Soyuz 15

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Soyuz 15
Mission statistics
Mission name: Soyuz 15
Call sign: Дунай (Duna - "Danube")
Number of crew members: 2
Launch: August 26, 1974
19:58:05 UTC
Baikonur
Landing: August 28, 1974
20:10:16 UTC
Duration: 2 days, 0 h, 12 min, 11 s
Number of Orbits: 32

Soyuz 15 was a human spaceflight mission of the Soviet Union. It was to have been the second mission to the Salyut 3 space station with presumably military objectives.

Although the spacecraft arrived at the station successfully, cosmonauts Lev Demin and Gennadi Sarafanov were unable to dock because of a fault in the automated docking system. Without sufficient fuel for prolonged attempts at manual docking, the mission had to be abandoned.

It was later claimed by Soviet authorities that no docking had been intended and that the flight had only been undertaken to develop techniques for maneuvering near the space station.

The faulty equipment was redesigned before the next attempt was made.

[edit] Crew

[edit] Mission parameters

  • Mass: 6760 kg
  • Perigee: 173 km
  • Apogee: 236 km
  • Inclination: 51.6°
  • Period: 88.5 min


Preceded by:
Soyuz 14
Soyuz programme Succeeded by:
Soyuz 16