Salyut 7

Salyut 7
Station statistics
Salyut 7 photographed following the undocking of Soyuz T-13, 25 September 1985
The insignia of the Salyut Program
Crew	3
Launch	19 April 1982 19:45:00 UTC
Launch pad	LC-200/40, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Soviet Union
Reentry	7 February 1991^[1]
Mass	19,824 kg
Length	16 m (minimum)^[1]
Width	4.15 m (max.^[1]
Pressurised volume	90 m³ (minimum)^[1]
Perigee	219 km (118.25 nmi)
Apogee	278 km (150.1 nmi)
Orbital inclination	51.6 degrees
Orbital period	89.2 minutes
Days in orbit	3216 days
Days occupied	816 days
Number of orbits	51,917
Distance travelled	2,106,297,129 km (1,137,309,460 nmi)
Statistics as of de-orbit and reentry
Configuration
Salyut 7 with docked Kosmos 1686 TKS spacecraft

Salyut 7 (Russian: Салют-7; English: Salute 7) (aka DOS-6^[1]) was a space station in low Earth orbit from April 1982 to February 1991.^[1] It was first manned in May 1982 with two crew via Soyuz T-5, and last visited in June 1986, by Soyuz T-15.^[1] Various crew and modules were used over its lifetime, including a total of 12 manned and 15 unmanned launches.^[1] Supporting spacecraft included the Soyuz T, Progress, and TKS spacecraft.^[1]

It was part of the Soviet Salyut programme, and launched on 19 April 1982 on a Proton rocket from Site 200/40 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in what was then the Soviet Union. Salyut 7 was part of the transition from "monolithic" to "modular" space stations, acting as a testbed for docking of additional modules and expanded station operations. It was the tenth space station of any kind launched. Salyut 7 was the last Space Station of the Salyut Program, which was replaced by Mir.

Description

Salyut 7 was the back-up vehicle for Salyut 6 and very similar in equipment and capabilities. With delays to the Mir programme it was decided to launch the back-up vehicle as Salyut 7. In orbit the station suffered technical failures though it benefited from the improved payload capacity of the visiting Progress and Soyuz craft and the experience of its crews who improvised many solutions (such as a fuel line rupture in September 1983 requiring EVAs by the Soyuz T-10 to repair). It was aloft for eight years and ten months (a record not broken until Mir), during which time it was visited by 10 crews constituting six main expeditions and four secondary flights (including French and Indian cosmonauts). The station also saw two flights of Svetlana Savitskaya making her the second woman in space since 1963 and the first to perform an EVA during which she conducted metal cutting and welding alongside her colleague Vladimir Dzhanibekov.^[2] Aside from the many experiments and observations made on Salyut 7, the station also tested the docking and use of large modules with an orbiting space station. The modules were called "Heavy Kosmos modules" though in reality were variants of the TKS spacecraft intended for the cancelled Almaz military space station. They helped engineers develop technology necessary to build Mir.

Equipment

Salyut 7 during assembly.

It had two docking ports, one on either end of the station, to allow docking with the Progress unmanned resupply craft, and a wider front docking port to allow safer docking with a Heavy Kosmos module. It carried three solar panels, two in lateral and one in dorsal longitudinal positions, but they now had the ability to mount secondary panels on their sides. Internally, the Salyut 7 carried electric stoves, a refrigerator, constant hot water and redesigned seats at the command console (more like bicycle seats). Two portholes were designed to allow ultraviolet light in, to help kill infections.^[1]^[3] The medical, biological and exercise sections were improved, to allow long stays in the station. The BST-1M telescope used in Salyut 6 was replaced by an X-ray detection system.^[3]

Crews and missions

Salyut 7 with docked spacecraft

Following up the use of Kosmos 1267 on Salyut 6, the Soviets launched Kosmos 1443 on 2 March 1983, from a Proton SL-13. It docked with the station on 10 March, and was used by the crew of Soyuz T-9. It jettisoned its recovery module on 23 August, and re-entered the atmosphere on 19 September. Kosmos 1686 was launched on 27 September 1985, docking with the station on 2 October. It did not carry a recovery vehicle, and remained connected to the station for use by the crew of Soyuz T-14. Ten Soyuz T crews operated in Salyut 7. Only two Interkosmos "guest cosmonauts" worked in Salyut 7. The first attempt to launch Soyuz T-10 was aborted on the launch pad when a fire broke out at the base of the vehicle. The payload was ejected, and the crew was recovered safely.

Resident crews

Salyut 7 had six resident crews.

The first crew, Anatoli Berezovoy and Valentin Lebedev, arrived on 13 May 1982 on Soyuz T-5 and remained for 211 days until 10 December 1982.^[1]
On 27 June 1983, the crew of Vladimir Lyakhov and Alexander Alexandrov arrived on Soyuz T-9 and remained for 150 days, until 23 November 1983.
On 8 February 1984, Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov and Oleg Atkov began a 237-day stay, the longest on Salyut 7, which ended on 2 October 1984.
Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh (Soyuz T-13) arrived at the space station on 6 June 1985.
On 17 September 1985, Soyuz T-14 docked with the station carrying Vladimir Vasyutin, Alexander Volkov and Georgi Grechko. Eight days later Dzhanibekov and Grechko left the station and returned to Earth after 103 days, while Savinyikh, Vasyutin and Volkov remained on Salyut 7 and returned to Earth on 21 November 1985 after 65 days.
On 6 May 1986, Soyuz T-15 carrying Leonid Kizim and Vladimir Solovyov docked with the space station and undocked, after a 50-day stay, on 25 June 1986. The Soyuz had come from the Mir space station and returned to Mir on 26 June 1986 in a flight lasting 29 hours.

There were also four visiting missions, crews which came to bring supplies and make shorter duration visits with the resident crews.

Technical and crew problems

The station suffered from two major problems, the first of which required extensive repair work to be performed on a number of EVAs.

Leaks

On 9 September 1983, during the stay of Vladimir Lyakhov and Alexander Alexandrov, while reorienting the station to perform a radiowave transmission experiment, Lyakhov noticed the pressure of one fuel tank was almost zero. Following this, Alexandrov spotted a fuel leak looking through the aft porthole. Ground control decided to try to repair the damaged pipes, in what was to be the most complex repair attempted during EVA at the time. This was to be attempted by the next crew, the current one lacking the necessary training and tools. The damage was eventually repaired by Leonid Kizim and Vladimir Solovyov, who after four EVAs managed to fix two leaks but needed a special tool to fix the third. The tool was delivered by Soyuz T-12, and the leak was subsequently fixed.^[4]

Loss of power

The drifting station as seen from the approaching Soyuz T-13.

On 11 February 1985, contact with Salyut 7 was lost. The station began to drift, and all systems shut down. At this time the station was uninhabited, after the departure of Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov and Oleg Atkov, and before the next crew arrived. It was once again decided to attempt to repair the station, which was performed by Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Viktor Savinykh on the Soyuz T-13 mission, in what was in the words of author David S. F. Portree "one of the most impressive feats of in-space repairs in history".^[1]

All Soviet and Russian space stations were equipped with automatic rendezvous and docking systems, from the first space station Salyut 1 using the IGLA system, to the Russian Orbital Segment of the International Space Station using the Kurs system. Upon arrival, 6 June, the Soyuz crew found the station was not broadcasting radar or telemetry for rendezvous, and after arrival and external inspection of the tumbling station, the crew judged proximity using handheld laser rangefinders.

Dzhanibekov piloted his ship to intercept the forward port of Salyut 7 and matched the station's rotation. After hard docking to the station and confirming the station's electrical system was dead, Dzhanibekov and Savinykh sampled the station atmosphere prior to opening the hatch. Attired in winter fur-lined clothing, they entered the station to conduct repairs. The fault was eventually found to be an electrical sensor that determined when the batteries need charging.

Once the batteries were replaced, the station started charging them, and warmed up over the next few days.^[4] Within a week sufficient systems were brought back online to allow robot cargo ships to dock with the station.^[1]

Crew hallucination

According to some internet sites, on 12 July 1984, cosmonauts Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov and Oleg Atkov were on their 155th day aboard the Salyut 7 when the trio started to group hallucinate, seeing what was described as a “brilliant orange cloud” surrounding the station. The hallucination was reported to Ground Control and the crew was subject to psychological and medical examinations upon their return. The Russian website Pravda.ru published that the cosmonauts officially reported the group hallucination, which was attributed to pressure, temperature fluctuations and shortage of oxygen to the brain.^[5]

The origin of the history is, however, the satirical newspaper Weekly World News, ^[6]^[7] a publication famous for publishing hoaxes and fake news.

End of life

Salyut 7 was last inhabited in 1986 by the crew of Soyuz T-15, who ferried equipment from Salyut 7 to the new Mir space station. Between 19 and 22 August 1986, engines on Kosmos 1686 boosted Salyut 7 to a record-high mean orbital altitude of 475 km to forestall reentry until 1994. Retrieval at a future date by a Buran shuttle was also planned.^[8]

However, unexpectedly high solar activity in the late 1980s and early 1990s increased atmospheric drag on the station and sped its orbital decay. It finally underwent an uncontrolled reentry on 7 February 1991 over the town of Capitán Bermúdez after it overshot its intended entry point, which would have placed its debris in uninhabited portions of the southern Pacific Ocean. ^[9]^[10]

Expeditions and visiting spacecraft

Index

EO (Russian: ЭО, Экспедиция Основная) or PE means Principal Expedition
EP (Russian: ЭП, Экспедиция Посещения) or VE means Visiting Expedition

Expeditions

Expedition	Crew	Launch date	Flight up	Landing date	Flight down	Duration (days)
Salyut 7 – EO-1	Anatoli Berezovoy, Valentin Lebedev^[1]	13 May 1982 09:58:05 UTC	Soyuz T-5	10 December 1982 19:02:36 UTC	Soyuz T-7	211.38
Salyut 7 – EP-1	Vladimir Dzhanibekov, Aleksandr Ivanchenkov, Jean-Loup Chrétien – France	24 June 1982 16:29:48 UTC	Soyuz T-6	2 July 1982 14:20:40 UTC	Soyuz T-6	7.91
Salyut 7 – EP-2	Leonid Popov, Aleksandr Serebrov, Svetlana Savitskaya	19 August 1982 17:11:52 UTC	Soyuz T-7	27 August 1982 15:04:16 UTC	Soyuz T-5	7.91
Salyut 7 – EO-2	Vladimir Lyakhov, Aleksandr Pavlovich Aleksandrov	27 June 1983 09:12:00 UTC	Soyuz T-9	23 November 1983 19:58:00 UTC	Soyuz T-9	149.45
Salyut 7 – EO-3	Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov, Oleg Atkov	8 February 1984 12:07:26 UTC	Soyuz T-10	2 October 1984 10:57:00 UTC	Soyuz T-11	236.95
Salyut 7 – EP-3	Yury Malyshev, Gennady Strekalov, Rakesh Sharma – India	3 April 1984 13:08:00 UTC	Soyuz T-11	11 April 1984 10:48:48 UTC	Soyuz T-10	7.90
Salyut 7 – EP-4	Vladimir Dzhanibekov, Svetlana Savitskaya, Igor Volk	17 July 1984 17:40:54 UTC	Soyuz T-12	29 July 1984 12:55:30 UTC	Soyuz T-12	11.80
Salyut 7 – EO-4-1a	Viktor Savinykh	6 June 1985 06:39:52 UTC	Soyuz T-13	21 November 1985 10:31:00 UTC	Soyuz T-14	168.16
Salyut 7 – EO-4-1b	Vladimir Dzhanibekov	6 June 1985 06:39:52 UTC	Soyuz T-13	26 September 1985 09:51:58 UTC	Soyuz T-13	112.13
Salyut 7 – EP-5	Georgi Grechko	17 September 1985 12:38:52 UTC	Soyuz T-14	26 September 1985 09:51:58 UTC	Soyuz T-13	8.88
Salyut 7 – EO-4-2	Vladimir Vasyutin, Alexander Volkov	17 September 1985 12:38:52 UTC	Soyuz T-14	21 November 1985 10:31:00 UTC	Soyuz T-14	64.91
Salyut 7 – EO-5	Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov	13 March 1986 12:33:09 UTC	Soyuz T-15	16 July 1986 12:34:05 UTC	Soyuz T-15	125.00 50 on S7

Spacewalks

Spacecraft	Spacewalker	Start – UTC	End – UTC	Duration	Comments
Salyut 7 – PE-1 – EVA 1	Lebedev, Berezevoi^[1]	30 July 1982 02:39	30 July 1982 05:12	2 h, 33 min	Retrieve experiments
Salyut 7 – PE-2 – EVA 1	Lyakhov, Alexandrov	1 November 1983 04:47	1 November 1983 07:36	2 h, 50 min	Add solar array
Salyut 7 – PE-2 – EVA 2	Lyakhov, Alexandrov	3 November 1983 03:47	3 November 1983 06:42	2 h, 55 min	Add solar array
Salyut 7 – PE-3 – EVA 1	Kizim, Solovyov	23 April 1984 04:31	23 April 1984 08:46	4 h, 20 min	ODU repair
Salyut 7 – PE-3 – EVA 2	Kizim, Solovyov	26 April 1984 02:40	26 April 1984 07:40	4 h, 56 min	Repair ODU
Salyut 7 – PE-3 – EVA 3	Kizim, Solovyov	29 April 1984 01:35	29 April 1984 04:20	2 h, 45 min	Repair ODU
Salyut 7 – PE-3 – EVA 4	Kizim, Solovyov	3 May 1984 23:15	4 May 1984 02:00	2 h, 45 min	Repair ODU
Salyut 7 – PE-3 – EVA 5	Kizim, Solovyov	18 May 1984 17:52	18 May 1984 20:57	3 h, 05 min	Add solar array
Salyut 7 – VE-4 – EVA 1	Savitskaya, Dzhanibekov	25 July 1984 14:55	25 July 1984 18:29	3 h, 35 min	First woman EVA
Salyut 7 – PE-3 – EVA 6	Kizim, Solovyov	8 August 1984 08:46	8 August 1984 13:46	5 h, 00 min	Complete ODU repair
Salyut 7 – PE-4 – EVA 1	Dzhanibekov, Savinykh	2 August 1985 07:15	2 August 1985 12:15	5 h, 00 min	Augment solar arrays
Salyut 7 – PE-6 – EVA 1	Kizim, Solovyov	28 May 1986 05:43	28 May 1986 09:33	3 h, 50 min	Test truss, retrieve samples
Salyut 7 – PE-6 – EVA 2	Kizim, Solovyov	31 May 1986 04:57	31 May 1986 09:57	5 h, 00 min	Test truss

Specifications

Specifications of the baseline 1982 Salyut 7 module, from Mir Hardware Heritage (1995, NASA RP1357):^[1]

Length – about 16 m
Maximum diameter – 4.15 meters
Habitable volume – 90 m³
Weight at launch – 19,824 kg
Launch vehicle – Proton rocket (three-stage)
Orbital inclination – 51.6°
Span across solar arrays – 17 m
Area of solar arrays – 51 m²
Number of solar arrays – 3
Electricity available – 4.5 kW
Resupply carriers – Soyuz-T, Progress, TKS spacecraft
Docking System – Igla or manual approach
Number of docking ports – 2
Total manned missions – 12
Total unmanned missions – 15
Total long-duration missions – 6
Number of main engines – 2
Main engine thrust (each) – 300 kg

Visiting spacecraft and crews

(Launched crews. Spacecraft launch and landing dates listed.)

Soyuz T-5 – 13 May – 27 August 1982
- Anatoli Berezovoy
- Valentin Lebedev
Soyuz T-6 – 24 June – 2 July 1982 – Intercosmos Flight
- Vladimir Dzhanibekov
- Aleksandr Ivanchenkov
- Jean-Loup Chrétien – France
Soyuz T-7 – 19 August – 10 December 1982
Soyuz T-8 – 20–22 April 1983 – Failed docking
Soyuz T-9 – 27 June – 23 November 1983
- Vladimir Lyakhov
- Alexander Alexandrov
Soyuz T-10-1 – 26 September 1983 – Launch abort
- Vladimir Titov
- Gennady Strekalov
Soyuz T-10 – 8 February – 11 April 1984
TKS 3 – 4 March – 14 August 1983 – Launched unmanned as Kosmos 1443.
Soyuz T-11 – 3 April – 2 October 1984 – Intercosmos Flight
- Yury Malyshev
- Gennady Strekalov
- Rakesh Sharma – India
Soyuz T-12 – 17–29 July 1984
Soyuz T-13 – 6 June – 26 September 1985
- Vladimir Dzhanibekov
- Viktor Savinykh
Soyuz T-14 – 17 September – 21 November 1985
TKS 4 – September 1985 – 7 February 1991 – Launched unmanned as Kosmos 1686. Featured a high-resolution photo apparatus and optical sensor experiments (infrared telescope and Ozon spectrometer).
Soyuz T-15 – 13 March – 16 July 1986 – Also visited Mir
- Leonid Kizim
- Vladimir Solovyov

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 David Portree - Mir Hardware Heritage (1995) - Page 90-95 - NASA RP1357
↑ "Space welding anniversary!". Orbiter-Forum. Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. 16 July 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
1 2 http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1982-033A
1 2 Leaving Earth, by Robert Zimmerman, ISBN 0-309-08548-9, 2003.
↑ Pravda, Angels in space nothing but top secret hallucination
↑ Huge angels seen in space
↑ Qué pasó en el espacion en 1984. El secreto de la nave Salyut 7
↑ Astronautix, Salyut 7.
↑ aero.org, Spacecraft Reentry FAQ:
↑ NYT, Salyut 7, Soviet Station in Space, Falls to Earth After 9-Year Orbit

External links

Nickolai Belakovski: The little-known Soviet mission to rescue a dead space station

External links

Preceded by Salyut 6	Salyut programme 1982–1991	Succeeded by Mir

Salyut programme

Salyut stations (DOS)	Salyut 1 (DOS-1) DOS-2 Kosmos 557 (DOS-3) Salyut 4 (DOS-4) Salyut 6 (DOS-5) Salyut 7 (DOS-6)

Almaz stations (OPS)	Salyut 2 (OPS-1) Salyut 3 (OPS-2) Salyut 5 (OPS-3) OPS-4 (not flown)

Successors	Mir (DOS-7) Zvezda (DOS-8)

TKS spacecraft	Kosmos 1267 (TKS-2) Kosmos 1443 (TKS-3) Kosmos 1686 (TKS-4)

Support craft	Soyuz Progress TKS VA FGB

Lists	Expeditions Spaceflights (manned) (unmanned) Visitors Spacewalks

Portal

Space stations and habitats

Active

Defunct

Soviet Union and Russia	Salyut Salyut 1 DOS-2^† Salyut 2^{† ‡} Cosmos 557^† Salyut 3^‡ Salyut 4 Salyut 5^‡ Salyut 6 Salyut 7 Mir

United States	OPS 0855^° Skylab Genesis I^° and II^° (private, Bigelow Aerospace)

China	Tiangong Tiangong-1

Cancelled

ISS-incorporated

Developmental

China	Tiangong Tiangong-3 Chinese space station

Bigelow Aerospace	Bigelow Commercial Space Station

Excalibur Almaz	Almaz commercial

Russia	OPSEK LOS

Concepts

Notes: † Never inhabited due to launch or on-orbit failure, ‡ Part of the Almaz military program, ° Never inhabited, lacks docking mechanism.

← 1981 · Orbital launches in 1982 · 1983 →

Kosmos 1331 \| Kosmos 1332 \| Kosmos 1333 \| Satcom 4 \| Kosmos 1334 \| OPS 2849 \| Kosmos 1335 \| Kosmos 1336 \|Ekran No.22L \| Kosmos 1337 \| Kosmos 1338 \| Kosmos 1339 \| Kosmos 1340 \|Westar 4 \| Molniya 1-53 \| Kosmos 1341 \| Taifun-2 \| Intelsat V F-4 \| Kosmos 1342 \| OPS 8701 \| Gorizont No.14L \| Kosmos 1343 \| STS-3 \| Molniya 3-18 \| Kosmos 1344 \| Meteor 2-8 \| Kosmos 1345 \| Kosmos 1346 \| Kosmos 1347 \| Kosmos 1348 \| Kosmos 1349 \| INSAT-1A \| Kosmos 1350 \| Salyut 7 (Iskra 2) \| Kosmos 1351 \|Kosmos 1352 \| Kosmos 1353 \| Kosmos 1354 \| Kosmos 1355 \| Kosmos 1356 \| Kosmos 1357 · Kosmos 1358 · Kosmos 1359 · Kosmos 1360 · Kosmos 1361 · Kosmos 1362 · Kosmos 1363 · Kosmos 1364 \| OPS 5642 · OPS 6553 \| Soyuz T-5 \| Kosmos 1365 \| Zenit-6 \| Kosmos 1366 \| Kosmos 1367 \| Kosmos 1368 \| Progress 13 \| Kosmos 1369 \| Kosmos 1370 \| Molniya 1-54 \| Kosmos 1371 \| Kosmos 1372 \| Kosmos 1373 \| Kosmos 1374 \| Kosmos 1375 \| Kosmos 1376 \| Kosmos 1377 \| Westar 5 \| Kosmos 1378 \| Yantar-4K2 \| Kosmos 1379 \| Kosmos 1380 \| Kosmos 1381 \| Soyuz T-6 \| Kosmos 1382 \| STS-4 \| Kosmos 1383 \| Kosmos 1384 \| Kosmos 1385 \| Kosmos 1386 \| Progress 14 \| Kosmos 1387 \| Landsat 4 \| Kosmos 1388 · Kosmos 1389 · Kosmos 1390 · Kosmos 1391 · Kosmos 1392 · Kosmos 1393 · Kosmos 1394 · Kosmos 1395 \| Molniya 1-55 \| Ekran No.23L \| Kosmos 1396 \| Kosmos 1397 \| Kosmos 1398 \| Kosmos 1399 \| Kosmos 1400 \| Soyuz T-7 \| Kosmos 401 \| Anik D1 \| Molniya 3-19 \| Kosmos 1402 \| Strela-2M \| Kosmos 1403 \| Kosmos 1404 \| Kiku-4 \| Kosmos 1405 \| Kosmos 1406 \| Marecs B · Sirio 2 \| Fanhui Shi Weixing 0-5 \| Kosmos 1407 \| Kosmos 1408 \| Ekran No.24L \| Progress 15 (Astrozond) \| Kosmos 1409 \| Kosmos 1410 \| Intelsat V F-5 \| Kosmos 1411 \| Kosmos 1412 \| Kosmos 1413 · Kosmos 1414 · Kosmos 1415 \| Kosmos 1416 \| Kosmos 1417 \| Gorizont No.16L \| Kosmos 1418 \| Satcom 5 \| DSCS II F-16 · DSCS III A-1 \| Progress 16 (Iskra 3) \| Kosmos 1419 \| Kosmos 1420 \| STS-5 (SBS-3 · Anik C3) \| OPS 9627 \| Kosmos 1421 \| Strela-1M (x8) \| Gran' No.21L \| Kosmos 1422 \| Kosmos 1423 \| Meteor 2-9 \| Kosmos 1424 \| OPS 9845 \| Kosmos 1425 \| Gran' No.22L \| Kosmos 1426 \| Kosmos 1427

Payloads are separated by bullets ( · ), launches by pipes ( \| ). Manned flights are indicated in bold text. Uncatalogued launch failures are listed in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are denoted in (brackets).

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Salyut 7

Description

Equipment

Crews and missions

Resident crews

Technical and crew problems

Leaks

Loss of power

Crew hallucination

End of life

Expeditions and visiting spacecraft

Expeditions

Spacewalks

Specifications

Visiting spacecraft and crews

See also

References

External links

External links