Semyorka - Old Number Seven Trivia Quiz

Answer: Proton

The versatility of the R-7 design is due to the fact that it can be fitted with a variety of upper stages adapted for various mission profiles. It has the capacity to place up to 7 tonnes in low earth orbit for payloads like Soyuz and Progress and can send about 1 tonne into an escape trajectory for payloads like the early Luna, Venus and Mars probes.

They are manufactured by RKK Energia or the SP Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation just outside Moscow and the components are transported by rail to the Baikonur Space Centre where they are assembled and launched. RKK Energia is a direct descendant of Sergei Korolev's old OKB-1 design Bureau. The Proton launcher is a completely different design built by a different organisation and is used to launch heavyweight payloads.

Answer: True

This is true but as an ICBM the R-7 was soon displaced by designs more suited to that task. At the time when the design was frozen the Russians were working on much larger nuclear weapons than the Americans. It was calculated that a missile with 300 tonnes of thrust and capable of lifting a 5 tonne warhead to America would be required. Sergei Korolev, later referred to as the 'Chief Designer', came up with this clustered design to fulfil these specifications.

More importantly, he realised that a missile with this capability would be powerful enough to place a satellite into orbit. Korolev quietly worked on this version and casually unveiled it to Khrushchev at the end of an official visit to the plant assembling the R-7 ICBM. Khrushchev was intrigued when Korolev explained the possibilities of launching the first satellite into space using the R-7 and gave the go ahead for its development as long as there was no impact on work on the ICBM version. With the launching of Sputnik 1 on only the sixth test flight of the R-7 Khrushchev was ecstatic with the worldwide stir it caused and the prestige it gave to Soviet technology. For the next few years Korolev and his OKB-1 team could do no wrong, and resources and money were poured into the organisation as they were pressured to achieve more space spectaculars. The core and strap-on layout of the R-7 was not as bulky as a conventional two stage stacked tandem design and its components could easily transported on the Soviet rail network. Korolev dispensed with the separate tanks of the old German A4 (V2) design and integrated them into the body of the rocket.

The R-7 was operational as an ICBM from 1960 till 1966 and was known in the West as the SS-6 'Sapwood'.

Answer: Central core with strap-on liquid fuel boosters

The first stage consists of four strap-on boosters, which together with the sustainer core, fire simultaneously at lift-off. In Russian terminology these are called 'bloks'. Essentially this same launch sequence has been followed by all R-7 based launchers for the past fifty years with different upper stages being developed for the great range of payloads that have been launched in this time. As the engines build up thrust to overcome the weight of the launcher four supporting arms around the waist, like the petals of a tulip, are swung back on counter weights to release the straining rocket. It usually takes about 17 seconds from engine ignition to liftoff. The ascending launcher continues on its journey for the next two minutes until release mechanisms open at the apex of the four strap-on bloks allowing them to peel back in the aerodynamic slipstream on their lower supports. At a pre-determined angle they fall free from the still firing sustainer core (Blok A) which keeps firing for another next three minutes. At this point the upper stages take over to continue the ascent into orbit.
An example of a central core with strap-on solid fuel boosters was the Titan III series.
An example of a central core with strap-on fuel tanks is the Proton.
The largest example of a tandem design was the Saturn V.

Answer: The combustion chamber is split into four and supplied by a common turbopump

These engines were developed by a team led by leading Soviet rocket engine designer Valentin Glushko and they demonstrate an ingenious solution to the problem of combustion instability. This is a phenomenon which occurs when you simply scale up the dimensions of a liquid rocket engine in order to improve its performance. It becomes harder to achieve and even mix of fuel and oxidiser in very large combustion chambers so that uneven ignition occurs in the mix releasing dynamic forces which quickly get out of control and result in a catastrophic explosion. This was a common problem which bedevilled early rocket engine designers. To overcome this Glushko used an idea, first proposed by fellow engine designer Alexi Isayev, which split the combustion chamber and their associated nozzles into four more manageable components using a common turbo pump and plumbing system. By adopting this design the length of the engine was significantly shortened thus reducing the launch weight of the vehicle. This translated into a corresponding increase in payload capacity.
For the R-7 design there are thus twenty combustion chambers but only five engines. These twenty combustion chambers are what you see in pictures of the R-7 when it is lying horizontally on its transporter erector.
Five engines fire at lift-off. There is one on each of the four strap-on bloks called RD-107's and one on the sustainer blok called the RD-108. In order to reduce dynamic pressures the RD-108 engine is throttled back to 80% at launch and the RD-107's on the strap-on bloks are throttled back to 75% just before they separate. This procedure was adopted after some launch failures during the early development flights.

Answer: Small steering rockets called verniers

Hot gases are used to spin the turbo pumps which feed fuel and oxidiser into the four combustion chambers of the RD-107 and RD-108 engines is vented through small vernier rockets. These are steerable and correct the trajectory of the rocket. There are two verniers on each of the RD-107 powered strap-on bloks and four on the single RD-108 which powers the sustainer blok. The RD-108 on the Blok A fires for about 300 seconds and the four RD-107's on the four strap-on bloks fire for 120 seconds.
The use of verniers was a considerable advance on the German A4/V2 of WWII which used vanes to deflect the exhaust stream for directional control.
Gimballing the whole engine for directional control is the system used by most later space launchers such as the Space Shuttle.
Although the R-7 has some small aerodynamic fins at the base they are only effective during the initial stages of flight and larger ones would impose a significant weight penalty. This is in contrast to the large fins on the A4/V2.

Answer: Horizontally in an assembly shed then raised vertically at the pad.

The bloks of the R-7 are assembled horizontally on rail mounted trolleys in a preparation building and integrated with the payload attached to the appropriate upper stage. The completed assembly is then rolled out to the pad on a rail mounted transporter erector drawn by a locomotive.

Here the launcher is raised from the horizontal to the vertical in an operation that takes about 70 minutes. The rail carriage is the withdrawn from the pad and lattice support structures are raised including the four support arms which support the launcher mid body one meter above the pad.

The launcher is then lowered below the pad level over a huge flame pit. This directs the exhaust flames away to prevent a shock wave running back through the ascending rocket causing damage.

The booster stages are topped up with fuel and oxidiser at the pad and the upper stage and payload are previously fuelled up in the integration hall. When 'The Pit' of the original launch pad was excavated in 1955/56 it was claimed to be the biggest man-made hole in the world.

Its excavation was particularly difficult as below the topsoil the ground was composed of compacted clay and the construction team ran into all kinds of problems like laying the concrete liner while contending with unexpected water infiltration. For an account of the pad construction see http://www.russianspaceweb.com/baikonur_r7_1.html

Answer: Kerosene/LOx (Liquid Oxygen)

Kerosene and LOx are used as the fuel and oxidiser combination on the R-7. After studying captured A4/V2's at the end of WWII Korolev quickly determined that he could improve on many of the features of the design. One of these was to use kerosene in place of the alcohol used by the Germans as it gave up to 20% more fuel efficiency. Ironically, this choice proved to be one of the features which made the R-7 unsuitable as an ICBM and resulted in it having a short operational life in this role.

The lengthy fuelling procedures using LOx/kerosene requiring constant topping up meant it could not be kept on short standby for lengthy periods.

In this role the storable propellants Hydrazine/Nitrogen tetroxide were more suitable and this is what was used in later ICBM designs.

As a basis for a family of space launchers LOx/kerosene combination had no such shortcomings. Liquid Hydrogen/LOx fuel combinations are the most efficient but in the 1950's they required many more years of development and only became practical once the science of cryogenics had developed sufficiently.

Answer: All of them

From launching Sputnik to Soyuz, the adaptability of this venerable vehicle is a testament to the soundness of the original design. By developing new upper stages for increasingly heavy and sophisticated payloads 'Old number seven' has maintained its position as the workhorse of the Russian space programme. Ten versions have been developed from the original design with the Soyuz U version being the most used.

Answer: Mir

The Mir space station was launched by a Proton booster in 1986. It was only manned by crews sent up on Soyuz spacecraft once it was safely in orbit. The Proton UR-500 launcher developed by Vladimir Chelomei has been used to launch all Soviet and Russian heavyweight payloads and has the capacity to place up to 20 tonnes in low earth orbit. 'Old number seven' by contrast can place up to 7 tonnes in low earth orbit depending on which upper stage is fitted. Three versions were developed called Vostok, Voskhod, and Soyuz to launch these manned spacecraft.

Answer: True

Officially called Site 1 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome this launch pad was completed in early 1957 in time to support the first test flights of the R-7 ICBM and has remained in use ever since and supports Soyuz flights to the International Space Station (ISS). Its use as an ICBM launch pad was discontinued in 1966 when the R-7 was withdrawn as a strategic weapon. Since then it has supported over 600 launches by the R-7 family including the original Sputnik, Vostok, Voskhod, Luna, Venera, Mars, and numerous Cosmos missions. Since 1961 it has been referred to as 'Gagarin's Pad' from the time it was used to launch the first manned mission into space. During the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962 Korolev had one of his early Mars probes poised for launch from the pad. Hurried contingency plans were made to bring it back into the assembly building so that a nuclear tipped R-7 ICBM could be rolled out for use in any escalation of the crisis. Fortunately the situation was resolved before Armageddon was unleashed.
The construction of the pad was an epic story with over 1.3 million cu yds of earth removed to create the 'Pit' over which the rocket would be suspended. This was then lined with concrete and over the following months thousands more cu yds of concrete were poured to create the 'Stadium' a bridge like structure which extended over the pit and supported the launch pad. This huge construction effort took place in a remote location under enormous difficulties and was accomplished by a cast of thousands of Army conscripts. The design of the pad was very simple and enabled it to be used repeatedly with minimal maintenance under harsh climatic conditions.
A second pad called Site 31 became operational in 1961 and is used to support launches by Soyuz and Progress missions to the ISS. It was also abandoned by the military in 1966 and has undergone several refurbishments over the years including one in 1983 after it was extensively damaged by a Soyuz explosion which resulted in the only off the pad abort by a manned mission to date. As of 2000 it has supported 400 launches.
The rest of the R-7 launches have been from the Plesetsk cosmodrome 800 km north of Moscow where missions requiring high inclination and polar orbits are launched.
A launch pad for the latest R-7 version 'Soyuz 2' will become operational at the Kourou Space Centre in French Guiana in 2010.
References used include 'The Rocket Men' by Rex Hall and David J Shayler
This site is an excellent source for the history of Russian space programmes http://www.russianspaceweb.com
Various wikipedia articles.