the research on this area...

The topic is Black Spacecraft both Russian and American...

Some time ago I posted material on Polyus, a true Black Russian spacecraft.

You can review my material on that at my site and after I post this Chapter Two information I will toss in the Chapter One Polyus data for review and for new members as it was buried in one of the old Secret Space Station threads...

Chapter One - Russian Battle Station Polyus

During our search we came across some interesting projects and one led us to just a name... 'Black Horse' So far we have very little on that project, not even enough to post yet. I am putting this out in the hopes it will stir the pot and something will fall out as usually does when I do this

Black Horse is supposed to be the American equivalent of the following Russian project...

Chapter Two
Light Space Plane - LKS
Russias Answer to Star Wars

Even though this project was from 1970 by Vladimir Nikolayevich Chelomei, who was a rival of then head of Russia's space program Sergey Pavlovich Korolyov very little is really found on the web save for a few sources

The main source is Anatoly Zak, of Russian Space Web who gave us permission to repost on my website... This material was first released 2003-2005 so it is 'old news' yet few know about it...

I was reminded to finish this when Frankenspeak started a thread on "There Is A Secret War Being Waged In Space" www.abovetopsecret.com...

Chapter Two - Russian Star Wars Mini Shuttle Laser System LKS



Large copies of this sketch are available from Anatoly Zak This is the best allowed for web reproduction, links below

LKS tech specs:

Launch mass: 20 tons (209)- 25 tons
Landing mass: 17.8 tons
Payload to low-Earth orbit: 5 tons
In-orbit propellant cache: 2 tons
Payload bay volume: 30 cubic meters
Crew: 2 (209) 3 people (210)
Flight duration: Manned: 10 days; Unmanned: 1 year
Touchdown speed: 300 km/h
Launch vehicle: Proton


Artist rendering of the LKS spacecraft in orbit. Copyright © 2005 Anatoly Zak

After his initial unsuccessful attempts to develop a reusable vehicle in the early 1960s, Chelomei returned to the concept of a winged orbiter at the beginning of the 1970s. Around 1975, Chelomei proposed a "smaller and cheaper" Soviet response to the US Space Shuttle.

Now what are we talking about here?

Watch this short video
(Quicktime .mov Format - Sorry no youtube version that I know of)
www.thelivingmoon.com...



Credit: NPO Mash
A full-scale prototype of the Light Space Plane or LKS 001 developed at Vladimir Chelomei's design bureau in the 1970s.

Development

Within OKB-52, B. N. Natarov was appointed as head of the group responsible for the LKS project. A. P. Kirpil was the leading engineer in the project. Herbert Efremov, Deputy Designer General, oversaw the development effort on the project.

OKB-52 estimated that it could complete the development of the LKS system within a four-year period.

However, ultimately, the Soviet government chose to emulate the size and capabilities of the US Space Shuttle. NPO Energia led by Valentin Glushko was chosen as the prime-developer of the reusable space system, MKS, later known as Energia-Buran. All materials on the LKS spacecraft were ordered transferred to NPO Molniya, the developer of the glider for the Buran orbiter. (209)

Yet, Chelomei, refused to give up, continuing the project without formal authorization. By 1980, TsKBM had already generated 25 volumes of technical proposals on the design of the LKS and 15 volumes of technical proposals on the deployment of the LKS fleet. OKB-52 also built a full-scale mockup of the vehicle.

Final configuration

After extensive evaluation of various configurations of the LKS, Chelomei settled for a 20-ton Light Space Plane, or LKS, launched by the Proton booster. The spacecraft could deliver into orbit a crew of two, four tons of payload and two tons of propellant. Resembling a scaled-down version of the US orbiter, the LKS would be capable of atmospheric maneuvering during the reentry at altitudes between 50 and 15 kilometers and would touchdown on a regular runway with a speed of around 300 kilometers per hour.

And like a lot of Russia's spacecraft... automation..

Finally, the LKS was designed to fly with or without a crew. During manned missions, emergency escape scenarios were available for the crew at every stage of the flight.

Sources:

Chapter Two - Russian Star Wars Mini Shuttle Laser System LKS


Light Space Plane LKS - Russian Space Web - Anatoly Zak


Light Space Plane LKS - Mark Wade - Astronautix.com


Beyond Buran - Springerlink.com - Purchase PDF

Now of course skeptics will say "Yeah but... it was cancelled and never got off the ground"

They also said "No such thing as spacecraft painted black" We showed Polyus

They said that about Almaz... Well it did

Astrospies - PBS-NOVA

While digging deeper into the LKS we had contact with someone in Russia who was making money digging up old documents. He followed the trail best he could but ultimately it ended up at the door of the KGB, and for obvious reasons he did not wish to knock. I will show this trail later when I get time to put it all together

Hopefully all these free research assistants on ATS will do some digging as well
















[edit on 30-6-2009 by zorgon]

Bloody nice work here mate. Wonderful job. Funny. Most people would say this belongs in the conspiracy section but I have to admit.. it fits well here considering all topics. This so called, secret war, could be an explanation of what it is we see in our night skies sometimes. Not to rule out all other possibilities either. Definitely keep posting on this subject.

Thanks for the thought provoking read. I had always wondered if the Soviets actually had a shuttle type program they were trying to develop. Now that NASA is retiring the shuttles, do you think there is another orbiter being developed? Star+Flag

Originally posted by tamusan
I had always wondered if the Soviets actually had a shuttle type program they were trying to develop.

Here is the Russian shuttle - The Buran:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/5f77fa26671e.jpg[/atsimg]

The Buran does not need pilots to fly it.


This video shows some of its capabilities:



[edit on 1-7-2009 by Exuberant1]

Originally posted by tamusan
Thanks for the thought provoking read. I had always wondered if the Soviets actually had a shuttle type program they were trying to develop.

I will get back to that for you but since the Buran is not a Black Ops program its beyond the scope of this thread.

Exuberant just fond us more documents on the Black Horse. We will process that over night and tomorrow and he will post it... Its amazing what pops up after time passes

Now that NASA is retiring the shuttles, do you think there is another orbiter being developed?

Yes and one person here at ATS works on the program... sorry can't name names but its not Intelgurl errr at least I don't think she works on that one

But to wet your apatite on Russian Shuttle...

Buran on top of Antonov AN225 Mriya



I love this film

Just to help put things into perspective and give a taste of what is to come later - here is a comparison of the blackhorse with an f-16:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/14ed5528a0de.gif[/atsimg]


[edit on 30-6-2009 by Exuberant1]

Here is a link regarding the Black Horse. It's very technical and about half way down the page they get into the Black Horse Study including a similar picture comparing it to an F16.

Then they get into something called the Black Colt.

www.risacher.org...

reply to post by WhatTheory


Nice find!

That page has some good material, and couple of real gems in particular really stick out.

Thanks for the link.

One point I want to make early in this Thread...

Many consider the Russian down and out for the count as far as the Space Program goes... but a few points to consider;

They beat us into space at the beginning

They built Buran which in my opinion was better than our shuttle in many ways (will get into that later) Buran was able to land without a pilot. The Russians were ahead of us in robotic space craft

The Energia launch vehicle that launched Polyus and Buran is a fantastic rocket and Energia is a very strong company today in Russia

The Baikonur Cosmodrome complex is HUGE... I will take you on a tour

When Robert Bigelow of Bigelow Aerospace in Las Vegas wanted to launch his Space Hotel Modules, NASA said NO! so he went to the Russians, bought into a spaceport in partners with ATK, a defense contractor that made Phoenix Mars lander. End result? Two Genesis modules are in orbit and Robert says NASA= No Access to Space for Americans

Most people are unaware that every time the Shuttle docks at the ISS there are several other Russian vessels there, most noticeably the Progress series

Want to see a Russian assembly line for launch vehicles?



Here is Bigelow's project with a RUSSIAN ship attached



Here is the ISS taken from the Shuttle... notice anything?

THREE Russian ships... A Soyuz for the Russians to return on, A Progress ROBOTIC cargo ship and the ESA Expedition 9/Soyuz 8 about to dock



We all know how long it takes the shuttle to return to Earth... check out the return time on the ESA Expedition 9
Undocking: Oct. 23, 2004, 4:08 p.m. CDT
Landing: Oct. 23, 2004, 7:36 p.m. CDT

3 Hours and 28 minutes Must of been a hurry

When you have time peruse my tongue in cheek tour of the
INTERNATIONAL SPACE SUPERCENTER Shopping Mall
www.thelivingmoon.com...

Lots of stuff going on, but that is not Black Ops...

Yes its to keep you all occupied while we work on new stuff As I said that is why I made this a low key title...

Back to the Russians

If they could do all this (and more that I will show) under the old Communist system, imagine what they will accomplish in the next few years. Unlike NASA they did not forget how to do it They have stuff stored away in hangers, mothballed to be pulled back into service...

Read the book;

Two Sides of the Moon: Our Story of the Cold War Space Race
by David Scott (Author), Alexei Leonov (Author)

The real story of the 'Cold War'

Why does Newt Gingrich make this statement in 1983?

" . . . He who Controls Space may well control the future of Mankind. We have a chance, through High Frontier, using existing technology to develop a space program that is absolutely necessary to our survival and that will give us a chance to move past the Russians to assure our own nation and freedom a future on this planet" - Newt Gingrich

"High Frontier" by General Daniel O.Graham (1983)

So according to Newt Gingrich... in 1983 the Russians were still ahead of us in the High Frontier (Space)

1983 the time of Reagan's Star Wars program... the time the LKS went into 'production'... the time of Polyus

On March 23, 1983, United States President Ronald Reagan set forth his vision of "Star Wars", a shield intended to defend the United States against nuclear attack from any place on Earth. The leader of the Soviet Union, Yuri Andropov, immediately accused the United States of seeking to militarily dominate the Soviet Union, and it kept he also authorized the design of counter-measures, including Polyus. Andropov sought to bring about a treaty banning military weapons from space until he fell ill in June, 1983.

No member of the Reagan or Bush administrations ever admitted or revealed publicly any knowledge of Polyus. The US Navy made no statements about any attempts to investigate the wreckage of Polyus, which lies on the floor of the South Pacific.

www.astronautix.com...

Soviet research into ground and space based laser weapons systems began in the 1960s. The Soviets actually built several ground based lasers in the 1980s which reportedly could destroy or interfere with satellites and aircraft. The space based laser system envisioned in this 1987 work was designed to destroy or incapacitate satellites and intercontinental ballistic missiles, but was never built."

Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)
www.dia.mil...

"Never Built"

Well the ground based ones sure were. Pull out your Google Earth and pop over here. I have more on this in another thread already... but later

+38° 16' 47.88", +69° 13' 32.56"

Russia is selling advertising. Pizza Hut delivered Pizza to the Russian side of ISS, Radio Shack Lego and others are taking advantage of this.

NASA does not allow it...

Russia is taking space tourist up for 10 days on the ISS at $20,000,000.00 a pop... Tito was first, eight or nine since (lost count)

NASA does not allow it...

Guess they figured out capitalism real quick

As a side note the US Astronauts treated Tito poorly... they did not want him there. The Russians on the other hand greet visitors and new crew with a traditional hot meal on arrival

Look at the Shopping Mall page... its all there and more

And one last point for those who still think the Russian are not with it...

SEA LAUNCH A Joint Boeing Energia mobile ocean going launch platform. the only launch in the world where the countdown is in both Russian and English..



The thing is to see the big picture one must collect all the pieces of the puzzle.

Its a huge picture with thousands of pieces and many are found hidden in plain site if you know where to look, what to ask and who to ask





[edit on 1-7-2009 by zorgon]

The Blackhorse:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/4e7cc9c3e5ca.jpg[/atsimg]

The biggest advantage of the manned TAV is that it is probably the most flexible platform yet proposed for space operations simply because it is under the continuous control of a human. Given an appropriate design, the manned TAV could be quickly reconfigured to deliver special operations teams, high-value equipment and supplies, or a wide variety of munitions (in much the same fashion as a high-speed bomber).22 Most important of all - the TAV can put a few well-trained people at the site of a developing conflict anywhere on Earth within 60 minutes from launch.
-SpaceCast 202 white Paper Section (H)

Let us put the Blackhorse into Perspective:

"These Black Horse (1) vehicles, derived from the Question Mark 2 (2) X-vehicle shown in figure 1 and described later in this paper, will be fighter-sized airframes capable of placing an approximately 5,000 pound payload in any low earth orbit (LEO), or delivering a slightly larger payload on a suborbital trajectory to any point in the world. A Black Horse vehicle could accomplish either task within one hour of completion of mission planning, assuming that the payload was available at the base and the vehicles were on alert."
-www.fas.org...

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/568f0f45f74d.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c1905b7311c1.gif[/atsimg]


How Does Blackhorse compare to other systems? (It is better )

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/89dfba901faa.jpg[/atsimg]



Launched by a Valkyrie

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/cd802c1f0a59.jpg[/atsimg]

Surprise is an advantage this system provides - and it is versatile too:

The greatest single advantage of this weapon is surprise. Strategic surprise results from the ability to strike enemy targets at any depth with little or no warning. Because kinetic energy multiplies the effect of weapons delivered from a suborbital trajectory, the weapons themselves can be small (e.g., brilliant micromunitions); therefore, a single vehicle could simultaneously strike a large number of targets.

Operational surprise results from the rapidity of the completed attack, which may be timed to catch an adversary in the process of deployment or employment of inadequately prepared forces. Tactical surprise results from a variety of suborbital profiles that these vehicles can use to exploit gaps in an enemy's defense. The speed of the system - the ability to put force on target anywhere in the world in a matter of minutes - also converts the global reach of the system into a form of "presence" that does not require constant forward deployment of forces.
- www.boomslanger.com... (good work Kandinsksy)

Tomorrow we will cover the sort of weapons that this thing could carry - along with some of its more unique capabilities...



[edit on 1-7-2009 by Exuberant1]

Added from the other thread...

Originally posted by Kandinsky
reply to post by zorgon

 

The guy that designed the 'Black Horse' project with Burt Rutan is involved in a project out of Wright-Patterson. You likely know about it, but it's here anyway...A Rocket-Powered Technology Demonstrator for Responsive Access to Space.

It'd be childish to leave out the other one Black Horse 2 . Very interesting and with full potential for delivering fast weapons payloads too...

Some of Russia's 'Space Toys'

nice toys what do they do?

mostly interested in the one with the two cones.

Now that NASA is retiring the shuttles, do you think there is another orbiter being developed?

Yes and one person here at ATS works on the program... sorry can't name names but its not Intelgurl errr at least I don't think she works on that one



Is this being developed in Palmdale?

reply to post by LSWONE

Well if it was... I wouldn't think they were testing it right in town.. but since Dryden is in Edwards... perhaps... they do have a great place to test rocket motors out there, the shuttle landing strip and other services...

It would not surprise me in the least that is the location. It would certainly account for all those triangle UFO sightings in the region

My 'source' tells me what he does and a 'general' location but that's about it

Now can you get me a gate pass to have a look around?



OH BTW almost forgot... it is 'possible' that it is virtually invisible'





[edit on 1-7-2009 by zorgon]

Originally posted by thedangler
nice toys what do they do?

mostly interested in the one with the two cones.

I will see what I can dig up... I was planning to but time is limited

Originally posted by zorgon


OH BTW almost forgot... it is 'possible' that it is virtually invisible'

Remembering those flying triangles that turned out to be the f-117 and B-2?

They were virtually invisible by virtue of their night flights and the nature of their angular features - not to mention their coating (the composition and capabilities of which are still classified)

The Polyus was black - I wonder if it's coating also had 'other' qualities. The Russians did/do have complimentary technologies on the ground.

Lately, I have been researching various coatings that protect against laser attack - some interesting stuff there.

[edit on 2-7-2009 by Exuberant1]

I forgot to mention in my previous post a link to a .pdf file which mentions the Black Horse on page 444 and with an interesting chart on page 446.

www.au.af.mil...

reply to post by WhatTheory



Hmmmm
McDonnell Douglas Aerospace (MDA) DC-XA





Materials Testing on the DC-X and DC-XA
ntrs.nasa.gov...

Thanks for the paper

Thus far we have discussed the Black Horse a winged, single stage to orbit launch vehicle using aerial refueling.

The plane takes off, refuels while in the air, and then rockets to orbit where it deploys its payload and then returns gracefully to the earth and the good old USA.

Since most of this is new to many of you, I have located and ideal visual aid which best portrays this unique process:

The Blackhorse in Action:
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/dae5219a3977.jpg[/atsimg]


The Blackhorse doesn't even necessarily need to rendezvous with an aerial refueling tanker: it can actually be "flown-off" with another Blackhorse (attached to each other). This plane is so versatile and powerful that even if it turned out to be 60 percent heavier than projected - a double-flight would still be possible, albeit with a lighter payload. See Below to learn how this process works:

Consider the case where we have two Black Horse type vehicles, each using JP-5/H2O2 with an Isp of 335 s. The vehicles have a dry weight of 15,000 lb and a propellant load of 180,000 lb, which assuming a required Delta-v to orbit of 27 kft/s, allows them to deliver 1,000 lb to LEO. Now, let's say that we fly the two of them off together, accelerating them jointly not to orbit, but rather to a suborbital trajectory with a velocity of 18.5 kft/ s. The two space planes are now outside the atmosphere, in free fall (i.e. zero gravity) in the immediate vicinity of each other. Let's say we now bring the two together and extend a refueling boom, allowing the 20,000 lb of residual propellant from one to be transferred to the other. The two then separate, the empty vehicle to return to Earth, the enriched vehicle to ascend to orbit with a payload of 12,000 lbs. Without any new hardware, the orbital delivery capability of the system can be increased by a factor of 12.

Such a non-material enhancement by teamwork would allow even an APT spaceplane that was designed for suborbital flight to achieve orbit. Or put another way, let's say that it turned out after the construction was done that the actual Black Horse dry weight came in not at 15,000 lb, but at 24,000 lb, a 60% mass growth over the estimate. The vehicle would now only be capable of suborbital flight to 23 kft/s. However, if two such vehicles were flown, performed a suborbital propellant transfer at 15.5 kft/s, the enriched vehicle would be able to make orbit with a 1000 lb payload. Since the propellants being transferred are non cryogenic, such a suborbital zero-g propellant transfer could be done using bladders. If the APT in question used LOX for its oxidizer, the transfer would require a weak gravity field, which could be created by both vehicles firing their RCS systems continually during the transfer.

-
www.risacher.org... (thanks Whattheory for the source)

[edit on 2-7-2009 by Exuberant1]