Salyut 3

Salyut 3 was launched on June 25, 1974. It was another Almaz military space station, this one launched successfully, included in the Salyut program to disguise its true purpose.

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It attained an altitude of 219 to 270 km on launch and its final orbital altitude was 268 to 272 km. Salyut 3 had a total mass of about 18 to 19 tons. It had two solar panels laterally mounted on the center of the station and a retactable recovery module for the return of research data and materials. Only one of the three intended crews successfully boarded and manned the sation, brought by Soyuz 14; Soyuz 15 attempted to bring a second crew but failed to dock. Nevertheless, Salyut 3 was an overall success.

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It tested a wide variety of reconnaisance sensors; on September 23, 1974, the station's recovery module was released and re-entered, being recovered by the Soviets. On January 24, 1975 trials of the on-board 23 mm Nudelmann aircraft cannon (other sources say it was a Nudelmann NR-30 30 mm gun) were conducted with positive results at ranges from 3000 m to 500 m. Cosmonauts have confirmed that a target satellite was destroyed in the test. The next day, the station was ordered to deorbit.

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June 25: June 25 is the 176th day of the year (177th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 189 days remaining....

1974: 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar)....

Almaz: The Almaz (????? - "Diamond") program was a series of military space stations launched by the Soviet Union under cover of the Salyut program. Three Almaz stations were launched; Salyut 2, Salyut 3 and Salyut 5. Salyut 2 failed shortly after achieving orbit, but Salyut 3 and 5 both conducted successf...