Modifications:
• 201M - pre-serial release.
• 3MC (3MS) - RD-3M-500 or RD-3M-500A engines.
  Range 9400km with 5000kg load. Take-off mass 187 tonns.
  • 3MCI - Bomber.
  • 3MCII (or 3MS-2) - Tanker version of 3MC.
• 0203 - First 3M with Dobrynin VD-7 ("product 15") engines.
  Take-off mass 203 tonns (with extra fuel tanks). Range 11800km and 16.5 hours with one refuelling.
• 3MH (3MN) - Dobrynin VD-7B engines.
  • 3MHI - Bomber.
  • 3MHII - Tanker version of 3MH.
• 3M-5 (3MHI s/n 0503) - missile carier.
  New radar "Rubin 1ME", new ECM system "Azalia". One re-built. late 1960s.
• 3MD - new avionics. the last serial bomber version. 10 built (17-th and 18-th series, i.e. s/n 17xx and 18xx).
• 3MT - heavy back-load transport. Used for Buran/Energia program.

Modifications:
• s/n 1619 - first tanker, experimental.
• s/n 1518 - first M-4 with aerial refuelling system, experimental.
• s/n 0201 - First 3M.
• VM-T - heavy back-load transport. Used for Buran/Energia program. Actually, development of 3M.

Modifications:
• M-17R/M-17RM/M-55 13.5K Mystic-B/GEOFYSIKA - twin-jet version.

Aviation Review. issue 2. 1994. Kharkov, UA.

Here is a story:

Other Designations: RSS-52. Code Name: Buran. Class: Manned. Type: Rocketplane. Nation: USSR. Manufacturer: Myasishchev. Craft.Crew Size: 1. Total Mass: 50,000 kg. Total Payload: 1,000 kg. Primary Engine Thrust: 10,600 kgf. Main Engine Propellants: Air/Kerosene. Main Engine Isp: 1,500 sec.

Following cancellation of the ground-launched version of his RSS-40 Buran missile system, Myasishchev continued to pursue use of the M-42 cruise stage in aviation research and space exploration. In 1958 he appealed to both Khrushchev and Minister of Defence of Malinovskiy to support continued development. He now proposed an unmanned, air-launched version for high speed research.

At this time Myasishchev was developing the first Soviet supersonic bomber, the M-50. On the basis of this immense delta-winged vehicle Myasishchev proposed the RSS-52 aerospace vehicle. The RSS-52 would consist of the M-52 carrier aircraft, derived from the M-50. The M-52 would have an enormous recess in its fuselage, within which would be carried the M-44 ramjet. The M-44, designed by G D Dermichev, would be a derivative of the cancelled M-42. The M-52 would enter a circuit 1,000 km from base, accelerate to supersonic speed, and then launch the M-44. The M-44 would accelerate to hypersonic velocity, conduct a high speed run of an overwater circuit, and then splash down in the sea. A radio beacon would allow location and recovery of the craft.

In the United States, the X-15 was being developed to answer analogous questions. Manned versions of the M-42 had been designed, and Myasishchev was hoping for manned flights of his M-52 as well. However due to the expense and technical problems, Myasishchev was unable to convince the leadership to approve the RSS-52.

Here is a story:

Class: Manned. Type: Spaceplane. Nation: USSR. Manufacturer: Myasishchev. Craft.Crew Size: 2. Total Habitable Volume: 2.00 m3. Total Mass: 4,500 kg. Total Propellants: 200 kg. Primary Engine Thrust: 1,600 kgf. Total spacecraft delta v: 150 m/s.

In 1958 the VVS (Soviet Air Force) requested development as quickly as possible of high-speed aerospace vehicles. Some of the detailed goals were met in the 1960's by development of triple-sonic fighters and bombers, such as the MiG-25 and Sukhoi T-4. However a more ambitious objective was investigation of hypersonic vehicles. This was to be conducted in a two phase program. Phase One would take an experimental vehicle up to 6,000 to 7,000 km/hour at altitudes of 80 to 100 km. In this phase the vehicle would remain controllable using aerodynamic surfaces. Phase Two would take the vehicle to Mach 10, and 100 to 150 km altitude. This would require solving problems of control at hypersonic speeds, reaction control of the vehicle outside of the atmosphere, re-entry, and landing.

An official government resolution permitting development of the M-48 spaceplane was officially issued in December 1959. Contact between the Myasishchev and Korolev bureaux in solving the problems remained close. In March 1960 L L Selyakov (assistant to Myasishchev for project work) and G D Dermichev (chief of the project section) were assigned to the M-48. Refined calculations indicated that the R-7 could loft a 4.5 tonne vehicle to 400 km suborbital trajectory and a 4.0 tonne vehicle to 500 km. 40 percent of the VKA's exterior surface would have to be covered with heat shielding. A 1600 kgf braking engine would provide 150 m/s of manoeuvring capability. In suborbital tests, the engine would extend the range of the VKA by 200 km or by 100 km laterally from a strict ballistic trajectory.

The flight characteristics of the VKA were confirmed independently by the Soviet Academy of Sciences and its head, M V Keldysh. It was calculated that a hypersonic lift to drag ratio of 0.25 to 0.30 would be achieved in ballistic re-entry of the vehicle. This was essentially the same as the optimum lifting ballistic shape, the 'headlamp' Soyuz shape. But the shape of the VKA meant non-uniform heating and the need to maintain a high angle of attack. The recommended re-entry profile consisted of a ballistic re-entry to 30 to 40 km altitude, where the spacecraft would transition to a manoeuvring entry by the use of extendible shielded wings. The hermetically sealed cabin provide accommodation for two crew in encapsulated angled ejection seats.

The draft project proposal was reviewed by the expert commission in April 1960. K P Ostinin suggested an alternative vehicle, using deployable rotors of 8 m for vertical landing (not knowing that Myasishchev had studied and rejected such schemes using rotors of 12 m and 16 m diameter). V V Struminskiy believed that the transition to winged flight could not be commenced as early as Myasishchev thought, and that a ballistic trajectory should be flown until subsonic speed was attained. S P Srishcherian believed that the configuration would have insoluble thermal control problems due to its many hot spots, and that the extendible wings would require an excessive amount of thermal protection compared to a simpler fixed wing design. V A Dzhapridze and A I Makarevskiy questioned the '48' design on many points. Makarevskiy believed the program would require extensive preliminary testing of a full-scale test bed, where the wings could be fixed and tested at various angles.

It was clear that many technical problems had to be cleared incrementally before an operational vehicle could be fielded. Myasishchev's team went "back to the drawing board", the result being two alternative single-crew orbital spaceplanes (see VKA-23 Design 1 and VKA-23 Design 2).

Modifications:
• M-60-70 - passenger air liner. under development. Competitors: Tu-414 and RRJ

Typical western misconception:

Service designation M-4 (or Mya-4) 'Molot';
later the NATO Reporting Name 'Bison' was assigned;
sometimes also reported as 'Ilyushin Il-38'.
First seen 1954 May Day, Moscow.

Here is a story:
Class: Manned. Type: Spaceplane. Nation: Russia. Manufacturer: Myasishchev. Craft.Crew Size: 1. Total Length: 9.4 m. Maximum Diameter: 3.9 m. Total Habitable Volume: 0.90 m3. Total Mass: 3,500 kg. Total Payload: 700 kg. Total Propellants: 120 kg. Total spacecraft delta v: 100 m/s. Electrical System: Batteries.

Following the very criticial review of the first M-48 spaceplane design by the expert commission, Myasishchev developed a long range plan. The first stage of the R-7 would be used for preliminary tests. A new launch vehicle would be developed for orbital testing.

Myasishchev directed his staff in attacking the questions raised so as to close all of the open issues at the earliest possible date. In addressing the question of the form of the VKA, OKB-23 studied many variants, including Taganov rings, extendible shields, Rogallo wings, and the use of vertical landing. Various kinds of construction and heat shield materials were examined, as were the methods of integrating the shielding materials to the structure of the vehicle. Liquid metal cooling was considered in addition to passive thermal protection systems. New propellants were examined for the rocket engine, including hydrogen and fluorine oxidisers. A great deal of technical effort was spent on the encapsulated ejection seat system, the mass of which, including parachute, could not exceed 160 kg with exterior dimensions of 0.8 m x 1.8 m. The seat would have to accelerate at 25 G from the vehicle, operate at temperatures of -40 degrees C to +50 degrees C, from sea level to vacuum conditions. The seat had to ensure the safety of the pilot, ejecting him within 2 seconds after initiation through a hatch of 1.0 m diameter.

Work on development of the hot structure of the unpiloted M-42 missile was found to be directly applicable to the . The spacecraft structure, built of steel and titanium, would have to endure sustained temperatures of 350 degrees C. The heat shield system would have to protect the pilot from temperatures of hundreds of degrees during ascent through the atmosphere and over a thousand degrees on re-entry. The material selected to endure re-entry conditions could handle re-entry temperatures of 1,500 degrees C at peak heating load, cooling to 1,100 degrees C on landing. VIAM (All-Union Institute of Aviation Materials) worked to identify appropriate materials. The thermal protection layer of the VKA consisted of tiles, composed of a silicium-graphite skin, within which were niobium alloy diaphragms injected with ceramic foam. This method of construction was patented by Ye S Kulaga and Ya B Nodelman. Various solutions were found to fasten the heat shield tiles to the frame. The same techniques would be used twenty years later on the US space shuttle and Soviet Buran.

In March to September 1960 this work resulted in two definitive configurations being defined. It would seem that these designs were now single-pilot spacecraft, sized for launch to orbit by Korolev's Vostok booster. In both designs equipment (navigation and guidance, communications, life support, electrical, telemetry) was kept to 600 kg. Useful payload was 700 kg. Equipment developed for Korolev's Vostok spacecraft would be used in the VKA-23, including the Zarya communications system.

VKA-23 1959 - VKA-23 Design Alternate 1. M-48 configuration that preceded it is believed to have been a similar faceted design. 15,390 bytes. 361 x 345 pixels.

The flight profile was as follows: to 11 km altitude the cosmonaut could use the ejection seat in the event of launch vehicle problems. Thereafter the VKA would separate from the booster. From altitudes below 40 km during re-entry the vehicle would be manoeuvrable. The pilot could eject from the spacecraft from the altitude of effectiveness of his parachute system: 3 to 8 km for the main chute, or 2 km for the reserve system. The VKA would automatically land at 10-12 m/s vertical velocity on ski landing gear, which had a length of 1.2 m, width of 0.25 m, and a track width of 5.6 m. The cosmonaut would eject from the VKA before landing and return separately to earth by parachute as in Vostok. Although primitive, the design was the first step toward later reusable spacecraft like the shuttle or Buran.

OKB-23 also designed a launch vehicle for a second stage of the program. This would be a three-stage vehicle of tandem layout. The first stage consisted of a cluster of four blocks, each with 7 engines of 35 tonnes thrust. Total lift-off thrust was 980 tonnes, 2.4 x more than Vostok.

The first version of the VKA-23 was a faceted design equipped with ski landing gear. It would evidently use Nonweiler shock-wave riding principles to minimise re-entry heating.

In October 1960 Kremlin intrigues led to Myasishchev▓s design bureau being dissolved. OKB-23 became Filial 1 of Chelomei's OKB-52 and all work on the VKA-23 was stopped. Myasishchev left to become head of TsAGI (Central Hydrodynamics Institute). However the OKB-23 design team provided the experienced core for development of manned winged spacecraft by Chelomei under the Raketoplan project.