|
In 1983,
U.S. President Reagan launched a "Star Wars" program, a shield intended
to defend the U.S. against nuclear attack from any place on earth.
The
Soviet Union immediately accused the United States of seeking to
militarily dominate over the others. The
U.S.S.R. chairman Andropov sought to bring about a treaty banning
military weapons from space, and authorized the design of counter-measures,
including Polyus from design bureau Salyut.
In 1984, design and construction of the Polyus platform began and was
given highest priority. The Polyus mounted cannon to defence against
ASAT weapons, and would
have been capable of delivering nuclear warheads from orbit to any point
in the US in six minutes.
In 1986,
with the
first Energia rocket launch schedule was confirmed by
the Minister of Industry,
the Polyus was selected to be the
first payload for the Energia. The
Polyus-Energia
was finally launched in 1987, but was failure to
achieve working orbit
because only one of the 16 positioning engines work.
it continuous according to the ballistic
trajectory and goes crashing in the Pacific Ocean.
|
