Barrier of the Unknown

Did You Know?

• US military analysts reported the existence of the USSR's functional aerospace flying apparatus of a similar class, as indicated by a number of features.
• In the West, this hypothetical Soviet aircraft received the T-4A index.
• Many projects similar to American rocketplanes and orbital planes were conducted in the USSR.

Plot

Hidden in the remote steppes of Central Asia lies a testing ground for new jet aircraft. Among them is an experimental plane powered by a rocket engine using atomic radioactive accelerators. It is launched from beneath a carrier aircraft and is designed for crewed suborbital spaceflight, reaching 100 kilometers into the thermosphere and speeds exceeding 7,200 kilometers per hour. Pilot-engineer Sergei Fyodorovich Baikalov and research officer Vera Borisovna Stankevich are assigned to this facility.

The first pilot of the "Cyclone" aircraft, a man named Kazantsev, perishes in a crash. The mission is to uncover the disaster's cause to prevent future incidents. Before the crash, Kazantsev reported seeing a glow around the plane's fuselage during flight. Stankevich is brought in to study the machinery.

When flights resume, Baikalov observes no such glow on the second Cyclone. However, during its second flight, the glow reappears, stronger than before, and this second Cyclone also suffers an accident. Despite the crash, the aircraft remains structurally sound and controllable, but a radiation leak begins. The carrier plane's pilot rescues Cyclone-2, fully aware that the radiation exposure could be lethal.