The device was reliable and compact like a Kalashnikov gun, the famous AK-47.
The fuel could last for 5 years of continuous work, and recharging was available in case of need. There were only three propulsion engines, and now just one of them was working. Surely, all the three could be started at once, but it was to be done only when the spaceship started from the Mars surface on the way back…
Nuclear briefcases were so successful and compact that 8 of them were crammed in the rocket! Each of them weighed about 100 kg and had four massive handles… but it was not important in the space, and even the handles were not necessary.
Three of them were for the replacement of the main propulsion engines in case of need, and three were a little smaller and had to supply heat and energy to a small living module installed on Mars. One would be more than enough; the other two were just a reserve.
Andrey examined all these facilities every shift as well. All of them were located and secured in the space between the double rocket bodies. He had to check the fixtures as it would be bad if nuclear facilities, even though compact ones, hung loose behind the partition in zero-gravity…
Well, and the two remaining briefcases were the smallest and were to be used in the extreme variant as emergency sources of heat and electricity. All the variants of briefcases had additional modules and could produce practically any kind of energy needed for subsistence of the crew both during the flight and while on Mars.
These modules had the largest size and were much more complicated than the mobile nuclear facilities. And they took more time, efforts and money to develop than the briefcases themselves. An independent scientific and research institute worked on each module.
The rocket itself was the product of work of tens of institutes which did not know the ultimate goal or the reason why all that was done. Some of them suspected it was the newest tank, others thought it was a plane, while some others considered it to be a submarine! By the way, the design of the spaceship really reminded of the newest nuclear submarine…
It had a double body. However, unlike real submarines, both bodies were solid; it just did not have a protruding cabin, torpedo launchers or bird roosts. It was harder with the institutes which had been working with space projects for a long time and with fellows from Plesetsk cosmodrome itself…
Andrey flew to the cosmodrome before all the crew members and was responsible for secrecy of preparation of this rocket for launch.
In reality, it was not that difficult. The spaceship practically did not differ from an ordinary carrier rocket of the series “Molnia – М” from the outside…
The rockets of this type were launched from the military cosmodrome at least 10 times a year. However, it was almost 5 meters longer than a standard 8К78M, the diameter was almost the same – 10 meters, it weighed 25 tons less and contained a suspiciously small amount of fuel! There was an official version for the majority of people – it’s an almost standard rocket, with experimental, more economical engines.
In general, even this disguise was not necessary. Missile officers and civil specialists worked for a long time and saw the launches of hundreds of rockets of a dozen different types. Space romanticism and interest were replaced by usual everyday work in hard northern conditions. We have launched many things – this one will be no exception.
