Soyuz 12

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Soyuz 12
Mission statistics
Mission name: Soyuz 12
Call sign: Урал (Ural - "Ural")
Number of crew members: 2
Launch: September 27, 1973
12:18:16 UTC
Baikonur LC1
Landing: September 29, 1973
11:33:48 UTC
Duration: 1 day, 23 h, 15 min, 32 s
Number of Orbits: 31

Soyuz 12 was the test flight of the newly-redesigned Soyuz spacecraft that was intended to provide greater crew safety in the wake of the Soyuz 11 tragedy. The crew capacity of the capsule had been decreased from three to two cosmonauts to allow for space suits to be worn during launch, re-entry, and potentially hazardous maneuvers such as docking.

Cosmonauts Vasili Lazarev and Oleg Makarov were to evaluate the design, which proved to be successful and well-behaved.

[edit] Crew

[edit] Mission parameters

  • Mass: 6720 kg
  • Perigee: 306 km
  • Apogee: 348 km
  • Inclination: 51.0°
  • Period: 91.0 min


Preceded by:
Soyuz 11
Soyuz programme Succeeded by:
Soyuz 13