Cosmos 557

Infobox Space station
station = DOS 3
station_

station_image_size =
station_image_caption =
extra_

extra_image_size =
extra_image_caption =
insignia = Salyut insignia.jpg
insignia_size =
insignia_caption = Salyut program insignia
sign =
crew = 3
launch = May 11, 1973 00:20:00 UTC
launch_pad = Baikonur Cosmodrome, USSR
reentry = May 22, 1973
mass = 19,400 kg
length =
width =
height =
volume =
pressure =
perigee = 218 km
apogee = 266 km
inclination = 51.6 degrees
altitude =
speed =
period = 89.1 minutes
orbits_day =
in_orbit = 54 days
occupied = 0 days
orbits =
distance =
as_of = May 11, 1973
stats_ref =
configuration_

configuration_size =
configuration_caption =

The Salyut space station that Almaz had substituted for, designated DOS 3, was launched on May 11, 1973, three days before the launch of Skylab. Due to errors in the flight control system while out of the range of ground control, the station fired its orbit-correction engines until it consumed all of its fuel. Since the spacecraft was already in orbit and had been registered by Western radar, the Soviets disguised the launch as "Cosmos 557" and quietly allowed it to reenter Earth's atmosphere and burn up a week later. It was revealed to have been a Salyut station only much later.

References

*http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=1973-026A
* [http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19870012563_1987012563.pdf Soviet Space Stations as Analogs - NASA report (PDF format)]