biology

LKS (spacecraft)

LKS (spacecraft) is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand LKS (spacecraft) rather than just read about it. In short: The LKS (Russian: Лёгкий Космический Самолёт, "Light Cosmos Plane") was a Soviet Union spaceplane project led by Vladimir Chelomey in response to the United States Space Shuttle. The LKS was smaller and cheaper than its American counterpart, but was ultimately discarded in favor of the larger Buran.

Key takeaways

LKS (spacecraft) belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect LKS (spacecraft) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of LKS (spacecraft) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The LKS (Russian: Лёгкий Космический Самолёт, "Light Cosmos Plane") was a Soviet Union spaceplane project led by Vladimir Chelomey in response to the United States Space Shuttle. The LKS was smaller and cheaper than its American counterpart, but was ultimately discarded in favor of the larger Buran. Claiming that the Buran project was too big, heavy, and expensive for Russia to complete, Chelomey designed the LKS in 1979. He ordered the construction of a full-scale mock-up, as a way to further stimulate interest. The project was never fully sanctioned however, and in 1982, Chelomey was officially ordered by the Soviet government to stop any further development. In March 1983, Chelomey made yet another attempt to obtain permission to build the LKS to repel US Intercontinental ballistic missiles. This too proved futile. In 1991 the mock-up was destroyed, possibly by sabotage.

History From 1950 to 1964, before the US Space Shuttle in 1972, Chelomey developed two concepts for a spacecraft that would launch vertically and land horizontally. The MP-1 Kosmoplan was planned to complete missions to the Moon, Mars, and Venus. Upon re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, it would land with the support of the turbocharged engines similar to a conventional airplane. The other concept, called Raketoplan or "rocket plane", was a space shuttle intended to orbit the Earth and transport passengers, space freight, and weapons. Both concepts were never implemented due to the dis-empowerment of Nikita Khrushchev. In 1976, the Soviet government formally authorized the "head-designer" Valentin Glushko to proceed with the Buran project, which was intended to simply copy the Space Shuttle. The Buran project and its massive launch vehicle Energia were the targets of several critics among Russian space designers and scientists. One of them was Vladimir Chelomey, Glushko's former ally, who was responsible for the famous OKB-52 NPO Mashinostroyeniya (from which came the Proton rocket, the TKS spacecraft, and the Almaz and Salyut space stations). In 1979, Chelomey affirmed that the Buran project was too big, heavy, and expensive for Russia to complete, and designed the LKS, another space shuttle concept, as an alternative to the Buran or Energia. The first concept had two V-type vertical stabilizers, similar to the F/A-18 vertical stabilizer arrangement. This was later changed to the conventional arrangement of a rudder, similar to the Space Shuttle and Buran. In 1980, within a month of work, Chelomey ordered the construction of a full-scale mock-up by his team, as a way to further stimulate Soviet authorities in his direction. In 1982, Chelomey was officially ordered by the Soviet government to stop any further development of the LKS project. By this point, he was believed to have expended more than 400,000 rubles in a program not formally authorized by the Soviets. When US President Ronald Reagan announced the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) in March 1983, Chelomey made yet another attempt to obtain permission to build the LKS to repel US Intercontinental ballistic missiles. However, in September 1983, he was rejected by a government commission. Chelomey died in December 1984, leaving behind his most ambitious project. In 1991 the mock-up was destroyed in a so-called “act of sabotage” by unknown people for unknown reasons. It is believed that if the LKS project was to be approved and completed, it would've been a valid alternative not only to Buran but also to Soyuz itself for Mir and ISS space operations. A scale model of the LKS space shuttle is now located in the Cosmonaut Museum at Gelendzhik.

Technical specifications

Crew: 2 Length: 18,75 m Wing Span: 11,60 m Height: 6,70 m Habitable volume: 16.00 m3 Cargo bay volume: 30.00 m3 (6,5 x 2,5 m) Launch mass: 19.950 kg Landing mass: 17.800 kg Empty mass: 13.800 kg Payload: 4.000 kg Engines: 11D442 (2) x 445 kgf Propellants: UDMH/N2O4 x 2.000 kg Power System: Batteries/Fuel Cells Escape System: Ejection seats (NPP Zvezda K-36D) Performances: Delta-v: 300 m/sec (total) Orbital parameters: 259 x 220 km @ 51,65° L/D Ratio: 1,5 (Hypersonic) Cross-range: ± 2.000 km Landing speed: 300 km/h

Mission Steps Start 1. Launch by a Proton rocket (T = 00:00) 2. First Stage Separation (T = 02:06) 3. Second Stage Separation (T = 05:34) 4. Third Stage Separation (T = 09:49) 5. LKS OMS Ignition (T = 10:00) 6. LKS in LEO (T = 13:20) Orbit 1. LKS gain the correct asset for burn 2. LKS OMS ignition & de-orbit burn 3. Braking maneuverings 4. LKS re-entry into atmosphere Landing 1. LKS is back into the atmosphere 2. Braking maneuvering 3. LKS gain the landing alley 4. LKS assume a steep descent angle 5. LKS turns to Baikonur Cosmodrome runaway 6. LKS lands and open the brake chute

See also Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar Space Shuttle Hermes (spacecraft) Saenger (spacecraft) Hope-X Kliper Hopper (spacecraft) SpaceShipOne HOTOL Sharp Edge Flight Experiment Dream Chaser

References

External links Homepage in Russian of Npomash Encyclopedia Astronautica: LKS (English) russianspaceweb: Light Space Plane, LKS (English)

Bibliography Hendrickx, Bart; Vis, Bert (2007). Energiya-Buran: The Soviet Space Shuttle. Springer-Praxis. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-73984-7. ISBN 978-0-387-69848-9.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with LKS (spacecraft)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what LKS (spacecraft) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to LKS (spacecraft) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about LKS (spacecraft) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of LKS (spacecraft)

In research: LKS (spacecraft) appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses LKS (spacecraft) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: LKS (spacecraft) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cancelled Soviet spacecraft, Cancelled spaceplanes, Crewed spacecraft, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for LKS (spacecraft) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study LKS (spacecraft) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what LKS (spacecraft) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain LKS (spacecraft) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is LKS (spacecraft) in simple terms?

Why does LKS (spacecraft) matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study LKS (spacecraft)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on LKS (spacecraft).