Home > Proton rocket
| Proton 8K82K
|
|
|
| Stages
| 4
|
| 1 - Boosters
| Engines
| 6 X RD-253-11D48
|
| Thrust
| 1,745 kN X 6 =
10,470 kN
|
| Burn time
| 124 seconds
|
| Fuels
| N2O4/UDMH
|
| 2 - Core Stage
| Engines
| 4 X RD-0210
|
| Thrust
| 600 kN X 4 =
2,400 kN
|
| Burn time
| 206 seconds
|
| Fuels
| N2O4/UDMH
|
| 3 - 3rd Stage
| Engine
| 1 X RD-0212
|
| Thrust
| 630.2 kN
|
| Burn time
| 238 seconds
|
| Fuels
| N2O4/UDMH
|
| 4 - Blok D Stage
| Engine
| 1 X RD-58M
|
| Thrust
| 85.02 kN
|
| Burn time
| 610 seconds
|
| Fuels
| Lox/Kerosene
|
| Launch Vehicle
| 1st Launch March 10, 1967
|
| Payload LEO 51-deg
| 20,000 kg
|
| Payload Geo-sync orbit
| 6,000 kg
|
| Payload Escape Velocity
| 5,800 kg
|
The Proton rocket (formal designation: UR-500) is a Russian unmanned space vehicle design first launched in 1965 and still in use as of 2003.
Proton initially started life as a "super ICBM." It was designed to throw a 10- MT (or larger) nuclear warhead over a distance of 12,000 km. It was, of course, hugely oversized for an ICBM and was never used in such a capacity. Its real purpose was as a launch vehicle.
Proton is fuelled by unsymmetrical dimethyl Hydrazine and Nitrogen tetroxide. These are hypergolic fuels which burn on contact, voiding the need for an ignition system. They are stored at ambient temperatures avoiding the need for low-temperature-tolerant components and also allowing the rocket to sit on the pad indefinitely without need for continuous topping up of boiling off cryogenic fuels. They are, however, very toxic fuels that require special handling care.
Between the first flight in 1965 and 1970, the Proton was a very unreliable launcher causing the loss of many space vehicles. By the early 1970s the flaws were worked out and it became a very reliable rocket which it remains to this day.
Proton launched the unmanned Soviet circumlunar flights and would very likely have launched the first humans to circle the Moon had the flight of Apollo 8Apollo 8 was a manned mission of the Apollo space program. Apollo 8 was the first mission that carried humans beyond Earth orbit, and the first time anyone was closer to another celestial body than they were to Earth. Crew Frank Borman (2), commander Jame been conducted as originally planned (i.e. without going to Moon orbitFor other meanings of the term "orbit", see orbit (disambiguation In physics, an orbit is the path that an object makes, around another object, whilst under the influence of a source of centripetal force, such as gravity. History Orbits were first analyse). Proton launched the SalyutThe Salyut (Russian: Salute or Firework program was a series of space stations launched by the Soviet Union in the 1970s. The Salyuts were all relatively simple structures consisting of a single main module placed into orbit in a single launch. The progra space stations, MirThis article is about Mir the Soviet space station. See Mir (disambiguation) for other meanings. Mir (, which can mean both world and peace in Russian) was a Soviet (and later Russian) space station. It was humanity's first permanently inhabited space sta core segment, and both ZaryaZarya (meaning sunrise), also known as the Functional Cargo Block or the FGB (the Russian Acronym), is the first module to be launched for the of the International Space Station. The FGB provided electrical power, storage, propulsion, and guidance, to the and ZvezdaISS Zvezda is a Russian service module for the International Space Station. Its name is from the Russian , meaning 'star'. The module, similar in layout to the core module of the Mir space station, was manufactured by Korolev, launched by a Proton rocket of the ISS. It also launched many probes to the Moon, Mars, and Venus.
Launch capacity to low Earth orbit is about 20 tons. Interplanetary transfer capacity is about 5–6 tons.
