One of the projects of many Soviet secret projects is The Almaz or Project Almaz. The initiation of the Almaz project began in the early 1960's. Vladimir Chelomei, head of the Soviet rocket design bureau known as OKB-52 in response to Uncle Sam's manned orbiting laboratory (MOL) program.
The Almaz project has two main requirements for having a long-term goal: first, the Almaz satellite will be manned by 2 to 3 crews from the Soviet forces so it takes a crew change every 30 - 60 days (working in a low gravity environment proven to have negative impacts on the body) and second Must be refilled (resupply).
Since the two main conditions above are absolute, the Almaz project involves three main components:
the satellite module itself or the Orbital Piloted Station (OPS 11F71) with a total weight of 15 tons, a length of 11 meters and a maximum diameter of 4.5 meters.
Modules for resupply or Transportnyi Korabl 'Snabzheniia (TKS 11F72)
Last vehicle for transport and return for crew, known to the west as "Merkur".
What the Purpose The Almaz?
Almaz's goal is military necessity and what space satellites can offer is a recognise. So Almaz equipped surveillance camera AGAT - 1yang weighing nearly 2 tons with a lens width of 6.4meter that is able to distinguish the brand of a car from outer space. Because it has a high enough resolution, then do not be surprised if the negative result of the movie size 50cm x 50cm. Amazingly after the Almaz crew photographed and the film's negative results came out, the crew inside the Almaz could arrange the exposure before the movie was finally sent with a special capsule for Soviet intelligence (OKB) on the ground.
